Running Head: BUSINESS PROCESS REENGINEERING 1

Going for Growth: Business Process Reengineering

Name

Institution
 BUSINESS PROCESS REENGINEERING 2

GOING FOR GROWTH: BUSINESS PROCESS ENGINEERING

I. REASONS FOR CHANGE

What was the main factor mentioned in the program that made it necessary for the

changes to be made? I.e. why did they need to change?

The main factor that made it necessary for the changes to be made was the liquidation crisis

which the company was going through. The company was in the edge of survival and had no

other option than to institute the changes.

What was the threat that was identified by the company?

The decline in sales revenues was the threat identified by the company. It was hurting the

company’s business.

What was the overall result of the changes on the economic situation of the company?

The changes resulted in an improvement in the company’s economic situation. There was a

considerable increase in sales returns.

Who made the decision that changes had to be made?

The decision that changes had to be made was made by Gerry Cole. He came to this decision

after conducting a critical analysis of the company’s progress.

What was the finding about the cost structure of the product that informed the

management on where the changes needed to occur?

The main finding was that the manufacturing costs were high and thus needed to be lowered

below the selling price of the company’s products.

When did the changes start?

The changes started after Gerry Cole came back from a course for business owners at

Harvard Business School.

 BUSINESS PROCESS REENGINEERING 3

What was the key objective that the company wanted to achieve through implementing

the changes?

The company wanted to increase its sales revenues while minimizing on the manufacturing

costs.

Did the company set out on the changes using a specific method of improvement?

Yes the company did set out to implement the changes using a specific method of

improvement.

Did they bring in external expertise such as consultants?

No, the company did not seek any external expertise to help with the change process.

II. SALES

How did the company operate before making the change?

Prior to making the change, the company mainly relied on manual processes that involved a

lot of paper work.

What was the problem with this way of working?

This way of working was actually very tiring to the sales personnel, and it wasted a lot of

time that could have been used to for other beneficial activities. Most of the time was wasted

handling a lot of paper work.

What were the key objectives and goals that the company wanted to achieve through

implementing the changes?

I believe the main objective the company was going for was ensuring that there was effective

time management. The company wanted more time to be allocated towards improving the

quality and efficiency of its services to its customers, and improving the sales of the

company.
 BUSINESS PROCESS REENGINEERING 4

How did the company operate after the changes?

The company started using an automated computer, and this made work easier for the sales

personnel. It allowed them to spend more time interacting with customers and even conduct

in-depth data analyses prior to tabling reports to the company’s management team.

What were the benefits of this new way of working to the salesman and to the

customer?

Automation brought in by the information system made salesmen to be faster, more efficient,

and it made their analytics more accurate. They also save a lot of time. Customers get to

experience better services from the salesmen.

How did the change happen?

The company adopted an automated information system that reduced the amount of work

done by the sales experts. Automation allowed sales people to interact more with the

customers and tend to their needs.

What problems if any did they encounter whilst making the changes?

The main problem encountered during the change process was gaining the confidence and

loyalty of the customers. They had to go an extra mile to assure customers of their

commitment to cater to what they wanted.

What was the role of disruptive technology in enabling the changes?

Disruptive technology gave the company the edge that it needed to improve on its existing

processes and operations. It allowed the company to explore new accounts that could

facilitate an expansion of the business.

Who was involved in making the changes happen?

The key people that were involved in the actual implementation of changes were the sales

force and the customers.

 BUSINESS PROCESS REENGINEERING 5

What were their roles?

The sales force are the ones who executed the change strategy and the customers provided

feedback on the same. The feedback obtained formed the basis for decision making for both

the company and the customers.

What emotional and psychological effects did the change have on the various people

involved – on the customers, on the sales force, anybody else?

The change relieved the sales personnel of the stress which they experienced prior when they

were handling the excess paper work. Their working environment had less strain. As for the

customers, they were happy with the improved services they received, and the increased

attention they got from the sales team.

What was the economical result of the changes?

The changes improved the company’s service delivery, and this attracted more customers.

More customers for the company translated into increased sales.

Was the change incremental or radical?

The change was radical.

How did the changes compare to BPR

The changes focused on restructuring and improving the sales and production process, and

this is in line with what business process reengineering.

How did the changes compare to TQM

Restructuring the production process and conducting other necessary procedures like staff

training was aimed at improving and managing the quality of the services they offer, is in line

with the principles of total quality management.

 BUSINESS PROCESS REENGINEERING 6

How did the changes compare to Lean

The changes made in the company were meant to minimise on any wastage that occurred in

the company. This is similar to what happens in Lean. Lean method systematically eliminate

waste in a production system.

III. SALES SUPPORT

How did the company operate before making the change?

Many of the activities involved in the sales section were being done manually and they took

up a lot of time, and there was poor coordination between the sales team and the

administrative team. .

What was the problem with this way of working?

Poor coordination resulted in wastage of resources and the company lost out on a lot of

opportunities to maximize on their sales strategies.

What was the key factor that the management realised about the relationship between

the salesmen and the rest of the organisation that influenced the nature of the changes

in the Administrative Support department?

There was a lack of accountability between the salesmen and the administrative support team.

This promoted inefficiency in some of the company’s critical processes.

What was the key objective that the company wanted to achieve through implementing

the changes?

