The aim of the master thesis is to emphasize the importance of process alignment in The Fourth Industrial Revolution. By mapping of current descriptive maturity models and their application within digitalization, the thesis offers a new process maturity model for the phenomenon referred to as Industry 4.0 (i4.0). The model is based on the theoretical form of previous models, as well as on implementation of newly introduced trends. The contribution of the thesis rests upon the specific solution. The suggested Process Improvement Scheme presents applicable way for improvement of digital process preparedness in project-oriented service organizations and determines main value factors which lead to higher quality of employee processes. In the same time, the master thesis suggest a new utilization of i4.0 principles focused predominantly on manufacturing processes, and therefore includes areas which will need to be addressed in the near future for smooth process transition into i4.0 era.

In an overcapacity world, where the customers can choose from many similar products to satisfy their needs, enterprises are looking for new approaches and tools that can help them not only to maintain, but also to increase their competitive edge. Innovation, flexibility, quality, and service excellence are required to, at the very least, survive the on-going transition that industry is experiencing from mass production to mass customization. In order to help these enterprises, this research develops a Supply Chain Capability Maturity Model named S(CM)2. The Supply Chain Capability Maturity Model is intended to model, analyze, and improve the supply chain management operations of an enterprise. The Supply Chain Capability Maturity Model provides a clear roadmap for enterprise improvement, covering multiple views and abstraction levels of the supply chain, and provides tools to aid the firm in making improvements. The principal research tool applied is the Delphi method, which systematically gathered the knowledge and experience of eighty eight experts in Mexico. The model is validated using a case study and interviews with experts in supply chain management. The resulting contribution is a holistic model of the supply chain integrating multiple perspectives, and providing a systematic procedure for the improvement of a company’s supply chain operations.

This diploma thesis deals with the issues of Business Process Management (BPM) in companies engaged in the energy distribution and trading in the Czech Republic (with a focus on the electricity and natural gas market). The first part introduces the basic terms and specifies the theoretical principles of Business Process Management in comparison with the classical functional management approach including the benefits, risks and issues associated with the implementation of Business Process Management in the organization. Thesis also outlines the issues and current status in the market with tools for BPM support. Next part of the thesis is devoted to analysis of the energy market in Czech Republic including its specifics and providing a sample of companies into the research which is the subject of the last part of the thesis. The goal of the realized research is to describe the current status of Business Process Management in the selected companies including formulation of conclusions and evaluation of the current level of usage of BPM.

Diploma thesis named Evaluation of BI processes in the banking sector is focused on obtaining information from production databases and streamlining the process of creating BI reports in the organization. The process of creating a report is an analytical work, examining the current state of business processes and their support by enterprise applications. The aim of this work is to create a practical proposal for improving the effectiveness of tasks connected with a report set up within GE Money Bank. The main objective is achieved through a design work on the maturity model of BI reporting. Part of the model is a set of tools for identifying the current level of maturity and the conditions necessary for a transition to the next level in accordance with the required level of a BI reporting. The benefit of this diploma thesis is an analysis of commonly used approaches to assess the maturity levels of processes and an application of results of this analysis in Business Intelligence area, specifically the maturity assessment reporting. The result is a maturity model of BI reporting.

This thesis is focused on exploring the integration of BPM/SOA in order to identify the key aspects for successful integration. At the same time utilizing these aspects to evaluate organization's BPM/SOA integration initiative not only to determine how the organization is in this behavior but also to help design their own development plan. The thesis is based on an extensive literature study. In combination experts interviews analyzing various aspects of the integration of BPM/SOA. The main areas which have been examined and analyzed were the differences between BPM and SOA, challenges to integration, maturity models and proposed various approaches to achieve successful integration. The most important results and benefits of this thesis are critical success factors for integration BPM/SOA, integration approach and the assessment method integration. Critical success factors are derived from comprehensive analysis of best practices and common pitfalls practice. They included an assessment method that classifies organizations and determine the level of readiness for successful integration.

The South African public sector faces significant challenges that impact on its ability to deliver services to the public. There are several parties that can assist the public sector in addressing these challenges. One of these is the internal audit functions of government organisations. For internal auditing to support effectively the managements of the government organisations they serve, the internal audit function should be sufficiently capable. The questions remain as to whether South African public sector internal audit functions are sufficiently capable and how internal audit capability can be measured. The Institute of Internal Auditors Research Foundation published the Internal Audit Capability Model (IA-CM) in 2009. The main purpose of the model is to provide a capability self-assessment tool for public sector internal audit functions. This model could be used as a yardstick in measuring public sector internal audit capability within South Africa, should the elements and key process areas (KPAs) of the model be applicable to the South African context. This study therefore aims to determine whether the IA-CM can be applied within a South African context. The South African public sector, the role of internal auditing within the South African public sector as well as the IA-CM as a tool of measuring public sector internal audit capability were investigated. A literature review was conducted on these topics, as a foundation for the study. Specific data was obtained on each of the KPAs of the IA-CM through a case study design by selecting an appropriate South African national department and ranking the case against the KPAs of the IA-CM. The ranking was conducted based on a review of relevant documents and interviews with applicable internal audit and management staff and audit committee members of the selected case. The study concludes that 82.9% of the KPAs of the IA-CM appear to be applicable within a South African context and that, in essence, the model can be applied within a South African context. However, eight hindrances that may negatively affect the feasibility of implementing the remaining 17.1% of the KPAs or certain components of these KPA’s, have been also been identified. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lk2014 / Auditing / MCom / Unrestricted

