business process re-engineering essay

A P R I L 2 0 1 0 .BUSINESS PROCESS RE-ENGINEERING.

BIS 3324

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT AND

INFORMATION SYSTEMS

INDIVIDUAL ESSAY

By

Iroegbu Osinachi Bertrand

M00272549

[email protected]

Tutor: - Dr. Basil Dudin

MIDDLESEX UNIVERSITY, DUBAI

http://oasisplus.mdx.ac.uk/webct/urw/lc667401051011.tp667401071011/startFrameSet.dowebct?forward=studentCourseView.dowebct&lcid=667401051011



TABLE OF CONTENTSESSAY OBJECTIVES 3

WHAT IS BUSINESS PROCESS RE-ENGINEERING 4

OVERVIEW OF CISCO 5

WHY RE-ENGINEER? 6

WHAT SHOULD BE RE-ENGINEERED 7

CHARACTERISTICS OF BPR 8

EXTRACTS FROM CISCO INTERVIEW 9

BPR NOT BEING SIMPLIFICATION (CISCO PROOF) 10

CISCO’S RE-ENGINEERING PROCESS 11

BENEFITS OF BPR TO CISCO 12

IT INVOLVED IN CISCO’S BPR 13

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BPR 14

BPR METHODOLOGY 15

WHAT MAKES BPR FAIL? 15

SOLUTIONS 16

SUMMARY 17

CONCLUSION 18

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 19

REFERENCES 20

BIBLIOGRAPHY 22

BUSINESS PROCESS RE-ENGINEERING.

of 19 BUSINESS PROCESS RE-ENGINEERING.

ESSAY OBJECTIVES.

Define BPR {Business Process Reengineering}.

An overview of CISCO (case study Company).

Why Re-engineer?

What should be re-engineered?

Characteristics of Business process re-engineering.

Benefits of Business process re-engineering.

Role of IT in business process re-engineering.

Recommendations and methodology.

Causes of business process re-engineering failures.

Solutions.

WHAT IS BUSINESS PROCESS RE-ENGINEERING?


Business process re-engineering often called “business process re-design” basically involves analysing and designing the activities and workflow in and around an organisation. For proper understanding, business process re-engineering has to be broken down into its keywords which are BUSINESS PROCESS, PROCESS and RE-ENGINEERING.

Reengineering according to Hammer and Champy (1993) could be defined as the fundamental rethinking and remodelling of company activities (business processes) in order to accomplish remarkable improvement in significant, up to date process of performance, such as cost, value, service and swiftness.

A process according to Davenport (1993) could be defined as a particular structured or step-by-step approach for performing activities in respect to time and space, having a starting and ending point and having its inputs and outputs clearly defined and a structured approach for performing actions.

BUSINESS PROCESS RE-ENGINEERING PROCESS SIMPLIFICATION

RADICAL TRANSFORMATION INCREMENTAL CHANGE

VISION LED PROCESS LED

CHANGE ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOUR ASSUME ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOURS

DIRECTOR LED MANAGEMENT LED

LIMITED NUMBER OF INITIATIVES VARIOUS SIMULTANEOUS PROJECTS

A Business process could be defined as a collection of reasonably associated duties in which an organisations asset are utilised to make available results that are satisfying to the customers and in fulfilment of the organisations objectives.

These put together makes us understand that business process re-engineering is not all about ordinary change but a “dramatic change” that comprises of either a refurbishment of organisational activities, the existing management systems, the staff duties and rate of performance, salaries to encourage more output, quest for competitive edge and profitability from customer satisfaction.

Business process re-engineering is not process simplification as most people term it to be. There is a big distinction as the table above shows.

Business process re-engineering is not and cannot be called “continuous improvement” as well because the “dramatic” change involved in business process re-engineering involves some activities which continuous change falls short of. The table below further illustrates business process re-engineering compared to continuous improvement.


Business process Re-engineering Continuous Improvement

RADICAL TRANSFORMATION INCREMENTAL CHANGE

PEOPLE & TECHNOLOGY FOCUS PEOPLE FOCUS

HIGH INVESTMENT LOW INVESTMENT

RE-BUILD IMPROVE EXISTING

CHAMPION DRIVEN WORK UNIT DRIVEN

OVERVIEW OF Cisco.

