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Business process redesign
A simple framework for small and
medium-sized businesses
While growth is a
preferred mode of creating value in almost all cases, an
enterprise still needs to focus on operations management, or more
specifically, on the robustness of its business processes.
Business processes, therefore, may need to be redesigned from time
to time for the following reasons:
- Existing process are broken, or in other
words, performing at sub-optimal levels
- New technology/equipment/systems are
available
- Competitors have better business processes
putting you at a competitive disadvantage
- Business model transformation is being
implemented
- Customers expect you to align your processes
with theirs
While business
process redesign (or reengineering or revamping or overhaul) may
initially seem overwhelming, it shouldn't be. In fact, most businesses
should be able to do a large part of BPR on their own. We
believe that no one knows an enterprise's processes better than
their own employees. However, there are areas where an
external advisor can create value:
- Employees are often reluctant to identify broken
systems, inefficiencies, errors, etc. because it is likely to
make them look bad
- Consultants and advisors, through their work
with other companies, have a better understanding of what
works and what doesn't. Thus, by tapping into their
knowledge base, you can not only save time and money, you are
also ensuring that you are using the best practices available
in the industry. They also have better idea about
benchmarks and may, therefore, help you set realistic
expectations from BPR
Below is the
iProceed's framework for business process redesign that you can use
to guide your own efforts:
The framework is
fairly easy to self-explanatory, but what I wish to emphasize is
the importance of a feedback loop. You can not design
an optimal system without a feedback loop. While a large
number of business processes are fairly standard, each business
still has some unique attributes. That is why, processes may
need to be tweaked after implementation.
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Airlines redesigns its business processes
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comments, feedback, and suggestions
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