Among Fumblers, Talkers, Mappers and Organisers: four applications of process orientation

Abstract

The study describes different applications of process orientation and associates the applications with organisational performance and inhibiting factors. The objective of the study is to analyse potential differences between the various applications of process orientation and thus to empirically validate what organisations actually do when managing their processes. The article uses survey data from 183 employees of various healthcare facilities in one region in Sweden. Four significantly different user groups of process orientation existed in the studied population. These were Fumblers, Talkers, Mappers and Organisers. The Organisers perceived the greatest effect on organisational performance, slightly greater than the Talkers. The Mappers perceived a significantly lower effect. The results also show that the perceived resistance from inhibiting aspects decreases the more visible and structural the application of the process orientation is, i.e. Mappers and Organisers. The linguistic and cognitive approach that the Talkers have taken has been perceived as fruitful in terms of organisational performance. We argue that the suggested classification of process orientation contributes to a better understanding among practitioners by showing that different applications of process orientation exist and by showing what effects can be expected from these applications. By not seeing process orientation as one single idea or application, it is our intention that this study contribute to a broader view of process orientation.

Keywords:

• process orientation
• organisational performance
• healthcare
• cluster analysis
• Sweden

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank associate professor Rickard Garvare at Luleå University of Technology for giving the paper a critical reading and for giving us valuable comments and suggestions that improved the article.