Global megatrends and the resulting challenges for manufacturing companies, have brought up the concept of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) and its heart the Smart Factory (SF). Through I4.0 and the application of SF companies can increase their creation of value, however the degree of value depends on the way of implementation. Scholars and studies of successful SF implementation are still in an infant stage, and companies find little guidance in literature. Therefore, research question one targets on how to implement the SF and research question two on the investigation of success factors, challenges and outcomes of the successful SF implementation. The literature review included 216 scholars in the field of SF implementation. On this basis, a theoretical proposition was developed, to guide data collection and analysis. For development of the practical framework, multiple case studies have been chosen. Through an orientation study, seven cases in a multinational manufacturing company have been selected for the research. The developed framework has been validated again with the experts in the company. The developed implementation framework consists out of two parts. A strategic implementation process, including a SF maturity model to support the gradual advancement towards the SF and an operational implementation process for SF technologies, to advance to the higher maturity level. The framework represents a step-by-step approach including key activities, success factors and challenges of each phase. To justify an implementation, different outcomes have been clustered and organized to provide an overview. As this work is based on the current advancement of the research field, it first provides a condensed summary of SF implementation and second, through answering RQ1 and RQ2 closes research gaps. Hence, it contributes to the further advancement of the research field by providing a clear framework on the implementation approach and key factors, as well as a starting point for further research. With the SF implementation framework, this work provides the missing connection between a directed strategic approach and new technology implementation with a step-by-step guideline to facilitate the implementation of SF. The framework represents a guideline, to be used by managers, including the most important aspects to consider.

La analítica de datos permite a las organizaciones del sector financiero obtener una ventaja competitiva a través de procesos destinados a obtener datos, procesarlos y mostrarlos como información valiosa para comprender el comportamiento de sus clientes y estar preparados contra riesgos como el lavado de dinero, el fraude crediticio, entre otros. Sin embargo, las organizaciones no pueden identificar fácilmente las brechas relacionadas con el personal, los sistemas de información y los procesos comerciales que obstaculizan la mejora de su entorno de analítica de datos. En este contexto, los modelos de madurez evalúan, con base en criterios definidos, el estado actual de una organización e identifican su nivel de madurez para mejorar en función de los hallazgos. En este documento, se propone un modelo de madurez para identificar brechas en el entorno analítico de las compañías financieras que conducen a la reducción de estas. Este modelo incluye artefactos y criterios de evaluación centrados en tecnología, gobernanza, gestión de datos, cultura y analítica en sí, lo que proporciona un proceso de diagnóstico más amplio y estructurado con respecto al entorno analítico. El modelo propuesto se probó en tres empresas del sector financiero peruano y los resultados sugieren que los especialistas obtuvieron una perspectiva más clara que sus pensamientos iniciales sobre la situación del entorno analítico de sus empresas. / Data analytics allows organizations in the financial sector to gain a competitive advantage through processes aimed at obtaining data, processing them and displaying them as valuable information to understand the behavior of their clients and to be prepared against risks as money laundering, credit fraud, among others. However, organizations cannot easily identify gaps related to personnel, information systems and business processes that hinder the improvement of their data analytics environment. In this context, maturity models evaluate, based on defined criteria, the current state of an organization and identify its maturity level in order to improve based on the findings. In this paper, a maturity model is proposed to identify gaps in analytics environment of financial companies that lead to the reduction of these. This model includes artifacts and evaluation criteria focused on technology, governance, data management, culture and analytics itself, which gives a broader and structured diagnosis process with respect to the analytics environment. The proposed model was tested in three companies of Peruvian financial sector and the results suggest that the specialists obtained a clearer perspective than their initial thoughts on the situation of the analytics environment of their companies. / Tesis