The company “CISCO” was founded in 1984 as “cisco” by Len Bosack and his wife Sandy Lerner, who both worked in Stanford University as computer operations staff alongside Richard Troiano.

The company was founded in San Francisco and this led to the engineers’ decision to call is “cisco” an all capital letter spelling at the initial stage.

By 1990, “NASDAQ” stock exchange listed CISCO in their stock exchange.

The company applied for a U.S. trademark of "Cisco" in June 13, 1988.

This trademark was granted the following year on the 6th of June, 1989.

In March 2000, when the internet business was booming, CISCO was quoted as

the most valuable company in the world with a market value of over $500 billion

(USD) and in July 2009, with a market capitalisation of roughly $108 billion it is

still rated as one of the most valuable companies.

WHY RE-ENGINEER?


Re-engineering is a necessity for companies and organisations that want to increase their customer base which further results in profit, dominance of the market and a role in the competitive market which is what the world has finally turned to. These are achievable because re-engineering focuses on some vital aspects which affect the performance of the organisation. These aspects are: -

1. CUSTOMERS REQUEST: - often the pattern of request from customers usually calls for

a re-engineering of which a failure to do this could be detrimental to the organisation. Usually when a product or service begins to gain popularity, there is need for an increase in customer demand and this usually put a lot of pressure on the company because in an attempt to meet customer request, they often end up producing sub-standard products due to lack of available materials and time but with a business process re-engineering in place, they would re-structure the organisation to be able to accommodate such requests and in turn they maintain their customers and even acquire more and this would be an accomplishment of the organisations goals regarding to customers.

SUPERIORITY: - a desire and need fro sophisticated and high standard goods and services is also a call for re-engineering. This is because existing systems including processes and staff might not be able to meet up the sophistication in demands and this might be a source of breakdown or failure to the organisation. To this effect, a re-engineered organisation would be the solution as proposed constant improvement of the system might be expensive and a cumbersome task but a complete over hauling of the system would definitely solve the problems. Further explanation would be found under the benefits of re-engineering.

CHANGE IN CUSTOMER DESIRE: - in most cases, customer satisfaction is usually the sole aim of any organisation. Non satisfaction of customers means that the production cycle isn’t complete and the entire business process would be stuck since there are no consumers for the product.

2. COMPETITION LOCALLY: - local competition in the market would also be a reason for re-

engineering as because as each day passes, the market becomes a competitive ground for all participants as they have to re-structure, overhaul, remodel etc. to meet up with the standards of other competitors in the market and it is only re-engineering that can provide such room.

INTERNATIONALLY : -products and services which have gone internationally and needed seamless communication channels irrespective of location made Cisco as a company thick of such in its re-engineering design. This led to Cisco’s modification of conference calling with its product called “TELE PRESENCE”. This product enables a conversation involving a large number of people across the globe to communicate with each other in video and with high speed. This is part of Cisco’s re-engineered process towards communication and uniting the


entire populace.this was as a result of Cisco’s understanding the need for international competition and satisfaction and after strategically studying the market and comparing it with what it needs, it came out with this product and this has made Cisco a name to reckon with when it comes to telecommunication as a recent survey among companies saw that 89% of them had at least a Cisco phone in their organisation while some entirely depended on Cisco for their communication needs.

3. A NECESSARY CHANGE IN TERMS OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND SYSTEMS: - with the

drastic turn around in technology and the globe gradually becoming a networked and wireless world, there is a crucial need for organisations to re-engineer the process to accommodate this trend as a proper business process re-engineering process well implemented would definitely cost a fortune to establish but would bring a lasting reduction in cost of production. This could be evident in Cisco’s launch of its product called “MCO” (manufacturing connection online) in 1999. The manufacturing connection online directly and immediately channelled orders from customers to manufactures as well as suppliers. This in turn drastically reduced operational costs for Cisco, reduced cycles involved in payment to the suppliers, eradicated cost of papers used for paper based purchases and this brought a total savings of $24 million (USD) for material costs and another savings of $51 million normally spent on labour and this also made a whooping 45% inventory reduction.

WHAT SHOULD BE RE-ENGINEERED?

