The concept of business process reengineering. Reengineering of business processes in an enterprise: world and Russian practice

11.10.2019

Reengineering is a rethinking and radical restructuring of business processes in order to improve such important indicators as cost, quality, speed of operation, finance and marketing for

Reengineering is a rethinking and radical restructuring of business processes in order to improve such important indicators as cost, quality, speed of operation, finance and marketing in order to achieve stepwise improvement in the company's performance.


Business planning involves the initial design of the business or, in other words, the initial design of the development of the business unit. Subsequently, the enterprise also needs continuous design. The overall management of business activities (business processes) is called business engineering, implying continuous improvement of processes.

Reengineering is aimed at ensuring that not only each link in the business operates productively, but also that the entire system of their interaction is aimed at obtaining the maximum multiplier effect, i.e. the effect that cannot be obtained by everyone individually, but can be achieved through joint efforts, organized in an optimal way.


In business reengineering, consistency, interdependence and complementarity of actions are of fundamental importance. Another feature of reengineering is that in its system each employee is aimed not so much at the good and timely performance of the work assigned to him, but at ensuring the highest possible final result of the entire business, i.e. you should always “turn your shoulder” to an employee who needs such help. Of course, this usually increases the intensity of labor. But this is work that brings profit, and an increase in the financial results of a business can significantly expand material incentives. The results of more intense and productive work bring not only high earnings, but also social recognition, a high image of the employee and greater moral satisfaction, since looseness in work enhances its creative nature, it provides an opportunity for everyone to reveal their full potential in the name of the success of the common cause.


The reengineering method has been adopted by the world's leading companies. Especially American companies spend a lot of effort and financial resources on this.


The founder of the theory of reengineering is considered to be M. Hammer, who, in collaboration with J. Champi, published the book "Corporate Reengineering: A Manifesto for a Revolution in Business".


Reengineering is usually presented as a fundamental rethinking and radical restructuring of business processes in order to improve such important indicators as cost, quality, service level, speed of operation, finance, marketing, building information systems to achieve a radical, stepwise improvement in the company's activities. Let us reveal the key concepts in this definition.

Fundamental- answers should be obtained to the most significant questions about the activities of the enterprise: “Why should we do what we do?”, “Why should we do it the way we do it?”.

Reengineering first determines WHAT the enterprise should do, and only then - HOW to do it. Reengineering ignores what is and focuses on what should be.

Radical- radical means changing things at their very root. In business reengineering, being radical means discarding all existing structures and procedures and implementing new ways of doing things.

Cardinal- if the profit of the enterprise decreases by only 10%, if its costs are only a few percent higher than planned, if the quality indicator needs to be improved only slightly, if customer service requires only a certain acceleration. In this case, the enterprise does not need reengineering at all. Then the usual methods are applicable, for example, such as a program of gradual quality improvement. Business reengineering is used only when there is an urgent need for an "explosive" impact.

Processes- this is the most important concept in the definition of business reengineering, but it is the most difficult for managers to understand. Most business people are not "process oriented", they are focused on tasks, on jobs, on people, on structures, but not on processes. Since the time and under the influence of A. Smith, who described the division of work into simple tasks and their division between individual specialists, modern companies and managers often focus on particular tasks. For example, on agreeing on the terms of a contract, on receiving an order, on ordering goods from a warehouse, etc. At the same time, the main goal often falls out of sight - the client must receive the goods that he ordered. Particular tasks are important, but none of them is of any importance to the client if the goods are not in his hands.


The main goals and methods of business reengineering - the main goal is to dramatically accelerate the response of the enterprise to changes in consumer requirements (or to the forecast of such changes) while reducing all types of costs many times over. Required:


  • a sharp decrease in the time used, the number of employees and other costs for the performance of production functions;
  • business globalization: work with clients and partners anywhere in the world, work with clients in 24x365 mode (24 hours a day, 365 days a year);
  • increasing the opportunities and rights of the employee, relying on the growth of staff mobility;
  • work not only for the present, but even more - for the future needs of the client, the accelerated promotion of new technologies;
  • implementation of the above based on the creative application of information technology.

Reengineering has the following properties:


  • rejection of outdated rules and approaches and the start of the business process, as it were, "from scratch". This makes it possible to overcome the negative impact of existing economic dogmas;
  • disregard for the existing systems, structures and procedures of the company and a radical change in the way of doing business; if you can't remake your business environment, you can remake your business;
  • leading to significant changes in performance indicators, an order of magnitude different from the previous ones. Small changes require the firm to adjust, skillfully adapt existing business tools, respectively, if the company's business has deteriorated slightly, it does not need reengineering.

Reengineering is applied in three main situations.


1. In conditions when the company is in a deep crisis, which can be expressed in a clearly non-competitive (very high) level of costs, mass refusal of consumers from the company's product, etc.


2. When the current position of the firm can be considered satisfactory, but the forecasts of its activities are unfavorable. The firm is faced with undesirable trends in terms of competitiveness, profitability, and the level of demand.


