PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to define the strategic processes or processes with strategic nature of investment companies (ICs). This goal is achieved by proposing a methodology for selecting strategic processes among the processes of ICs based on the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) framework and the statistical analysis.Design/methodology/approachTen leading Iranian Investment Companies (ICs) were selected whose processes represented those in the field. Through administration of a questionnaire, the processes under study were ranked based on their degree of contribution to the IC's strategy.FindingsThis paper defines the common ICs' processes based on surveying the literature review. By using the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) framework, ICs are able to define the processes which are critical in achieving organizations' objectives. These processes are ranked based on company strategy using a statistical survey which finally leads to defining strategic processes. Determining strategic processes in business process reengineering (BPR) is of great importance owing to time and budget limitations.Research limitations/implicationsThis research is based on multi case studies. It therefore has its limitations which should be taken into consideration in interpreting and/or generalizing the results obtained from the study. The paper is partially based on previous findings of a literature review. Furthermore, the strategy considered in this study is a competitive one and the strategic processes are chosen according to this strategy which can be changeable. In interpreting the result, these limitations should be kept in mind.Originality/valueDefining the strategic processes for ICs helps them to allocate their resources to the processes which directly contribute to the company's strategic goal. This paper builds a portfolio of ICs' processes highly related to organization strategic goals. Therefore, these processes are the appropriate candidate in BPR project investment.

Holding companies (HCs)