From my rigorous research, I found out that what basically requires re-engineering is not the organisation but the systems and processes in the organisation. Re-engineering is different from “re-branding” as the latter presents the same product and services but with a different look, feel and identity. This is meant to boost the market presence and acceptance of this product. This is for companies that are self centred and lack customer consideration.The former seeks careful review of the product itself, “rethinking” and not “beautifying” to ensure that the benefits from it are multiplied and this multiplication comes from customers willingly accepting the services for the modernized output and not the good looking packaging as re-branding often targets.

Processes are the key areas to be re-engineered as this is where the activities are carried out and through processes, business outputs are achieved. As defined above, processes are a group of independent or related activities structured to yield results and products. It comprises of both internal and external actions that yield the desired result.


These processes are often misunderstood as departments. Processes are actions carried out in these departments. A typical example is one from my case study company, “CISCO”. If Cisco had thought of terminating their current data entry clerk with excuses that he is slow and they want a faster person or decided to employ more data entry clerks, they might have improved the data handling department but did that improve the data handling process? Of course NO. My reasons are that employing more data entry clerks means more funds have to be budgeted and spent on them; more paper work would be handled in shorter time, accepted. Then the savings Cisco earned from a paperless ordering system, the cut in labour cost and other un-necessary expenses would still remain in the system and since there would be need for salary increase, more and more funds would continue to be channelled towards data entry alone.

As far as this manual process is involved, there would still be a limit as to how many customers and partners Cisco can handle because barriers such as: - working hours, public holidays, ill health, inconsistency, errors etc. would be limiting their output but with this automated system, the company (CISCO) has a 24-hour ordering system free of such limitations and as such there is no limit.

Also just like atlas and maps give directions, the organisation should have its “process work-flow chart” to graphically illustrate its work flow as this could also help the re-engineering process identify areas and particular processes that need to be re-engineered. This could be determined by carefully studying existing processes, identifying which processes are “under performing”, which processes are vital and affect or effect other processes and customer satisfaction, which process would be successful if re-engineered and probably see which processes would require “assistant processes”.

CHARACTERISTICS OF BUSINESS PROCESS RE-ENGINEERING.

Business Processes (Global Perspective).Any business process re-engineering programme must generate greater value. This value should be beneficial than the existing processes.It must also meet the needs of the customer since they are the primary aim of the business process re-engineering aside the standards to be met by the organisation and the radical change in the entire system.

Radical Business Enhancement.Business process is not all about radicalised change that brings about improvement. Sustaining this improvement is also vital and this has to be firmly implanted in the organisation so as to maximize the benefits of the re-engineering outcome.

A detailed and “step-by-step” approach is necessary since to ensure proper implementation of the initiative since the change in this context is a “total” one and not an over-night or a one week process.


Incorporated Modification.

Process improvements have to be feasible and realistic. They don’t have to be documented improvements or virtual improvements neither do they have to be abstract. They need to be visible and physically implemented for the impact of the effect to be felt.

There should be a realistic and balanced evidence of the process changes and the business improvements. These are evidence that there was an integral change and the impact is positive.

People Centred: - any business process engineering initiative must be centred on people. These people include the workers (organisation or company workers) and the consumers (the customers).It should also provide a medium for empowering the workers and carry them along so as to ensure their participation in the entire process.

Centre of attention should be Customers. This means that the business re-engineering process and the improvements it brings to the organisation should be significant to the final users (customers) as these are the people they are built and meant to serve.

BUSINESS PROCESS RE-ENGINEERING. (EXTRACTS FROM INTERVIEW WITH CISCO).

With a rapid increase in growth, Cisco saw the reason to modernise and facilitate communication with its suppliers, consumers and other logistic providers. Their then current system and business process was beginning to fall short of this objective and there was need to develop an internal support and create a channel for business-to-business interaction, ensure a decrease in costs incurred following routine transactions, an increase in the productivity level of its staff, provide a highly standard and secure channel for data communications (exchange and transfer) and solidify the bond existing between it, partners and customers.

CISCO’S REASON FOR RE-ENGINEERING.

This growth encountered by Cisco meant more demand and order by customers, increased sales, more manufacturing and supply units and documents to track the transactions and invoice / receipts to record the materials and cash flow.It became a cumbersome task for Cisco to manage all these processes manually and the heavy reliance on fax and manual entry on web portals meant a difficult handling of transactions. The necessity for Cisco to keep records of the voluminous and regularly changing inventory and data controls and balance sales with product availability.


