A strategy for evaluating alternative information system designs for business process reengineering

Abstract

Many US companies are looking to business processing reengineering (BPR) — a process of redesign that is dramatic, company-wide, and often information technology (IT) oriented — in order to compete in the global marketplace. Given the scope and importance of BPR work, it is critical that there should be some objective measures applied to determining which (if any) possible changes should be made in a business's processes. Computer simulation technology is well suited to this design assessment role. Use of simulation, however, entails varieties of data collection that go beyond the information generally gathered in a BPR analysis. Once in use, simulation models encourage a culture of measurement that supports continuous process improvement (CPI). While we do not prescribe a particular set of tools that should be used for simulation-supported BPR, we recommend explicit attention to and management of the modelling tasks: (a) data collection and organization, (b) simulation of component designs, and (c) integration of component simulation results.