The culture of paper in a business today is still considered important. It provides a means of support and evidence for activities that are carried out in a process. Any migration to an automated BPM system needs to consider how to change the culture of paper that most of the process actors will have grown accustomed to. In many cases, paper will have become a necessary part of the control processes in the organization. However, the integrity and reliability of the information are aspects that must be managed by the BPM system and the designer of the process.

In a non automated process, the paper trail serves as the de facto audit trail of the process. However, often, the use of paper is unnecessary in the flow of activities. The process actors are simply accustomed to the use of paper, without taking into account the costs involved for the business. So, in order to make a change, we need to change the perspective of the user who is stuck in his “culture of paper”. This change of attitude should be considered an important pillar for successful process automation.

When the business process designer wants to implement an automated process, they should not plan on maintaining the same quantity of generated paper. If they do, then they are not thinking correctly about the benefits that BPM can provide. One of the more obvious advantages of BPM should be a reduction in paper forms in favour of electronic forms. An electronic form has a number of benefits over paper forms. One of the most basic advantages is the ability to perform validation checks on data entered which in turn allows for automatic routing and flow decisions.

The change from paper to paperless will place some stress on an organization. As a result, it is essential to have a commitment from Management to the process. And this commitment must be communicated to the process actors.

According to the aspects mentioned above, processes automation can be regarded as a change to the organizational culture. This has been defined as “a certain sum of values and norms that are shared by individuals and groups in an organization and that control the way they interact with each other and with the organizational environment. The organizational values are beliefs and ideas about the type of goals and how appropriate they should achieve. The values of the organization develop standards, guidelines and expectations that determine an appropriate behaviour of the employees in particular situations and control the behaviour of organizational members to one another “(Hill and Jones, 2001). The organizational change is required to turn the organization into a competitive organization and involves the adoption of tools such as a BPM tool.

Organizational culture should not be overlooked when considering the challenges of moving towards a paperless or more automated business.  Although the productivity gains can be huge, there needs to be a serious commitment from management in order to