To offer more productive services, Cisco had to conform to the existing guarantee and assurance of product availability and after sales services and repair, coupled with delivery of millions of products alongside service personnel on a regular basis. This was a basic challenge needed to maintain and provide maximum product satisfaction as business activities increase daily.

One situation which could be cited as a reason for Cisco to re-engineer is when it had contracts from a company worth about $45,000,000 (USD) and spends a whooping $.5 million (USD) just to keep track of this specific order without commencing the project. They therefore decided to create a system that would be used to keep record and keep track of orders and not only that, but would provide a database and storage facilities and to be of continuous usage and probably require only upgrade.

This re-engineering process was to reduce cost associated with paper based order tracking and record keeping.

Cisco’s quest for a competitive edge in the market and to be a giant among other organisations in the “electronic business” also called E-Business, to create a simple, standard yet affordable communication and interaction between its customers and partners was also a reason behind Cisco’s business process re-engineering. (Kris Cowles, Director of Business-to-business operations at Cisco).

PROOF IN CISCO THAT PROCESS CHANGE OR SIMPLIFICATION IS NOT BUSINESS PROCESS RE-ENGINEERING.

Cisco initially thought that by simplifying this process (creation of a sales portal on their website), the problem would be solved. However, this initially proved successful and productive initially and was serving roughly 52% of Cisco’s partners and consumers worldwide. The functionality and reliability on this portal soon began to depreciate and become inadequate as the success of Cisco continued increasing its partners and customers and as such the solution began to prove to be a temporary one. The customer and partner request began to grow and was attaining thousands when tracked and these orders alone could take the human data entry clerk a whole lot of hours to keep record of and this was limiting Cisco’s ability to acquire and cater for more partners and consumers.

Also when the partners and consumers found this process a time consuming one, they resulted to faxing their orders which was often bulky to Cisco and this reduced time and stress on their own side but moved the burden to Cisco as the data handling and entry had to be done by Cisco and since this was done manually, it hindered Cisco’s desired growth and target.

CISCO’S RE-ENGINEERING PROCESS.


After re-considering the concluding on re-engineering the process, Cisco decided to create and integrate a “Business-2-Business” effort that would cater for and maintain the communications it had with its largest customers and partners. In order to sustain this essential relationship, Cisco developed the MCO (Manufacturing Connection Online) programme to create a real and virtual communication channel between its suppliers, contractors and consumers.

Manufacturing Communications Online (MCO) proved productive as it offered an immediate channelling of customer requests to manufacturers and suppliers. This reduced over head costs and reduced the processes involved in payment and further made the “Demand and Supply” process a fast and “no paper” based process.

This re-engineering saved Cisco $24,000,000 (USD) and a further $51,000,000 reduction which was usually channelled towards labour cost on a yearly basis. A resultant 45% inventory reduction which is a positive result.

This result from Cisco’s re-engineering was further renamed as “Engineering and Manufacturing Connection Online”. This policy later proved to be the right solution for their business processes as it was protected, a re-fashionable portal and a confidential system that connected over 15,000 users and a large number of customers involved in Cisco’s supply chain.

Cisco’s re-engineering of its business process to become a Business-2-Business process and this has been highly profitable and successful. Some of the facts proving this include: -

1. Business -2- Business integration was used by over 50 Cisco partners. (2006 records).

2. 254,000 orders were placed to Cisco through computerized processes and channels to Cisco partners.

3. This represented 35% of total orders.4. Cisco now handles 39% of its total order using its business-2-business

platform.5. 96,000 sales orders on a quarterly basis is also handled by Cisco’s business-2-

business platform.6. This business-2-business process currently used by Cisco is capable of

processing transactions to the tune of 40,000 requests hourly.7. There has been a visible reduction in transactional costs at Cisco and for its

partners as the automated and business-2-business system caters for most activities such as manual data entry that consumes a lot of resources and funds. This re-engineered process also helped Cisco generate a savings amounting to 70% when compared to the “pre re-engineering” process that involved manual data entry.

8. There is an increase in profit as the orders placed to Cisco and its partners are now automated so costs associated with manual data entry have been eliminated.

