Business process Reengineering

Sameeha Mohamed Hussien

Yasmine Ahmed Mohamed
Dina Ateya Ahmed
Mahmoud Refaie Saad
Submitted to Dr: Engy
Business process Reengineering
Introduction

Business process reengineering (BPR) is the analysis and redesign of workflows within
and between enterprises in order to optimize end-to-end processes and automate non-
value-added tasks. BPR is the fundamental rethinking and redesign of business processes
to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance,
such as cost, quality, service and speed.

Business process reengineering (BPR) is a tool to help organizations to improve

Quality, customer services, cut operational costs and become leaders in their domain.
BPR could act as an important strategic tool for sustained competitive advantage for any
manufacturing companies (public and private) in the present context. BPR playing a vital
role in the enhancement of productivity and efficiency of many organizations. A crowd of
interrelated tasks that creates value is called a business process. BPR is a popular
management tool for dealing with rapid technological and business changes.

BPR is a management tool, in which business processes are examined and redesigned to
improve cost efficiency and service effectiveness. Based on the latest management
concepts, reengineering are needed to facilitate processes across organizational
boundaries and integrate back-and front-office processes.

Reengineering refers to a complete change of business processes, where the term

“processes” is synonymous with activities, operations, or a sum of operations of
individual organizational departments.
Definition

Business Process Reengineering is a systematic, disciplined approach to reducing

organizational costs and redundant business processes involving the analysis of existing
human and automated workflows.

Business process reengineering (BPR) is the radical design of core business processes
to achieve significant improvements in productivity, quality, and cycle times. In large
businesses and even smaller or medium-sized ones processes can build up over time,
becoming legacy snarls that are deeply entrenched in how things are done.

Business Process Reengineering always known as a radical redesign of business

processes to achieve dramatic improvements in productivity, cycle times, quality, and
employee and customer satisfaction. Companies start by assessing what work needs to be
done to deliver customer value. Techniques such as process mining (the analysis of
information systems event logs) can help discover, monitor, and improve processes. Then
they decide how to do the work or if it should be done at all. Rethinking the roles of third
parties or outsourcing is also a crucial component of Business Process Reengineering.

Process reengineering is achieved through a complete overhaul of the organization

structures, job descriptions, training models, use of information technology, and
performance management systems. Irrespective of the type and scale of BPR, a critical
requirement for all the projects of BPR is seamless communication throughout the
organization.

The reengineering strategy must focus more on customer needs by using technology to
improve data dissemination and decision making.
Literature Review

Business process re-engineering is a process design, process management, and process

innovation. Re-engineering involves revising organizational processes. That means, designing the
core business process instead of analyzing the current one. It involves re-configuration of works
to serve customers better. Re-engineering forces organizations to challenge the way they run and
redesign organizations around the desired outcomes rather than functions or departments. It also
forces a new way of thinking.

BPR is a technique about dramatic process improvement. According to Chen (2001), BPR is
known by many names, such as, core process redesign, new industrial engineering and working
smarter. All of them imply the same concept which focuses on integrating both business process
redesign and IT use to support the re- engineering work. According to Hammer and Champy
(1993), BPR is 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. In improving service delivering speed, BPR plays important roles of making
succession or continuity of progression of work activities, automating business processes ,
keeping the sections with high to-from movement close , linking different section which are far
apart and facilitating the communication between employees or employees and customers.

In any organization, business processes are characterized by three elements: inputs (data,
such as customer inquiries or materials), processes (where customers or materials go
through several stages which may be time and money consuming) and output (delivery of
expected results). In this system, a problematic part is processing of what is required by a
customer. To deliver what is required by customers on time, organizations need to perfect
their business processes. In this case, BPR is the technique that can be used to perfect the
business processes. In the intervention, BPR involves discovering how business processes
currently operates, how to redesign these processes to eliminate the wasted or redundant
effort and improve efficiency and how to implement the process change in order to gain
competitiveness (CHEN, 2001). According to Sherwood-Smith (1994) as quoted in Chen
(2001), BPR is seeking to invent new ways of organizing tasks, people and redesigning
IT systems so that processes support the organization to realize its goals.
Additionally, firms are no longer able to serve their clients through traditional
management processes. In addition to clients, competition, and change have compelled
them to enter an intensive environment with excessive demands, necessitating mass
output and high-quality services with rapid response times. To satisfy these expectations,
companies cannot rely just on information technology to accomplish their objectives;
they must also examine their basic processes and make necessary modifications. The
fundamental tenet of BPR is the redesign of processes, particularly those that contribute
to the organization's development of business value, with IT serving as a vehicle for
automating procedures. Thus, firms may use BPR to assess their core business processes
and systems and reorganize them on a periodic basis to ensure they remain adaptable to
future redesigns.

