Process gatekeepers and compliance with enterprise processes

Purpose – Process gatekeepers, individuals responsible for strictly enforcing data completeness at critical points within a process, are often used to encourage compliance with processes associated with enterprise systems. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between process gatekeepers and process compliance. Design/methodology/approach – Through a mixed‐method approach of both qualitative and quantitative analyses of one firm's sales processes, the paper identifies and measures four key drivers of compliance with the work process: ease of use, perceived value, urgency, and gatekeeper flexibility. Findings – The paper finds that process context‐specific, gatekeeper‐related factors directly affect an individual's willingness to work within the bounds of prescribed processes. In particular, the paper finds evidence that gatekeeper flexibility appears to encourage process compliance. Research limitations/implications – These findings are limited in generalizability to a single organization, by potential instrument‐related biases, and by typical caveats associated with models derived from exploratory research. Practical implications – Implications include the motivation of the need for overall process compliance in realizing the benefits of an enterprise information system, as well as the counterintuitive notion that gatekeeper flexibility may be positively related to process compliance. Originality/value – This paper introduces the notion of process gatekeeper, devises a context‐specific measure of gatekeeper flexibility, and relates this notion to an overall model associated with process compliance in an enterprise system context.