Process Management Self-Efficacy: Scale Development and Validation

• Published in: Journal of business and psychology Vol. 37; no. 2; pp. 339 - 352
• Main Authors: Jawahar, I. M., Mohammed, Zach J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.04.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Behavioral Science and Psychology; Business and Management; Community and Environmental Psychology; Industrial and Organizational Psychology; Job performance; Managers; Original Paper; Personality and Social Psychology; Process planning; Psychology; Self-efficacy; Social Sciences; Task performance; Scale development; Scale validation; Self-efficacy; Contextual performance; Process management
• ISSN: 0889-3268; 1573-353X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10869-021-09749-0

Managers, responsible for the work of others, are crucial for organizational success. A key function of managers is coordination and management of process(es) to ensure task completion (Bounty & Drucker-Godard in Human Relations , 72(3), 565-587, 2019 ; Mintzberg, 2009 ). Self-efficacy beliefs related to process management are likely to predict how well an individual manages processes. Thus, process management self-efficacy beliefs are crucial to managerial performance and, consequently, to organizational success. The lack of a scale to measure process management self-efficacy is a significant oversight, which this study attempts to remedy. In study 1, using data from four separate samples, we developed a process management self-efficacy scale (PMSES). To provide preliminary evidence of construct validity, we conducted studies 2 and 3. Using data collected from managers, their supervisors, and co-workers, results of study 2 indicated that managers’ process management self-efficacy was related to task performance evaluated by their superiors and to contextual performance rated by their co-workers. In addition, process management self-efficacy predicted additional variance in task and contextual performance, beyond a measure of generalized self-efficacy. In study 3, managers’ process management self-efficacy beliefs were related to their subordinates’ performance. We discuss implications for theory, research, and practice.