Conceptualizing and measuring variety in the execution of organizational work processes

Variability in organizational work processes is believed to influence productivity, quality, flexibility, and a host of other aspects of organizational design and management, but this construct has never been clearly conceptualized and measured. This paper introduces the concept of sequential variety, which accounts for variability in the sequence of events or actions that make up a process. This paper also proposes and compares three measures of sequential variety in organizational processes: Average distance (based on optimal string matching), algorithmic complexity, and deviation from uniform, random Markov. These measures are compared and validated using a simulated data set that embodies the range of variation likely to be encountered in empirical studies. All three measures correlate well and provide useful indicators of sequential variety, but the measures based on optimal string matching and deviation from the uniform, random Markov seem likely to be more useful in various potential applications.