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Lucija Ivančić

University of Zagreb, Faculty of Economics & Business, Faculty Member

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I'm currently employed at Faculty of Economics and Business Zagreb, Department of Informatics as a Teaching and Research Assistant and a PhD candidate. My research interest include Business Process Management, Business Intelligence, digital transformation, and digital innovation.
I received two Deans’ awards for papers on: discrete-event simulation modelling in BPMN and; information systems auditing. My most recent publication is: 'Mastering the Digital Transformation Process: Business Practices and Lessons Learned' (article, multiple case study design). You can contact me at Livancic@efzg.hr or Ljuros@net.efzg.hr.
Address: ljuros@net.efzg.hr

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Papers by Lucija Ivančić

ROBOTIC PROCESS AUTOMATION: A META-REVIEW AND FUTURE RESEARCH DIRECTIONS

Proceedings of FEB Zagreb 16th International Odyssey Conference on Economics and Business, 2025

Robotic process automation is a concept that emerged in recent years as both a new research field... more Robotic process automation is a concept that emerged in recent years as both a new research field and a new technology that has attracted considerable attention due to its potential to increase process efficiency while reducing costs. This paper presents a meta-review of systematic literature reviews on robotic process automation published between 2020 and 2024 with the aim of providing a thorough synthesis of the current research landscape. Having this in mind, the authors seek to identify key research themes, evaluate current trends and outline potential future research directions. The findings suggest that while research dealing with robotic process automation has increased significantly, there are still some areas that have not been fully explored, particularly in terms of integration with artificial intelligence, hyperautomation and process mining. Additionally, the results point to challenges such as governance issues, resistance to automation and risks associated with process rigidity.

Fostering Innovation and Value Creation Through Ecosystems: Case of Digital Business Models and Digital Platforms

by Lucija Ivančić and Mario Spremic

Leadership, Management, and Adoption Techniques for Digital Service Innovation, 2020

Ecosystems are gaining ever-increasing importance in digital business environments. New digital b... more Ecosystems are gaining ever-increasing importance in digital business environments. New digital business models implemented using digital platforms heavily rely on ecosystem network. Thus, it is worthwhile investigating what role ecosystems play in the process of the digital transformation of companies. This chapter provides a theoretical background of the ecosystem research concerning digital trends, such as digital transformation, digital platforms, and digital service innovation. To deeper understand how ecosystem postulates are applied in companies, case study findings from two companies operating in the service and manufacturing sector are presented. Moreover, the ecosystem role is observed in selected companies both in the process of innovation generation (value creation), as well as in the implemented digital business model (value capture).

Exploring the relationship between information technology and process orientation-case of Croatian companies

9th International Scientific Symposium Region, Entrepreneurship, Development (RED 2020), 2020

Aims: Companies today are moving to more process- based structures. It means that in this global ... more Aims: Companies today are moving to more process- based structures. It means that in this global environment business processes represent a core of the functioning of the company because they primarily consist of processes, not products or services. In other words, nowadays, managing a business means managing its processes. The theory and practice claim that information technology (IT) is a critical enabler for the transition to business process orientation (BPO). So, the aim of this paper is to empirically test the relationship between IT and BPO. Methodology: In the theoretical part of this study an overview of process IT is presented and the theoretical background on BPO is explained. The empirical part of the paper examines if there is a statistically significant connection between IT and BPO by using correlation coefficient and regression analysis. Results: The results of the research conducted in small, middle and big Croatian companies in 2018 determined their level of BPO and their use of process IT. It can be concluded that there is a statistically significant connection between IT and BPO and that the calculated correlation is strong. Also, it is proven that the use of IT has positive influence on BPO practice. Furthermore, it is shown that the trend of BPO exists in Croatia, but there is a lot of potential for further development, especially in the field of business process informatization which is still inadequate. So, the discovered knowledge about BPO and process IT can be used as a set of practical guidelines for any Croatian company that strives to achieve more efficient business processes.