Författaren vill i denna uppsats identifiera hur en mognadsmodell för att mäta Business Intelligence kan hjälpa en organisation och ett konsultföretag. Författaren vill även identifiera vad som behöver mätas och vad ett BI-system består utav. BI är ett komplext område, som företag kan ha stor affärsnytta av att använda. För att göra en bedömning på hur moget ett företag är i detta område, alltså hur väl de utnyttjar all data och statistik, finns det många olika modeller för att mäta detta. I denna forskning har en kvalitativ undersökning gjorts, där semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts på fyra respondenter varav två är konsulter och två är konsulternas kunder från olika företag. En utav konsulterna har alltså genomfört en analys enligt deras mognadsmodell på de två kunderna. Författarens kom fram till att ett BI-system består utav data, verktyg, människor, beslutsnivåer, förvaltningsteam och organisation. Att analysera ett BI-system i en organisation hjälper framförallt organisationen att få en tydlig och klar nulägesbild över hur det ser ut i dagsläget. Det hjälper även organisationen att vidare kunna utifrån analysens resultat sätta upp ett förändringsarbete och mål med hur organisationen vill att deras BI-system bli. En mognadsmodell hjälper ett konsultföretag med en direkt ekonomisk vinning då företaget kan ta betalt för att genomföra en analys. Ett konsultföretag kan även få fortsatt förtroende av kunden och vara med i förändringsarbetet eller bli partners med kunden. För att mäta mognad i ett BI-system handlar det framförallt om att få människors perspektiv av hur systemet upplevs och fungerar i organisationen. / In this paper, the author wants to identify how a maturity model for measuring Business Intelligence can help an organization and a consulting company. The author also wants to identify what needs to be measured and what a BI system consists of. BI is a complex area that companies can have great business benefits from using. In order to make an assessment of how mature a company is in this area, ie how well they utilize all data and statistics, there are many different models for measuring this. In this research, a qualitative study was conducted, in which four respondents were interviewed, two of whom are consultants and two are clients from different companies. One of the consultants has thus carried out an analysis according to their maturity model on the two customers. The author concluded that a BI system consists of data, tools, people, decision levels, management teams and organization. In particular, analyzing a BI system in an organization helps the organization to get a clear picture of what it looks like today. It also helps the organization to be able to set up a change work and goals based on the results of the analysis with how the organization wants their BI system to be. A maturity model assists a consulting firm with a direct financial gain as the company can charge to perform an analysis. A consulting firm can also gain continued trust from the customer and be involved in the change work or become partners with the customer. To measure maturity in a BI system, it is primarily about getting people's perspectives of how the system experienced and works in the organization

Background: Digitalization and digital technologies are of significance to management consultant firms since they influence them and force them to reshape and improve their business processes. For that purpose, firms can use Business Process Improvements methods, such as process mapping, benchmarking and maturity models. The authors identified multiple gaps in literature which this thesis aims to address. One gap was the lack of literature focusing on the industry of professional service firms, like management consultant firms. Another gap was on a standardized management consulting process, and the knowledge of how digital technologies are being used within it. There was also a lack of knowledge about what performance improvements management consulting firms can expect when using digital technologies in their management consulting process. Lastly, there is no digital maturity model that is focused towards management consultant firms, that can identify management consultant firms' level of digital maturity. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore, describe and explain digital technologies used within a standardized management consulting process, expected performance improvements through the use of digital technologies and the levels of digital maturity through a maturity model for management consultant firms. Method: A qualitative study with an exploratory and explanatory research strategy was used. An abductive approach was applied for this multiple case study, which was based on semi-structured interviews with nine different Case Firms. Findings and Conclusion: The results of the study developed a standardized management consulting process including following activities; initial contact, background research, current status assessment, present project plan, developing solution, closing project by implementing solution and follow up, feedback and lessons learned. Across the standardized consulting process, the firms used technology types of artificial intelligence, analytical applications, cloud computing, automation and web-based applications. The digital technologies are used for collecting information, collaborative presentations, communicating, collaborating to develop consulting solutions, storing and managing documents, managing projects, tracking time, analysing information, developing and sharing insights, and customer relationship management. Seven key categories of performance were identified, which could be improved through the use of digital technologies. The categories include improved knowledge transfer, increased efficiency, measurable value based impact to client, increased quality of consulting, increased competitive advantage, improved knowledge management, increased client reaction and satisfaction. Each of these categories of performance improvements can be further categorized into improvements of efficiency and effectiveness for the consulting process. Improvements in efficiency relate to improvements in the utilization of resources. Improvements in effectiveness relate to improvements in quality of the resulting client solution. The study defined four levels of digital maturity for management consultant firms, including researchers, beginners, adopters and leaders. The key dimensions for assessing their digital maturity include culture, strategy, organization and operations, technology and insights. Across the dimensions there are 15 sub-dimensions and 52 statements for self-assessing digital maturity. The maturity model may be applied by future management consultant firms for benchmarking position within the industry and identifying gaps, opportunities and vision for improvement in their own consulting process and performance through leveraging digital technologies.