Personal digital assistants in business process management. The role of process advice in bringing process knowledge to people

Purpose We intend to make process knowledge more actionable in business process execution, specifically by means of personal digital assistants (PDAs), that build on process knowledge representations, such as process models, and provide real-time guidance for process performers. Therefore, we ask a socio-technical research question in this paper: How can PDAs make organizational process knowledge more actionable? Design/methodology/approach We conduct design science research to develop a conceptual framework that can be used to support decisions on PDA adoption in business process management (BPM). The framework builds on extant research on PDAs and BPM and is qualitatively evaluated through focus groups with information systems researchers and expert interviews with selected practitioners. Findings We explain PDA use in BPM by introducing the concept of “process advice.” We develop a framework that shows how process advice can be provided by integrating elements of technology, user and organizational process knowledge. Originality/value This paper is the first to systematically explore and conceptualize the use of PDAs in BPM. It develops and evaluates a framework for implementing BPM approaches that use PDAs to transform process knowledge into actionable insights, supporting process executors in improving performance.