Page 28 - DCAP302_ENTERPRISE_RESOURCE_PLANNING

Enterprise Resource Planning

notes the overall processes by looking from a broader perspective using Michael Porter’s value chain.
Given this documentation, the ‘AS – IS’ environment of the organization is analyzed, the current
process performance, business performance is analyzed. Then the ‘TO – BE’ state is defined,
thereby creating a plan of action based on the gap between the current processes, technologies
and structures, and where the organization wants to go. It is then a matter of implementing the
solutions.

The extreme contrast between continuous process improvement and business process
re-engineering depends on where organizations start (with today’s process, or with a clean slate),
and with the magnitude and rate of resulting changes.
figure 2.2: re-engineering model

Initiation Documenting using Focus on ‘AS – IS’ Design the ‘TO – Implementation
Porter’s value chain process BE’ process

table 2.1: How re-engineering differs from other forms of process improvement
It is not … Although …
Downsizing Jobs are often eliminated
Reorganizing Structures are changed
Functional fixes Functions operate better
A big technology project Technology is critical

2.4 characteristics of Bpr

The major characteristics of BPR are: cross-functional orientation, process innovation, customer
focus, clean slate and radical change in the organization’s business processes by using ERP
systems.
cross-functional orientation and process innovation

BPR is more of a cross functional perspective. The objective is to piece together the fragmented
pieces of business processes. A process is a specific ordering of work activities across time and
place with a beginning and an end and clearly identified inputs and outputs. In other words,
business process is the structure of action for producing a specified output for a particular
customer or market. Normally, a process crosses several functional units within the organization.
In some cases, it may even cross through more than one organization. Since a business process
can traverse several separate organizational units, often there is no single person who is
in – charge of the performance of the whole process, from beginning to end. The lack of a ‘process
owner’ results in diffused responsibility and accountability and often leads to the characteristic
inefficiencies of business processes today.
Processes are more focused on carrying out internal procedures than meeting the customers
and market needs. The business processes can be classified into two categories, namely, core
processes and support processes. The core processes produce goods and products for the external
customers of the organizations.

22 LoveLy professionaL university