Abstract Paper aims This study analyzes the comprehension of production engineering students about the influence of some key variables on the process performance measures in a service process. Originality This paper points out the need for educators to re-evaluate their approaches to teaching the Operations Management (OM) principles related to process flow measures. Research method This study used scenario-based role-playing experiments with 2×2×2 between-subject factorial design with three independent variables (variability of activities, capacity utilization, and resource pooling) and four dependent variables related to key internal process performance measures (Flow Time, Overall Quality of service, Quality of service employees, and Queue Size). The sample was composed of 178 undergraduate production engineering students from a large university in Brazil from various institution units. Main findings These results show that students perceived the use of resource pooling as an impactful practice. However, the students did not correctly identify the effects of increasing resource utilization and the variability on flow time and queue size when activities are pooled. Implications for theory and practice The teaching of basic concepts of OM requires the support of computational tools. Undergraduate courses that contemplate subjects in the field of OM should work more intensely on simulation-based learning.

Resumo Este artigo apresenta os resultados de um estudo cujo objetivo foi o de avaliar os efeitos da abordagem analítica e da gestão orientada para processos sobre o desempenho organizacional de pequenas e médias empresas brasileiras, bem como a importância do porte (tamanho da firma) como variável moderadora de tais efeitos. No trabalho de campo, foi realizado um survey com 469 empresas participantes de diferentes segmentos da economia industrial e de serviços do Brasil. O tratamento dos dados incluiu testes descritivos, de confiabilidade de escalas e a modelagem de equações estruturais. Uma parcela importante da variação do desempenho das empresas estudadas (47,50%) foi explicada pelos regressores do modelo estrutural. Os achados da pesquisa também evidenciaram diferenças estatisticamente significativas quando confrontados os resultados das médias e pequenas empresas da amostra, sugerindo que o porte pode ser um elemento mediador das relações investigadas, ampliando o potencial de futuras pesquisas sobre o tema.

Abstract The paper compiles the results of a study which addressed the effects of business process orientation and business analytics on the performance of small and medium companies in Brazil, as well as the importance of size as a moderator of these effects. A survey was conducted with 469 companies from various segments of Brazil’s industrial and services economies. Data analysis included descriptive analysis, reliability tests, and structural equation modeling. A significant portion of the companies’ performance variation (47.5%) was explained by the regressors of the structural model, and the findings also indicate significant statistical disparities between medium and small companies, suggesting size might be a moderator in the investigated relationships, reinforcing the potential for future research on the theme.

Este artigo compila os principais achados de uma pesquisa cujo objetivo foi o de investigar a natureza dos relacionamentos entre os construtos de orientação para processos de negócio (business process orientation - BPO), indicadores analíticos e desempenho competitivo de uma amostra de 368 empresas brasileiras, de grande e médio portes, atuantes em diferentes setores da indústria e de operações de serviços no âmbito da economia brasileira. Por meio de um survey, a pesquisa envolveu o teste de hipóteses e uso de técnicas de estatística bivariada e multivariada. Foram realizados testes para se mensurar a consistência interna das escalas do instrumento de pesquisa, bem como para se avaliar a composição estrutural do modelo, por meio da modelagem de equações estruturais. As escalas e o modelo foram validados. Os resultados apontam a importância estratégica dos fatores de BPO e de indicadores analíticos como preditores do desempenho competitivo das empresas. Por meio da equação estrutural do modelo, esses fatores preditores foram capazes de explicar 66,3% das variações do desempenho das empresas da amostra, sendo igualmente significativos os efeitos diretos (coeficientes de caminho) verificados entre os construtos da BPO, indicadores analíticos e desempenho.

This article compiles the main findings of a study that aimed to investigate the nature of the relationships between business process orientation (BPO) constructs, analytical indicators, and competitive performance from a sample of 368 large and midsized Brazilian companies that are present in different sectors of industry and services operations within the Brazilian economy. By means of a survey, this research involved the use of hypothesis testing and bivariate and multivariate statistical techniques. Tests were carried out to measure the internal consistency of the research tool scales as well as to assess the model structure using structural equation modeling. Both the scales and the model were validated. The results show the strategic importance of BPO factors and analytical indicators as predictors of competitive performance of companies. Through the structural equation model, these predictive factors explained 66.3% of the variation in performance of the companies in the sample, and the direct effects (path coefficients) found among BPO constructs, analytical indicators, and performance were also significant.