Multi-Layered Process Modeling for Business and IT Alignment

In information systems research, significant attention has been paid to the discrepancy between organizational context and technology. In the IS discourse this is, among other initiatives, expressed as the need to create alignment between business and IT. Translated into the domain of business process management (BPM), this will put demand on achieving alignment between used models in process modeling. An action research approach has been adopted to explore a multi-layered thinking in process modeling, which has been validated through the development and application of a multi-layered framework with a consultancy firm. Applying the multi-layered framework has addressed three areas of concern related to managing alignment 1) focal areas, 2) abstraction levels, and 3) degree of formalism. In this setting, a multi-layered thinking during process modeling and design has facilitated managing alignment of business and IS/IT. Further research however concerns the application of the framework in other settings.