3. Prosperous, fast-growing and aggressive organizations are engaged in realizing the possibilities of reengineering. Their task is to accelerate the growth of the gap from the nearest competitors and create unique competitive advantages. Applying reengineering in this situation is the best way to do business. Many companies believe that they have found the best business model in which nothing needs to be changed significantly. Over time, this approach leads to the fact that competitors catch up and overtake such firms, and the companies themselves are less and less adaptable to demand and market conditions in general.


The reengineering process is based on two basic concepts - "the future image of the company" and "model of the company".

Model is an image of an object used as its substitute or representative. The model can take the form of an image, description, diagram, drawing, graph, plan - in any case, this is a simplified image of the original, reflecting its main features and not taking into account secondary details. A business model is an image (representation) of the main business processes of a company taken in their interaction with its business environment. As components of the business model, it is recommended to take such business processes that are directly related to the generation and receipt of income. Recently, information technologies have received wide development in business modeling, when models are compiled and calculated using special computer programs. Business models allow you to determine the characteristics of the main processes of the business unit and the need for their restructuring - reengineering.


The reengineering process can be divided into main stages.


1. The desired (necessary from the point of view of future survival and development) image of the company is formed. The formation of the future image takes place as part of the development of the company's strategy, its main guidelines and ways to achieve them. Of particular importance in a number of strategic goals is consumer orientation. The right choice of reengineering goals means that areas are found that can really be significantly improved and are vital for this business.


2. A model of a real or existing business of the company is created. This stage is called retrospective, or reverse, reengineering. Here, a system of actions and works is recreated, with the help of which the company realizes its existing goals. A detailed description and documentation of the main operations of the company is produced, and their effectiveness is evaluated. To create a model of an existing business, the results of the analysis of the organizational environment and controlling data are used. Processes that need radical restructuring are identified.


3. A new business model is being developed. There is a redesign of the current business - direct reengineering.


To create an updated business model, the following steps are performed:


a) selected business processes are redesigned, more efficient working procedures are created, technologies (including information) and methods of their application are determined;


b) new personnel functions are formed, job descriptions are revised, the optimal motivation system is determined, work teams are organized, training and retraining programs for specialists are developed;


c) information systems necessary for the implementation of reengineering are created: equipment and software are determined, a specialized business information system is formed;


d) the new model is being tested on a limited scale.


4. Introduction of the new business model into the economic reality of the company. All elements of the new model are put into practice. Skillful docking and the transition from old processes to new ones are important here.

The cycle of a modern company begins with reengineering - a radical and revolutionary restructuring of the company's business processes, accompanied by a transition to new principles for building an organization. This type of activity requires the implementation of a special project and the creation of a reengineering team, including both company employees and invited consultants. After achieving the intended goals, the work on the project is completed and the company moves on to an evolutionary period of its development, called business improvement: constant small upgrades are carried out in the course of ongoing work. As the possibilities of evolutionary development are exhausted, the company again conducts reengineering - as a rule, the project no longer covers the entire company as a whole, but several functional divisions. Thus, changes in the organization of work in the company become part of its daily life - as a reaction to constant changes in the external environment: the market, the level of technology, customer needs, competition.

Reengineering is a fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes of companies to achieve fundamental improvements in the main current indicators of their activities: cost, quality, services and pace (M. Hammer, J. Champi). At the same time, reengineering is considered as a way for modern companies to survive in the face of fierce competition in the global market.

The need for reengineering is associated with the high dynamism of the modern business world. Continuous and rather significant changes in technologies, markets and customer needs have become commonplace, and companies, in an effort to remain competitive, are forced to constantly rethink corporate strategy and tactics.

Reengineering is applied in three main situations:

1. In conditions when the company is in a deep crisis, which can be expressed in a clearly non-competitive (very high) level of costs, mass refusal of consumers from the company's product, and the like.

2. When the current position of the firm can be considered satisfactory, but the forecasts of its activities are unfavorable. The firm is faced with undesirable trends in terms of competitiveness, profitability, and the level of demand.

3. Prosperous, fast-growing and aggressive organizations are engaged in realizing the possibilities of reengineering. Their task is to accelerate the growth of the gap from the nearest competitors and create unique competitive advantages. Applying reengineering in this situation is the best way to do business. Many companies believe that they have found the best business model in which nothing needs to be changed significantly. Over time, this approach leads to the fact that competitors catch up and overtake such firms, and the companies themselves are less and less adaptable to demand and market conditions in general.

To understand how business process reengineering improves the efficiency of a company, let's look at how reengineering changes business processes that are being reconstructed.

1. Several work procedures are combined into one. Most characteristic of the redesigned processes is the absence of "assembly line" technology, in which simple tasks, or work procedures, are carried out at each workplace. Performed by different employees, they are now integrated into one - there is a horizontal compression of the process. If it is not possible to bring all the steps of the process to one job, then a team is created that is responsible for this process.

