...Business Process Re-engineering Originally published as ETHIcol in the IMIS Journal Volume 6 No 2 (April 1996) Much has been written about the success and failure of Business Process Re-engineering (BPR). Leadership, organisational, cultural and people issues have been identified as the major obstacles in achieving BPR success. Without doubt, there will be winners and losers in this activity. There is evidence to suggest that BPR errs on being socially insensitive and perhaps this is why most re-engineering efforts have had little measurable impact on the overall business. Consequently, it is important that organisations about to embark on such programmes are fully aware of the potential impact on individuals, groups, and society as a whole. Given the major impact that BPR has on an organisation and that this impact involves the generation, dissemination and use of information to sustain the redesigned processes it is inevitable that IT has a central role in this activity. For example, telecommunications often figures in reducing co-ordination costs or increasing the scope of co-ordination, and shared databases are commonplace in the provision of information across and during processes. Within BPR there are numerous activities and decisions to be made and most of these will have an ethical dimension. There are issues relating to both the process and the outcome of BPR. In his recent book, The Re-engineering Revolution - The Handbook, Michael Hammer sets out 10 guidelines based...
Words: 1050 - Pages: 5
...Resource Planning – Business Process Re - Engineering Assignment Topic Engineering Vs Re-Engineering Engineering is actually a closer to creativity whereas re-engineering is editing an existing an organization in such a way that its efficiency is increased and resources are planned. Let’s take a look on BPR (Business Process Re-Engineering) and then we will move further to the comparison one by one Business process reengineering Business process re-engineering is a business management strategy, originally pioneered in the early 1990s, focusing on the analysis and design of workflows and processes within an organization. BPR aimed to help organizations fundamentally rethink how they do their work in order to dramatically improve customer service, cut operational costs, and become world-class competitors. In the mid-1990s, as many as 60% of the Fortune 500 companies claimed to either have initiated reengineering efforts, or to have plans to do so. BPR seeks to help companies radically restructure their organizations by focusing on the ground-up design of their business processes. According to Davenport (1990) a business process is a set of logically related tasks performed to achieve a defined business outcome. Re-engineering emphasized a holistic focus on business objectives and how processes related to them, encouraging full-scale recreation of processes rather than iterative optimization of sub processes. “BPR Process Circle” “Engineering” Engineering is the application...
Words: 817 - Pages: 4
...BUSINESS PROCESS RE-ENGINEERING TO TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT: AN EXAMINATION OF THE ISSUES J. Gonzalez Benito* A. R. Martinez Lorente, E.U.EE. Empresariales, Cartagena, University of Murcia, Spain. B. G. Dale, Manchester School of Management, UMIST, Manchester, UK * Corresponding author. Address: BUSINESS PROCESS RE-ENGINEERING TO TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT: AN EXAMINATION OF THE ISSUES ABSTRACT This paper examines two research questions. Firstly, is a re-engineered company a suitable platform for the subsequent application of TQM principles? Secondly, is BPR an appropriate means to transform an organisation operating along traditional lines into one which is managed using TQM principles? It is argued that these questions have been given scant attention by the academic fraternity. The analysis presented in the paper indicates that the application of BPR can provide the base for the subsequent development of TQM. KEY WORDS Business Process Re-engineering, Total Quality Management, Continuous Improvement. INTRODUCTION In response to the globalization and growing competitiveness of world markets, companies are continually looking for different management recipes to get improvements into their business operations. A wide range of new philosophies such as lean production, world-class manufacturing, Total Quality Management (TQM) and Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) have been deployed as drivers to improve competitiveness, see Lee and Oakes (1996). Total Quality Management...
