Business Process Reengineering and Information Technology

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Business Process Reengineeringand Information
Technology
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A warning from history!
There is nothing more difficult to take in hand,
more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain of
success than to take the lead in the
introduction of a new order of things, because
the innovation has for enemies all Those who
have done well under the old conditions, and
lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under
the new Machiavelli The Prince
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BPR - History

• 1984-1989 Phrase Business process redesign
  first used in MIT-led Management in the 90s
  program. Findings highlighted the role of IT to
  facilitate the streamlining of business
  processes.
• 1990 Public awareness through article in
  Harvard Business Review Dont Automate
  Obliterate! (M. Hammer)
• 1993 Wide International Audience through book
  Re-engineering the Corporation (Hammer
  Champy).
• Late 1990s Disillusionment through association
  with cost saving rather than customer
  satisfaction.
• 2002 now Renewed interest with rise of
  e-Business. Revised expectations.

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BPR - Definitions

• The fundamental rethinking and radical redesign
  of the business processes to achieve dramatic
  improvements in critical measures of performance
  such as cost, quality, service and speed (M.
  Hammer)
• A senior management led re-design of the
  business processes of an organisation to create
  value and advantage (BCG)
• The fundamental analysis and radical re-design
  of everything business process and management
  systems, job definitions, organisational
  structures and beliefs behaviours to achieve
  dramatic performance improvements to meet
  contemporary requirements. IT is a key enabler in
  this process (T Lucas)

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Theoretical foundations of traditional
organisation design

• Adam Smith Specialisation
• Frederick Taylor Scientific management
• Henry Ford Sequential Production Line

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Characteristics of Traditional Companies

• Large Size (Vertical Integration)
• Bureaucratic
• Specialised tasks
• Functional departments
• Complex management control systems
• Slow response to change
• Poor internal communications

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A Traditional Process - a sales order snakes
through departments
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Failures of traditional orgns
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The response organising by business process

• View the organisation as a set of logically
  connected activities/ tasks
• An activity processes inputs into one or more
  Outputs
• Eg Information, Decisions, Products, Services
• Cross Functional
• Cross Organisational
• Creates value for a customer
• Internal or external
• Saves time, costs by eliminating non value-added
  work

(JOHANSSON et al, 1993)
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Example CORE PROCESSES IN A LEADING BREWERY
Strategy Development Process
C U S T O M E R S
S U P P L I E R S
Customer Interfaces Process
Integrated Supply Chain Process
Order Fulfilment Process
Infrastructure and Capacity Development Process
(DUTTA AND MANZONI, 1999)
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CORE AND SUBPROCESSES IN A LEADING BREWERY
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Processes and competencies the basis of
outsourcing and business networking

• Identify core processes
• Identify core competencies
• Outsource processes where competence is weak
• Become outsourcer of core competencies
• Make dramatic improvements everyone is someone
  elses customer.
• Manage the Supply Chain/Network

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The Enabling Role of IT
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The impact of IT potential for creative process
redesign

• Increasing connectivity
• time
• Increasing accessibility
• space
• Increasing interactivity
• relationships

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Traditional customer interface
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Re-engineered customer interface Exploiting
enabling qualities of IT
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Typical characteristics of a re-engineered
Business Process

• Several jobs are combined into one
• Empowered employees make decisions
• Process may have multiple versions
• Work is performed where it makes the most sense
• Controls other non value-added work are
  minimised
• A single point of contact is provided for the
  customer

(Hammer M. and Champy J.(1993). Reengineering the
corporation. HarperBusiness. NY
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Main general principle of BPR achieve a step
change in performance
Recognition that incremental improvements are not
enough to deliver what markets now expect
Only a step change in performance can deliver
sufficient rewards to justify the investment
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Other principles of BPR

• Moving from a functional to a process capability
• Identify core processes offering most redesign
  potential
• Most likely - customer services,
  logistics/distribution, new product development
• Emphasise customer focus
• Recognise internal and external customers
• Integrate work across functions
• Simplify wherever possible
• Identify and eliminate unnecessary duplication,
  delays, etc.
• Develop a process management culture
• Multidisciplinary, self managed teams of
  empowered staff
• Devolve responsibility to those closest to the
  process.
• Flatten management structures

