Business Process Reengineering Projects Research Articles

Risk Management for Business Process Reengineering Projects

Because of the drastic, large-scale change that they create, business process reengineering (BPR) projects are fraught with risk and often end in failure. To help IS managers control these projects, this column identifies and analyzes common risks of BPR.

Business Process Re-engineering (BPR): The REBUS Approach

Many organisations undertake business process re-engineering (BPR) projects in order to improve efficiency and reduce costs. Although this approach can result in significant improvements and benefits, there are high risks associated with radical changes of business processes and the failure rate of BPR projects is reported to be as high as 70%. The Centre for Re-engineering Business Processes (REBUS) was established at Brunel University to provide a multidisciplinary environment for research into BPR and its success factors. This paper describes the REBUS approach to research concerning the success of BPR projects and presents examples of some of the projects carried out.

Business process re‐engineering implementations using Internet technology

Examines factors affecting the implementation of business process re‐engineering (BPR) projects using Internet technology. Although there has been some empirical investigation of BPR, no research to date has specifically examined BPR when Internet technology is used during implementation. Radical changes may occur as a result of an organization’s BPR implementation causing a BPR project to be unsuccessful. BPR failure rates have been reported as high as 70 percent, making implementation issues especially important. Each information technology (IT) used during BPR implementation may affect managerial factors differently. By determining factors that affect BPR implementation using a specific IT, these factors can be managed to increase the chance of a successful BPR implementation. Uses a survey methodology and correlation analysis to gather information about the relationship between organizational enablers and successful BPR implementations using Internet technology. The factors examined in this research were: egalitarian culture; resource management; resistance management; and change management.

A human - computer interactive approach based on activity - section analysis for BPR

In any business process reengineering (BPR) project, a thorough understanding of various tasks and activities of the organization is required. Very often this idea is captured using a simple flow chart or static representation diagram. The weakness here is that the process design complexity is not adequately represented by the use of flow charts, and this allows for limited human-computer interaction during the process design and analysis. In this paper, we propose an enhanced flow chart approach; the concept of activity-section flow chart to support BPR, which is a combination of the existing activity flow chart and section flow chart. Using this approach, a human-computer interactive model for BPR is developed. This model can identify the unreasonable activity loops and excessive business rounds between sections by the adjacent and reachable matrices. Via the human-computer interaction, the process can be revised by human experience. This approach provides an efficient tool for BPR of large-scale systems. It has been applied to the material supply management system of an iron and steel works, and satisfactory results have been achieved.

Reengineering of a supply chain management system: A case study

A business process reengineering (BPR) project concerning a supply chain management (SCM) system of a heavy machinery manufacturing company has been discussed in this paper. The BPR implementation process model has been described. The principal objective of this project has been to bring about radical changes in the mind sets, management styles and systems of a very mature but large organization in India. The implementation process has been very successful because the model has been explored by an organizational development initiative. BPR is both feasible and worthwhile in business only when ideas and ideals are put willingly in practice; and is practised in a collaborative mode to get closer to the people, especially at the floor level, and to customers and suppliers.

Avoiding low‐hanging fruit

The purpose of this article is to illustrate a tool I have developed and used to select and prioritize BPR projects. It is my experience that often, in an effort to build momentum on large-scale BPR endeavours, management focuses too long on easily achievable goals and puts off the tough but necessary projects. The Project Cost/Project Priority Matrix described here is a simple, but effective tool used to facilitate management and drive them toward more strategically significant projects. Business Process Reengineering (BPR) can be defined as the fundamental rethinking of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical areas of performance. BPR focuses on identifying vastly superior ways to perform business processes and has been used successfully in almost every industry and government to increase productivity and decrease costs. Nevertheless, despite the successes BPR achieves, it remains a challenging undertaking. And the climactic time in any BPR effort is the implementation phase. You've done the analysis and laid out the blueprint for the new model, but now comes the crucial question, ‘What do we do first?’ In this paper, I will discuss the process of selecting and implementing the new (sometimes called ‘To-Be’) process model and review a tool that I have used successfully to facilitate the decision-making process. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Avoiding low-hanging fruit

The purpose of this article is to illustrate a tool I have developed and used to select and prioritize BPR projects. It is my experience that often, in an effort to build momentum on large-scale BPR endeavours, management focuses too long on easily achievable goals and puts off the tough but necessary projects. The Project Cost/Project Priority Matrix described here is a simple, but effective tool used to facilitate management and drive them toward more strategically significant projects. Business Process Reengineering (BPR) can be defined as the fundamental rethinking of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical areas of performance. BPR focuses on identifying vastly superior ways to perform business processes and has been used successfully in almost every industry and government to increase productivity and decrease costs. Nevertheless, despite the successes BPR achieves, it remains a challenging undertaking. And the climactic time in any BPR effort is the implementation phase. You've done the analysis and laid out the blueprint for the new model, but now comes the crucial question, ‘What do we do first?’ In this paper, I will discuss the process of selecting and implementing the new (sometimes called ‘To-Be’) process model and review a tool that I have used successfully to facilitate the decision-making process. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