Words: 5887 - Pages: 24
...consulting is the process that assists various categories in business to evaluate the present status of internal methods and strategies, and improve the comprehensive operation of the company (What is Operations Consulting?). A problem that I have experienced with the consulting process at a current or past employer will be explained. The longest on and off job that I have held while in school has to be working as a sales associate at Macy’s. Working in the retail field definitely allows a person to know so much more about how a business is ran and what all goes into all the sales and profits. With this particular employer there were a few problems in the process that I have seen not personally dealt with. As an associates we were really never told how we were doing in personal sales and how we were performing in our job; the guideline for Macy’s was that managers are supposed to speak with each associate and tell them how they are doing and what improvements need to be made and what they were doing great at each quarter, but we barely were shown any information of that. I worked there a consecutive year and was not shown once at all. What would I want my client to be aware of that would help significantly in re-engineering the process? Re-engineering is defined as the systematic starting completely fresh and recreating the business process gets the work that is needed done (Re-engineering ). There is also the business process re-engineering process, which is a fundamental...
Words: 520 - Pages: 3
...MGT 218 Chapter 4: An investigation into how Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) and Lean concepts could improve the effectiveness of Sheffield University and give them a strategic edge. 4.1 Introduction The University of Sheffield (TUoS) is currently among the world’s top higher learning institutions, largely due to its high quality staff members and modern infrastructure. To maintain and improve its status among the world’s elite, it is fundamental for the University to understand and implement Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) to its existing processes. BPR can be defined as the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service, and speed (Hammer & Champy, 1990). This chapter aims to dwell deeper into how changing or adding on to existing processes and systems can benefit the University and its stakeholders 4.2 The Current State Of The University’s Systems and Processes In the past, many universities have restructured the way they ran their business. One good example would be the Montana State University in the United States, which in 2006 reviewed their old financial and administrative processes and subsequently identified areas for improvement. As a result, they managed to increase overall efficiency and eliminate unnecessary costs. The University of Sheffield currently runs SAP software, and have been doing so since 2007. One...
Words: 1925 - Pages: 8
...Learned This week's learning topics were Software Reengineering and Software Documentation. Since there are no discussion assignments and programming assignments, I focused on understanding the contents of reading assignments. Here are the key notes I learned from reading assignments. Software re-engineering Software reengineering updates legacy systems to improve maintainability. Compared to completely redeveloping software, the main benefits of reengineering are reduced risk and cost. While redeveloping essential software involves high risks, such as incorrect system specifications and development problems, reengineering can significantly reduce costs, potentially by a...
Words: 597 - Pages: 3
...Business Process Re-engineering Business process can be defined as "a set of logically related tasks performed to achieve a defined business outcome." It is "a structured, measured set of activities designed to produce a specified output for a particular customer or market." Improving business processes is important for businesses to stay ahead of competition in today's marketplace. Over the last 10 to 15 years, companies have been forced to improve their business processes because customers are demanding better products and services. Many companies begin business process improvement with a continuous improvement model. The BPR methodology comprises of developing the business vision and process objectives, identifying the processes to be redesigned, understanding and measuring the existing processes, identifying IT levers and designing and building a prototype of the new process. In this context it can be mentioned that, some of the biggest obstacles faced by reengineering are lack of sustained management commitment and leadership, unrealistic scope and expectations, and resistance to change. Business Process Reengineering (BPR) and Total Quality Management (TQM) Total Quality Management and BPR share a cross-functional relationship. Quality specialists tend to focus on incremental change and gradual improvement of processes, while proponents of reengineering often seek radical redesign and drastic improvement of processes. Quality management, often referred...
Words: 1561 - Pages: 7
...Proceedings of the 2010 International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management Dhaka, Bangladesh, January 9 – 10, 2010 Management of Supply Chain in Petroleum Corporations in India Surajit Roy LPG Operations, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. Mumbai 400053, India R. S. Dhalla Microbiological Consultants Mumbai 400007, India Abstract Supply chain initiatives have become a critical part of firms operations. Success is increasingly being dictated by how well a company can control its supply base and mitigate supply bottlenecks and liabilities. This paper used inductive and qualitative approaches to explore the salient factors that simultaneously enhance the “greening the supply chain” as well as maximizing the customer reach while maintaining the efficiency of the supply chain system of petroleum companies. The key indicators identified were environmental policies, supplier policies, sustainability, market orientation and commitment to human capital and diversity. A survey was conducted with key informants across many divisions of the LPG segment to investigate how well these environmental and customer reach in the supply chain are in synchronized with the top management’s commitment towards environmental responsiveness and maximizing customer orientation. The responses to the survey were statistically analyzed and a relationship model was constructed with Market orientation as the dependent variable and independent variables as: environmental policies, supplier...
