Beyond process management exploring organizational applications and complex adaptive systems

Abstract: The shift into the 21st century has been dominated by the development of information technology, affecting the way we communicate and the conditions for organizations. New forms of organizing emerge as a response to these changing conditions. Still, it seems that modern management has not changed accordingly The purpose of the thesis is to contribute to the development of understanding and metaphors for management of the forms of organizing that is evolving as a response to changing conditions, for example an increased demand for efficiency, flexibility and innovation. The purpose is divided in two aims; (1) to explore and describe organizational implications of process management, and (2) to explore and describe the concept of complex adaptive systems from a perspective of managing organizations. The theoretical frame of reference has been concentrated on the development of quality management, descriptions and definitions of process management and CAS as metaphors for managing organizations. Six papers areappended to the thesis, based on four case studies and a literature review. The seven organizations in Study 1 had in a previous study claimed they were actively working with process management. The selection in Study 2 was made of three organizations that were successful in their quality efforts. The two last case studies explore successful, deviating organizations; Agria Pet Insurance in Study 3, two-time recipient of the Swedish Quality Award ; and the education system of Nacka municipality, in Study 6, who have received several instances of national recognition of their results. The conclusions include that there are currently no widespread and well established definitions of process management, but two different movements have been identified and described. The transformation from a functionally-oriented to a process-oriented organization is described as resulting in a matrix structure with both a functional and process perspective, creating constructive dynamics. An implication of the results is that organizational complexity is often increased rather than reduced when introducing process management. The possibilities of using knowledge of complex adaptive systems (CAS) to develop metaphors for managing organizations are presented and discussed. Properties of and approaches for managing organizations as CAS are identified and described. Finally, a tentative conceptual model for managing organizations as CAS is presented.