When success turns into failure: a package-driven business process re-engineering project in the financial services industry

This article discusses a Business Process Re-engineering project that involved the implementation of an enterprise resource planning software package. Although the project was deemed to be a success when the system was first delivered, this initial success soon turned to failure. While the short-term financial results were spectacular, the long-term implications of the changes were more worrying. This paper raises many questions about the meaning of “success.” In particular, it shows how a “successful implementation” can, within a relatively short space of time, turn into failure.

Leadership behavior and business process reengineering (BPR) outcomes: An empirical analysis of 30 BPR projects

Lack of leadership is frequently a cause for the high failure rate of business process reengineering (BPR) projects. According to many experts, BPR implementation requires a top-down, directive leadership style. Yet, it also requires the management of motivated, skilled, independent-thinking people doing non-programmable tasks for which a non-directive leadership style is most suited. This creates an inherent conflict for BPR leaders on choosing the appropriate style. Applying the leadership effectiveness framework, this study conducted an in-depth empirical analyses of the relationship between IS leadership behavior and BPR outcomes for 30 BPR projects. We found that successful BPR leaders use leadership styles that fit the type of task that needs to be done and the needs of the people that will perform the tasks. Also, successful BPR leaders balance their efforts between meeting the needs of the people doing the work and the needs of the work. The results provide guidelines for both leadership practice and empirical research.

Competence and impact of tools for BPR

Software tools for Business Process Reengineering (BPR) promise to reduce cost and improve quality of projects. This paper discusses the contribution of BPR tools in BPR projects and identifies critical factors for their success. A model was built based on previous research on tool success. The analysis of empirical data shows that BPR tools are related to effectiveness rather than efficiency of the projects. Process visualization and process analysis features are key to BPR tool competence. Also success factors for BPR tools are different from those for CASE tools.

Value innovation through business process re-engineering: A&E services at a public hospital

Accident & Emergency (A&E) care delivery is often given emphasis in the healthcare sector owing to its inelasticity of demand. In recent years, public hospitals in Singapore, both government and restructured, saw themselves increasingly coping with the surge in demand for A&E treatment. Escalation in healthcare costs is likely to cause unhappiness among the public if this is not matched with improved quality of emergency services. The Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) project at Singapore's Alexandra Hospital (AH) is timely given the current social climate, and also exploits the opportunities presented by the ongoing facility upgrading and computerization projects. This article describes the BPR experience at AH A&E and how it was transformed through the exercise. Results of the analysis of the processes and some redesign strategies and outcomes are highlighted in the paper. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Cornwallis Emmanuel Ltd.

Drivers and tracers of business process changes

Many companies have reported impressive results from their business process reengineering efforts. Based on the analysis of 32 Business Process Reengineering (BPR) projects it became obvious that there is huge diversity among the initiatives. Most of the projects studied were focused on streamlining current business processes, while only in few cases was the business radically redesigned. Internal inefficiency most often resulted in traditional BPR projects, while changing customer and supplier needs led to diversified business processes. However, external and uncontrollable drivers, such as restructuring of industries, can be traced by changes in business and operations strategies. Based on the results, a framework showing efficient ways of implementing different types of BPR projects was constructed. The framework may help managers to analyze the consistency of the alternative strategies for BPR.

The Enterprise Transformation Paradigm: The Case of Honeywell’s Industrial Automation and Control Unit

Organizations are responding to global competition by changing the way they work. Many have adopted transformation approaches such as business process reengineering (BPR) in an attempt to transform inefficient work processes. However, many BPR projects have delivered less than stellar results. The purpose of this research is to explore reasons why transformation might succeed or fail by looking at one organization’s experiences with an enterprise-wide transformation effort. The organization is the Honeywell Industrial Automation and Control (IAC) unit located in Phoenix, AZ. The case research study provides an in-depth look at how IAC is dealing with enterprise transformation. Based on the transformation literature and the case, a framework is developed to guide future research.

