This document provides an overview of business process re-engineering (BPR). It defines business processes and re-engineering, and explains that BPR involves fundamentally rethinking and redesigning workflows and processes to improve productivity. The document traces the history of BPR from Michael Hammer's 1990 article introducing the concept. It also outlines the seven principles of re-engineering according to Hammer, describes the typical BPR methodology, and identifies factors for BPR success and key benefits such as improved efficiency, effectiveness, and customer satisfaction.

1. A Review on Business
Process Re-engineering.
Prepared by ADEYEYE,
Oluwatosin Emmanuel.

2. Description/Introduction
Business Process: A business process is a collection of activities which together produces some value to
the customer. A business process is a set of logically related tasks performed to achieve a defined
business outcome.
Re-engineering: Re-engineering has to do with fundamental rethinking, recreating and radical
designing.
Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) also known as Business Process Redesign, Business
Transformation, or Business Process Change Management is the process of rethinking and redesigning
the way production and operations are done in an organization in order to enhance productivity or
performance. It involves the analysis and redesign of workflows within and between enterprises in order
to optimize end-to-end processes and automate non-value-added tasks. BPR is a business management
strategy that focuses on the analysis and design of workflows and business processes within an
organization.

3. History
The idea of BPR started in 1990, when Michael Hammer, a former professor of Computer Science at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) published the article “Reengineering Work: Don’t Automate,
Obliterate” in the Harvard Business Review, in which he claimed that the major challenge for managers is to
obliterate forms of work that do not add value, rather than using technology for automating it. Hammer suggested it
was time to stop putting new wines inside old bottles, we should “reengineer” our businesses: use the power of
modern IT to radically redesign our business processes in order to achieve dramatic improvements in their
performance.
Re-engineering was adopted at an accelerating pace and by 1993, many successful companies claimed to either
have initiated re-engineering efforts or to have plans to do so.
Abuses, misuses of BPR concept and publication of critiques in 1995 and 1996 affected the accelerating pace of
BPR a bit, but more recently, the concept of Business Process Management has gained major attention in the
corporate world and can be considered a successor to the BPR wave of the 1990s.

4. The Seven Principles of Re-engineering
1. Organize around outcomes, not tasks.
2. Identify all the processes in an organization and prioritize them in order of
redesign urgency.
3. Integrate information processing work into the real work that produces the
information.
4. Treat geographical dispersed resources as though they were centralized.
5. Link parallel activities in the workflow instead of just integrating their results.
6. Put the decision point where the work is performed, and build control into the
process.
7. Capture information once and at the source.

5. Business Process Re-engineering Steps/Methodology/Phases
• Process Improvement Planning: The customers’ driven objectives are identified, the BPR team are selected and the
management’s interest and commitment are put into action.
• Process (Project) Definition: The process(es) to be worked on, the boundaries, the goals and objectives of the
process(es) are clearly stated and explained
• Process Analysis and Design: The existing process and its shortcomings are looked on, a new or alternative
methods/models/processes are formulated, the cost, the risk and other essential factors are carefully examined.
• Process Implementation: Using prototype and simulation, the new models/methods/processes are demonstrated,
training programs for the workers are initiated and the models/methods/processes are executed in full scale.
• Process Management: The results and progress of the new process is measured is constantly measured using the
customers’ perception, employee attitude, suppliers’ responsiveness etc. and the re-engineering process is
continuously improved.

6. Factors that determine BPR success
1. Clear vision for transformation
2. BPR team composition
3. IT infrastructure
4. Knowledge of re-engineering techniques
5. Change management
6. Continuous improvement
7. Tolerance of “genuine failure”
8. Engaging external consultants

7. Essence/Purpose/Benefits of Business Process Re-engineering
• Efficiency in cost, time and effort
• Effectiveness in production and operations processes
• Customer Satisfaction
• Significant increase in company or organization competency
• Innovation
• Transformation in business processes