Having multiple people on a team inevitably leads to some delays and errors when handing off work between team members. However, the losses here are much less than in the traditional organization of work, when the performers report to different divisions of the company, possibly located in different territories. In addition, in a traditional organization it is difficult, and sometimes impossible, to determine who is responsible for the quick and high-quality performance of work. According to available estimates, horizontal compression speeds up the process by about 10 times.

2. Performers make independent decisions. In the course of reengineering, companies carry out not only horizontal, but also vertical compression of processes. This happens due to the independent decision-making by the contractor, in those cases when, in the traditional organization of work, he had to refer to the management hierarchy.

Traditional mass-production work organization assumed that performers had neither the time nor the knowledge to make decisions. Reengineering rejects these assumptions, which is quite natural given the rejection of mass production and the current level of education. Giving employees greater powers and increasing the role of each of them in the work of the company leads to a significant increase in their impact.

3. The process steps are performed in a natural order. Process reengineering frees you from the linear ordering of workflows inherent in the traditional approach, allowing you to parallelize processes where possible.

4. Processes have different versions. The traditional process is focused on the production of mass products for the mass market, so it must be executed in the same way, regardless of the initial conditions for all possible process inputs. In our time, the high dynamism of the market leads to the fact that the process must have different versions of execution, depending on the specific situation, the state of the market. Traditional processes usually turn out to be quite complex - they take into account various exceptions and special cases. New processes, unlike traditional ones, are clear and simple - each option is focused on only one corresponding situation.

5. Work is carried out in the place where it is expedient. In traditional companies, it is organized by functional units, which is quite wasteful and slow.

6. The number of checks and control actions is reduced. Checks and control actions do not directly produce material values, so the task of reengineering is to reduce them to an economically viable level. Traditional processes are replete with such steps, the sole purpose of which is to ensure that the performers comply with the prescribed rules. Unfortunately, in practice it often turns out that the cost of checks and control actions exceeds the cost of ordering the required product. Reengineering offers a more balanced approach. Instead of checking each of the running jobs, the redesigned process often aggregates these jobs and performs checks and controls in a lazy mode, which significantly reduces the time and cost of processes.

7. The number of approvals is minimized. Another type of work that does not produce direct value for the customer is approval. The task of reengineering is to minimize coordination by reducing external points of contact.

8. The "authorized" manager provides a single point of contact. The “authorized” manager mechanism is used when the steps in the process are either complex or distributed in such a way that they cannot be brought together by a small team. The "authorized" manager plays the role of a buffer between a complex process and the customer. He behaves with the customer as if he were responsible for the entire process. To fulfill this role, the manager must be able to answer customer questions and solve customer problems, having access to all information systems used and to all performers.

9. A mixed centralized/decentralized approach prevails. Modern technologies allow companies to operate completely autonomously at the departmental level, while maintaining the ability to use centralized data.

Due to the great popularity of business process reengineering, reengineering is often confused with other well-known approaches:

1. Despite the important role that information technology plays in business process reengineering, reengineering cannot be directly equated with business process automation.

2. Some users confuse business reengineering with software reengineering, the task of which is to rewrite - on the basis of modern technologies - obsolete information systems without changing the automated processes themselves.

3. Reengineering is neither restructuring nor downsizing. These terms refer to a reduction in a company's capacity, such as a reduction in production capacity, to meet current lower requirements.

4. Reengineering is not reorganizing or flattening, although flattening may well be the result of reengineering. Unlike reorganization and alignment, which deal with organizational structures, reengineering deals with processes.

5. Reengineering is by no means quality improvement or global quality management. Although both reengineering and quality management give a central role to business processes, there is a fundamental difference: quality management takes existing processes and tries to improve them, while reengineering replaces existing processes with new ones.

The reengineering process can be divided into main stages.

1. The desired (necessary from the point of view of future survival and development) image of the company is formed. The formation of the future image takes place as part of the development of the company's strategy, its main guidelines and ways to achieve them. Of particular importance in a number of strategic goals is consumer orientation. The right choice of reengineering goals means that areas are found that can really be significantly improved and are vital for this business.

2. A model of a real or existing business of the company is created. This stage is called retrospective, or reverse, reengineering. Here, a system of actions and works is recreated, with the help of which the company realizes its existing goals. A detailed description and documentation of the main operations of the company is produced, and their effectiveness is evaluated. To create a model of an existing business, the results of the analysis of the organizational environment and controlling data are used. Processes that need radical restructuring are identified.

3. A new business model is being developed. There is a redesign of the current business - direct reengineering.

To create an updated business model, the following steps are performed:

a) selected business processes are redesigned, more efficient working procedures are created, technologies (including information) and methods of their application are determined;

b) new personnel functions are formed, job descriptions are revised, the optimal motivation system is determined, work teams are organized, training and retraining programs for specialists are developed;

c) information systems necessary for the implementation of reengineering are created: equipment and software are determined, a specialized business information system is formed;

d) the new model is being tested on a limited scale.

