The goal of this chapter is to offer a “roadmap” for further research around BPS and the actual BPS value creation. Along five distinct directions—and partly already based on some initial findings from research in progress—paths for further research are suggested.
Global standards should change over time. As Henry Ford said “If you think of standardization as the best, that you know today, but which is improved tomorrow – you get somewhere. But if you think of standards as confining, then you stop.” (Ford and Crowther, 1926) (Tregear, 2010, p. 319)
Top8.1 A Roadmap For Further Bps Research
In addition to the further research directions discussed in sections 7.3 and 7.4 to cope with potential limitations of the methodology and approach applied within this book, in this chapter we propose a roadmap along five distinct research directions. Table 1 gives an overview of the five proposed directions for further research which we will describe in detail in the following sections.
Table 1. Overview of proposed directions for further research
| Further Research Direction | Description | Section |
| 1 | Extend the research model by analyzing further dependent variables | 8.2 |
| 2 | Extend the research model by analyzing drivers and antecedents of BPS and the corresponding contingencies | 8.3 |
| 3 | Analyze the interplay between process and data standards | 8.4 |
| 4 | Analyze the interplay between SOA and BPS Analyze the way to and the effects of enhancing | 8.5 |
| 5 | Analyze the way to and the effects of enhancing BPS towards a continuous BPS competency | 8.6 |
The first two of the five proposed directions for further research aim at developing an even more comprehensive research model around BPS – comprising both drivers/antecedents as well as additional consequences/value dimensions of BPS. The next two of the five proposed directions for further research aim at shedding light on the interplay of BPS with both data standards and Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). The last of the five proposed directions for further research aims at analyzing how to enhance BPS towards a continuous BPS competency.