In any BPR project, technology plays an important role in supporting BPR. Among other
roles, technology allows the rapid development of various ready to use best-practice
templates that suits most needed business processes, automate business processes, linking
section and facilitates the smooth flow of information between sections to mention few.
All this shortens the transition phase and minimizes the impact and duration of transition,
and so accelerates the time to benefit, till reaching the quality levels.

BPR has been recognized since it emerged as an academic field. Moreover, there has
been a steady increase in the amount of research on BPR. A reason for this stable interest
is the high rate of failure of BPR implementation. A second reason is that current
research limitations encourage researchers to continue exploring this field.

BPR is said to be a new approach for the process management that brings radical change
(improvement) in organizational performance, reshapes a business’s practices to achieve
better overall performance in terms of costs, quality of service, speed, and proficiency.
The evolution of BPR literature reflects both its initial enthusiasm and subsequent
critiques. Early proponents emphasized the need for a clean slate approach, while later
scholars highlighted the importance of combining BPR with other organizational change
strategies. BPR has helped public organizations achieve more efficiency in the
healthcare, education, and national economic project sectors.
BPR is important because the modifications to improve business productivity are
necessary for a fast-changing global environment typified by intense competition and
growing technological advancement.

Where there is confusion, it is in both the interpretation and the scope of the concept.
Hammer (1990) referred to business process reengineering, while Davenport and Short
(1990) to business process redesign. However, there are still many other authors with
variations on these terms, all referring to process changes large and small. For example:

- Business process improvement

- Core process redesign
- Process innovation
- Business process transformation
- Breakpoint business process redesign
- Organizational re-engineering
- Business process management
- Business scope redefinition

Hammer, M. & Champy (1993) thinks it as radical change and rethinking of overall
process to achieve overall performance in terms of cost, quality, service and speed,
Talwar (1993) on the other hand emphasized on rethinking and reconstructing the
organizational structure, workflow and value chain.

Petrozzo and Stepper (1994) on the other hand believe that BPR involves the concurrent
redesign of processes, organizations, and their supporting information systems to achieve
radical improvement in time, cost, quality, and customers’ regard for the company’s’
products and services. While Lowenthal (1994) describes the fundamental rethinking and
redesign of operating processes and organizational structure, focused on the
organization’s core competencies, to achieve dramatic improvements in organizational
performance, as BPR’s essential components.

While some of these terms are clearly referring to a generic business process
improvement model, on a large scale, other authors (Watkins, Skinner & Pearson, 1993;
Earl & Khan, 1994) point out that reengineering can be performed at a variety of different
levels within the organization. This is exemplified in IBM’s reengineered finance
process, which yielded large percentage improvements in costs, time, and quality, but had
little effect on overall performance, because it was not a core process central to the
strategy of the company (Currid, 1994). Put into strategic context, BPR becomes a
means of aligning work processes with customer requirements in a dynamic way, in order
to achieve long-term corporate objectives. This requires the systems thinking advocated
by Senge (1990) and Deming (1993), which must involve customers, suppliers, and the
future. Gulden and Reck (1991) showed that the secrets to designing a process lie not so
much in intimately understanding the way it is performed today but rather in thinking
about how to reshape it for the future.

BPR is an important tool used for incorporating change and had proved to be the
significant approaches due to its features and the results produced by the effective
utilization of these approach over decades. Majed. Al-Mashari, Irani, and Zairi (2001)
stated that, every firm wants to achieve efficiency and effectiveness in reducing cost of
production, improving quality of product and by providing timely and speedy products
and services to the customer.

In the era of technology, globalization and rapid change in customer's need, it is essential
to realize the importance of change. Thus, Change is becoming necessity in today's
environment of massive competition and drastic technological changes thus, it is of great
concern for the management and consultants to plan accordingly otherwise, they will get
out of competition (out of market).

Despite research done regarding BPR, this field remains extremely broad, thus it is
inevitable that the significance of BPR is only partially understood. It is also evident that
BPR is often incorrectly considered to be a tool for downsizing organizations. Therefore,
various organizational development concepts and theories have been created that focus
on business processes needed to redesign organizations, including re-engineering. Re-
engineering allows organizations to identify their flaws and resolve them by emphasizing
the core business processes.
BPR can potentially help practitioners meet their objectives which might include an
increase in effectiveness and efficiency and a reduction in overhead cost. BPR involves

1- Radical redesign of business processes;

2- Uses information technology to enable new business processes;
3- Attempts to achieve organizational-level strategic outcomes;
4- Tends to be inter-functional in its efforts.
 Phases

Process reengineering starts with a high-level assessment of the mission, strategy, and
customer needs of the organization. Once the organization rethinks what it should be
doing will be able to decide the best route to get there.

