Process orientation: conceptualization and measurement

Abstract

Purpose -Attention to processes has increased, as thousands of firms have adopted the process view of their organization. Process orientation (PO) means focusing on business processes rather than emphasizing functional structure or hierarchy. Despite the huge growth in the business process management literature, a methodological gap still remains about a certain ambiguity in the definition of the construct specifying its theoretical domain and dimensionalization. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the literature on PO through the creation and validation of a model to measure the key dimensions of the PO construct. Design/methodology/approach -The authors derive from literature several dimensions which shape the concept of PO. In a second step, the study includes factor analysis on a sample of 152 Austrian manufacturing companies to verify that the model is empirical valid. Findings -The paper provides insight in the concept of PO. It concludes that PO is a multidimensional construct, consisting of the following dimensions: design and documentation of business processes; management commitment towards PO; the process owner role; process performance measurement; a corporate culture in line with the process approach; application of continuous process improvement methodologies; and process-oriented organizational structure.Research limitations/implications -The sample used in this work only included Austrian firms operating in manufacturing industry. Generalizability of the findings to other industries or other countries is open to scrutiny. Originality/value -Several studies into process management use proxy variables as an indicator for PO (e.g. ISO 9000 certification). Other studies treat the construct as a unidimensional measure. However, unidimensional measures meet with increasing criticism, as they turn out to be insufficient to capture the richness of such a complex construct. This paper attempts to rectify the content deficiencies in the literature on the construct by specifying its theoretical domain and dimensionalization.

Business process management in Czech higher education

“…Process orientation can be conceptualized to a design and documentation of processes, management commitment, process owner role, process performance measurement, aligned corporate culture, application of continuous improvement and process-oriented organization structure (Kohlbacher and Gruenwald, 2011). The cultural aspects supporting process approach were presented by Schmiedel, Brocke and Recker (2013).…”

Evaluation of process performance in companies operating in Slovakia

“…Particularly, application of balanced scorecard made significant movement in performance management, as companies adopt a balanced set of measures and interconnect performance indicators with strategy and its implementation. Nowadays, there is also a movement in performance management towards process orientation and performance based on processes in the concept of process performance management (Blasini & Leist, 2013;Kohlbacher & Gruenwald, 2011;Muschick, 2011). In this case, performance management is based on performance evaluation of all processes in the organisation and on application of business process management.…”

“…If the organisation wants to apply a process approach in the management, it should implement the following seven components of business process orientation (Kohlbacher & Gruenwald, 2011;Papulova et al, 2014):…”

Impact of Organizational Culture on Business Process Performance: An Investigation in the Financial Services Industry

“…In literature we find a broad consensus that cultural aspects are a key factor for the success or failure of BPM projects [6]. Consequently, the successful implementation of BPM in an organization assuring a high level of process performance has to match with an appropriate culture [7].…”