Words: 2759 - Pages: 12
...------------------------------------------------- Business process reengineering From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Business Process Reengineering Cycle Business process re-engineering is a business management strategy, originally pioneered in the early 1990s, focusing on the analysis and design of workflows andbusiness processes within an organization. BPR aimed to help organizations fundamentally rethink how they do their work in order to dramatically improve customer service, cut operational costs, and become world-class competitors.[1] In the mid-1990s, as many as 60% of the Fortune 500 companies claimed to either have initiated reengineering efforts, or to have plans to do so.[2] BPR seeks to help companies radically restructure their organizations by focusing on the ground-up design of their business processes. According to Davenport (1990) a business process is a set of logically related tasks performed to achieve a defined business outcome. Re-engineering emphasized a holistic focus on business objectives and how processes related to them, encouraging full-scale recreation of processes rather than iterative optimization of subprocesses.[1] Business process re-engineering is also known as business process redesign, business transformation, or business process change management. Contents [hide] * 1 Overview * 2 History * 2.1 Reengineering Work: Don't Automate, Obliterate, 1990 * 2.2 Development after 1995 * 3 Business process reengineering topics ...
Words: 5633 - Pages: 23
...Business Process Re-engineering Business process re-engineering focus on the analysis and design of workflows and processes within an organization. BPR aimed to help organizations fundamentally rethink how they do their work in order to dramatically improve customer service, cut operational costs, and become world-class competitors. BPR seeks to help companies radically restructure their organizations by focusing on the ground-up design of their business processes. According to Davenport (1990) a business process is a set of logically related tasks performed to achieve a defined business outcome. It is "a structured, measured set of activities designed to produce a specified output for a particular customer or market." Improving business processes is important for businesses to stay ahead of competition in today's marketplace. Over the last 10 to 15 years, companies have been forced to improve their business processes because customers are demanding better products and services. Many companies begin business process improvement with a continuous improvement model. The BPR methodology comprises of developing the business vision and process objectives, identifying the processes to be redesigned, understanding and measuring the existing processes, identifying IT levers and designing and building a prototype of the new process. In this context it can be mentioned that, some of the biggest obstacles faced by reengineering are lack of sustained management commitment and leadership...
Words: 5795 - Pages: 24
...also known as the Toyota Production System. Disadvantages of JIT There is little room for mistakes as minimal stock is kept for re-working faulty product Production is very reliant on suppliers and if stock is not delivered on time, the whole production schedule can be delayed There is no spare finished product available to meet unexpected orders, because all product is made to meet actual orders – however, JIT is a very responsive method of production Advantage: Reduced setup time. Cutting setup time allows the company to reduce or eliminate inventory for "changeover" time. Small or individual piece lot sizes reduce lot delay inventories, which simplifies inventory flow and its management. Employees with multiple skills are used more efficiently. Having employees trained to work on different parts of the process allows companies to move workers where they are needed. Production scheduling and work hour consistency synchronized with demand. Increased emphasis on supplier relationships. Minimizes storage space needed. Smaller chance of inventory breaking/expiring Process Re- engineering The fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical modern measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service, and...