4. Introduction of the new business model into the economic reality of the company. All elements of the new model are put into practice. Skillful docking and the transition from old processes to new ones are important here.

Two types of specialists are involved in reengineering - professionals in the field of the reconstructed business and developers of information systems. The experience of reengineering shows that a truly successful and innovative implementation of information technology is a unique creative process: company managers and technologists, getting acquainted with IT methods, themselves make discoveries about the possibilities of using them in their particular business.

Thus, reengineering is aimed at ensuring that not only each link in the business operates productively, but also that the entire system of their interaction is aimed at obtaining the maximum multiplier effect, that is, the effect that cannot be obtained by everyone individually, but can actually be achieved. through joint efforts, organized in an optimal way.

In business reengineering, consistency, interdependence and complementarity of actions are of fundamental importance. Another feature of reengineering is that in its system, each employee is aimed not so much at the good and timely performance of the work assigned to him, but at ensuring the highest possible final result of the entire business, that is, you should always “turn your shoulder” to an employee who is in such help needs. Of course, this usually increases the intensity of labor. But this is work that brings profit, and an increase in the financial results of a business can significantly expand material incentives. The results of more intense and productive work bring not only high earnings, but also social recognition, a high image of the employee and greater moral satisfaction, since looseness in work enhances its creative nature, it provides an opportunity for everyone to reveal their full potential in the name of the success of the common cause.

Reengineering projects are costly and risky. According to some estimates, the share of successful reengineering projects in the world is only 30%. The following typical reengineering mistakes can be distinguished:

a) excessive detail, loss of purpose during the examination. Deep detailing and decomposition into ever smaller processes and sub-processes often comes down to division into functional units. This is how, for example, “business processes of the financial department” appear. This approach completely replaces the original concept of the business process, replacing it with a functional management organization.

b) Gap in time during design. When analyzing a business process diagram, you need to carefully weigh everything, plan and, finally, implement a new business process. Excessively long analysis may be useless - the results will be outdated.

C) Project implementation problems. After receiving the results of a reengineering project, the enterprise, as a rule, is left alone with the problem: how to put these recommendations into practice.

The business process management system is designed to solve the listed problems of reengineering.

A business process is a clearly defined set of operations performed with a specific algorithm and in order to achieve a specific result that is fundamentally important for the company.

A business process does not always coincide with the area of ​​responsibility of a particular department. Usually it involves employees from different departments of the company.

The founder of this science is M. Hammer. He emphasized: “A business process crosses functional boundaries, so business processes have the following structure:

1. - strategic planning (formation of goals and company policy);

2. - production (from the purchase of raw materials to the shipment of products);

3. - development of a new product (from developing a concept to creating a sample);

4. - sales (from identifying a potential client to receiving an order);

5. - fulfillment of the order (from placing the order to receiving payment)”.

"As is" and "As it should" are 2 standard basic approaches in process management.

As you move from one state to another, the business process is optimized.

1. Business Process Reengineering

Reengineering has existed for 15 years (since 1997). It implies a stepwise increase in business performance indicators. Reengineering does not mean a slow result, but the rapid implementation of deep and comprehensive fundamental changes in the management system, i.e. a breakthrough in increasing efficiency by tens and hundreds of times.

Thus, the method of revolutionary transformation of the activity of an enterprise, a radical restructuring of its business, was called reengineering.

The author of reengineering defined it as follows - it is "a fundamental rethinking and a radical redesign of business processes to achieve significant improvements in such key performance indicators for modern business as cost, quality, service level and efficiency."

2. Key concepts of reengineering

Fundamental reengineering is the answer to the question "Why should we do what we do?", "Why should we do it the way we do it?". In this case, reengineering first determines “what the enterprise should do” and only then “how to do”, i.e. focuses on WHAT SHOULD BE.

Radical reengineering- radicalism means changing things and situations at their very root. In business reengineering, radicalism means discarding all existing structures and procedures, and embodying new ways of doing things.

Coordinate reengineering- implementation of a program of gradual quality improvement, i.e. in this case, business reengineering is applied only when there is an urgent need for an "explosive" impact.

3. Ways to improve the business process

There are 2 ways to improve a business process:

A redesign is an evolutionary change;

Reengineering is revolutionary change.

Reengineering is a radical change in business processes in the most important directions. In any case, the process must be carefully documented. There are 3 ways to describe this:

1. text - in the form of formulations that are expected to be understandable to all participants in the process.

2. with the help of tables, job descriptions - standard forms of workflow impose restrictions on the wording in order to avoid discrepancies.

3. graphical form - processes are reflected in the form of diagrams and diagrams.

4. Basic principles of business process reengineering

1. Concentration of responsibility (several works are combined into one);

2. Delegation of authority combined with self-control (operational decisions are made by employees on the ground);

3. The natural order of the process, parallel or sequential;

4. Work is done where it can be done most effectively, right down to handing over the process to the client;

5. The volume of approvals, checks and control is reduced (control by managers is replaced, if possible, by control by consumers of the results of this process);

6. Any work that does not add value to use must be eliminated.

Business processes are the most important element in the definition of reengineering and are the most difficult for managers to understand.

