Organization Theory · 2020
How can one organizational process contain many possible ways of getting work done, and why does this matter for organizational change, flexibility, and resilience?
Pentland, B. T., Mahringer, C. A., Dittrich, K., Feldman, M. S., & Ryan Wolf, J. (2020). Process multiplicity and process dynamics: Weaving the space of possible paths. Organization Theory, 1(3), 1–21. 10.1177/2631787720963138
Organizational processes are often represented as if they followed one sequence of steps: a patient checks in, receives treatment, and checks out; an order is received, processed, and delivered. In practice, however, the same process can unfold in many different ways. Workarounds, exceptions, alternative sequences, and different combinations of actions create a much larger set of possibilities than a conventional process map usually shows.
The paper develops the concept of process multiplicity to make this variation theoretically and empirically visible. It defines a process as a duality of “one” and “many”: one recognizable organizational process can encompass many possible paths through which the work could unfold. This shifts attention from the process as a fixed sequence toward the complete space of possible ways of getting something done.
The paper asks: What is process multiplicity, how can it be operationalized in empirical research, how can a process be interpreted as a space of possible paths, and how does multiplicity relate to process dynamics?
This is a theory article that also demonstrates how process multiplicity can be operationalized empirically. The paper uses narrative networks to represent sequential relations between actions and illustrates the approach with data from an outpatient dermatology clinic. Combining the perspectives of office staff, nurses, residents, and physicians revealed a process with many possible paths from check-in to check-out. The example shows why examining only typical or observed performances can radically understate the possibilities contained in an organizational process.
In research on process organization studies, the concept of multiplicity is widely used, but a fundamental confusion about what process multiplicity means persists. As a result, we miss some of the potential of this concept for understanding process dynamics and process change. In this paper, we define process multiplicity as a duality of ‘one’ and ‘many’, and we conceptualize ‘the many’ as a space of possible paths encompassed by a process. We use the notion of paths to operationalize process multiplicity and make it accessible for empirical research. When we see process as a multiplicity, process change can be understood as expanding, shifting or contracting the space of possible paths. We suggest that this concept of process multiplicity also has implications for a range of other theoretical and practical topics, including standards, standardization and flexibility as well as process replication, management and resilience.
The paper provides a way to see organizational processes as spaces of possibilities rather than as single fixed sequences.
A process can be recognized as one organizational process while still encompassing many possible paths. Each actual performance enacts one path, but the process as a whole contains a wider space of ways in which actions could be sequentially combined.
Change can be understood as an expansion, contraction, or replacement of possible paths. Small changes in actions or their sequential relations can cascade through a process and create large changes in what becomes possible, even when only a few new performances have actually occurred.
Focusing only on dominant or probable process variants can hide important possibilities. Rare paths and paths not yet taken can help organizations reimagine a process, create alternatives for change, and prepare for unexpected sequences of events that matter for flexibility and resilience.
Process multiplicity provides a relational way to connect process theory with organizational change, standardization, flexibility, process replication, process management, and resilience. It makes the “many” within a process empirically accessible by shifting the unit of attention from individual performances to the wider network of sequential relations among actions.
This also changes how process dynamics can be theorized. Researchers can examine whether the space of possible paths expands, contracts, or shifts over time and compare the size and structure of these spaces across processes, organizations, and periods of change.
Conventional process maps are useful summaries, but they can create the impression that work follows one dominant sequence. Managers redesigning processes should also ask what alternative paths already exist, which possibilities are disappearing, and which new paths are being created through workarounds, technologies, or changes in rules.
Seeing the space of possible paths can support process redesign without equating improvement with strict conformance. Depending on the organizational problem, managers may want to contract possibilities to increase standardization, expand them to create flexibility, or preserve rare paths because they may become crucial when unexpected situations arise.
