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PurposeAttention 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/approachThe 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.FindingsThe 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/implicationsThe 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/valueSeveral 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.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to empirically evaluate business process orientation (BPO) of the Slovenian power supply business.Design/methodology/approachWithin the empirical investigation, the level of BPO maturity was measured in the 19 organizations of the power supply business. The survey was focused on the top, middle and lower managers. As a measuring instrument, a questionnaire for the extended concept of process orientation with nine elements was used.FindingsThe results of the BPO measurement show that, despite this long-standing preoccupation with processes, certified management system and the computerization of operations, process maturity is not high. Particularly the lowest score for information technology represents a surprise.Practical implicationsThis research makes significant contributions to the literature and above all to scholars and practitioners who work professionally in this field and will find useful guidance for a better understanding of applying BPO and maturity models.Social implicationsOne important reason for performing the maturity measurement in the power supply business is the importance of its activities for the operation and development and environmental impact of the whole of Slovenian society.Originality/valuePresented research is the first one which considers the BPO maturity in the Slovenian power supply business and therefore contributes to understanding of the "intangible factors" which have impact on the introduction of business process management and BPO.

PurposeThe presentation and validation of a checklist that can be used to determine an organization's process orientation prior to a business process management systems (BPMS) implementation. Its aim is to help predict the success of BPMS implementation on the basis of the identified process awareness within an organization.Design/methodology/approachThe checklist has been developed on the basis of relevant literature and augmented with practical experience from staff of one of the world's largest BPM system vendors. The study of three BPM System implementations at different client sites have been used to validate the checklist.FindingsThe study suggests that a lack of process orientation may be related to all kinds of problems that affect the speed and cost of a BPMS implementation. The checklist seems useful to predict those problems at sites where process orientation is insufficient.Research limitations/implicationsThe number of cases used (3) is quite small. Furthermore, the retrospective assessment of the situation prior to BPM system implementation limits the reliability of the findings. Current results seem a good basis for further refinement and validation.Practical implicationsA very practical, easy to use instrument that can directly be applied by organizations that are expected to be involved in multiple BPM system implementations (e.g. large banks, consultancies, system integrators, etc.).Originality/valueThis paper presents an instrument that does not yet exist to measure a relation often hypothesized upon in existing research.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to carry out a literature review of studies that have analyzed the effects of process orientation (PO).Design/methodology/approachAn examination of the literature is undertaken to review studies that report about the influence of PO on organizational performance. Studies are classified into statements without straight empirical support, quantitative studies, and case studies.FindingsA total of 26 studies are identified that report about effects of PO on organizational performance. Studies where positive effects are obtained are predominant. The effects most often reported are speed improvements, increase of customer satisfaction, improvement of quality, reduction of cost, and improvement of financial performance.Research limitations/implicationsAccording to the results of the paper, positive effects of PO are clearly more often reported than negative effects. It might be the case that popular press and case studies tend to report positive effects more often than no (or negative) effects. This possible bias towards positive effects is an important limitation of this paper. The paper identifies a lack of quantitative studies investigating the effects of PO on organizational performance.Practical implicationsThe paper offers interesting implications for managers, pointing out that a process‐oriented organizational design may result in a positive influence on organizational performance.Originality/valueThe findings are derived from a comprehensive literature review of studies that have investigated the PO‐organizational performance link. In addition, ideas for improving future research in this field are provided.

The design process determines not only whether a product can be successfully developed but also the sequence of design tasks of designers as well as the resource inputs and design outputs of a company directly. Nonetheless, designers are often unaware of the importance of legal protection of design during the design process, and consequently, the infringement of the intellectual property of others is often unrealized until the mass production stage. In the study, the researchers used design process theory modeling and practical design processes to draw out a standard product design process and to determine the check points of intellectual property rights of design process orientation (DPO) and law object orientation (LOO). DPO, on the one hand, is design process based and allows companies to search for legal protection and suggestions according to a specific design process. LOO, on the other hand, is law object based and allows companies to quickly identify the required intellectual property laws and design knowledge protection suggestions. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the ways in which various dimensions of supply chain performance (SCP) can be improved through increased levels of process orientation across different core operational processes. This study aims to provide simple guidelines which are practical for business managers.


Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual model was developed based on the literature review and it was tested using an empirical study. Various factor analysis techniques are used to construct different components of the research model and test the hypotheses.


Findings
This study provides two main categories of findings. First, based on the exploratory analysis several constructs were developed. Second, using structural equation modeling the relationships among the constructs were examined. The findings suggest that managers need to take a targeted approach in increasing the levels of process orientation in order to achieve particular SCP goals.


Research limitations/implications
The result of this study is not indented to be generalized to all businesses; however, the methodology is flexible enough to be utilized in different industries and business scenarios.


Practical implications
The present study provides specific recommendations for business managers seeking to enhance various aspects of their organizational SCP. The research model can be used for future empirical as well as case studies.


Originality/value
This is the first comprehensive empirical study that separately measures business process orientation with respect to four core supply chain processes (planning, sourcing, making, and delivering) and assesses the impact of each core process on various dimensions of supply chain performance.

Purpose
Past research examining Business Process Management (BPM) mainly focussed on either process alignment, business process orientation (BPO) or process improvement initiative (PII) constructs. However, based on the definition of BPM by Zairi (1997) and Lee and Dale (1998), BPM comprises all the elements of process alignment, BPO and PII. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to present a total view of measuring BPM through combining BPO and PIIs.


Design/methodology/approach
Quantitative research technique was applied for this study. The study was carried out in Malaysia. Close-ended survey instrument was administered to a large number of organisations.


Findings
The findings revealed that the elements of BPM cover both process management as well as process improvements.


Originality/value
The findings from this study is important for practitioners to regard continuous improvement as a component of BPM practice.

PurposeOver the years, several business process management maturity models (BPM-MMs) have been proposed. Despite great advances, some issues concerning the effectiveness of their practical functionality still need to be addressed. These are related to three important aspects of BPM maturity assessment and improvement: their mechanisms for evaluating maturity (clarity, availability and accuracy), their flexibility (compliance) and their structure (path to maturity). The main goal with this article is to address such issues by introducing a new concept to evaluate and improve BPM maturity.Design/methodology/approachThe authors proceed in accordance with a design science research (DSR) integrating multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) with intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IFSs).FindingsThe authors' proposal provides a practical BPM maturity framework and its assessment procedure to support organizations to determine and improve their initiatives appropriately, which means that it fully or partially addresses all the issues raised. To demonstrate the applicability of this framework, a real application was conducted, and a parallel between existing BPM-MMs is presented to emphasize its advances.Originality/valueIt is the first time that the MCDM approach has been used to support BPM maturity assessment. This approach not only takes into account the uncertainties and subjectivities inherent to this type of decision problem but also allows it to be treated quantitatively, thus making it possible to obtain more accurate results even with less experienced teams.

Purpose
– Process orientation, which involves managing organizations based on horizontal end-to-end processes, has been shown to increase the quality of products/services, decrease costs, and make business functions faster and more reliable. However, current process orientation methods are radical and destructive, leading to failure in most cases. The purpose of this paper is to present a non-destructive method of implementation.


Design/methodology/approach
– Supporting by literature review and two case studies, this paper presents a new process orientation methodology named as Business Process Rearrangement and Renaming (BPR2).


Findings
– The existing process management methodologies mostly aim to provide a comprehensive view on all of the main activities involved in process management and strategic alignment, with insignificant focus on mitigating the risk of failure in their redesign stage. In contrast, every step in the methodology presented in this paper, including the design phase, aim to reduce the risk of failure.


Practical implications
– Name is the most communicated characteristic of a department; however, this most communicated characteristic of the departments has always been the most neglected characteristic as well. For the first time in the literature, this paper provides a description on how to use the power of departmental names to promote the main customer values expected from each department.


Originality/value
– Added to a detailed guideline on the new process design and process names, this paper presents a new marketing mix model with a process-oriented delegation of authority view, which may be of interest to the marketing researchers and practitioners.