Business processes are horizontal hierarchies of internal and interdependent functional actions, the ultimate goal of which is the release of products or their individual components.

There are the following categories of business processes:

Processes that directly ensure the release of products;

Planning and management processes;

Resource processes;

Transformation processes.

The business process is characterized by:

Existing technology for the implementation of the business process;

The existing structure of the business system;

Means of equipment automation; mechanisms that ensure the implementation of the business process.

5. Key indicators for evaluating the effectiveness of business processes

1. Quantity of products of a given quality, paid for a certain period of time.

2. The number of consumers of products.

3. The number of typical operations that must be performed in the production of products for a certain period of time.

4. Cost of production costs.

5. Duration of typical operations.

6. Investment in production.

6. Business changes that are not reengineering

1. Reengineering cannot be directly identified with business process automation, i.e. business process automation using information technology.

2. Software, the task of which is to rewrite outdated information systems based on modern technologies.

3. Reengineering is not restructuring, nor dimension reduction- these terms denote a decrease in the company's capabilities.

4. Organizational change is restructuring, and reengineering deals with business processes.

5. Reengineering is not quality improvement and not global quality management, although reengineering and quality management assign a central role to business processes, but there is a fundamental difference:

a) quality management accepts existing processes and tries to improve them;

b) reengineering replaces existing processes with completely new ones.

10. Main properties of reengineering

Reengineering is the redesign of business processes to achieve a radical improvement in the performance of a firm. Business reengineering requires you to start from scratch. Within the framework of reengineering, the old formulations lose their meaning, because what is important is how the company wants to organize work today, taking into account today's market demand.

The main properties of reengineering are:

1. rejection of outdated rules and approaches to the business process and start it from scratch;

2. neglect of the existing systems, structures and procedures of the company. A radical change in the ways of economic activity;

3. leading to significant changes in performance indicators.

11. Major business situations requiring reengineering intervention

Reengineering is necessary in cases where very significant improvements are needed. There are 3 main situations that require reengineering intervention:

1. - In conditions when the firm is in a state of deep crisis. This crisis can be expressed in a non-competitive level of costs, in a mass refusal of consumers from the company's product.

2. - In conditions where the current position of the company can be considered satisfactory, but the forecasts of its activities are unfavorable. The firm is faced with undesirable situations for itself - in competitiveness, profitability and the level of demand.

3. - Non-professionals are engaged in the implementation of reengineering opportunities, although their task is to accelerate the gap from the closest competitors and create unique competitive advantages.

12. Participants in reengineering activities and their functions

To implement reengineering processes, it is necessary to form an organizational structure headed by its main participants.

Reengineering project leader- one of the top - managers of the company, heading the reengineering activities. Leader functions:

Organizational Responsibilities

Ideological substantiation of the reengineering project

Creating a common spirit of innovation, enthusiasm and responsibility in the team

The leader must have high internal energy.

Steering Committee comprises:

Members of the top management of the firm

Reengineering Leader

Business process managers.

Process monitoring function

Reengineering Goal Alignment and Strategy Function

Coordination of interests of various working teams

Resolving conflict situations between work teams.

In the absence of a committee, these functions are performed by the project leader.

Manager in charge of operations.

Fulfills the formal role of assistant to the leader

Develops methods and tools for reengineering

Training and coordination of actions of responsible business process managers

Assistance in organizing work teams.

13. Types of reengineering

Schools of reengineering:

1. American school - we destroy everything and then we collect it again, “to-be”, the goal is to create a new IP or refine an existing one

2. Russian school - "soft reengineering".

1. goal of optimization

2. choose the criteria that are most important for the company

A) the amount of profit

B) Company market share

B) the quality of the company's service

3. company BP classification

4. choosing those that make a profit

5. we build a power supply model based on them

We finalize (optimize) first those processes that make a profit (main), then auxiliary ones.

In reengineering, there are 2 types of activities:

1) crisis reengineering, where we are talking about solving extremely complex problems of the organization.

2) development reengineering, which is applicable when the organization is generally doing well, but the development dynamics have worsened and competitors have begun to outperform.

Development reengineering can lead to a noticeable improvement, but only an incremental improvement over the current level of business. It does this by eliminating low-value additional activities; movement of boundaries between departments and delegation of authority in order to increase productivity, save the required resources.

Crisis reengineering of both business processes and the entire organization as a whole requires redesigning, first of all, the relationship between suppliers and consumers. Any kind of reengineering activity should be carried out after a deep and thorough examination, revealing both shortcomings and hidden opportunities in personnel, processes, information and technology.

As a result of careful analysis, areas are found that require improvement of business processes through management and simplification.

14. Activities of the organization through business processes

To ensure the effective operation of the organization, only 3 to 10 basic business processes are enough.