Socially Assistive Robots: Toward an Enhanced Independence of Older Adults

Proceedings of FEB Zagreb 13th International Odyssey Conference on Economics and Business, 2022

The world population is aging. At the same time, the ratio of working-age people to older adults ... more The world population is aging. At the same time, the ratio of working-age people to older adults is becoming increasingly unfavorable, and shortages in the health and social care workforce are already predicted. These trends call for new approaches to enhance the independence and well-being of older adults. Socially assistive robot (SAR) technology may provide an effective solution to the aging society problem. We present the results of a systematic literature review to provide answers on the roles and research topics related to SARs for older adults. Bibliometric and content analysis methods were used to analyze and synthesize qualitative data. The research results advance the understanding of the potential benefits and challenges of using SARs to enhance the independence of older adults living both at home and in long-term care facilities. We aim this understanding to be particularly valuable to policymakers, the leadership of health and social care institutions, non-government organizations representatives, and other stakeholders involved in designing and producing technological solutions for the aging population. Future research could be directed at examining countryspecific ethical, legal, and technical factors related to the potential use of SARs for older adults.

Introducing E-learning Platforms During Pandemic: From Experiences to Guidelines

Conference Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on the Economics of Decoupling (ICED), 2023

Although the use of e-learning platforms is not new, their use increased significantly during the... more Although the use of e-learning platforms is not new, their use increased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The challenges of introducing e-learning platforms were greater for those institutions that had not previously adopted the concept of e-learning. However, user experience with distance learning is not so straightforward. Therefore, the aim of this research is to review the literature on e-learning platforms used in higher education institutions (HEIs) during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2022), thus providing the research framework for implementation of e-learning platforms in this setting. Articles from journals and conference proceedings that were published in the period from 2020-2022 and cited in the Clarivate Analytics' Web of Science database were searched. After discarding the articles that did not meet the criteria defined by this research, a detailed analysis was carried out. After the thematic network analysis of the articles in VOSviewer, the key attributes for the classification of the articles and their in-depth content analysis in NVivo were defined: (I) obstacles/problems/issues; and (II) advantages of e-learning platforms implementation in higher education. Content analysis of the articles revealed three groups of most frequently mentioned obstacles to distance learning: (I i) technical difficulties; (I ii) challenges related to the organization and performance of teaching activities; (I iii) socioeconomic issues. Technical difficulties refer to the shortcomings of the Internet infrastructure, while challenges in the domain of teaching activities are a direct consequence of a fast transition from traditional to online teaching. Socioeconomic difficulties, however, are a consequence of inequality in the possibilities of using the Internet and computers, as well as insufficient levels of digital literacy. Furthermore, the content analysis of the articles identified two groups of advantages of using e-learning platforms. The first group consists of (II i) extracurricular advantages-such as saving money and time for teachers and students. The second group unites numerous advantages that are (II ii) directly related to the transition to online education, i.e. curricular advantages. In this category, flexibility and adaptability to the needs of students and teachers, and availability of teaching materials are advantages which most often stand out. By analysing the literature from the researched area, the experiences of users of e-learning platforms in higher education institutions were systematized, thus providing a basis for a methodological framework. Proposed framework or content analysis model can be used for further research of e-learning, and serve as a guide for successful implementation of elearning systems in HEIs. International Conference on the Economics of the Decoupling (ICED) Our framework can be used in future studies for an analysis that would include articles from other relevant citation databases of scientific articles, thus increasing the generalization of our results. Future research can also be focused on the analysis of country-specific factors that influence the success of the implementation of e-learning platforms. Another prominent avenue of research is the analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of specific e-learning platforms, since these are relatively poorly described.

Digital Technology in the Health Care and Social Care of Older Adults

Conference Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on the Economics of Decoupling (ICED), 2023

