Business Process Redesign Projects Research Articles

Business process redesign project success: the role of socio-technical theory

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to seek to advance business process redesign (BPR) project research through the generation and testing of a new research model that utilizes formative constructs to model complex BPR project implementation issues. Instead of looking at management principles, the paper examines the activities of improving business processes from the project perspective. Design/methodology/approach – A survey of 145 managers and executives from medium and large-sized USA and Canadian companies was used to validate the model. Findings – The model, based on socio-technical theory, includes three implementation components (change management, process redesign, and information and communication technology infrastructure improvement), and links the effects of these components to BPR project outcomes. The empirical findings indicated that all three implementation components had a significant impact on BPR project success, with change management having the greatest effect. Interestingly, the results also showed that productivity improvement was no longer the main focus of companies carrying out BPR projects; instead, improvement in operational and organizational quality was more important. Research limitations/implications – The main limitation of this study is its generalizability with respect to company size and organizational culture. The sample in this study was drawn from medium- and large-sized companies in Canada and the USA, but small-sized organizations were excluded from this study due to their distinct features (e.g. superior flexibility or ability to reorient themselves quickly). Also, this study controlled the variable of organizational culture by limiting respondents to Canada and US companies. It would be very interesting to investigate BPR project implementations in other countries where the organizational working culture may be different. Practical implications – Based on the findings of this study, BPR practitioners can refer to the three BPR project implementation components and then prioritize and sequence the tasks in a BPR project to achieve their preset BPR goals. Originality/value – This is the first study which utilizes formative constructs to validate the important BPR project components.

Representation Type Preferences in Operational Business Process Redesign

This paper reports on a quasi-experimental field study in which business process redesign groups in four different US organizations used two different business process representation types. One of the representation types emphasized an activity flow (or workflow) view of business processes, which appears to currently be the most prevalent in actual operational-level business process redesign projects; the other emphasized a communication flow view. The study suggests that, contrary to assumptions likely underlying most of the current business process redesign practice, communication flow-oriented representations of business processes are perceived by those involved in their redesign as significantly more useful in the following aspects than activity flow-oriented representations: identification of opportunities for process improvement, application of process redesign guidelines, visualization of process changes, and development of generic information technology solutions to implement new business processes. Important implications for managers and researchers stemming from these results are discussed.

Selecting the best strategic practices for business process redesign

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a methodology which defines best strategic practices for business process redesign (BPR).Design/methodology/approachA total of 29 best practices are studied and evaluated from the literature. The philosophy of TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) method is applied in recognizing the alignment of best practices with the organization strategy. The indicators of cost, time, quality and flexibility are used as the criteria to measure the degree of alignment of best practices with organization strategy. The proposed method is tested in a case study of the registration process at a university.FindingsThe recent investment failures in BPR projects show that the relation between best practices and organization strategies should be highly considered. It is indicated that process redesign can meet organization strategies through recognizing and implementing best strategic practices.Research limitations/implicationsConsidering the fact that pundits working in the field of BPR are not accessible, the previous published findings and results have been used in this research.Practical implicationsOwing to the limitations on budget and time, organizations are able to consider only those best practices which play a critical vote in helping them to achieve their goals. Best strategic practices list provides managers and business analysts with a precious resource in BPR projects.Originality/valueThis paper presents a new methodology for introducing best strategic practices for BPR. A strategic best practice is a new term in the BPR literature.

Communication flow orientation in business process modeling and its effect on redesign success: Results from a field study

Business process redesign has been intensely studied, particularly since the mid 1990s. One aspect that received little attention, however, is the relationship between business process modeling choices and redesign success. This research gap is addressed through a multi-methods study of 18 business process redesign projects conducted in 18 different organizations. A structural equation model is developed and tested based on data collected from those projects; the results are then triangulated with qualitative data. The structural equation model depicts relationships between the following broad perceptual constructs: communication flow orientation of a business process model, quality of a business process model, and business process redesign success. The communication flow orientation of a business process model is defined as the extent to which a model explicitly shows how communication interactions take place in a process. A model's perceived quality is defined as the degree to which the model presents the following perceptual sub-constructs: ease of generation, ease of understanding, completeness, and accuracy. The results of the study suggest that the degree of communication flow orientation of a business process model is significantly related to the model's perceived quality. Perceived model quality, in turn, is significantly related to perceived business process redesign success. Interestingly, a business process model's perceived completeness does not seem to be influenced by a model's communication flow orientation. The structural equation model accounted for 56% of the explained variance in the business process redesign success construct. The main implication of this study is that a focus on communication flows in business processes is an important ingredient in successful business process redesign projects.

