Maturity model

A maturity model is a framework for measuring an organization's maturity, or that of a business function within an organization,Capita, [https://www.capita.com/procurement-maturity-assessment How mature is your procurement function?], published 2 February 2021, accessed 26 August 2023 with maturity being defined as a measurement of the ability of an organization for continuous improvement in a particular discipline (as defined in O-ISM3 {{Dubious |Definition of maturity not found in source | date=July 2017}}).{{cite web|last=Aceituno|first=Vicente|title=Open Information Security Maturity Model|url=http://www.ism3.com/node/39|access-date=12 February 2017}} The higher the maturity, the higher will be the chances that incidents or errors will lead to improvements either in the quality or in the use of the resources of the discipline as implemented by the organization.

Most maturity models assess qualitatively people/culture, processes/structures, and objects/technology.{{cite journal |vauthors=Mettler T |title=Maturity assessment models: a design science research approach |journal=International Journal of Society Systems Science |volume=3 |issue=1/2 |pages=213–222 |year=2011 |doi=10.1504/IJSSS.2011.038934|url=https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/214426/1/IJSSS0301-0205%2520METTLER.pdf }}

Two approaches to implementing maturity models exist. With a top-down approach, such as proposed by Becker et al.,Becker, J., Knackstedt, R., Pöppelbuß, J. (2009) [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12599-009-0044-5 Developing Maturity Models for IT Management – A Procedure Model and its Application]. Business & Information Systems Engineering 1(3), 213-222 a fixed number of maturity stages or levels is specified first and further corroborated with characteristics (typically in form of specific assessment items) that support the initial assumptions about how maturity evolves. When using a bottom-up approach, such as suggested by Lahrmann et al.,{{cite book |vauthors=Lahrmann G, Marx F, Mettler T, Winter R, Wortmann F |title=Service-Oriented Perspectives in Design Science Research |volume=6629 |publisher=Springer |pages=176–191 |chapter=Inductive Design of Maturity Models: Applying the Rasch Algorithm for Design Science Research |doi=10.1007/978-3-642-20633-7_13|series=Lecture Notes in Computer Science |year=2011 |isbn=978-3-642-20632-0 }} distinct characteristics or assessment items are determined first and clustered in a second step into maturity levels to induce a more general view of the different steps of maturity evolution.