Currently, there are over 800 thousand citizens older than 65 in the Republic of Croatia and it i... more Currently, there are over 800 thousand citizens older than 65 in the Republic of Croatia and it is expected that their share in the total population will continue to grow. Although the government, and public sector institutions are working intensively on the development of digital platforms for providing services to the Croatian citizens, the question of digital inclusion of elderly (65+) is raised. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to investigate the role of digital technology in the health and social care and its acceptance by elderly. The research was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, a literature review covering the field of this research was carried out. Peer-reviewed journal papers and conference papers were searched in the Web of Science Core Collection (WoS). Next, the advantages and challenges of using digital technologies and digital platforms in the domain of health and social care services for the older adults were analysed and systemized. The research showed that digital literacy and economic inequality were often mentioned as obstacles to the wider use of digital technologies in the field of health and social care for the elderly. The results of the analysis were used to design the guidelines for the second phase of this research in which the interview with the focus group "Digital revolution in health and social care" was conducted. Its main objective was to gain an insight into older adults' acceptance of digital technology and to explore a wide spectrum of their experiences of digital health and social care services provided by the Croatian institutions. To access the participants' opinion on the research area, a content analysis was carried out on the transcripts from the focus group. According to the focus group participants (the representatives of pensioners' associations, city bodies and state institutions that deal with the problems of social care and health care for the elderly) the most frequently mentioned challenges of using digital technology were: a lack of knowledge on how to use technology (elderly need training and support, a desire to learn about the use of digital technologies is recognized); inequality of access to digital services (a problem was identified in accessing the Internet in rural areas, it is important to support and provide a safe and quality learning environment for this age group); digital platforms are too complicated for the elderly to use (its' graphical interface is poor, the instructions for use are not clear); the participants' exclusion from being able to understand how digital technology (e.g. assistive robots) could assist them decreases their motivation to use it for social or health care purposes. The contribution of this paper is twofold: (1) it provides an overview of research topics related to the role of digital technology in the health and social care and its acceptance by the elderly and (2) the content analysis of focus group transcript confirms the findings of International Conference on the Economics of the Decoupling (ICED) previous researches and points to the fact that the problems and obstacles observed in the Republic of Croatia are very similar to the situation in other countries. Therefore, confirmed positive practices can be used to solve the challenges. The representativeness and a relatively small number of selected focus group participants can be considered a limitation of this research. In order to generalize the results of the research, it is suggested to conduct additional focus group interviews with a larger number of participants from different countries of the European Union.

Internet Usage among Senior Citizens: Self-Efficacy and Social Influence Are More Important than Social Support

Journal of theoretical and applied electronic commerce research, 2023

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more

A Literature Review of Digital Transformation in Healthcare

43rd International Convention on Information, Communication and Electronic Technology (MIPRO), 2020

Digital transformation has reached out to every aspect of human lives, including personal and ins... more Digital transformation has reached out to every aspect of human lives, including personal and institutional provided healthcare. In order to inspect changes occurring in the healthcare domain due to digital transformation, a literature review is conducted. A systematic literature search in the Clarivate Analytics' Web of Science database was carried out, along with the text mining in order to analyze the papers. The following attributes are considered for the classification and analysis of the papers: time component; methodological approach; research areas, and; topic identification. Results revealed that the digital transformation of healthcare has just recently begun to induce more interest in the research community. Furthermore, a mixture of scholars' profiles investigates the topic, including engineering and information scientists, as well as medical and healthcare service researchers. Additionally, by using text mining, we have identified four discourses of topics that are addressed in the literature when considering the digital transformation of healthcare. The interdisciplinary nature of the topic calls for the inclusion of diverse experts from the medical, informatics and public administration areas in order to advise proper government actions and stimulate the research field.

Process Mining: Application in Practice

Proceedings of 47th ICT and Electronics Convention (MIPRO), 2024

Process mining is a concept that is not new, and software in this area is well represented on the... more Process mining is a concept that is not new, and software in this area is well represented on the market. The academic interest is reflected in a relatively large number of articles dealing with this topic. However, the practical implementation does not quite match these development trends. The aim of this study is therefore to investigate (1) the industries in which process mining is used and (2) the specific software used for this purpose. For the study, a systematic literature review was conducted by examining articles published in the last 5 years in Clarivate Analytics' Web of Science (WoS) database. Based on the collected results, a bibliographic analysis was performed, the case studies on the application areas of process mining were analyzed and the software used was systematized. In addition, the identified benefits, current status, trends and challenges in the implementation of this concept in practice were analyzed. Considering the limitations of the research, guidelines for the scientific community are proposed to guide future research. Furthermore, approaches are proposed that could contribute to a stronger application of process mining in business practice.

