MSc Business Process Reengineering

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MScBusiness Process Re-engineering

• Re-engineering Information Technology and
  Information Systems

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Organization and the IT Function

• IT function often seen as working for internal
  efficiency
• IS/IT strategy
• supports/ enables the business objectives
• support new strategic directions

• A business could be in four possible states
• Drifting
• Disconnected
• Deckchairs
• Driven

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Strategic Dimensions of the IT Function

• Justifying investment decisions
• traditional justification methods are inadequate
• applications make different contributions to a
  business and need to be assessed in different
  ways
• the application portfolio approach can provide a
  basic framework to selecting right approach

• Prioritizing applications development
• some are logically dependant
• constant rationale is needed, or short term
  issues will override strategy
• limited resources must be used to maximum effect

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Investment Justification
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Potential Problems

• Employees organized in specialist groups
• project managers with no power over project work
• Employees shared between projects
• longer lead times
• maintenance fitted in
• An overall departmental budget
• individual projects not justified in business
  terms
• No set criteria for project prioritization/
  initiation

• Poor metrics for measuring project success
• achievement of specified delivery date
• no formal consideration of business outcome
• Lack of understanding between IT and Business
  Personnel
• IT function considered a cost centre, not an
  investment
• Empire building
• Poor career prospects

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Organisation of the IT Function

• Flatten the organization
• Take account of the management style of the
  business
• Positioning IS/ IT resources in the organization
  - centralized versus decentralized
• possible approaches
• decentralize resources
• disperse resources
• convert IT to a profit centre
• set up IT as a separate business entity

• Tendency to centralize the following
• Telecommunications
• Architecture
• Information policy
• ownership
• sharing
• Risk Management
• Shared services e.g. procurement, R D
• Shared utilities e.g. external databases
• human resources (career progression)

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Re-engineered IT Function

• Providing corporate services
• providing systems for Head Office
• managing/ providing central infrastructure and
  bureau services
• monitoring trends in IT
• Setting policy, strategy and standards
• integrating IS and business planning unit
• defining policies for IT
• monitoring the industrys use of IT
• auditing quality and security

• Developing and managing staff
• promoting and initiating the use of IT
• recruiting and developing IS staff
• training staff in the use of IT and applications
• planning and developing business unit IS
  facilities
• Building management awareness of IT
• planning and budgeting facilities and
  applications
• developing and implementing in line with
  corporate policy
• providing expertise and support for end users
• maintaining facilities and applications
• acquiring hardware and software

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BPR The Role of Information Technology

• Definition
• Radically re-designing business processes.
• Target
• Implementation of competitive strategies.
• Enabler
• IT and organisational re-design
• Payback
• Improvements, TQM
• Changes
• Job cuts new jobs job re-design

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BPR The Role of Information Technology

• Information processing capabilities
• Connectivity
• Internet technologies
• Facilitate Innovative Changes in the design of
  workflows, job requirements and organisational
  structures.
• Increases in efficiency
• Agility
• Communication
• Collaboration

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Information Technologies that supportre-engineeri
ng

• Sales and Order Management Processes
• CRM systems using corporate intranets and the
  internet.
• Supplier managed inventory systems using the
  Internet and extranets.
• Cross-functional ERP software for integrating
  manufacturing, distribution, finance and HR
  processes.
• Customer-accessible e-commerce web-sites for
  order entry, status checking, payment and service
• Customer, product and order status databases
  accessed via intranets and extranets by employees
  and suppliers.

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Strategic Intent BPR Key Issues

• BPR initiatives always have a strategic
  dimension.
• BPR initiatives can have unintended strategic
  consequences.
• BPR initiatives which are effective in the short
  term may be counter-productive in the long term.
• BPR Informs the strategy of the business and
  requires a BPR mind-set.
• A learning context is required for continuous
  improvement, monitoring, motivation and
  enrichment by best practice.
• BPR initiatives may change their strategic role
  over time (temporal dimension).

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Summary re-engineering Strategies

• continuous improvement tactics.
• restructuring tactics
• organizational traits
• renovation tactics
• How do we establish an optimal balance?
• We manage change

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Reference
Reference. O.Brien, J (2002) Management
Information Systems Managing Information
Technology in the e-business enterprise. McGraw
Hill.