9. There has been an increase in saved time and reduction in process costs as most manual processes have been reduced to minimal level and thus increasing productivity amongst employees.


10. A statement by the sales department proved that using an automated system for most of Cisco’s processes provided a huge reduction of 70% while increasing employee productivity by 88%.

11. The time needed for handling orders and processes was reduced drastically as the whole process involved from placing orders to delivery was fully automated and as such un-necessary time consumed by manual data processing was eliminated.

12. Cisco’s customer base and partners increased as there was a platform in place to cater for new and bulky customer requests and this is one of the catalysts for a company’s progress and growth.

13. There was also better security of orders and data associated with them and less errors encountered when the data was inputted manually or handled manually.

14. An automated invoicing and receipt process also ensured faster payment and account reconciliation because they were all automated.

15. There has been a high level of satisfaction amongst Cisco’s customers and partners as there are less risks, less time taken to handle business and payment procedures and in general, shorter business processing time. This strengthened Cisco’s partnership with its existing customers and partners as well as acquires new customers and partners.

BENEFITS OF BUSINESS PROCESS RE-ENGINEERING TO CISCO.

The following information provided by Cisco shows the benefits of business process re-engineering to the entire Cisco systems.

Cost reduction: - following facts and figures presented in the yearly financial report, I was informed that re-engineering the existing system costs far lesser than modifying or building an entirely new system. The exact figures obtained from further research proved that the re-engineering of Cisco systems from manual to automated systems cost roughly USD $13 million as against the USD $51 million estimation for developing a new system.

They were able to fully utilize the existing and experienced human resources and apply utilize their skills in re-engineering. The demanding nature of the system re-engineering meant that the existing work force would be useful as the re-engineering process continues. This reduces the cost of employing, training and catering for new staff as well as the time needed to get them.

There was less risk involved in re-engineering the system as the process involved positive modification and improvement of the processes rather than total replacement. Risks associated with loss of useful business information or acquiring a system that would need to be updated with existing information needed to commence the re-engineering was


eliminated.

There is a structured positive and “stage-by-stage” modification which could be tailored and implemented based on available funds and resources. Since the re-engineering process is not a one time task, the steps can be performed whenever the resources are available.

During their process re-engineering, more business opportunities were discovered such as the automated invoicing and online payment options. These processes were initially available but weren’t discovered until the re-engineering process exposed them.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INVOLVED IN BUSINESS PROCESS RE-ENGINEERING.

For Cisco as a company, information technology played a very important role in establishing, implementing and maintaining a re-engineered process. Advancements in information technology such as internet and intranet, VPN (Virtual Private Network), a form of more secured intranet enabled processes to be done on and off the office while maintaining an official working environment, bridging the gap provided by distance and facilitating information sharing and transfer.

The usage of the E-Mail system also facilitated transfer of data across one station to the other in cases where the centralised network failed.

The usage of information technology by Cisco during and after the re-engineering process afforded them the following opportunities: -

Reduced costs involved in information transfer and sharing. Accuracy and security of the information. Costs incurred due to errors and blunder committed by human beings was

reduced. More time was saved as information technology allowed multi-tasking as against

the previous system where other activities would have to wait for the human being to finish first.

Processing activities was simplified and easier as formalities and intermediaries were totally eliminated.

Cisco’s quest for competitive advantage required timely development and delivery of products and services that will meet customer requirements and ensure customer satisfaction. These processes would not have been fastened or performed according to competitive standards in the market.This competition further proved that there has to be a medium to reduce intervention and increase collaboration.


HOW DID INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MAKE THESE POSSIBLE?

Information technology made it possible for the re-engineering process to be carried out easily and to be simplified. The following are evidences as obtained from Cisco.

Information technology simplified information sharing and utilization by providing a database for storage of information and availability of the information from multiple locations as long as the required authentication is provided. This also ensured the security of the information.

An electronic payment option (cards, online) and electronic data exchange as in the case of file sharing and E-Mails.

A centralised server and database makes resources readily available instead of duplicating or queuing up for resources.

Information technology also provided backup for the process and related activities so that negative factors such as power failure, data redundancy and missing files no longer pose a threat to the organisation.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BUSINESS PROCESS RE-ENGINEERING.