Application of Process Mining in Healthcare: Systematic Literature Review of Discourse Topics

Proceedings of FEB Zagreb 15th International Odyssey Conference on Economics and Business, 2024

Process mining is a concept that first emerged about 20 years ago and aroused the interest of sci... more Process mining is a concept that first emerged about 20 years ago and aroused the interest of scientists, as evidenced by the relatively large number of articles in this field. However, the application of process mining in practice has been relatively slow and varies by industry, with the leading application being in healthcare. To examine the status and emerging trends in the application of process mining in healthcare, a literature review is conducted. A systematic literature search was conducted in the Scopus database, along with text mining to analyze the articles. The analysis of the bibliographic data was based on the abstracts of the articles collected as a result of a systematic literature search. After that, text mining was used to identify the topics of scientific discourse dealing with the application of process mining in healthcare. In a final step, an in-depth analysis of the articles in 4 identified discourse topics was carried out. The results are also discussed in comparison with similar research to point out necessary contributions for future research efforts.

Supporting customer care and analytics with personal AI assistant: Case study of a food wholesale industry

Procedia computer science, 2024

In this paper, we adopt an exploratory, descriptive single-case study design in a food wholesale ... more In this paper, we adopt an exploratory, descriptive single-case study design in a food wholesale industry to illustrate (i) how the personal AI assistant adds value to the sales process and the company, and (ii) how human-like top expert AI suggestions enhance sales people competences. The significance of the study stems from its positioning in the identified research gap by presenting the scalable best product-market fit AI solution for hyper-personalized customer care in the sales process. In addition, the findings of a case study are discussed in comparison with previous related research, providing with technological and organizational AI characteristics systematization.

Big Data Usage in European Countries: Cluster Analysis Approach

by Lucija Ivančić and Mirjana Bach

Data, 2020

The goal of this research was to investigate the level of digital divide among selected European ... more The goal of this research was to investigate the level of digital divide among selected European countries according to the big data usage among their enterprises. For that purpose, we apply the K-means clustering methodology on the Eurostat data about the big data usage in European enterprises. The results indicate that there is a significant difference between selected European countries according to the overall usage of big data in their enterprises. Moreover, the enterprises that use internal experts also used diverse big data sources. Since the usage of diverse big data sources allows enterprises to gather more relevant information about their customers and competitors, this indicates that enterprises with stronger internal big data expertise also have a better chance of building strong competitiveness based on big data utilization. Finally, the substantial differences among the industries were found according to the level of big data usage.

Mastering digital transformation through business process management: Investigating alignments, goals, orchestration, and roles

Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation, 2020

Both business process management and digital transformation are areas which have been a topic of ... more Both business process management and digital transformation are areas which have been a topic of interest for both academia and practice. Since digital transformation is the creation of new, innovative business models and/or change and improvement of the existing business model with the help of digital technologies, one could raise a question regarding the role which business process management plays in digital transformation. With the purpose of shedding some light on that, this paper presents a theoretical framework for observing the link between business process management and digital transformation. Moreover, the results of an extensive literature review and analysis with the regards to the presented framework have been given. The results confirm the important role of business process management in digital transformation. However, the results also indicate the need for further research and greater understanding of practice.

Knowledge Management: Case of Croatia

Economic and Social Development: 46th International Scientific Conference on Economic and Social Development, 2019

Knowledge management (KM) has received a lot of attention in the past two decades. However, it is... more Knowledge management (KM) has received a lot of attention in the past two decades. However, it is still under-researched in Croatia. Goal of this paper is to determine the actual state of KM in Croatian companies with special emphasis on information technology (IT). IT has become a vital and integral part of every KM initiative today and one of the aims of this study is to analyse and identify the role of IT in KM and to determine if there is a connection between IT and KM. The results of the research conducted in big, middle and small Croatian companies show that a trend of KM exist in Croatia, but also that there is a potential for further development, especially in IT field. The paper describes main concepts connected with this topic, shows the results of the empirical research and gives guidelines on how to improve KM.

