Analysis and Classification of Critical Success Factors for Business Conversation Manager (BCM) System Implementation in Service-Oriented Enterprises

Business conversation manager is a system which makes organization’s communications possible on computer system platforms and also within defined processes and relationships. This research reviews the literature of BCM systems and introduces and classifies the most important factors for successful implementation by investigating various references. The aim is to identify critical success factors in order to avoid high risk probabilities and facilitate the implementation and finally getting better outcomes. Next, factors are extracted from experts’ points of view and they depicted as a model to show critical factors.

💡 Research Summary

The paper investigates the critical success factors (CSFs) that determine the successful implementation of Business Conversation Manager (BCM) systems in service‑oriented enterprises. BCM is described as a conversation‑oriented information system that integrates formal and informal communications across internal and external stakeholders, including customers, suppliers, partners, and even competitors. Because of its broad scope, implementing BCM requires extensive preparation, such as business process re‑engineering (BPR), organizational restructuring, cultural change, and robust security and technical infrastructure.

The authors first conduct a comprehensive literature review to identify potential success factors and then group them into four major categories: (1) Organizational structure and planning, (2) Organizational culture and leadership, (3) Communication and system security, and (4) Techniques used in the system. Within each category they list a set of specific factors—for example, “changing the organization’s structure from task‑oriented to process‑oriented,” “senior management commitment,” “defining authorization levels,” and “choosing an implementation approach (big‑bang or step‑by‑step).”

To validate and prioritize these factors, a questionnaire based on a five‑point Likert scale was distributed to 263 experts (professors, PhD candidates, and industry professionals) with experience in BCM projects. After discarding incomplete responses, 226 valid questionnaires remained. The authors computed average scores, standard deviations, and variation for each factor. Factors receiving a score of 4 (significant) or 5 (extremely significant) were retained as the most influential CSFs.

Key findings include:

• In the “Organizational structure and planning” group, the highest‑rated items are “true understanding of processes” (4.75), “changing the organization’s structure from task‑oriented to process‑oriented” (4.59), and “transparent processes for referral documents” (4.65).
• In the “Organizational culture and leadership” group, “managerial incentives to enter this realm” (4.88), “senior management commitment” (4.87), and “changing the organization’s culture from traditional to technology‑based” (4.56) stand out.
• In the “Communication and system security” group, the top factors are “proper definition for change scope” (4.81), “determining the level of authorizing and access” (4.43), and “true understanding of customers’ relationship requirements” (4.59).
• In the “Techniques used in the system” group, the most important items are “using information technology requirements (e‑mail, storage devices, etc.)” (4.87), “choosing appropriate implementation method (big‑bang or step‑by‑step)” (4.31), and “flexibility to adapt the system to the processes” (4.65).

The reliability of the questionnaire is confirmed by a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.91, indicating excellent internal consistency. The authors then synthesize the results into a hierarchical model (presented as a tree diagram) that visually maps the four categories and their prioritized sub‑factors. This model serves as a practical checklist for project managers, allowing them to focus resources on the most impactful areas throughout the implementation lifecycle.

In the concluding section, the authors argue that identifying and managing these CSFs can substantially reduce project risk and increase the likelihood of a successful BCM deployment, thereby helping organizations maintain a competitive edge in increasingly inter‑dependent business environments. They suggest future work should involve case‑based validation and the development of industry‑specific adaptations of the model.