Quantifying the Performance of Workflows

Business process redesign is one of the most powerful ways to boost business performance and to improve customer satisfaction (Limam Mansar & Reijers, 2005). A possible approach to business process redesign is using redesign best practices. A previous study identified a set of 29 different redesign best practices (Reijers, 2003). However, little is known about the exact impact of these redesign best practices on workflow performance. This study proposes an approach that can be used to quantify the impact of a business process redesign project on all dimensions of workflow performance. The approach consists of a large set of performance measures and a simulation toolkit. It supports the quantification of the impact of the implementation of redesign best practices, in order to determine what best practice or combination of best practices leads to the most favorable effect in a specific business process. The approach is developed based on a quantification project for the parallel best practice and is validated with two other quantification projects, namely for the knockout and triage best practices.

A discussion and test of a communication flow optimization approach for business process redesign

AbstractA vital component of any business process redesign (BPR) project is the depiction and understanding of an organization's processes that are being targeted for redesign. The literature on BPR suggests that the vast majority of past BPR projects have placed emphasis on the use of business process representations depicting the chronological flow of activities of processes known as workflow representations. This study suggests that a focus on the communication aspects of processes is more advisable. A controlled experiment with 210 student subjects was used to test a business process communication flow optimization model. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling techniques. Overall, the results provide strong support for the notion that a focus on communications flow representations predicts BPR success. This study calls for a reorientation from the widespread BPR practice of placing emphasis on workflow representations of processes toward an emphasis on communication flow representations. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Using Business Process Redesign to Reduce Wait Times at a University Hospital in the Netherlands

Business process redesign (BPR) has been applied to implement more customer-focused and cost-effective care. In 2002, two pilot projects to improve patient care processes for two specific patient groups were conducted at the Academic Medical Center, a 1,000-bed university hospital in Amsterdam. The BPR consisted of process analysis, identification of bottlenecks and goals for redesign, selection of interventions, and evaluation of effects. After identifying and selecting interventions with the greatest expected benefits, changes were implemented and effects were evaluated. For gynecologic oncology patients, access time (from telephone call to first visit) was reduced from 14 days to < 7 days, and the proportion of patients who completed all diagnostic examinations within 14 days increased from 49% to 83%. For dyspnea patients, access time was reduced to < 6 days, and the number of visits was halved. Despite the fact that we applied the same approach in these two projects, the interventions turned out to be quite different. Whereas changes in communication and planning were sufficient to eliminate bottlenecks in the gynecologic oncology project, the dyspnea project required a radical redesign of processes. Experience since these projects suggests that process redesign may have only marginal impact when the greatest bottleneck occurs, as was the case for the two BPR projects, at the point of access to central diagnostic facilities.

Business Process Representations Used in Redesign Projects Should Focus on Communication Flows

This paper reports on a quasi-experimental field study in which business process redesign groups in four different US organizations used two different types of business process representation. One of the representation types emphasized an activity flow (or workflow) view of business processes, which appears to currently be the most prevalent in actual operational-level business process redesign projects; the other emphasized a communication flow view. The study suggests that, contrary to assumptions likely underlying most of the current business process redesign practice, communication flow-oriented representations of business processes are perceived by those involved in their redesign as significantly more useful in the identification of opportunities for process improvement, more useful in the application of process redesign guidelines, more useful in the visualization of process changes, and more useful in the development of generic information technology solutions to implement new business processes, than activity flow-oriented representations. Important implications for managers and researchers stemming from these results are discussed.

Towards developing a framework for measuring organizational impact of IT- enabled BPR

This article reports on a case study of three firms which examined the organizational-level measures and process-level measures that were used to identify the effects of IT-enabled BPR (Business Process Redesign) projects. Firms in three distinct industry sectors provided the context for document review and semi-structured interview studies to identify those measures used to determine whether the firm's project was considered successful and how the firm had made the determination. A theoretical framework is proposed and provisionally confirmed demonstrating the link between IT-payoffs and BPR payoffs and the creation of intermediate assets that were identifiable and measurable. Lessons learned and opportunities for future research are presented.

Communication-Based Versus Workflow-Based Redesign: Some Observations From An Experimental Study

Modeling and representation approaches and techniques have been used extensively both in business process improvement and in the design and development of information systems, in order to better understand the processes within organizations. The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of different business process representation approaches and related techniques on business process improvement projects. During the last decade, organizational redesign projects have had a very high rate of failure. We focus on four different research questions by conducting an experiment involving 174 students from a mid-sized university in northeastern United States, and analyzing the corresponding empirical data. The analysis of the data from the experiment indicates that an emphasis on the flow of information and communication in business processes can have a positive impact on the success of business process redesign projects.

Business process redesign as a tool for organizational development

The article presents a successful systematic organizational improvement effort at a mid-size electronics components manufacturer using process mapping and teamwork. The company was faced with increasing customer demand for a newly developed product line that it had not yet integrated into its appropriate production areas. It also had not clearly identified the long-term responsibilities of the engineering group it had assembled to support this new product line. A cross-functional team was charged to work on a business process redesign project, specifically targeting the quoting process (a bottleneck operation). It was intended not only to improve the quoting process, but also to force the clarification of the responsibilities of the new engineering group and thereby move them closer to integration with production function.

