The practice of business process reengineering

Business process reengineering has been proposed as a viable methodology whenever a radical shift in the way an organization performs its functions is desired. However, implementing the outcomes of a business process reengineering effort, viz., a new process, is no easy matter. This is especially true when an organization is uncertain of the potential of the new process and is also resource constrained. Nevertheless, a lack of commitment to quickly implement new process designs does not diminish the value an organization gains from such a critical examination of current practices. In this paper we argue that business process reengineering ought to be regarded as a radical, administrative, process-oriented organizational innovation. We present the approach taken by an IS organization to reengineer one of its key business processes—change management—and the issues and challenges that surfaced during the reengineering exercise. Although the suggestions for process redesign generated represented a radical departure from existing practice, the organization has elected to implement the ideas in an incremental fashion. The implementation strategy is examined in light of the nature of the innovation signified by business process reengineering.