Business Process Re-Engineering is a vast and large concept. Trying to simplify BPR in this article with research done extensively on the subject. Also have tried to shed light on its cohesion with IT, comparison with PI and criticism around BPR.

1. Business Process Re-Engineering
Intent: Define the concept of BPR
Date: 28/Jan/2013
Applicable at: Any Business House

2. What are we going to discuss…
Defining BPR
History of BPR
BPR vs. Process Improvement
BPR Methodology
Key Pointers
Role of IT in BPR
Criticism of BPR
End notes
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3. What next…
Defining BPR
History of BPR
BPR vs. Process Improvement
BPR Methodology
Key Pointers
Role of IT in BPR
Criticism of BPR
End notes
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4. Defining BPR
Re-Engineering
Re-Engineering simply means to design the existing procedure of tasks once again so that that the cost,
quality, service and speeds improves.
Business Process Re-Engineering
Again, simplify put, BPR is applying the above approach to the complete Business Unit, including all the
processes that are a part of the Business.
Business Process Redesign is "the analysis and design of workflows and processes within and between
organizations. - Davenport & Short 1990
The critical analysis and radical redesign of existing business processes to achieve breakthrough
improvements in performance measures. – Teng et al. 1994
So, let’s safely define Business Process Re-engineering as a holistic approach, which
concentrates on analysing and designing all the existing workflows and processes in a Business
to excel in customer service, cut operational costs, and give cutting edge competition in market
to similar service/goods providers.
Let’s deep dive more into the BPR
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5. What next…
Defining BPR 
History of BPR
BPR vs. Process Improvement
BPR Methodology
Key Pointers
Role of IT in BPR
Criticism of BPR
End notes
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6. History of BPR
1990 1993 1994 1995 onwards
Michael Martin The idea was The authors Martin Once popular, the
Hammer, former MIT adapted fast by huge Hammer and James critics blamed BPR
Professor claimed in number of Champy published a for putting too much
his paper in Harvard Businesses. Well book called control in
Business Review established Business Reengineering the Management and
that Managers are Thinkers like Peter Corporation. being misused for
using IT to automate Druker and Tom They promoted the Downsizing. BPR
non value add Peters argued in idea that sometimes now started as a
processes rather favor of BPR that it radical redesign and Business Process
than eliminating helps counteract reorganization of with Business
them. competition an enterprise was Analysis and Re-
He argued that non managing squeezed necessary to lower design as its aspects.
value add processes cost. costs and increase Later, BPM (Business
should be By 1993 nearly 60% quality of service; Process
obliterated and of Fortune 500 and IT was the key Management and
made fast using help companies initiated enabler for that ERP (Enterprise
of IT. the process of BPR. radical change. Resource Planning)
took center stage.
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7. What next…
Defining BPR 
History of BPR 
BPR vs. Process Improvement
BPR Methodology
Key Pointers
Role of IT in BPR
Criticism of BPR
End notes
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8. BPR vs. Process Improvement
Business Process Re-Engineering Vs. Process Improvement
BPR relates to re-structuring the Business Process Process Improvement are Quality Deployment
at granular level so that non value add tasks are Initiatives to either increase the efficiency of
eliminated, costs are minimized, effectiveness existing Process or to identify and eliminate an
increased and customer experience is enhanced. undesirable aspect of the process.
The other points of differences are…
Process Re-engineers often seek radical redesign Process Improvement champions tend to focus on
and drastic improvement of over all Business incremental change and gradual improvement of
processes. processes.
Business process redesign or process Process Improvements centres around programs
innovation, refers to discrete initiatives that are and initiatives that emphasize incremental
intended to achieve radically redesigned and improvement in work processes and outputs over
improved work processes in a bounded time frame. an open-ended period of time.