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BPR The 5 stages approach

• DEVELOPMENT OF THE CORPORATE VISION AND
  OBJECTIVES OF THE PROCESSES
• DETERMINATION OF PROCESSES TO BE REDESIGNED
• UNDERSTANDING AND MEASURING OF EXISTING PROCESSES
• DETERMINATION OF THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LEVEL
• DESIGN AND CREATION OF A PROTOTYPE OF A PROCESS

(DAVENPORT AND SHORT, 1990)
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Tools for BPR

• Work analysis
• Workflow software
• Business process design
• Comprehensive modeling tools
• Other tools

• Simulation and visual simulation tools
• Flow diagrams
• Application development tools
• Integrated tool kits

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Reasons why BPR fails

• Confusion unclear objectives
• Over enthusiasm Unrealistic expectations
• Inadequate resources people, time, budget,
  training
• Support lack of top management sponsorship
• Methodology wrong scope
• Technocentrism concentrating on the means, not
  the end
• Mysticism Negative and inflexible influences of
  consultants, academics
• Eg failure to acknowledge the supporting role of
  the core disciplines (eg Marketing, Finance,
  Product design)
• Unwillingness to integrate through matrix
  management

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BPR Key Success Factors

• Top Management Led
• Set clear objectives through strategic review
• Identification, definition and prioritisation of
  core processes
• Formation of appropriate teams cross functional
  with stakeholder involvement and ownership
• Process and work practice redesign skills
• Change Management skills - for a new culture
• Good staff relations gain respect and
  commitment through excellent communications
• Ethical issues
• Involve customers and suppliers
• Understand the creative opportunities of IT
• Good planning and project management during
  implementation and continuous post implementation
  re-evaluation

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BPR Alternative approachesA new realism?
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Successful outcome of BPR Better Supply chain
management?
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OR - The Networked Organization?
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Reengineering Processes at FORD MOTOR Company (In
Turban 3rd ed. P.8)
Management thought that by streamlining processes
and installing new computer systems, it could
reduce the head count by some 20percent, to 400
people. But after visiting Mazdas payable
department (Ford is part owner of Mazda ), Ford
managers increased their goal perform accounts
payable with only 100 clerks. Analysis of Ford's
existing system revealed that when the purchasing
department wrote a purchase order, it sent a copy
to accounts payable. Later, when material control
received the goods, it sent a copy of the
receiving document to ac- counts payable.
Meanwhile, the vendor also sent an in- voice to
accounts payable. If the purchase order,
receiving document, and invoice matched, then
accounts payable issued a payment. Unfortunately,
the department spent most of its time on the many
mismatches. To prevent them, Ford instituted
"invoiceless processing." Now, when the
purchasing department initiates an order, it
enters the information into an online database.
It does not send a copy of the purchase order to
anyone. The vendor receives notification through
an EDI. When the goods arrive at the receiving
dock, the receiving clerk checks the database to
see whether the goods correspond to an
outstanding purchase order. If so, he or she
accepts them and enters the transaction into the
computer system. (If there is no database entry
for the received goods, or if there is a
mismatch, the clerk returns the goods.)
Under the old procedures, the accounting
department had to match 14 data items among the
receipt record, the purchase order, and the
invoice before it could issue payment to the
vendor. The new approach requires matching only
four items-part number, amount, unit of measure,
and supplier code-between the purchase order and
the receipt record. The matching is done
automatically, and, the computer prepares the
check, which accounts payable sends to the vendor
(or an electronic transfer is made). There are
no invoices to worry about since Ford has asked
its vendors not to send them. The re-engineered
system as compared to the old one is shown in the
figure below. Ford did not settle for the modest
increases it first envisioned. Instead it opted
for a radical change, and it , achieved dramatic
improvement a 75 percent reduction , in head
count, not the 20 percent it would have achieved
with a conventional improvement program. And
since there are no discrepancies between the
financial record and physical record, material
control is simpler, receipts are more likely to
be correct, and financial information is more
accurate. For Further Exploration How did the
EDI help attain the reduction? What other support
was provided by IT? Source Condensed from
Hammer and Champy, Reengineering the Corporation
(New York Harper Business, 1993 ).
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The FORD case