Defend the Template - Supporting the Standardisation and Harmonisation of Process Change Programmes with SAP templates

Sep 12, 2026

Many companies leverage SAP templates to accelerate and standardise business process implementation, but change requests to template content raise practical challenges. This research paper examines how templates are used in business process management environments and how change demands affect standardisation and harmonisation goals. Based on literature review and personal interviews, the study analyses promises made by manufacturing companies and proposes an overarching objective: “Defend the template”.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryPresentations

FormatPDF

Pages6

Reading Time2 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Literature Review

Research Methodology

Findings and Analysis

Conclusion and Future Research

eKNOW 2019 : The Eleventh International Conference on Information, Process, and Knowledge Management Defend the Template – Supporting the Standardisation and Harmonisation of Process Change Programmes with SAP templates Markus Grube VOQUZ IT Solutions GmbH Hamburg, Germany [email: markus.grube@voquz.com](email: markus.grube@voquz.com) Abstract – Many companies are aware of the benefits of using a template in SAP implementation. This research paper deals with the question of how a company uses a template in a business process management environment and, above all, what happens when there are requests for changes to the template. Based on a literature review and personal interviews, this article describes the promises that manufacturing companies make about the template implementation within SAP business process management and why an overarching goal could be: ‘Defend the template’. Keywords – SAP; ERP; BPM; Business Process Management; Template; Process change. I. INTRODUCTION During this research on the relationships between Business Process Management (BPM), maturity models and the utilisation in the environment of SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, one of the interviewees provided the following slogan regarding the introduction of SAP business processes and the usage of templates: "Defend the template" . The application of this slogan was described by the interviewed expert as a fundamental principle for process standardisation and process implementation in his company. In general, templates are used when implementing SAP business processes. There are numerous examples in the literature, and the author is also aware of this from practical experience in SAP projects. Foth [1] defines a template as a unified set-up containing the necessary documentation and programmes for construction of a new system. The use of a template offers numerous advantages, for example: 􀁸 reduction in costs of system development [2] 􀁸 re-use of processes among various enterprises 􀁸 reduction of required manpower [3] 􀁸 increased level of conformity and data consistency [4] 􀁸 greater stability of business processes 􀁸 quicker worldwide process improvements [1] . The given slogan of "Defend the template" raised the question of how the defence of a template can support the use of process templates in business processes. This paper considers the slogan and examines how templates are used by the interviewed experts in standardising and harmonising business processes. Following this introductory section, Section 2 discusses the relevant literature and develops the research question for this paper. Section 3 describes the research methodology. Section 4 provides a summary of the findings. Section 5 contains an analysis for the research question, and finally, Section 6 presents the conclusion and suggestions for possible future research. II. LITERATURE REVIEW With the globalisation of business activities, there is a growing need to structure and shape business across an enterprise. For example, when setting up an overall process, binding corporate rules should be integrated [5] . In general, ‘the main goal of process standardisation is the development of one standard or best-practice process to be used as a template for all instances ofthe process’ [2] . Gavidia [4] illustrates that it is common practice to develop a template as the base configuration for all areas and locations of a company to increase compliance and data consistency. This new template will then have a consistent set of reports and will be adapted to the existing business processes within the company. Systems like SAP ERP offer a variety of "best-practice"processes that exist for different industries and business processes. However, for various reasons, the suggested best practice does not work for most companies: thus many companies define their own BPM templates to meet their specific needs [6] . In addition, it may be necessary to di

FAQs

What is the central theme of the paper?

The paper focuses on how defending a SAP process template supports standardisation and harmonisation of process change programmes.

How does the paper study template usage?

It combines a literature review with personal interviews with experts who use templates in process standardisation and harmonisation.

What major benefits are associated with SAP templates?

The paper highlights cost reduction, reuse of processes, improved conformity and data consistency, greater process stability, and quicker process improvements.

Sep 12, 2026

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