Business process re-engineering must be followed by strategic planning backed up by supporting information system.

The customer should be the centre of consideration of the business process re-engineering.

Processes that yield poor result or hinder maximum output should be re-engineered.

The business process engineering must be run organisation-wide and not by a certain group.

Information systems and technology should be included in the business process re-engineering from the onset to enable its availability and support throughout and after the re-engineering process.

Regular and stable communication and opinion should be maintained throughout the process.

BUSINESS PROCESS METHODOLOGY.


According to Short & Davenport (1990), there is a recommended “Five step” guide towards business process re-engineering. They include: -

1. Build up the organizational fore-sight and objectives and processes. Business process re-engineering has vision as its driving force. The vision in this case could be a faster and efficient process as in the case of CISCO, speedy production, reduced cost, improved quality products and services.

2. Recognition of activities to be re-engineered.Identifying the areas and processes to be re-engineered is the next approach. An “exhaustive” approach is recommended as it concentrates on identifying all the organisational processes and then prioritizes them to suit the re-design necessity.

3. Study and evaluate the existing processes.To ensure that earlier mistakes are not repeated again, the existing system should be properly studied and evaluated to pin point and tackle old problems while integrating the solutions into the re-engineering process.

4. Determine the Information technology lever.A thorough evaluation of the available and procurable IT systems and solutions should be considered in structuring the process and this could also influence the business process re-design itself.

5. Develop an archetype of the New process.The conceptual design or prototype should be considered as a basis for the re-engineering and should be evaluated against customer requirements and satisfaction to ensure it conforms to the standard and meets the aims and objectives.

WHAT MAKES BUSINESS PROCESS RE-ENGINEERING PROJECTS FAIL?

An internet based research, publications and journals prove that about 70% of business process re-engineering projects fail. These failures were further attributed to the following factors: -

Lack of continuous dedication, management and control. Undefined and poorly structured aims & objectives. Refusal to change.

Quoting a research published on the internet, authored by “Bashein et al” (1994), there are positive and negative pre re-engineering conditions for the process to succeed.

The positive pre re-engineering conditions include: - Full dedication, support and commitment of the top level management and

sponsors.


Reasonable prospects. There should be a shared vision and mission. Proper and updated management practises. Tactical framework of development and growth. Empowered and combined team members. Involvement of the appropriate staff and participants. Sustainable funds and budget.

The negative pre re-engineering conditions include: - Full focus on cost reduction. Wrong management staff. Limited technical foresight Self centred and “bossy” sponsor. Poor optimism

Some negative pre re-engineering conditions attributed to the organization include: -

Poor finance Multiple concurrent projects Poor foresight Fear of re-engineering Lack of skilled employees Poor support from “top level” management staff.

PROPOSED SOLUTIONS.

To reverse the negative pre-conditions, organisations need to: -

Handle their projects in an organized manner and smaller projects and tasks should be carried out first.

Proper budget should be done to ensure a hitch free process. All traces of fear and elements of doubt should be cleared to ensure totally

support by all members of staff as this brings about the desired unity required to successfully implement the re-engineering process.

Consider their objectives and let the re-engineering process be geared towards it.

Aside the above listed points, the over all success of business process re-engineering depends on the people involved and how they perform the tasks associated to the re-engineering and re-engineered process, how they could be inspired to utilize their broad knowledge to properly re-structure the re-engineering and use their expertise to maintain it.

SUMMARY.

Re- engineering is basically a dramatic change achieved from fundamental re-consideration of existing business plans and strategy to ensure the required


improvements.Assumption should be avoided like wise “haste” as re-engineering involves a total “re-think” and re-consideration of the business processes not simplification.

For Cisco to successfully implement their re-engineering purpose without failure or setbacks, they ensured the following was done which I would also recommend as a suitable “re-engineering process work breakdown structure” to be used.

They chose the processes that needed re-engineering and appointed a team to ensure that. The fact that re-engineering needs to occur doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be the entire process. In the case of Cisco, their web portal was okay but not sufficient so they had to re-engineer the processes involved in handling customer request so that it could be received by both suppliers and contract manufacturers and as such everyone in the supply chain gets the request at once instead of waiting for it to go through several un-necessary administrative review or spend too much time getting to Cisco during the manual data entry.