Organizations reengineer two key areas of their businesses: first is the use of modern
technology for improving data dissemination and decision-making and the second is the
altering of functional organizations to form functional teams.

Steps in Business Process Reengineering:

1. Identify the scope and goals of the reengineering initiative.

2. Map and analyze the current processes, identifying inefficiencies, bottlenecks, and
areas for improvement.
3. Redesign the processes, focusing on eliminating non-value-added activities,
optimizing workflows, and leveraging technology.
4. Develop a detailed implementation plan, considering resource allocation,
timelines, and change management strategies.
5. Implement the redesigned processes, involving training, communication, and
stakeholder engagement.
6. Monitor and evaluate the outcomes and performance of the reengineered
processes, making adjustments as necessary.

“To succeed at reengineering, you have to be a missionary, a motivator, and a leg-

breaker.” Michael Hammer

Benefits and Drawbacks:

Benefits of Business Process Reengineering

BPR plays a major role in organizational performance improvement in terms of cost,

quality, delivery, employee productivity, etc. It also helps
Improved efficiency: BPR focuses on eliminating non-value-added activities,
simplifying processes, and reducing waste. This leads to improved efficiency and
productivity, as resources are better utilized and workflows are streamlined.

Cost reduction: By eliminating redundancies, optimizing workflows, and leveraging

technology, BPR helps organizations reduce costs associated with labor, materials, and
operational inefficiencies.

Increased agility and flexibility: BPR encourages organizations to adopt more agile and

flexible processes. This enables them to respond quickly to market changes, customer

demands, and competitive pressures

Enhanced customer satisfaction: By reengineering processes to deliver products or

services faster, with higher quality and improved customer experiences, organizations can
enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Quality improvement: BPR emphasizes the identification and elimination of defects and
errors in processes. By redesigning processes with quality in mind, organizations can
improve product or service quality, reduce rework, and enhance overall process
reliability.

Enhanced innovation: BPR encourages organizations to think critically about their

existing processes and challenge traditional assumptions. This mindset fosters a culture of
innovation, where new ideas and approaches are welcomed.

Better alignment with business goals: BPR ensures that processes are closely aligned

with the organization’s strategic goals and objectives.

Improved employee engagement: By engaging employees in process improvement

efforts, organizations can tap into their knowledge, expertise, and creativity, leading to
higher employee engagement and satisfaction.
Competitive advantage: By optimizing processes, reducing costs, enhancing customer
satisfaction, and fostering innovation, BPR can give organizations a competitive
advantage in the market.

Cons or Drawbacks of BPR:

BPR implementation does not always go as expected. Certain disadvantages come along
with BPR revolving around its inception, objectives, outcomes, etc. The main cons of
BOR are:

BPR may not suit all types of businesses because it depends on factors like size and
availability of resources. It is most beneficial to large-sized organizations. Moreover,
BPR may not work for all types of business processes.

There are chances of a BPR implementation improving the efficiency of a department or

team at the cost of overall process efficiency.

BPR does not provide instant resolution of business outcomes, it contributes more
towards the long-term business benefits. Long-term collaborations require more effort
and time.

Requires significant investment of IT resources along with proper planning, exceptional

execution, and strong teamwork.

The advantages of implementing BPR outweigh the disadvantages, which is convincing

enough for BPR specialists to implement it for improving business outcomes.

 The Top 5 Challenges That Might Mess Up BPR Initiatives:

1. Lack of knowledge:

The why, when, where, and how of business process reengineering must be clear to the
implementation team. In scenarios where there is a lack of clarity or knowledge of the
BPR implementation, the scope for confusion, redundancy, and repetition is greater. BPR
projects that lack knowledge and awareness result in a waste of business resources. To
overcome or avoid such scenarios, the team must be properly trained and guided all
through the implementation.
2. Irregularities in implementation:

BPR cannot be considered a trigger for instant competitive edges, instead, a thorough
process must be followed from start to end for visible growth. In some scenarios, BPR
may not be suitable for many processes. Moreover, BPR practices cannot be considered
one-off implementations, they must be made part of the business strategy for continuous
improvement. Irregular BPR practices hinder the growth opportunities that come with it.

3. Improper team formulation:

Must-have requirements for the formulation of the BPR team are well-defined, well-
structured, knowledge of operation and process management and the right set of business
process knowledge and expertise. Any team that lacks these characteristics is bound to
mess up the BPR implementation.

4. Shallow analysis and lack of support:

An in-depth analysis of existing business processes is the backbone for BPR

implementation. The process milestones must be established and analyzed before the
implementation. The inadequate analysis is a recipe for disaster.

5. Insufficient and Inappropriate Resource Utilization:

Lack of essential resources like skilled human resources, adequate budgeting/funding,

knowledge of BPR tools, availability, timely approval, and correct set of BPR tools
results in the failure of BPR implementation.