Developing Business-IT Alignment Skills through Data Management: Higher Education Example

Economic and Social Development: 49th International Scientific Conference on Economic and Social Development, 2019

Business-IT alignment (BITA) skills are one of the top concerns in companies since a misunderstan... more Business-IT alignment (BITA) skills are one of the top concerns in companies since a misunderstanding is a common issue between the business units and the informatics department. BITA is becoming even more important with the challenges that the digital transformation is posing. Accordingly, top-level managers coming from the business domain are expected to have profound knowledge about information technology (IT) and related topics. The goal of this paper is to present an educational approach for developing BITA skills in the graduate-level course of Data Management in Business Administration university program. A project assignment is designed with the purpose of strengthening the BITA skills of business students. Additional objectives of the project are related to the learning outcomes of the course. Those include acquiring knowledge about databases and database modeling in order to empower students for gaining insights from data and recognizing the opportunities for business improvement in the digital economy. In order to meet the research goal of the article, the steps in the project assignment are shown. Students are required to simulate a business environment. Firstly, the business environment of a company which is encountered with digital disruption in their industry is designed. After that, actions for business improvement are defined. Then, modeling of a relational database that can support subsequent business requests is carried out. In the end, programming skills in SQL are applied to gain quality information needed for business actions. The presented project assignment incorporates a combination of business, IT, and digital skills which foster business development. Since employees and managers with strong BITA capabilities help companies to mitigate risks of losing time and money, and overseeing business opportunities for growth, the presented educational approach can be of great value to educators in higher education and business.

Robotic Process Automation: Systematic Literature Review

Business Process Management: Blockchain and Central and Eastern Europe Forum, 2019

Robotic process automation (RPA) emerges as a new technology which is focused on automation of re... more Robotic process automation (RPA) emerges as a new technology which is focused on automation of repetitive, routine, rule-based human tasks, aiming to bring benefits to the organizations that decide to implement such software solution. Since RPA is a relatively new technology available on the market, the scientific literature on the topic is still scarce. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate how academic community defines RPA and to which extent has it been investigated in the literature in terms of the state, trends, and application of RPA. Moreover, the difference between RPA and business process management is also addressed. In order to do so, the systematic literature review (SLR) based on Web of Science and Scopus databases has been conducted. The paper provides the results of the conducted SLR on RPA providing an overview of the RPA definitions and practical usage as well as benefits of its implementation in different industries.

Business Process Management and Corporate Performance Management: Does Their Alignment Impact Organizational Performance

by Lucija Ivančić, Dalia Suša Vugec, and Ljubica Milanović Glavan

Interdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems, 2019

Both business process management (BPM) and corporate performance management (CPM) are receiving m... more Both business process management (BPM) and corporate performance management (CPM) are receiving much attention in academic circles, as well as in business practice. One of the main reasons behind their adoption within organizations is enhancing overall organizational performance (OP). Therefore, this article aims to explore the link between BPM and CPM and how their maturities affect their alignment. Moreover, the article deals with the impact of BPM-CPM alignment to OP. Although there are some studies dealing with empirical confirmation that either BPM or CPM increases OP, to the best of authors' knowledge, none of the studies tries to investigate their combined impact in terms of an alignment empirically. Hence, this article focuses on shedding some light on the importance of BPM-CPM alignment and its connection to OP. A survey has been conducted in medium sized and large organizations operating in Slovenia and Croatia resulting in a total of 159 answers. Observed organizations have been segmented in two clusters, using k-means algorithm: low-performers and high-performers, revealing statistically significant differences between them for all observed variables. Results also indicate that the BPM-CPM alignment increases when both BPM and CPM maturities are higher. Furthermore, OP of the observed organizations has been examined through named two clusters. The Mann-Whitney U test revealed there are statistically significant differences between OP variables among low-performers and high-performance clusters, indicating the relationship of BPM-CPM alignment with OP.

Business Process Modelling vs. Process Mining: A Comparative Study of Methods and Software Tools

19. hrvatska konferencija o kvaliteti i 10. znanstveni skup Hrvatskog društva za kvalitetu: Book of Proceedings, 2019

In the last three decades, the importance of business process improvement and related techniques ... more In the last three decades, the importance of business process improvement and related techniques in organizational design has been widely stressed. Business process management and process analysis, with their significant impact on process and organizational excellence, continue to remain intriguing topics. Recently, a shift away from traditional business process management methods, such as value-chain approach modelling and process simulation, has occurred, alongside the prominence of process mining that has emerged due to data mining and big data opportunities. Hence, this article investigates characteristics of a more traditional technique of process modelling in well-known methodologies, characteristic of a process-mining technique, and offers a comparison of the two approaches. Additionally, a presentation of one business process modelling tool and one process-mining tool is delivered. In the end, the suitability of techniques presented is discussed, also in relation to the organizational quality and excellence.