Parameters BPR PI
Level of Change Radical Incremental
Starting Point Clean Slate Existing Process
Frequency of Change One time One time/Continuous
To summarize in bulleted points,
the Table shows pointers from Time Required Long Short
Davenport’s publication in 1993. Participation Top Down Bottom Up
Typical scope Broad, Cross Functional Narrow, within Boundaries
Risk High Moderate
Primary Enabler IT Statistical Control
Type of Change Cultural/Structural Cultural Slide:8
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9. What next…
Defining BPR 
History of BPR 
BPR vs. Process Improvement 
BPR Methodology
Key Pointers
Role of IT in BPR
Criticism of BPR
End notes
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10. BPR Methodology
There has been a lot of suggestions around the stages of or approach to Business Process Re-Engineering.
However, the basic model or Cycle would be as below:
Evolve Implementation Plan.
Prototype & Simulate Transition Build Cross Functional Team.
Identify Customer Driven Objective.
Plans.
Develop Strategic Purpose.
Initiate Training Programs.
Implement Transition Plan.
Test and
Identify
Implement
Processes
‘To-Be’
Design Review, Upda
‘To-Be’ te & Analyze
‘As-Is’
Create Activity Models. Create Activity Models.
Create Process Models. Create Process Models.
Simulate and Perform Activity based Simulate and Perform Activity based
Costing. Costing.
Identify Disconnects and Value Identify Disconnects and Value
Adding Processes. Adding Processes.
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11. BPR Methodology contd..
There are other approaches like below which are also practiced…
Refocus company
values on customer
Prepare for BPR needs;
Redesign core
Improve business processes, often using
Improve processes across the information
Map & Analyze As-Is
Continuously organization. technology to enable
improvements;
Implement Re- Reorganize biz into
Design To-Be Rethink basic
Engineered Process cross-functional teams
organizational and
with e2e responsibility
people issues;
for a process;
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12. BPR Methodology contd..
Some entities also practice elaborate steps for BPR, focusing on explaining each step and documenting them.
Organize around outcomes, not tasks.
Identify all the processes in an organization and prioritize them in order of redesign
urgency.
Integrate information processing work into the real work that
produces the information.
Treat geographically dispersed resources
as though they were centralized.
Link parallel activities
in workflow instead of
integrating their
results.
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13. BPR Methodology contd..
Davenport and Short, in their publication in 1990 prescribed a Five Step Approach to BPR.
High-Impact approach
focusing on most important
processes or ones that
BPR is driven by a business conflict most with the
vision which implies specific vision. Exhaustive approach
business objectives such as that attempts to identify all
Cost Reduction, Time the processes and then
Reduction, Output Quality prioritize them in order of Design and
improvement, QWL (Quality redesign urgency. Build a
of Work Identify IT Prototype of
Life), Learning, Empowerm Levers the New
ent etc. Understand Process
and Measure
Identify the the Existing
Processes to Processes
The actual design is
Develop the be not the end of the BPR
Business Redesigned process, rather it is a
Vision and prototype, with
Process
Any re-design and re- successive iterations.
Objectives
structure in the existing As- The metaphor of
Is Process can be prototype aligns the
Measuring As-Is Process BPR approach with
accelerated and efficiency
would ensure that quick delivery of
ensured if awareness of IT
repeating of old mistakes results, and the
capabilities assessed and
does not happen and it involvement and
are used to influence
would also provide a satisfaction of
process design.
baseline for future customers.
improvements.
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14. What next…
Defining BPR 
History of BPR 
BPR vs. Process Improvement 
BPR Methodology 
Key Pointers
Role of IT in BPR
Criticism of BPR
End notes
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15. Key Pointers
The seven basic steps we could identify for a successful BPR are:
1. A complete Analysis and Documentation of the current Process.
2. Comparison with the Mission and Vision, one that is to be followed now.
3. Identifying the molecular level As-Is Processes which are non or less value Add and the ones which are
Value Add.
4. Planning prototypes of To-Be Processes that would replace or amend the required As-Is Processes.
5. Leveraging IT capabilities to implement the Prototypes.
6. Planning the Implementation, either phase-vise or complete, depending on tolerability of the Business.
7. Implementing To-Be as per plan.
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16. What next…
Defining BPR 
History of BPR 
BPR vs. Process Improvement 
BPR Methodology 
Key Pointers 
Role of IT in BPR
Criticism of BPR
End notes
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17. Role of IT in BPR
Information Technology is the enabler or driver for Business Process Re-Engineering. The essence of BPR is
recognizing and breaking away from the existing rules and fundamental assumptions of the underlying Process
of a Business. IT drives this essence with innovation and technology. BPR and IT are recursive.
