A Systematic Literature Review on Business Cases: Structuring the Study Field and Defining Future Research Dimensions Kim Maes, Wim van Grembergen, Steven De Haes University of Antwerp, Antwerp Management School, Antwerp, Belgium kim.maes@ams.ac.be wim.vangrembergen@ua.ac.be steven.dehaes@ua.ac.be Abstract Many organisations perceive business cases as a valuable instrument for the justification and evaluation of information technology (IT) investments. This attention from practice has been ascertained by academic scholars resulting in a growing number of publications in both top academic and practitioner journals since 1999. However, most researchers only mention some aspect of a business case somewhere in the course of their article and few include the business case concept in their main research scope. As a result, much knowledge on business case research is scattered throughout literature and a clear definition of what actually constitutes a business case is still missing. The fact that the study field on business cases is emerging stimulates misunderstanding and may cause discouragement for future research endeavours. Therefore, the present paper aims to understand and integrate the current state of research on business cases in an attempt to realise two objectives with clear contributions. First, we tackle the problem of scattered knowledge by organising fragmented knowledge into a newly developed Business Case Research Framework that clearly structures the study field into six dimensions. Second, we identify what constitutes the business case concept and provide a clear definition to resolve the misunderstanding among scholars. Based on the literature findings, we share interesting observations suggesting promising opportunities for future research. A systematic literature review methodology is performed in a selection of top academic and practitioner journals. KEYWORDS: Business case, Framework development, Systematic Literature Review, Concept definition, Future Research 1. Introduction According to both business and information systems (IS) researchers, a business case can help to evaluate an investment endeavour before large resources are invested (Erat and Kavadias 2008; Kohli and Devaraj 2004). Since the turn of the century, a growing number of scholars are becoming more interested in the topic of business cases. Figure 1 provides a year-by-year overview of the number of articles mentioning business case, which are published in a selection of top academic and practitioner journals. Since 1999, a noticeable increase can be ascertained in both journal types. Some of these publications have business case within the scope of their research or address considerable attention to the subject (e.g. Franken, Edwards and Lambert 2009; Krell and Matook 2009; Ward, Daniel and Peppard 2008). Most however, mention some aspect of a business case in the course of their article such as its importance, its purpose, its content or who is involved in its development without further elaboration on the business case concept (e.g. Hsiao 2008; Lin and Pervan 2003). Hence, much knowledge on business case research is scattered throughout literature. Only a handful of scholars provide some definition on what constitutes a business case, but a clear definition is still missing. For instance, a business case is more than just “a formal summary of benefits that a firm anticipates from an IS investment” (Krell and Matook 2009). Post (1992) was among the first calling for additional research on business cases in order to develop a deeper understanding of their impact. Yet, so far few have answered this call to focus on business cases within their research. The lack of a clear definition and the fragmentation of knowledge may stimulate misunderstanding and consequently discourage further research. The present paper addresses the call for additional research, as business cases are an important instrument in value creation through (IT) investments. As a result, we want to understand, accumulate and integrate the current state of research on business cases. This fragmented knowledge is organised into a newly developed Business Case Research Framework that clearly structures the study field. An improved definition on what constitutes a business case is proposed. Interesting observations suggesting promising future research opportunities are shared as well. By doing so, the systematic literature review contributes in two ways (Webster and Watson 2002). First, it shows that little research has substantially