FACILITATING PROCESS ORIENTATION WITH BUSINESS PROCESS MATURITY: A CASE STUDY (MODELI PROCESNE ZRELOSTI U UNAPREĐNJU PROCESNE ORIJENTACIJE: STUDIJA SLUČAJA)

Zbornik Ekonomskog fakulteta u Zagrebu, 2018

ABSTRACT: Considering globalization effects and technology availability, a key difference among ... more ABSTRACT:
Considering globalization effects and technology availability, a key
difference among competitors is the way of organizing everyday business, where greater process orientation has been positively correlated with organizational success. There is a plethora of business process maturity models in the body of literature. However, a lack of theoretical representation, empirical evidence and validation of models is evident, alongside with restraint to solely measurement tool which prevents models’ application for rising in the scale of process orientation. Due to stated models’ limitations, practitioners are unable to fully benefit of scientific discoveries. Therefore, this paper evaluates process maturity model with biggest implications for future scientific research, as well as practice and afterwards, a case study methodology is employed to analyze process maturity in Croatian company. As a part of the case study, a measurement tool for defining maturity according to BPO model is tested and a BPO model modification is proposed. Lastly, but not less important, paper presents integration of maturity model with key success factors of business process management. Presented integration is proposed as a methodology for creating recommendations for business process orientation enhancement in companies.

SAŽETAK: U vrijeme globalizacije i dostupnosti tehnologije, ključnu razliku među konkurentima čini način organizacije posla, gdje veća procesna orijentacija ima pozitivne učinke na organizacijsku uspješnost. Literatura obiluje modelima procesne zrelosti. Međutim, mnogi od njih imaju slabu teorijsku reprezentaciju, empirijski su nepotkovani i nevalidirani te često neiskoristivi za povećanje procesne zrelosti budući da su ograničeni isključivo na mjerni alat. Navedena ograničenja poslovnoj praksi otežavaju implementaciju znanstvenih otkrića o procesnoj zrelosti. Predmetni rad stoga istražuje model procesne zrelosti s najvećim implikacijama za daljnja istraživanja i praksu te potom metodologijom studije slučaja ispituje procesnu zrelost hrvatskog poduzeća. U sklopu studije slučaja, testiran je alat za određivanje zrelosti po BPO modelu te je predložena modifikacija BPO modela. Također, rad integrira model procesne zrelosti s ključnim faktorima uspjeha upravljanja poslovnim procesima. Prikazana integracija se predlaže kao metodologija poduzećima u svrhu kreiranja preporuka za povećanje procesne orijentacije.

Mastering the Digital Transformation Process: Business Practices and Lessons Learned

by Lucija Ivančić and Vesna Bosilj Vukšić

Technology Innovation Management Review, 2019

Due to its unique features and accessibility, the focus of implementing digital technology is no ... more Due to its unique features and accessibility, the focus of implementing digital technology is no longer just to improve internal operations, but to expand internal dimensions, reach customers and external partners, affect services, integrate processes, disrupt markets, and fundamentally change industries. It is no surprise that the notion of digital transformation has garnered much research interest, especially from the practitioners’ point of view, but academic achievements are somehow lagging behind, possibly because frameworks for digital transformation are still evolving. In this article, we tried to address that gap by conducting holistic research of digital transformation in companies. We used a series of in-depth interviews to inform comprehensive case studies of three companies from different industries that are in different stages of digital transformation. We carefully investigated the companies’ experiences in the process of digital transformation, which are discussed here to provide valid theoretical framing. We conclude that, in addition to technology adoption, important factors for successful digital transformation are the ability of an organization to change and operational excellence in the integration of external digital services with internal IT support. In that light, we summarize our findings in a form of discovered (sub)dimensions that are the basis for the proposed digital transformation framing, while the narratives and case experiences provide with examples of best practice.