OKIS Lecture 1

Management > Organisational Knowledge and Information Systems > What is BPR?

What is BPR?

"Fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical measures of performance"

-- Michael Hammer (founder of concept)

Many see it as a fad and others conclude that it is a profound way of thinking.

Cutting across departments, BPR is not constrained by tasks, procedures or precedent. BPR takes a fundamental approach to business, with the aim of moving it's heart. Some of these approaches include:

Take nothing as sacred
Productivity
Capacity
Profitability
Not downsizing
Not restructuring
Not automating
Not cost-reduction (although this is liked by accountants)

BPR also takes a radical approach:

Don't implement the past
Drive from business objectives
Focus
New ideas
Feedback loop (double-loop learning)

A process takes inputs and creates outputs which give added value to the customer. It is a learning process, meaning that it isn't task-based, but its is enabled and driven by IT and it does follow a strategic lead.

Like many innovations, BPR solutions seem obvious in retrospect, but at the time they can revolutionise the firm.

IT enables and drives

WHY, WHAT, WHEN