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2 Business Process Reengineering (BPR) “the fundamental rethinking and redesign of processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance such as cost, quality service and speed” Michael Hammer and James Champy Reengineering the Corporation

3 BPR involves rethinking and restructuring the way an organisation conducts its activities and leveraging the power of ICT to improve operational processes The reinvention, reengineering or transformation of E- Government implementation is holistic and requires a systematic approach The basic BPR methodology consists of taking the four elements of People, Process, Organisation and Technology simultaneously through the various stages of transformation, namely Planning, Review, Design and Implementation

4 Reengineering exercise fails not because of funding or technology, but because of people-related factors o Not establishing a great enough sense of urgency o Lack of vision o Under-communicating the vision o Failure to involve enough people in the effort o Not anchoring changes in the organisation’s culture

5 The BPR methodology adopted for E-Government consists of reengineering the four components of People, Process, Organisation and Technology through a guided transformation occurring in four distinct stages o Planning the reengineering effort o Reviewing the as-is processes o Designing the to-be processes o Implementing the to-be processes

6 Technology Process People Organisation Planning As-Is Review Improvement Opportunities To-Be Process Design Gap Analysis Impact Analysis Implementation Confirm Strategic Direction Analyse Current Processes Design To-Be Processes Implement To-Be Processes

7 The speed and complexity of each of the phases differ from project to project Due to the nature of the projects, the scope or emphasis for each component also differs o Some projects required radical organisational restructuring o Some focused on improving and streamlining processes

8 The Planning phase involves o Defining the scope of work o Mobilising resources o Defining the detailed approach o Identifying key stakeholders

9 Mapping the targeted processes against the computer systems, tools and technologies that currently support them Review is a critical step as it evaluates the current performance, its relevance to the overall strategy and its potential for change Two key lessons o The effort required to review and analyse the as-is processes is significant because of the complexity inherent in the as-is processes o It is important to ascertain the level of detail for the review because its output must contain information useful for designing the to-be process activity

10 The teams have to rigorously examine, revise, improve and even eliminate non-value-adding steps in the process and identify the required changes to the inputs and outputs of those activities impacted by BPR To produce a comprehensive to-be design, the BPR teams hold discussions and workshops with process owners to obtain initial feedback and validate the design o User involvement is crucial to promote early buy-in and ownership of the new processes

11 When the to-be design is completed, a Gap and Impact Analysis is conducted to o Identify any significant discrepancies that existed for any of the validated to-be processes that could not be reconciled o Recommend a walk-through for the identified discrepancies as appropriate o Identify any non-technology changes that are recommended by the BPR Team o Include steps that are reengineered but are subsequently rejected by the Government team

12 The need for the BPR team to collaborate and coordinate with other teams is more apparent in the Implementation Phase Contingency planning has to be put in place for any issues or problems arose during implementation With implementation completed, some immediate improvements can be felt

13 Know the organisation Communicate early Obtain commitment Active versus commitment Overestimating organisational flexibility Let a pilot point the way Maintaining strategic focus Employ structured innovation Technology

14 Committed and strong leadership is a key success factor in BPR projects Leadership from senior management has to be effective, strong, visible and creative in thinking and understanding in order to anchor a vision in the minds of the people for their involvement, support and motivation

15 Having executive champions for BPR change is necessary to overcome barriers such as organisational resistance, fear and doubts They secure top management support, resolve conflict and provide the leadership and guidance to the personnel involved in the change journey

16 Effective communication lowers the resistance to change at all levels, particularly to those not involved directly with the BPR effort It is essential to ensure that information is disseminated frequently both horizontally and vertically and be open, clear and honest especially when discussing sensitive issues such as o Task boundaries o New roles and responsibilities o Personnel reduction

17 The BPR team made a concerted effort to ensure that middle management, process owners, those involved in information technology and human resource felt involved and consulted in ten process redesign Fostering a sense of ownership and collaboration helps the organisation endure any inconvenience and shortcomings while reengineering is carried out

18 In preparation for their new roles, ICT personnel must be educated on ICT innovations and the potential for realising competitive advantage through reshaping the business processes of their organisations Communicating, educating and keeping in touch with all levels of the organisation help create an effective culture for organisational change o Allows people to understand, conform to and remain positive about the new values, management processes and communication styles that are created by the newly redesigned processes

19 ICT can only enhance an organisation’s position by supporting its business strategy Frequent meetings were held between the developers, network providers and the Government to discuss and strategise on the enhancement of existing ICT infrastructure o Roles and responsibilities of each party were determined o Capabilities of existing ICT infrastructure evaluated and if required, improved upon o Integration with legacy systems