Process Management Self-Efficacy: Scale Development and Validation

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.