Discovering process management: One of the least understood concepts in operations management

Organizations increasingly adopt process management practices to remain competitive. Much of the practitioner literature touts the benefits of process management and its impact on operational performance. However, empirical evidence in academic literature is mixed, and some researchers and practitioners question the positive impact of process management on innovation performance. These conflicts deserve further investigation.;In most extant literature on process management, organizational context has not been taken into consideration. The goal of this dissertation is to examine process management and the contextual factors that influence its relationship with performance. This dissertation is organized in three complementary essays that focus on exploring the paradoxes associated with process management and the relationships with internal and external organizational contextual variables. A multi-industry, multi-country data set, collected as part of Round 3 of the High Performance Manufacturing study, is used to test the frameworks developed in each essay.;Process management is a core concept in operations management, but past research has used a number of different and incomplete measures of process management. A part of the paradox arising from research on process management can be attributed to these vague conceptual definitions and inconsistent measures. The first essay of this work examines an alternate, more complete perspective on measuring process management. I propose that process management consists of three distinct elements: process design, process control, and process improvement. Using a scale development methodology, reliable and valid measurement scales are obtained for all three dimensions.;The second essay examines an aspect of the internal organization context. Companies often overlook the need to create a supportive culture for process management practices. This study presents a theoretical model to examine the relationship between organizational culture, process management, and operational performance using the perspective of process management from the first essay. Organizational culture is operationalized using the four cultural quadrants of the Competing Values Framework. The model is then tested using structural equation modeling. The results indicate that there are different enabling cultural dimensions for each dimension of process management and that process design is the only aspect of process management that differentiates high performing plants on multiple dimensions of competitive plant performance.;The third essay investigates the role of the external environment on the effectiveness of process management. The conceptual model developed in this essay is based on contingency theory. Using organizational learning literature, the three dimensions of process management are linked to innovation and efficiency performance. Additionally, I propose in the final essay that the degree of competitive intensity experienced by the plant moderates the relationships between process management and innovation and efficiency performance. The findings of this study are mixed. The influence of process design on performance is not dependent on competitive intensity; however, the impact of process improvement and process control on performance are in some instances moderated by competitive intensity.;Overall, empirically defining and measuring process management as three related constructs (process design, process control, and process improvement) provides new insights into its effect on performance. Additionally, examining internal and external organizational environments helps resolve conflicts associated with process management. This dissertation confirms that the organizational context must be considered when studying the effectiveness of process management.