They reviewed the objectives of their business and devised a new strategy not only to simplify the process but to also give room for more customers and partners. They had the customer and partners in mind which is a very vital point to consider whenever re-engineering. They selected the vital processes, ensured proper understanding of the customers requirements, they never allowed fear of anything hinder them from re-engineering and every form of assumption or prediction was totally avoided.

They never assumed they were satisfying their clients (customers and partners) as this assumption would have hidden the dissatisfaction encountered by them. They kept their desired competitive advantage and this made them seek the opinions of their clients via meetings and research. Again the clients were the major point of concern not necessarily profit. A very vital aspect to always consider.

They also considered their short comings (excess time required for data entry alone). They maintained the original business concept (data entry) and re-engineered it to an automated and direct process instead of finding a way to avoid the data entry process or simplify it to a way that would serve short term benefit as their current solution turned out to be.

They maintained good communication with their clients which enabled them to inform them of the necessity of the re-engineering, the benefits and acquainted them on the usage of the system. Their acceptance of this gave Cisco a guarantee that the re-engineered process would be successful and as such, they implemented it.

CONCLUSION.


Customer satisfaction, timely delivery and a sophisticated business process are the key ingredients for the success of any organisation . Business process re-engineering is the catalyst that organisations need in order to achieve the above mentioned.

Business process re-engineering is an attitude through which necessary and required improvements are derived through dramatic changes and attitudes in company as can be seen in the case study on CISCO.

The process of re-engineering requires an incremental change in the work pattern, available skills and resources to match the required one, the organisational values. It is a process that requires a lot of time, resources (human and material) and information technology to be achieved and sustained.

Information technology assisted CISCO in achieving the required back up and several cost reduction even though a bulk of the cost reduction was done by the re-engineered process.

The research results showing failure rate of projects clearly stated that 70% of projects failed and not that they will or could fail. This is enough reason to cast away any fear or doubts associated with re-engineering. The fact that 100% improvement was predicted and 70% was achieved is not a reason to back out after all implementing a strategy and achieving 70% of the expected 100% is far beneficial and different from not trying at all and having a total business failure.

Business process re-engineering is not a quick fix. This simply means that immediate success shouldn’t be expected. As everything in life has risks and failure rates, so also does the re-engineering process. Errors from the organisation could make the re-engineering fail but this doesn’t’ mean the re-engineered process would fail. Identifying these errors, correcting them and implementing the process again would definitely yield a successful re-engineered process. This further implies that business process re-engineering must be successful and yield positive results if no stones are left un-turned in the processes and steps towards the re-engineering.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.

In order to properly write this essay various forms of research were carried out which included “question and answer” based interview with Cisco, online research on Cisco,


journals I obtained at the Cisco premises, books available in my school library, online publications and journals, revising my lecture notes and also tasking myself to collate all these materials into a meaningful output (this essay).

The primary aim of the research.

This research was carried out based on the necessity to acquire information to serve as contents for this essay and provide me with basic understanding of what the essay topic meant. I also wanted to get diverse perspectives of business process re-engineering and make sure that information I acquire from my case study company were not provided just for marketing purposes but true facts about business process re-engineering.

Research Task.

The task I performed during my research includes: - Selecting a company relating to my topic so as to acquire the right data and idea. Drafting out my questions for the interview. Interviewing the company. Comparing the results of the interview to what they presented to the public via

their journals, publications and online. Reading books covering the business process re-engineering topic. Visiting internet sites relating to Cisco and business process re-engineering. Subscribing to journals and websites that run forums on this topic.

Research Materials.

My research materials include: - LIBRARY BOOKS WEBSITES JOURNALS PUBLICATIONS QUESTIONS TO CISCO FORUMS EDUCATIONAL PORTALS LECTURE NOTES AND RECOMMENDED BOOKS. STUDYING CASE STUDY SAMPLES I COME ACROSS.

Benefits.

After I carried out my research, I was able to obtain the necessary information I required, I had selected and “straight-to-the-point” materials to read at my finger tips so

that I could have maximum concentration instead of visiting numerous sites while working or carrying voluminous books that would scare me. I was able to read and

write my essay in my own words thereby avoiding plagiarism.


business process re-engineering essay

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