Who is on the Driver Seat? The Evolution of Collaboration Organizations

This paper presents a historical review of the evolution of management thinking and collaboration technologies. This review shows that the gap between management ideas and the functionality available in collaboration technologies has been steadily narrowing since the late 1960s, opening up new opportunities for developers and integrators of these technologies as well as companies that use them. Management ideas have preceded and likely driven the development and use of collaboration technologies up until the early 1990s. This situation has been reversed since the mid-1990s due to circumstances related to the advent of the World Wide Web. One caveat associated with this new state of affairs is that it makes it difficult for companies to achieve or sustain a competitive advantage in their industries, particularly if they use standard technologies that are also available to their competitors. From a traditional management perspective, this is the equivalent to placing the "cart in front of the horses", so to speak. We argue that, to overcome difficulties associated with this situation companies need to instill a new management model into their management ranks. Based on the results of business process redesign projects involving over 10 companies in the Philadelphia Metropolitan Region, we provide a first step toward the development of a generic management model that takes advantage of features of modern collaboration technologies.

Supporting business process redesign using cognitive maps

Turbulent changes and competitive pressures have forced organizations to constantly change. Business process redesign (BPR) has been widely adopted as an organizational change method in the 1990s. Although BPR projects provide the possibility of dramatic performance improvement, many organizations have encountered serious problems due to the lack of commitment to such projects and the difficulty of systematic targeting of critical processes. By identifying the cause–effect relationships within an organization, we try to address these issues. We propose a cognitive map based method, called two-phase cognitive modeling (TCM), to help organizational members identify potential organizational conflicts, capture core business activities, and suggest ways to support the necessary organizational change. To apply the method in the real world context, we developed a prototype modeling tool, called two-phase cognitive modeling facility (TCMF). Working procedures of the TCM method and TCMF features are illustrated with their application to the real BPR project of a dairy company.

Process reverse engineering for BPR: A form-based approach

Firms spend significant efforts identifying and representing their current business processes for business process redesign (BPR) projects. Despite the efforts, due to the lack of proper tools and methodologies, they find it difficult to decide which process to redesign and how. Considering the effort spent in the process analysis phase and limited support in the process redesign phase, we find a need for a better process modeling and redesign method. This article introduces the enterprise process reverse engineering (EPRE) method for analyzing business processes and supporting process redesign tasks. By analyzing common business forms, the method provides designers and users with guidance for process redesign as well as in generating the current process model. Working procedures are described using a sample hospital case and a set of the EPRE prototype screens. For validation purpose, we applied the method to a real BPR project for an advertising agency and report on its outcome.

Business process redesign: Radical and evolutionary change

We explore the nature of change when firms engage in business process redesign (i.e., reengineering). According to the proponents, business process redesign is an all-or-nothing affair. Numerous books and articles on the topic promulgate the notion that reengineering is nothing short of a revolution. But the rhetoric can be daunting—and may mislead managers planning to reengineer their organizations. Our field research on 15 business process redesign projects suggests that only one of the two phases of reengineering effort needs to be revolutionary for the project to reach field implementation. Reengineering involves both the design—the blueprint for change—and the implementation of those plans. Reengineering design phase must have elements of radical change. The radicalness instills motivation in ways that more evolutionary projects cannot. But as companies implement the plans, they can—and many do—use a more evolutionary change process, and still gain effective results. Our results provide support to the emerging body of literature that argues that organizations combine evolutionary and radical change harmoniously.

Accelerating change: financial industry experiences with BPR

Presents an empirical stuFinancial institutions are accelerating change by seeking radical improvements in processes such as credit approval, new product development, claims processing and insurance underwriting. Describes an investigation of recent business process redesign (BPR) projects in North American and international institutions ‐ including banks, insurance companies and brokerages. Considers improvements in customer service quality, cycle‐time, head‐count, and cost measures. Develops and tests propositions about the organizational, technological and environmental factors which determine success or failure of BPR projects. Executive interviews and a mail survey revealed the importance of strategic planning practice, project organization, team organization, new technology and benchmarking. Different success factors were found to be associated with different types of BPR projects. Although the results of BPR are frequently less dramatic than claimed by its advocates, well‐conceived and managed projects can help the firm on a path of corporate transformation.

An empirical study of information technology enabled business process redesign and corporate competitive strategy

Business process redesign (BPR) has been widely touted as a means for leveraging the power of information technology to change business processes radically, resulting in substantial improvements in organizational effectiveness and efficiency. This study represents an early attempt at examining the strategic nature of the phenomenon. Because BPR is radical change and has the ability to alter both the competitive and operational nature of the corporation, it is critical that BPR be coordinated with corporate strategy. Through a survey of information system executives, the relationships between corporate competitive strategy and three types of BPR – intrafunctional, interfunctional and interorganizational – were examined. It was found that organizations following a cost strategy tended to do more BPR projects on interfunctional processes. Furthermore, the positive effect of a cost strategy on interfunctional BPR was found to be strengthened by the degree of integration of IS and business planning. It was also found that while interorganizational BPR was not related to a specific strategy, it was strongly related directly with IS–business planning integration.