The company wanted to improve the relationship between the administrative support team

and the sales team. This would improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the company’s

sales operations.

How did the company operate after the changes?

 BUSINESS PROCESS REENGINEERING 7

There were improved relations between the two groups. They management had found an

effective way of handling the voices of the two groups.

What were the benefits of this new way of working?

The new way of working improved the working relationship between the two teams.

How did the change happen?

Restructuring was done in all departments that were found to have problems.

What problems if any did they encounter whilst making the change?

There was resistance to the proposed changes. Not everyone was in favour of them.

What was the role of disruptive technology in enabling the changes?

Disruptive technology made it possible to incorporate technical elements into the

restructuring of the departments involved.

Who was involved in making the changes?

The sales personnel and the administrative team were the ones involved in making the

changes.

What were their roles?

The sales force interacted with the customers while the administrative support team managed

the placement of orders with the help of field data provided by the salesmen.

What emotional and psychological effects did the change have on the various people

involved? – on the customers, on the sales force, anybody else.

The improved cooperation enabled the sales force to run their operations more smoothly.

They experienced less stress and became more productive. Customers appreciated the

improved quality of service they experienced when interacting with the sales people.

Was the change incremental or radical?

The change was radical.

How did the changes compare to BPR

 BUSINESS PROCESS REENGINEERING 8

The changes were radical and were aimed at improving certain aspects of the company’s

business. This is similar to what occurs during business process reengineering

How did the changes compare to TQM?

The changes improved the quality of the services the customers received, thus being in line

with the principles of total quality management.

How did the changes compare to Lean?

Improved coordination meant that wastage of resources was minimized and there was no

unevenness in the distribution of workloads between the two groups, similar to what happens

in the lean method.

IV. MANUFACTURING

How did the company operate before making the changes?

The company was putting more focus on promoting the sale of its products instead of giving

attention to improving the manufacturing process.

What was the problem with this way of working?

Customers were not getting value for their money and they felt like their needs were not

being met.

What was the key objective that the company wanted to achieve through implementing

the changes?

The objective was to manufacture products that catered to the core needs of the customers.

Customers had to get value for their money.

How did the company operate after the changes?

The company increased its workforce, thus eliminating the unevenness in workload

distribution.

What were the benefits of this new way of working?

The new way of working resulted in improved efficiency of the manufacturing process.
 BUSINESS PROCESS REENGINEERING 9

How did the change happen?

Restructuring was done in the various departments.

What problems if any did they encounter whilst making the changes?

There was inadequate production, thus making the whole system inappropriate.

What was the role of disruptive technology in enabling the changes?

Disruptive technology reduced the costs of operation for the company in the manufacturing

process.

Who was involved in making the changes?

People involved in making the changes were the employees and their supervisors.

What were their roles?

Supervisors directed the employees on what to do and the employees executed the changes as

directed.

What emotional and psychological effects did the change have on the various people

involved? – on the workers, managers, anybody else.

The workers and managers worked under less stressful conditions, and this allowed them to

be more productive.

Was the change incremental or radical?

The change was radical.

How did the changes compare to BPR?

The changes occurred in line with what happens during Business Process Engineering.

How did the changes compare to TQM?

The changes implemented bordered on improving the quality of the business processes, thus

following the model for total quality management.

 BUSINESS PROCESS REENGINEERING 10

How did the changes compare to Lean?

Waste management was another aim for the changes, similar to the aim of the Lean method.

V. BPR Roles

Hammer and Champy define certain roles in reengineering e.g. Czar and Process

Owner. Who were the parties involved in the change and what roles did they

play?

Complete the following table

BPR Role Name / Names Observations – what you saw them

and Job Title do

Leader Anne Medina – Workers’  She had adequate control over

Committee Co-ordinator her team

 She has good leadership

qualities

Process Owner Mickey Zaldabar-  They had an in-depth

Manufacturing Director understanding of their

Chava Sanchez-Production respective fields.

Manager  They set and followed clear

rules and regulations

Reengineering Team Mickey Zaldabar-  They have great knowledge

Manufacturing Director and expertise required to

Chava Sanchez-Production oversee the reengineering

Manager process.

 They suggested and executed

 BUSINESS PROCESS REENGINEERING 11

change designs and processes.

Steering Committee Anne Medina – Workers’  They set the principles and

Committee Co-ordinator procedures which they

Perry Patton - Salesman followed to meet their goals.

Reengineering Czar Gerry Cole – The CEO  He was responsible for the

entire organization.

VI. From your observations above, form a reasoned argument and give your view on

the following question: - Did the company undergo Business Process

Reengineering as described by Hammer and Champy or did they change using

another methodology?

Business process reengineering is the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of a

business process so as to achieve a dramatic improvement in certain critical performance

measures like speed, quality, service, and cost. The changes instituted by the company were

purposed to achieve improvements in a number of critical performance measures which

included the company’s quality of services, wastage of resources, and minimizing costs of

production. The fact that the final processes were a complete redesign of what was previously

being done means that the change process qualifies to be a BPR process. The company

adopted an automated computer system which made work easier and was a complete

transition from the manual process. Customization of customer orders also marked a

complete reengineering of the previous process, and the same goes for the

departmentalization that was done in response to the internal conflicts that were being

witnessed.