Business Process Reengineering

Business Process Reengineering (BPR) Reengineering is the fundamental rethinking and redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service and speed. (Hammer & Champy, 1993)

What is a Process?
A specific ordering of work activities across time and space, with a beginning, an end, and clearly identified inputs and outputs: a structure for action. (Davenport, 1993) A collection of activities that take one or more inputs and turn that into a product that adds value to a customer

What is a Business Process?

A group of logically related tasks that use the firm's resources to provide customer-oriented results in support of the organization's objectives

What is Reengineering?
Some common descriptions about what it is and what it is not throwing aside old systems and starting over not thinking with what already exists not a patchwork fix means asking if I were re-creating this organization today, given what I know and given the current technology, what would it look like?

going back to the beginning and inventing a better

way of doing work

Why Reengineer?

Customers Demanding Sophistication Changing Needs Competition Local Global Change Technology Customer Preferences

Why Organizations Dont Reengineer?

Complacency Political Resistance New Developments

Fear of Unknown and Failure

Performance

BPR seeks improvements of

Cost Quality Service Speed

Key Characteristics
Systems Philosophy Global Perspective on Business Processes Drastic Improvement Integrated Change People Centred Focus on End-Customers Process-Based

PROCESS REENGINEERING VS PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

IMPROVEMENT

REENGINEERING Radical Clean slate One-time long-term top-down

Level of change Starting point Frequency of change Time required Participation

Incremental Existing process Continuous short-term bottom-up

Typical scope
Risk Primary enabler Type of change

Narrow
Moderate Statistical control cultural

Broad
High IT

cultural/structural

410

BPR Cycle

Implementing a BPR Strategy Key Steps

Select The Process & Appoint Process Team
Understand The Current Process Develop & Communicate Vision Of Improved Process Identify Action Plan Execute Plan

Common Problems in BPR

Process Simplification is Common - True BPR is Not Desire to Change Not Strong Enough Start Point the Existing Process Not a Blank Slate Process under review too big or too small Confidence on existing process too strong The Costs of the Change Seem Too Large BPR Isolated Activity not Aligned to the Business Objectives Allocation of Resources Poor Timing and Planning Keeping the Team and Organization on Target

How to Avoid BPR Failure

To avoid failure of the BPR process it is recommended that:

BPR must be accompanied by strategic planning, which addresses leveraging Information technology as a competitive tool. Place the customer at the centre of the reengineering effort, concentrate on reengineering fragmented processes that lead to delays or other negative impacts on customer service. BPR must be "owned" throughout the organization, not driven by a group of outside consultants. Case teams must be comprised of both managers as well as those who will actually do the work.

How to Avoid BPR Failure

The Information technology group should be an integral part of the reengineering team from the start. BPR must be sponsored by top executives, who are not about to leave or retire. BPR projects must have a timetable, ideally between three to six months, so that the organization is not in a state of "limbo". BPR must not ignore corporate culture and must emphasize constant communication and feedback.