Words: 613 - Pages: 3
...Businesses enterprise has been realized that there is a need to restructure their business practices and become more customer-focused. All recent business approaches and techniques have generally aimed at improving performance, increasing profits, gaining market share, and most importantly satisfying the customer who has become more educated and more demanding than ever. In the last two decades two organizational development models have dominated the business world for a considerable period of time namely Total Quality Management (TQM) and Core Process Re-engineering (CPR). TQM and CPR share a cross-functional relationship. Quality specialists tend to focus on incremental change and gradual improvement of processes, while proponents of re-engineering often seek radical redesign and drastic improvement of processes. Quality management often referred to as TQM or continuous improvement, means programs and initiatives, which emphasize incremental improvement in work processes, and outputs over an open-ended period of time. In contrast, reengineering, also known as business process redesign or process innovation, refers to prudent initiatives intended to achieve radically redesigned and improved work processes in a specific time frame. In contrast to continuous improvement, CPR relies on a different school of thought. The extreme difference between continuous process improvement and core process reengineering lies in where the start from and also the magnitude and rate of resulting...
Words: 9463 - Pages: 38
...cutbacks and the increasing complexity of systems and advances in information technology make finding the right personnel difficult and the associated development costs high. Good project management is essential for success. Some alignment methodologies include IBM's business systems planning (BSP), Robert Holland's strategic systems planning, James Martin's (1989) information engineering and method/1 from Anderson Consulting. Critical success factors (Rockart, 1979) methodology focuses on identifying key information needs of senior executives and building information systems around those key needs. Williams, (1997) identified four steps to system planning. Earl (1989) proposed five alternate strategy frameworks which project managers should consider when deciding how the system will enhance the business function. Standard business strategy methods are used to identify such opportunities by using: value chains, application searching and information analysis (Earl 1989). Project managers may decide that major changes to business processes may be required. Change management is important for project managers and business leaders, starting at the project phase and continuing throughout the...
Words: 3679 - Pages: 15
...Examination Paper of Enterprise Resource Planning Professional IIBM Institute of Business Management Examination Paper MM.100 Enterprise Resource Planning Professional Guidelines for paper Total No. of Questions is 100. The minimum passing marks is 40%. Each Question carries 1 mark. Answer all the Questions. Multiple Choices: 1. Enterprise resource planning is_______ a) Computer System b) Manufacturing Organization c) Method of effective planning of all the resources in an organization d) None of the above 2. Enterprise resource planning vendors are those people_________ a) Who are experts in administration and management of project b) Who have developed the ERP package c) Who uses the ERP system d) None of the above 3. The objectives of ERP ____________ a) Provide support for all variations best business practices b) Enable implementation of these practices c) Empower the customer to modify the implemented business process d) All of the above 4. Which of the followings not the advantages of ERP________ a) ERP eliminates duplication of work b) Reduce overheads, lead type, cycle time and work in progress c) Customization of the ERP software is limited d) Help to achieve competitive advantage 5. EDI stands for__________________ a) Electronic digital interface b) Electronic data interchange c) Enterprise data interface d) None of these 6. A____________________ tool use to quickly develop quality database design...
Words: 2912 - Pages: 12
...underperforming Organizations According to Davenport (1990) a business process may be defined as a set of logically related tasks whose performance leads to a desired outcome. Re-engineering of these business processes means the analysis and re-design of workflow within and between enterprises. A cycle of BPR can be identified as under – (Radhakrishnan) * Identify the present processes and the outcomes of these processes * Analyze the process, review them and find out the points where business processes are lacking. * Make a new design to re-align the business processes along the lines of best practices within the industry or even outside the industry. * Implement the new business processes and test them. Once the BPR is done, we again analyze the processes which are being followed currently thus making BPR a continuous improvement process. When an underperforming organization embarks on a mission to re-engineer its business processes it can mean the turnaround of the firm or its complete collapse. As the firm is already underperforming so finding benchmarks will not be much difficult .However the difficulty with such a firm will be employee motivation and resource crunch. These are the key issues to be dealt with when doing BPR for an underperforming firm. IT is one of the means through which BPR can be achieved ; it is not an end itself. (Guy Doumeingts) The ERP package is there to help the BPR process. Many firms equate BPR with the implementation of the ERP...
Words: 705 - Pages: 3
