Week 8 (Lecture 8) - Process Redesign (1)

Source / Reference:

1)      Omar A.EI Sawy, Redesigning Enterprise Processes for e-Business

2)      http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/48613/newindustrialeng00dave.pdf

Response:

In lecture 7, in order to have a success of the BPR effort, we have clearly defined and proven the BPR methodologies. The central concerns that BPR methodologies try to alleviate stem from differences between business activities and organizational strategy, and between current and desired productivity of organizational resources. This methodology is designed to be used by reengineering teams in business organizations without tremendous reliance on external BPR consultants. The methodology consists of five typical phases, each of which addresses a logical section of the reengineering process. The five phases are Triggering and Executive Visioning, BPR Project Mobilisation, Process Redesign, Implementation and Organisational Transformation, and Monitoring and Maintaining.

In lecture 8, the Process Redesign phase, Phase 3 of the BPR, is the focus in this chapter. Process Redesign needs a tool to quickly capture and model existing processes as well as new processes and also to support rigorous changes and catalyze creative thinking. In the Process Redesign, it includes five steps and divided into three phases.

Phase 1: Scoping the process

Phase 2: Modeling, Analysis, and Redesign of the process

Phase 3: Planning process integration

However, we will focus on discussing on scoping the process in Process Redesign in this lecture. In scoping the process, it includes the following activities.

1.          Operationalize process performance targets

The objective of redesign is prioritized and regular. For every objective which can be separated into sub-goals and each objective need to be clarity distinctly. Also, Tangible measures must be defined for each process target.

For instance, cutting processing time for simple requests from five days average to 24 hours max, and for complicated requests, from ten days average to 90% being processed in three days or less.  

2.          Define process boundaries

The process boundaries can be the customers, output, input, starts, end and the triggers of the process. In order to define the scope of the process, it includes the BPR team with pointers for collecting data for the modeling phase. Moreover, it counteracts the temptation for grandiosity which guarantee the end-to-end process between multiple functional areas and organizations and balance of effort and return.

3.          Identify key process issues

First, it provides a common starting assessment point for the BPR team and flags areas requiring attention. Also, in order to identifying the issues directly related to the flow of the process itself, it identifies the key issues related to the work environment around the process.

4.          Understand best practices and define initial visions

Understanding known best practices is not benchmarking in the formal or rigorous sense. Formal benchmarking for a process can only be done after the process is modeled and carefully understood and detailed, which occurs in Phase 2 of process design.

5.          Familiarize participants with BPR software

By the end of this premodeling phase, the various BPR participants must become familiar with the selected BPR software and its capabilities. There are different degrees of familiarization with BPR software suitable for different types of participants.

6.          Outline data collection plan and collect baseline data

Having defined the process scope and assessed the key process issue, the BPR team is now aware of which subprocesses and which departments and external entities it needs to collect more data form, and what the nature of some of the data needed is. Now familiar with the BPR software tool, the team also knows which form and level of aggregation the data is most appropriately in.

7.          Plan for modeling phases

It is provided to the process owners for reporting and feedback purposes and used as a focusing and guiding device.