There are 3 types of typical business processes:

1. Development of a strategy.

2. Development of a new product.

3. Fulfillment of orders.

The scale of the reengineering program depends on how many key business processes it will cover. For most Russian companies, crisis reengineering is the most relevant, since it faces the problem of bankruptcy, therefore, the tasks of reengineering are:

Consolidation of information resources of the structural divisions of the company and the creation of an integrated corporate information management system.

Providing overall cost reduction and having the ability to respond flexibly to changing market conditions in the management system.

15. Reengineering objects

A business model is a representation of the company's main business processes taken in their interaction with the company's business environment.

The future image of the company is a simplified image of the original, reflecting its main features and not taking into account minor details.

The reengineering process is based on these 2 concepts:

Future image of the company

Business Model

The objects of reengineering are not organizations, but processes. Companies are reengineering not sales departments, but the work performed by the personnel of these departments.

Each firm has the following reengineering objects:

a) product development - from the development of a product concept to its creation;

b) sales - from identifying a potential client to receiving an order;

c) order fulfillment - from placing an order to receiving payment;

d) maintenance of the business process as an object - from receiving a request for claims to resolving the problem that has arisen.

16. Main stages of reengineering

1. The desired image of the company is formed - this happens within the framework of the company's strategy and its guidelines;

2. A model of the real or existing business of the company is created - the system of actions and works is reconstructed, with the help of which the company realizes its goals;

3. A new business model is being developed (direct reengineering):

a) selected business processes are redesigned

b) new staff functions are being formed

c) information systems necessary for the implementation of reengineering are created

d) a new business model is being tested (preliminary application on a limited scale);

4. Introduction of the new business model into the economic reality of the company.

17. Basic methods and forms of work underlying reengineering

1. Several work procedures are combined into one - there is a horizontal compression of the process. If it is not possible to bring all the steps of the process to one job, then a team is created that is responsible for this process.

2. Performers make their own decisions - in the course of reengineering, not only horizontal, but also vertical compression of processes is carried out - this happens due to the independent decision-making by the performer, i.e. empowering employees and increasing the role of each of them in the work of the company leads to a significant increase in people's productivity.

3. The process steps are performed in a natural order.

4. Processes have different versions.

5. Work is done where it makes sense

6. The number of checks and control actions is reduced

7. The number of approvals is minimized

8. The empowered manager provides a single point of contact, i.e. plays the role of a buffer between a complex process and the customer.

9. A mixed centralized - decentralized approach to management prevails.

18. Methodologies for modeling business processes

In practice, the implementation of reengineering must begin with the choice of the most appropriate methodology for describing (modeling) a business process.

The most effective is:

1. - Block diagram of a business process, consisting of rectangles (denoting actions), diamonds (denoting decisions) and arrows connecting these elements to each other and to each other.

2. - A verbal description of the business process, answering the questions WHAT? WHO? WHERE? AS? WHY? and why? and also what is the time spent on making decisions, waiting and implementing actions in the business process.

These models are simple and obvious, but the complexity of the issues that arise in the business process require more efficient models and methodologies. There are computer programs for this.

19. Reengineering Tools

The reengineering system combines the capabilities of key modern information technologies that are applicable using the following tools:

Graphical, objectively oriented language for describing models and projects;

Animation and simulation tools for reconstructed processes;

Artificial intelligence methods for a complete and adequate representation of expert knowledge about processes.

All this opens up access to direct modeling and reconstruction of business processes to a new group of users - managers.

20. Reengineering in Russia

Reengineering is important for Russian entrepreneurship, because it needs significant changes. In domestic conditions, business processes, business procedures, accounting practice regulations are not formed - without which reengineering is not possible.

The main components of the change management process are:

Assessment of readiness for changes of the company itself;

Develop a plan to implement these changes.

Russian managers are offered the following methodology for using the potential of reengineering:

1. determining the direction of business development

2. definition of the scope and final goals of the project

3. process planning carried out by specialists

4. determination of the structure of the organization and personnel policy

5. technology support

6. definition of physical infrastructure (buildings, equipment)

7. implementation of the company's internal policy and assessment of the impact of current legislation

8. Mobilization of resources for project implementation

Reengineering represents a rethinking and radical restructuring of business processes in order to improve such important indicators as cost, quality, speed of operation, finance and marketing in order to achieve stepwise improvement in the company's performance.

Business planning involves the initial design of the business or, in other words, the initial design of the development of the business unit. Subsequently, the enterprise also needs continuous design. The overall management of business activities (business processes) is called business engineering, implying continuous improvement of processes.

Reengineering is aimed at ensuring that not only each link in the business operates productively, but also that the entire system of their interaction is aimed at obtaining the maximum multiplier effect, i.e. the effect that cannot be obtained by everyone individually, but can be achieved through joint efforts, organized in an optimal way.

