[Reengineering 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.by Dr Michael Hammer
>The concept of BPR is widely regarded as having been introduced as a perceived solution to the
economic crisis and the recession of the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. “The ‘80s were a time for
financial reengineering and the ‘90s are for technological reengineering.
BPR-the different phases: The tasks that experts agree upon to successfully perform BPR, can be
grouped in to seven steps, or phases. All successful BPR projects begin with the most critical
requirement communication throughout the organization
1.Begin organizational change
2.Building the reengineering organization
3.Identifying BPR opportunities
4.Understanding the existing process
5.Reengineer the process
6.Blueprint the new business system
7.Perform the transformation
Phase 1: Begin organizational Change:
A) the first step is to take a long hard look how the organization operates. The purpose of analysis
should be to determine whether dramatic changes are possible during BPR or marginal changes by
TWM , kaizen etc is needed, which involves lesser risk.
B) Next step is to look for harmful operating procedures, if, any within the organization. The future
vision of how the business must operate will serve as a clear and concise guide with measurable goals
for employees to focus on.
C) Communication to all levels of personnel must remain active from start to finish to keep every one
involved and working towards a common goal. Without a common understanding about what is
happening , confusion and uncertainty about the future can result in resistance that is strong enough to
stop any re engineering work.
D) In order for change to be embraced , every one must understand where the organization is today ,
what it needs to change , and where it should be in order to survive, thrive and beat
the competition
Phase 2: Build the Reengineering organization:
A)Major activities of the phase are , establish a BPR organization structure, establish the roles for
performing BPR and choose the personnel who will reengineer it.
B)He must be a high level executive who has necessary authority to make people listen and motivational
power to make them follow. Without the commitment of substantial time and effort from top
management, can overcome the internal forces and will never reach implementation.
C) The executive leader usually appoints process owners. A process owner is responsible for a specific
process and the reengineering effort focused on it. The reengineering team must be small, usually five to
ten people and as they will be ones who diagnose the existing process, and oversee the redesign and
implementation.
D) BPR initiative - helpful to institute a steering committee, which can control the chaos by developing
an overall reengineering strategy and monitoring its progress. Lastly a reengineering specialist or
consultant can be an invaluable addition.
Phase 3: Identify BPR Opportunities: This phase consists of following activities