BUSINESS PROCESS
REENGINEERING
by
Dr. Ayman Omar
DEFINITION
Hammer and Champy (1993) define BPR
as "... the fundamental rethinking and
radical redesign of business processes to
achieve dramatic improvements in critical
contemporary measures of performance,
such as cost, quality, service, and speed."
DEFINITION
Thomas Davenport (1993), another well-
known BPR theorist, uses the term
process innovation, which he says
”encompasses the envisioning of new
work strategies, the actual process design
activity, and the implementation of the
change in all its complex technological,
human, and organizational dimensions”.
DEFINITION
Finally, Johansson et al. (1993) provide a description of
BPR relative to other process-oriented views, such as
Total Quality Management (TQM) and Just-in-time (JIT),
and state: "Business Process Reengineering, although a
close relative, seeks radical rather than merely
continuous improvement. It escalates the efforts of JIT
and TQM to make process orientation a strategic tool
and a core competence of the organization. BPR
concentrates on core business processes, and uses the
specific techniques within the JIT and TQM ”toolboxes”
as enablers, while broadening the process vision."
DEFINITION
BPR derives its existence from different
disciplines, and four major areas can be
identified as being subjected to change in
BPR
organization
technology
strategy
people
WHY REENGINEERING?
Customers
Demanding
Sophistication
Changing Needs
Competition
Local
Global
WHY REENGINEERING?
Change
Technology
Customer Preferences
WHY REENGINEERING?
Complacency
Resistance
New Developments
Fear of Failure
WHAT DOES IT SEEK?
BPR seeks
Cost
Quality
Service
Speed, improvements
The role of information technology
Information technology (IT) plays an
important role in the reengineering
concept
It is considered as a major enabler for new
forms of working and collaborating within
an organization and across organizational
borders.
The role of information technology
Shared databases, making information available at many places
Expert systems, allowing generalists to perform specialist tasks
Telecommunication networks, allowing organizations to be
centralized and decentralized at the same time
Decision-support tools, allowing decision-making to be a part of
everybody's job
Wirelss data communication and portable computers, allowing field
personnel to work office independent
Interactive videodisk, to get in immediate contact with potential
buyers
Automatic identification and tracking, allowing things to tell where
they are, instead of requiring to be found
High performance computing, allowing on-the-fly planning and
revisioning
Key Steps
Select The Process & Appoint Process Team
Understand The Current Process
Develop & Communicate Vision Of Improved Process
Identify Action Plan
Execute Plan
Select the Process & Appoint
Team
Two Important Tasks
Select the process to be reengineered
Appoint a process team
Select the Process
Review business strategy and customer
requirements
Select core processes
Understand customer needs
No assumption
Select the Process
Select correct path for change
Ask - questionnaires, meetings, focus
Appoint the Process Team
Identify process owners
Develop executive improvement team
Provide training to executive team
Core Skills Required
Capacity to view the organization as a whole
Ability to focus on end-customers
Ability to challenge fundamental assumptions
Courage to deliver into unknown areas
Core Skills Required
Ability to assume individual and collective
responsibility
Understand the Current Process
Develop a process ooverview
Clearly define the process
Mission
Scope
Boundaries
Set business and customer measurements
Understand customers expectations from
the process
Understand the Current Process
Identify Improvement Opportunities
Quality
Rework
Document the Process
Cost
Time
Value Data
Develop & Communicate Vision of
Improved Process
Communicate with all employees so that they
are aware of the vision of the future
Always provide information on the progress of
the BPR initiative - good and bad.
Demonstrate assurance that the BPR initiative is
both necessary and properly managed
Develop & Communicate Vision of
Improved Process
Promote individual development by
indicating options that are available
Indicate actions required and those
responsible
Identify Action Plan
Develop an improvement plan
Appoint process owners
Simplify the process to reduce process
time
Identify Action Plan
Remove no-value-added activities
Standardize process and automate where
possible
Up-grade equipment
Plan/schedule the changes
Execute Plan
Qualify/certify the process
Perform periodic qualification reviews
Define and eliminate process problems
Evaluate the change impact on the
business and on customers
Benchmark the process
Provide advanced team training
Benefits From IT
Assists the Implementation of Business
Processes
Enables Product & Service Innovations
Improve Operational Efficiency
Coordinate Vendors & Customers in the
Process Chain
Common Problems
Process simplification is common - true
BPR is not
Desire to change not strong
Commitment to existing processes too
strong
Common Problems with BPR
Process under review too big or too small
Reliance on existing process too strong
The Costs of the change seem large
Allocation of resources
Poor timing and planning
Keeping the team and organization on
target
THANK YOU...