Assessment of individual, organisational and environmental variables in the implementation of business process redesign

The paper presents a structured analysis of the critical success factors associated with business process reengineering (BPR). As BPR projects involved high risks, factors affecting successes and failures become a major target of BPR research. There is the need for a structured framework to produce a sound analysis of the BPR process. The analysis framework presented in this paper was useful for practitioners in forging their analysis in a coherent way. Theories of innovation diffusion are used to construct the framework that includes variables at individual, organisational, and environmental level of analysis. Through the case of a Small Manufacturing Enterprise, the function of the framework is shown by applications in analysing the corresponding Business Process Reengineering project. The conclusion shows the framework is highly appropriate for exploring and analysing the resistance factors against BPR in a SME.

Process analysis techniques and tools for business improvements

Business process reengineering (BPR) and total quality management (TQM) both emphasise the benefits that a process orientated view of company operations can bring. Acquiring a clear definition of the “as‐is” business process and developing an understanding about how the process may be re‐engineered is a crucial stage in any BPR project. This early phase normally has three objectives: to achieve a full understanding of the process to be re‐engineered so as to clarify its objectives and characteristics; to create a shared vision and understanding among the re‐engineering team; to have a basis for starting the redesign. To support this phase, there is a range of tools: manual, computer supported and computer enabled which are traditionally used to help in the activities of process definition and analysis. This paper describes some of the newer approaches. The product introduction process (PIP) is examined in a general sense, and specific examples from the automotive industry are taken as a basis for evaluation of the available tools and applications. A sample from the process analysis tools identified was used to model the PIP, and from the difficulties and successes an understanding of the attributes required in such an analysis tool was derived.

Reengineering in Australia: factors affecting success

Business process reengineering (BPR) is being used in many organisations worldwide to realign operations. Most of the research undertaken has been focused on North American or European practices. The study reported here replicates a US reengineering study in an Australian context by surveying large public and private sector Australian organisations. The study makes three main contributions by: (1) presenting a picture of BPR practices in Australia, (2) clarifying factors critical to the success of reengineering projects in Australia, and (3) providing a comparison of factors leading to success in Australian BPR projects with those found in the US.

A Model for the Planning of Business Process Reengineering

Business Process Reengineering (BPR) is radically redesigning value-added business processes to optimize work flows and improve productivity in an organization. Although BPR can yield a dramatic performance improvement, many BPR projects have failed. The broad organizational focus and high risk associated with BPR demand detailed planning before implementation. The purpose of this paper is to present critical elements and important activities that BPR planning should include. Since a model can simplify a complex phenomena and enhance communication, a model of BPR planning is constructed to facilitate better understanding of BPR planning and to promote the involvement of stakeholders, including managers and employees.

Operations management and systemic modelling as frameworks for BPR

Although there currently exists an unprecedented level of interest in business processes, focusing on their analysis, evaluation and reengineering, many business process reengineering (BPR) initiatives have yielded disappointing results. This paper suggests that one of the reasons for this might be the difficulty of intuitively grasping the full dynamic complexity of the processes and systems encountered. It is therefore proposed that current developments in systems thinking and continuous system simulation, when applied within the context of an operations management framework, may offer the prospect of improved success ratios in such BPR projects. The issue of supply chain dynamics and associated control problems is presented as an example in order to illustrate the potential power of this approach in the design of supplier interactions. A framework is also presented based on the classic “5Ps” model of operations management, adapted with feedback loops and inertia elements to produce the basis of a part generic, high level, dynamic model from which specific BPR simulation studies may be constructed.

Business process reengineering: application and success ‐ an Australian study

This paper presents the results of a study undertaken in Australia which investigated the extent of Australian thinking and experience with business process reengineering (BPR). The data for the study were gathered through a postal questionnaire survey which was mailed to 535 of Australia’s top businesses. The findings of the survey are compared with earlier studies on BPR conducted in the USA and the UK/Europe. The hypothesis that “expectant business process change is not significantly related to business improvements along dimensions of benefits and corporate impact” is tested. Finally the paper provides recommendations for managers which are seen as important for successful implementation of BPR projects.

Research directions and emerging issues in business process re-engineering

In the 1990 Business Process Re-Engineering (BPR) was seen as the wonder drug for organizations, with more and more organizations rushing to undertake BPR projects. Some of these projects have successful, however most have failed. The results of these BPR project have forced practitioners of Business Process Re-Engineering to recognize the need for structured and focused research to inform and direct there activities. The question for researchers is: "Into what areas is best and most productive to undertake research ?" In an attempt to answer this question in this papers I will outline some areas of research that are producing positive results. These research directions are:• The motivations and conditions for successful Business Process Re-Engineering.• Knowledge Management and Learning Processes.• Business Systems Modeling and Analysis.• Complex Adaptive and Evolving Systems.• Change and Innovation Management.