Week 8- Process Redesign (1)

Source / Reference:

1)            “Redesigning Enterprise Processes for e-Businesses”, El Sawy, 2001

Subject:

What is scoping an enterprise process?

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Response:

During scoping an enterprise process, it assumes that the BPR project has been identified and the process selected, a design team that has been mobilized, and a BPR software tool has been selected. 7 activities in sequence are involved in scoping process.

1.   Operationalize process performance targets
2. Define process boundaries
3.  Identify key process issues
4.  Understand best practices & define initial visions
5. Familiarize participants with BPR software
6. Outline data collection plan & collect baseline data
7. Plan for modeling phase

The deliverable of this phase is a Process Scoping Report. This report should be provided to the process owners for reporting and feedback purposes. It can also be provided to the BPR project sponsor. For the BPR design and implementation team, the report can be used as guidelines to start the modeling phases. Hence, BPR can be done with clearly defined steps and schedules. 

Moreover, it is helpful to define the scope first from a "process" perspective, clearly stating where the process begins and where it ends. A process perspective provides the best and most focused definition of what is changing and what is not changing. By scoping an enterprise process, firm can have quantitative measurement to evaluate the success of BPR in the company. Therefore, firm executive can evaluate the success of BPR by realistic process performance targets. 

Week 7 – BPR Methodologies

Source / Reference:
1) “BUSINESS PROCESS REENGINEERING: A CONSOLIDATED METHODOLOGY”, S. Muthu, L. Whitman, and S. H. Cheraghi, 1999
2) “Reengineering Work: Don’t Automate, Obliterate”, M. Hammer, 2000

Subject:
What is BPR methodology?
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Response:
Business Process Reengineering (BPR) Methodologies is a structured set of guidelines that enable an analyst to derive ways for problem solving.
In the old days, the usual methods for boosting performance – process rationalization and automation haven’t yielded the dramatic improvements companies need. BPR should be adopted to improve companies’ performance: use the power of modern information technology to radically redesign our business processes in order to achieve dramatic improvements in their performance, which is defined by Hammer (2000).
S. Muthu, L. Whitman, and S. H. Cheraghi(1999) proposed five activities in BPR methodology as the following:

1. Prepare for Re-engineering
2. Map and Analyze As-Is Process
3. Design To-Be process
4. Implement Reengineered Process
5. Improve Process Continuously

El Sawy (2001) also proposed a BPR methodology:

The modified methodology is slightly different form the one taught in lecture, which is from El Sawy (2001), especially for the beginning of BPR.
El Sawy(2001) emphasis the triggering and executive visioning is important to start a BPR, the strategy is the vision of how a company should be. Executive level's management can anticipate how a particular aspect of the business should work or inefficiencies in BP, or triggered by the dissatisfaction of process stakeholders, BPR project can be implemented in a way can address the existing problems.
However, in S. Muthu, L. Whitman, and S. H. Cheraghi’s model, the first phase is “Prepare for BPR”, this phase include build cross functional team, identify Customer driven objective and  develop strategic purpose. Hence, the BPR project has been started in first phase.
In my opinion, the methodology proposed by El Sawy is more appropriate. It is because the firm should understand the importance of BPR before launching. The reasons of BPR can make executive to understand firm’s external and internal environment to design workable solution for BPR.

Week 6 – Basics of BPR (2)

Source / Reference:

1    1 )     “Applying quality to Leavitt’s framework to solve information technology problems: A case study”, D. Grant,, E. Mergen, 1996

2    2 )     A Look at the Components of Leavitt's Diamond, S. Thakur, 2011 http://www.brighthub.com/office/project-management/articles/122495.aspx

Subject: 
What the new Leavitt’s framework did Grant and Mergen proposed?

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Response:

BPR derives its existence from different disciplines, and four major areas can be identified as being subjected to change in BPR - organization, technology, strategy, and people - where a process view is used as common framework for considering these dimensions. The approach can be graphically depicted by a modification of "Leavitt’s diamond".

The interaction between these four components determines the fate of an organization. Any change in one of these elements will have a direct effect on all the other elements, and thus they will also need to be tweaked to accommodate the change. Leavitt’s diamond is an integrated approach and is widely used for managing organizational change. This is the old model proposed by Dr. Harold Leavitt. (Thakur, 2011)

However, Grant and Mergen suggested that the four interactive variables could be modified. The modifications included replacing the variable structure with organization structure and adding communication as the fifth variable.

I think this new model is more suitable in today’s business environment, especially for the added variable, communication:

• ·        It can show both people communication and technology-related communication. This is vital to function effectively within organization, as communication is necessary to every business process.
• ·        It is important in total quality management (TQM) for providing rapid feedback to both internal and external organizational entities.
• ·        The communication between people and technology is important in organization as levels of authority and decision making exist between technology and people.

There are benefits from new model adoption:

• ·        Obvious reduction in product cycle time.
• ·        Improved communication
• ·        Better coordination and collaboration
• ·        Streamlining of the function
• ·        Better use of existing technologies

Because the new model can have below characteristics:

• ·        Appreciation the impact of both social and technical communication
• ·        Identify the interrelationships between five factor
• ·        Focus on the effectiveness and the efficiency of work performed in the function
• ·        Organize ideas to identify problem specific to the function
• ·        Aid the understanding and acquisition of new knowledge about for the function, as the interrelationship between five factors will be known.

Hence, due to the emphasis of communication in new model, companies benefit a lot by the improved communication between people and technology, and between people. Communication is critical for maintaining competitive advantage for a company since every business process is not a stand-alone process, but a collaborative work.