In business reengineering, consistency, interdependence and complementarity of actions are of fundamental importance. Another feature of reengineering is that in its system each employee is aimed not so much at the good and timely performance of the work assigned to him, but at ensuring the highest possible final result of the entire business, i.e. you should always “turn your shoulder” to an employee who needs such help. Of course, this usually increases the intensity of labor. But this is work that brings profit, and an increase in the financial results of a business can significantly expand material incentives. The results of more intense and productive work bring not only high earnings, but also social recognition, a high image of the employee and greater moral satisfaction, since looseness in work enhances its creative nature, it provides an opportunity for everyone to reveal their full potential in the name of the success of the common cause.

The reengineering method has been adopted by the world's leading companies. Especially American companies spend a lot of effort and financial resources on this.

The founder of the theory of reengineering is considered to be M. Hammer, who, in collaboration with J. Champi, published the book "Corporate Reengineering: A Manifesto for a Revolution in Business".

Reengineering is usually presented as a fundamental rethinking and radical restructuring of business processes in order to improve such important indicators as cost, quality, service level, speed of operation, finance, marketing, building information systems to achieve a radical, stepwise improvement in the company's activities. Let us reveal the key concepts in this definition.

Fundamental- answers should be obtained to the most significant questions about the activities of the enterprise: “Why should we do what we do?”, “Why should we do it the way we do it?”.

Reengineering first determines WHAT the enterprise should do, and only then - HOW to do it. Reengineering ignores what is and focuses on what should be.

Radical- radical means changing things at their very root. In business reengineering, being radical means discarding all existing structures and procedures and implementing new ways of doing things.

Cardinal- if the profit of the enterprise decreases by only 10%, if its costs are only a few percent higher than planned, if the quality indicator needs to be improved only slightly, if customer service requires only a certain acceleration. In this case, the enterprise does not need reengineering at all. Then the usual methods are applicable, for example, such as a program of gradual quality improvement. Business reengineering is used only when there is an urgent need for an "explosive" impact.

Processes- this is the most important concept in the definition of business reengineering, but it is the most difficult for managers to understand. Most business people are not "process oriented", they are focused on tasks, on jobs, on people, on structures, but not on processes. Since the time and under the influence of A. Smith, who described the division of work into simple tasks and their division between individual specialists, modern companies and managers often focus on particular tasks. For example, on agreeing on the terms of a contract, on receiving an order, on ordering goods from a warehouse, etc. At the same time, the main goal often falls out of sight - the client must receive the goods that he ordered. Particular tasks are important, but none of them is of any importance to the client if the goods are not in his hands.

The main goals and methods of business reengineering - the main goal is to dramatically accelerate the response of the enterprise to changes in consumer requirements (or to the forecast of such changes) while reducing all types of costs many times over. Required:

  • a sharp decrease in the time used, the number of employees and other costs for the performance of production functions;
  • business globalization: work with clients and partners anywhere in the world, work with clients in 24x365 mode (24 hours a day, 365 days a year);
  • increasing the opportunities and rights of the employee, relying on the growth of staff mobility;
  • work not only for the present, but even more - for the future needs of the client, the accelerated promotion of new technologies;
  • implementation of the above based on the creative application of information technology.

Reengineering has the following properties:

  • rejection of outdated rules and approaches and the start of the business process, as it were, "from scratch". This makes it possible to overcome the negative impact of existing economic dogmas;
  • disregard for the existing systems, structures and procedures of the company and a radical change in the way of doing business; if you can't remake your business environment, you can remake your business;
  • leading to significant changes in performance indicators, an order of magnitude different from the previous ones. Small changes require the firm to adjust, skillfully adapt existing business tools, respectively, if the company's business has deteriorated slightly, it does not need reengineering.

Reengineering is applied in three main situations.

  1. In conditions when the company is in a deep crisis, which can be expressed in a clearly non-competitive (very high) level of costs, mass refusal of consumers from the company's product, etc.
  2. When the current position of the firm can be considered satisfactory, but the forecasts of its activities are unfavorable. The firm is faced with undesirable trends in terms of competitiveness, profitability, and the level of demand.
  3. Reengineering opportunities are pursued by prosperous, fast-growing, and aggressive organizations. Their task is to accelerate the growth of the gap from the nearest competitors and create unique competitive advantages. Applying reengineering in this situation is the best way to do business. Many companies believe that they have found the best business model in which nothing needs to be changed significantly. Over time, this approach leads to the fact that competitors catch up and overtake such firms, and the companies themselves are less and less adaptable to demand and market conditions in general.

The reengineering process is based on two main concepts - "future image of the company" and "model of the company".

Model is an image of an object used as its substitute or representative. The model can take the form of an image, description, diagram, drawing, graph, plan - in any case, this is a simplified image of the original, reflecting its main features and not taking into account secondary details. Business model- this is an image (representation) of the main business processes of the company, taken in their interaction with its business environment. As components of the business model, it is recommended to take such business processes that are directly related to the generation and receipt of income. Recently, information technologies have received wide development in business modeling, when models are compiled and calculated using special computer programs. Business models allow you to determine the characteristics of the main processes of the business unit and the need for their restructuring - reengineering.