To achieve success through BPR implementation, businesses need to ensure that the
above challenges are addressed or avoided during the analysis, design, and
implementation phases.
 Dimensions

A work process, also known as a business process, is a set of tasks and activities driven
by one or more inputs, at least some of which, represent customer requirements that result
in one or more outputs, which meet the customer requirements, the design process is the
methodology by which the internal elements of the organization (core processes,
structure, systems, and culture) are streamlined and aligned to business strategy and core
ideology. Along with, it is a coordinated and standardized flow of activities performed by
people or machines, which can traverse functional or organizational boundaries to
achieve business objective and creates value for:

Dramatic Process

If business processes are changing due to the services being performed by an outside
organization, process maps are needed, engaging your employees is a process, and the
best way to test the effectiveness of your tools and activities is by creating opportunities
to implement change management on smaller changes, besides, restructuring or
arrangement is a radical rethinking and radical re-design of business processes to achieve
dramatic improvements in cost, quality, speed, and service.

Best Analysis

However, once it has been determined that culture change is a desired objective; each
model that relates to the business process via its element can be regarded as a dimension
of the business process. In the first place, used best practices to carry out business process
analysis, re-engineering, process measurements and change management activities.

Final Improvement

Change management is the systematic approach to transitioning from one environment to

another through the reassignment of resources, business processes, budget allocations, or
other aspects that significantly alter a company or organization, specifically, business
change means the redesigning of business processes, the improvement of your
organization products and, or services, and organizational changes to organizational
structure and, or culture deemed necessary for better performance, therefore, total quality
management aims to hold all parties involved in the production process accountable for
the overall quality of the final product or service.

Various Years

Business process is simply a series of tasks that you and your team perform repeatedly to
create a product or service for your stakeholder, sponsor or customer, you also seek to
harness ideas and creativity and, in the process, increase personal engagement, therefore,
many significant organizational changes in recent years have been based on the
incorporation and integration of IT throughout various levels of your organization.

Creatively Effectiveness

Efficiency and effectiveness is a measure of the ratio of process outputs to inputs, re-
engineering is the thorough analysis, fundamental rethinking, and complete redesign of
essential business processes to achieve dramatic performance improvements in service,
quality, speed and cost. More than that creatively utilize business process reengineering
and process improvement to drive efficiency and service quality.
Implementation of process reengineering

BPR implementation is a series of waves that can wash over the organization for years,
leaving a system for continuous improvement. It must be undertaken with a clean slate
approach to process design. Only then can companies avoid a classic reengineering pitfall
of focusing on fixing the status quo. Implementation of the Business Process
Reengineering requires that new infrastructures are planned and built to support this
Business Transformation. The full commitment of senior executives on its redesign and
implementation must also be present to ensure the success of the reengineering project.

Here are the steps to successful BPR implementation:

Step 1: This step focuses on preparation and coordination for implementing BPR. The
main objective is to establish strong management support and communicate clearly to the
implementation team about their project details and their roles.

Step 2: This step focuses on the business diagnosis and performance measurement of
business processes. The main objective is to diagnose and identify problematic areas in
the current processes. The performance of current processes is evaluated based on
measurable factors like average cycle time, number of errors, average cycle times, and
number of customer complaints.

Step 3: Choosing the process for change and modeling is the second step in business
process reengineering tools implementation. The strategic processes that are feasible for
change are identified. Redefining and modeling the selected processes are the main
objectives of this step.

Step 4: Technical design of the solution is the main objective of this step. Workflow
automation is a tested way to improve operational efficiencies. Ways to automate modeled
business processes using workflow tools and networks is the main objective here.
Redesigning and modeling of the selected processes are done using workflow automation
tools.
Step 5: Training and allocation of personnel for implementing the changes are carried out
in this step. The new ways of working with new processes and ways of using IT in the
redesigned process need to be explained to the project team. This step focuses on training
personnel on the usage of new processes and allocating the right person for newly defined
tasks.

Step 6: Change management and employee empowerment are important steps of BPR.
Efficient change management helps establish a positive attitude towards change among
employees. To minimize resistance from employees against change, they are empowered
with position-based performance appraisal and bonus systems.

Step 7: The final step in the implementation of EPR is the introduction of new processes
into business operations. A time and date are decided for introducing new processes into
the business. Emphasis is given to making the employees understand that working under
old processes is not possible anymore.

Step 8: Continuous improvement of business processes is a must for sustaining the

market. The best way to capitalize on BPR implementation is to develop an internal team
of experts that offers guidance on future BPR implementations.

Effective BPR implementation requires the timely execution of the above steps. The most
important factor in successful BPR implementation is having a clear goal and coming up
with clear strategic improvements to existing work processes. BPR is all about
implementing new ideas that change the way you engage and interact with customers.