Page 96 - DCAP306_DCAP511_E-COMMERCE_AND_E-BUSINESS

Unit 7: Basics of Business Process Reengineering

Did you know? Sarkar and Singh (2006) and Ken, Faizul, and Ziaul (2006) think that the enterprise
resource planning and electronic commerce technologies may alter business practices
to re-optimize the business processes that lead to improved performance and
increased efficiency.
Bucky, Steward, and Best (2008) argue that the strategic alignment of IT and business is essential to use
the IT assets and assist business practices and management to alter organization’s processes and
structure to integrate functionally with external and internal variables.

Nah, Lau, and Zuckweiler (2003), the survey information officers from the Fortune
1000 organizations identified 11 key factors that are essential for the success of
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). Amongst the factors, change management
program, project management, ERP composition and teamwork, project
champion, and top management support are the critical ones. They found that
centralized and standard integration is determined by clarity of ER coordination,
objectives, and control of activities of various business units, for the successful
ERP implementation.
In most of the cases, organizations alter their organizational structure to align themselves with the
implemented technologies to attain better operational efficiency and business performance. (Park, Kang
and Yang 2008).
The three dimensions in BPR that resulted from technology adoption were:
1. Organizational Structure Changes: With the help of IT, the centralization of decision making
changed. Also, by sharing and exchanging information through IT, the business units reduced the
mediation process and increased cross-unit collaboration. Therefore, employees had to report
directly to their managers and thus, the organizational hierarchies became flatter (Orman 1998).
2. Changes of Workplace: IT enables staff to communicate from home or various other locations,
receive and send multimedia data, accomplish task using electronic mail, exchange information,
Internet-based tools, and teleconference. Hence, transportation charges get reduced.
3. Workforce Changes: IT activates many kinds of automation in various business practices like
customer service management, order management, and supply chain management. This leads to
manpower reduction and cost drops.
7.1.3 Examples of BPR
The benefits of BPR are:
1. Increases Effectiveness: Proper control and management of all the business processes reduces the
time lag between various processes. This results in increased effectiveness within business
processes.
2. Reduces Cost: Proper management of business processes enhance efficiency and help deliver
products to buyers quickly. Thereby, the overall product charges are reduced and this saves cost
for the organization in the long run.
3. Growth of Business: Implementation of BPR results in growth of present business which enables
the emergence of new businesses within the same organization.
The benefits offered by BPR have caused many companies to implement BPR in their organizations. Let
us discuss a few companies that have benefitted by implementing BPR.

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