ASM652 Business Process Reengineering Concepts

Business Process Reengineering (BPR) represents a radical change in how businesses operate. It involves completely overhauling existing processes, starting from scratch to achieve significant improvements in key performance areas.

When applying BPR, every aspect of the process is questioned, including assumptions, reasons, and activities. Nothing is considered sacred, and outdated practices are eliminated.

Don't aim for incremental improvements with BPR; instead, strive for dramatic, tenfold changes. Aim high and think big.

BPR focuses on restructuring the entire process rather than just individual parts or departments. It prioritizes the overall workflow.

BPR involves identifying and changing the physical and technical elements of an organization. This includes aspects like process flow, technology used, and organizational structure.

BPR also focuses on changing organizational culture and incentive systems. This includes aspects like reward structures, performance measurement, and management styles.

The most visible and concrete aspect of business reengineering, encompassing process structure, technology structure, and organization structure.

The foundation of an organization's operations, comprised of business processes, their outputs (products/services), and the policies, practices, and procedures governing them. It defines how work is performed, when it's done, and what triggers it.

The automated communication, networking, and computer systems, data, applications, and related technologies used to support process structure. It aims to speed up and streamline processes, eliminating manual work and errors.

Defines the roles, responsibilities, and reporting relationships within an organization. It includes job structure, work groups, accountabilities, job content, and skills required for specific tasks.

The level of business reengineering that addresses the underlying values, beliefs, and power dynamics within an organization. This layer includes organizational culture, political power, and individual belief systems.

The shared values, norms, and beliefs that shape how an organization functions and interacts. It influences decision-making, employee behavior, and company culture.

The distribution of power and influence within an organization, affecting decision-making, resource allocation, and strategic direction.

The individual values, beliefs, and attitudes that shape an employee's perception and actions within an organization. These beliefs can impact motivation, commitment, and acceptance of change.

Work processes develop haphazardly and are not designed formally. This creates a chaotic environment where informal rules and work patterns are fragile and break down under pressure.

Organizations assume they understand customer needs, leading to inflexible processes that frustrate customers. Rules take priority over customer satisfaction.

Technology is simply used to automate existing bureaucratic processes, not to streamline them. This only strengthens the bureaucracy and often leads to increased paperwork.

Work flows encounter bottlenecks and interruptions across different organizational units. Tasks might be duplicated and communication between departments is inefficient.

Accountability is unclear due to functional organizational structures where key processes spread across different departments. This hinders effective work and timely completion.

Downsizing leads to demoralized remaining employees and inadequate staffing. This creates a challenging work environment with insufficient skills to handle the workload.

Integration and Mergers create turmoil as organizations combine different cultures, systems, and processes. This requires careful planning and execution to avoid disruption.

The process of fundamentally redesigning an organization's processes and structures to achieve significant improvements in key areas like customer service, efficiency, or speed.

Changes that require addressing deep-rooted cultural, political, and individual beliefs within an organization before implementation can be successful

A key factor in successful reengineering, where the organization focuses on better understanding and serving their customers, changing how they interact, and how they create and deliver value.

Reengineering can help organizations customize products and services to better meet the specific needs of individual customers.

A key goal of reengineering is to ensure that customers are satisfied with the products and services they receive from the organization.

A lack of a comprehensive understanding of the organization's goals and a failure to effectively communicate these goals, leading to confusion and disjointed efforts.

Overlooking important details, potentially leading to errors and inefficiencies. This can be a result of rushing, lack of training, or insufficient attention to precision.

A situation where designers prioritize their own ideas and preferences over the needs and feedback of the customers. This can result in products or services that fail to meet user expectations.

Focusing on correcting errors after they occur rather than actively preventing them from happening. This approach can be inefficient and costly in the long run.

Challenges in accurately measuring and quantifying the impact of business processes, making it difficult to assess progress and identify areas for improvement.

Prioritizing external customers over internal stakeholders (employees). This could lead to neglecting employee needs and fostering dissatisfaction, potentially impacting productivity and customer service.

The process of gathering and analyzing data to create a compelling argument for implementing a change initiative. This includes presenting the potential benefits and risks of change to stakeholders.

Analyzing the potential negative consequences if the proposed change is not implemented, highlighting the risks and costs of maintaining the status quo.

A system that influences behavior through formal and informal means, using both financial and recognition-based rewards.

Feedback mechanisms that track and evaluate process efficiency. They can include metrics, reports, and data points.

The practices and techniques used by managers to lead, develop, and support the people who execute business processes.

If physical or technical aspects of a business change, the supporting infrastructure must adapt accordingly.

Techniques like reinforcement, skill development, managerial support, incentives, and feedback can be used to improve performance.