IT should be used to challenge the Processes that existed before the current technology came up. The heart of
Re-engineering is the notion of discontinuous thinking. It means, recognizing and breaking away from the out-
dated rules and fundamental assumptions underlying operations... These rules of work design are based on
assumptions about technology, people, and organizational goals that no longer hold. – Hammer (1990)
BPR requires taking a broader view of both IT and business activity, and of the relationships between them. IT
should be viewed as more than an automating or mechanizing force: to fundamentally reshape the way
business is done. Business activities should be viewed as more than a collection of individual or even functional
tasks: in a process view for maximizing effectiveness. IT and BPR have recursive relationship. IT capabilities
should support business processes, and business processes should be in terms of the capabilities IT can
provide. – Davenport & Short (1990)
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18. Role of IT in BPR contd..
As per Hammer, the Principles of Re-Engineering Davenport and Short listed the role IT can play
from IT point of view are: In BPR crisply:
Organize around outcomes, not tasks
Transactio
nal
Have those who use the output of the
process perform the process
Geographical
Subsume information processing work into Automatical
the real work that produces the
information
Role of IT in Analytical
Treat geographically dispersed resources
as though they were centralized BPR Informational
Link parallel activities instead of Sequential
integrating their results
Put the decision point where the work is
performed, and build control into the
process
Capture information once and at the
source.
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19. What next…
Defining BPR 
History of BPR 
BPR vs. Process Improvement 
BPR Methodology 
Key Pointers 
Role of IT in BPR 
Criticism of BPR
End notes
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20. Criticism of BPR
Towards 1991 and until today, some Business Organizations take the refuge of BPR to shield Corporate
Downsizing. According to Hammer, lack of sustained management commitment and leadership, unrealistic
scope and expectations and resistance to change prompted management to abandon the concept of BPR and
embrace the next new methodology, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
Re-Engineering has not always lived up to its expectations. Some prominent reasons include:
1. Re-Engineering assumes that the factor that limits an organization's performance is the ineffectiveness of
its processes (which may or may not be true) and offers no means of validating that assumption.
2. Re-Engineering assumes the need to start the process of performance improvement with a "clean slate,"
i.e. totally disregard the status quo.
3. According to Eliyahu M. Goldratt (and his Theory of Constraints) Re-Engineering does not provide an
effective way to focus improvement efforts on the organization's constraint
Later, the pioneers of Re-Engineering had to state in defense of BPR the following:
I wasn't smart enough about that. I was reflecting my engineering background and was insufficient appreciative
of the human dimension. I've learned that's critical. - Hammer
When I wrote about "business process redesign" in 1990, I explicitly said that using it for cost reduction alone
was not a sensible goal. And consultants Michael Hammer and James Champy, the two names most closely
associated with reengineering, have insisted all along that layoffs shouldn't be the point. But the fact is, once
out of the bottle, the reengineering genie quickly turned ugly. - Davenport
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21. What next…
Defining BPR 
History of BPR 
BPR vs. Process Improvement 
BPR Methodology 
Key Pointers 
Role of IT in BPR 
Criticism of BPR 
End notes
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22. End Notes
BPR is to Strategic Management is probably what TQM is to Quality. However, it requires a very strong and
people conscious Leadership to carry it out and get most out of it. Though two decade old, still it holds its
relevance in today’s Business, where the challenges have existed and rather steepened in last two decades.
Sources used in Research:
Search CIO, Wiki, Brint, Wichita State Univ. Paper, Bain Publication, Inno Regio Project, and Baruch MBA Paper.
For any query on the Research or to implement BPR in your Organization, please contact sevenSolutions.
Or simply drop in an email to ask@sevensolutions.in
Thanks…
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