Week 5 - Business Process Reengineering (BPR)

Source / Reference:

1) "Business Process Reengineering BPR"  by Sotiris Zigiaris 2000 
http://www.adi.pt/docs/innoregio_BPR-en.pdf

2) "Business Process Reengineering: A Consolidated Methodology" by S. Muthu, L. Whitman, S.H Cheraghi 1999

http://webs.twsu.edu/whitman/papers/ijii99muthu.pdf  

3) "Business Process Reengineering" by Preston Carter 2005

http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/business-process-reengineering.html

Subject: 

In Lecture 5 - Basics of Business Process Re-engineering

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Response: 
As I have learned the basics of BPR during the lecture, therefore I won't be repeating what have been taught by the lecturer, instead I will be talking about the Characteristics of BPR, Methodology of BPR and a BPR tool that haven't covered. 


Business process re-engineering (BPR) helps in improving and modernizing the performance of an organization. BPR affects the performance of an organization directly, it is the key to transforming how people work. BPR focuses on processes and not on tasks, jobs or people. The best way in implementing BPR is by top down approach and not to undertake a project in isolation. 

Characteristics of BPR:

• Several jobs are combined into one and get done simultaneously
• Decision making is push to lower level
• Processes have multiple versions
• A hybrid centralized/decentralized operation is used
• A single point of contact is provided to customers
• Reconciliation is minimized
• Controls and checks and other non value added work are minimized

Methodology:

• Prepare for BPR
  The question ‘Is BPR necessary?’ should be asked.
• Map and Analyze As-Is Process
  Understand the existing process.
• Design To-Be Process
  Produce one or more alternatives which satisfy the strategic goals of the organization.
• Implement Reengineered Process
  Develop a transition plan that aligns the organizational structure, information systems, and the business policies and procedures with the redesigned processes.
• Improve Process Continuously
  Monitoring the progress of actions and the results. 

The use of a good BPR/documentation tool is vital in any BPR project. A good BPR tool should have the following characteristics: 

• Graphical interface
• "Object oriented" technology
• Drag and drop facility
• Customizable meta data fields
• Analysis
• Support for Value Stream mapping
• CRUD or RACI reports
• The ability to assess the processes against agreed international standards
• Simulation software
• The production of word documents or web site versions of the procedures at the touch of a single button

2c8 is a very comprehensive BPR software that meets all the above requirements. For further information about 2c8, please log on to http://www.2c8.com/ .