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The
Business Process Reengineering
method (BPR) is defined by Hammer and Champy as 'the fundamental
reconsideration and radical redesign of organizational processes,
in order to achieve drastic improvement of current performance in
cost, service and speed'. Value creation for the customer is the
leading factor for BPR and information
technology often plays an important enabling role.
Davenport (1992) prescribes a
five-step approach to the Business Process Reengineering model:
1.
Develop the business vision and process objectives: The BPR
method is driven by a business vision which implies
specific business objectives such as cost reduction, time reduction,
output quality improvement.
2. Identify the business processes to be redesigned: most firms use
the 'High- Impact' approach which focuses on the most important processes
or those that conflict most with the business vision. Lesser number of
firms use the 'Exhaustive approach' that attempts to identify all the
processes within an organization and then prioritize them in order of
redesign urgency.
3. Understand and measure the existing processes: for avoiding the
repeating of old mistakes and for providing a baseline for future
improvements.
4. Identify IT levers: awareness of IT capabilities can and should
influence BPR.
5. Design and build a prototype of the new process: the actual
design should not be viewed as the end of the BPR process. Rather, it should be viewed as a prototype,
with successive iterations. The metaphor of prototype aligns the Business Process Reengineering approach with quick delivery of
results, and the involvement and satisfaction of customers.
As a 6th step of
the
BPR method some mention
to adapt the organizational
structure and governance model towards the newly designed primary process.
When should
BPR be used?
Although it is
difficult to give generic advice on this, some factors that can be
considered are:
- is the competition
outperforming the company by factors?
- are there many conflicts
in the organization?
- is there an extremely high
frequency of meetings?
- excessive use of
non-structured communication? (memos, emails, etc)
- is a more
continuous approach of incremental improvements not possible? (see:
Kaizen).
When Kaizen
is compared to the BPR
method is it clear the Kaizen philosophy is more people-oriented, more easy to
implement, requires long-term discipline. The Business Process Reengineering
approach
on the other hand is harder, technology-oriented, enables radical change
but requires major change management skills.
Compare:
Outsourcing |
Change Phases |
Organic
Organization |
Core Groups |
Planned Behavior
| Force Field
Analysis
| Kaizen |
Value Stream Mapping |
Change Management
| Six
Change Approaches | Managing for Value |
Dimensions
of Change |
Eight Attributes of Management Excellence |
Five Disciplines
| Ten
Principles of Reinvention |
Fourteen Points of
Management |
Blue Ocean Strategy
More management models
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