The reengineering process can be divided into main stages.

  1. The desired (necessary from the point of view of future survival and development) image of the company is formed. The formation of the future image takes place as part of the development of the company's strategy, its main guidelines and ways to achieve them. Of particular importance in a number of strategic goals is consumer orientation. The right choice of reengineering goals means that areas are found that can really be significantly improved and are vital for this business.
  2. A model of a real or existing business of the company is created. This stage is called retrospective, or reverse, reengineering. Here, a system of actions and works is recreated, with the help of which the company realizes its existing goals. A detailed description and documentation of the main operations of the company is produced, and their effectiveness is evaluated. To create a model of an existing business, the results of the analysis of the organizational environment and controlling data are used. Processes that need radical restructuring are identified.
  3. A new business model is being developed. There is a redesign of the current business - direct reengineering.
    To create an updated business model, the following steps are performed:
    1. selected business processes are redesigned, more efficient working procedures are created, technologies (including information) and methods of their application are determined;
    2. new staff functions are formed, job descriptions are revised, the optimal motivation system is determined, work teams are organized, programs for training and retraining of specialists are developed;
    3. information systems necessary for the implementation of reengineering are created: equipment and software are determined, a specialized business information system is formed;
    4. the new model is being tested on a limited scale.
  4. Introduction of the new business model into the economic reality of the company. All elements of the new model are put into practice. Skillful docking and the transition from old processes to new ones are important here.

Reengineering as a method of innovation management affects the innovation process, aimed both at the production of new products and operations, and at their implementation, promotion, and diffusion. Since the ultimate goal of reengineering is innovation (i.e. innovation), reengineering in a narrower sense is the reengineering of innovation.

Reengineering is an engineering and consulting service for the restructuring of business activities based on the production and implementation of innovations. The American scientist M. Hamler, who introduced the term "reengineering" into scientific circulation, gave it such a definition.

Reengineering is a fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic, leapfrogging improvements in today's business performance, such as cost, quality, service, and pace.

This definition contains four key concepts: "fundamental", "radical", "sharp" ("jump") and "process". Although the concept of “process” (“business process”) is the most important in this context, it is difficult to explain it to managers, since most of them are used to dealing with tasks, jobs, structures, people, but not with processes.

The main stages of reengineering

Buisness process - this is a system of consistent, purposeful and regulated activities, in which, through the control action and with the help of resources, the inputs of the process are converted into outputs, i.e. results of the process that are of value to consumers (Fig. 1).

Rice. 1. Typical business processes designed and improved in the course of reengineering activities

Rice. 2. Classification of business processes

The efficiency of business processes depends on a number of indicators (Fig. 3).

Rice. 3. Business process performance indicators

Directions for improving business process management are shown in fig. four.

Rice. 4. Improved business process management

Reengineering - it is a fundamental rethinking and a radical redesign of the organization and its critical processes.

The fundamental goal of business process reengineering is flexible and prompt adaptation to expected changes in consumer demands: a corresponding change in strategy, technology, production organization and management based on effective computerization.

The result of reengineering is the improvement of the most important quantitatively measured indicators.

Reengineering is successful only if it is in close connection with the organizational development of the organization.

According to the degree of impact on the organizational structure, evolutionary and revolutionary reengineering of business processes are distinguished.

At evolutionary reengineering optimizes the internal integration of various business processes, but does not make significant changes to the functioning of the organization.

At revolutionary reengineering, all business processes are redesigned and the organization is reoriented to a new type of business.

During reengineering, either redesign or improvement of business processes is carried out (Table 1).

Table 1. The essence of reengineering

Type of reengineering

Application Situation

Crisis reengineering (redesign of business processes)

A state of deep crisis (loss of competitiveness, refusal of consumers from goods, etc.)

Development reengineering (improvement of business processes)

Satisfactory current position with undesirable trends and unfavorable forecasts. A favorable situation if you want to accelerate and increase the gap from competitors

In general, reengineering solves the following tasks:

  • contributes to the creation of a network of contacts for emergency conditions (as it develops horizontal managerial links);
  • creates organizational prerequisites for the centralization of information flows (since it contributes to obtaining information systematized for specific processes);
  • promotes the separation of top management functions and the creation of a network of operational groups (as it allows the use of process team technology for these purposes);
  • motivates creativity, analyzes situations and teamwork (since on the basis of these principles the nature of work and the role of workers in reengineering are modified);
  • allows you to successfully combine strategy coordination from the center and decentralized execution of decisions (because it relies on mixed processes and matrix management structures);
  • creates organizational conditions for the restructuring of the enterprise (since it links changes in the management structure with the activities of process teams).

To the main principles business process reengineering include:

  • concentration of responsibility: several work procedures are combined into one (horizontal process compression);
  • delegation of authority combined with self-control: performers make independent decisions (vertical compression of the process);
  • the natural order of execution of the process, such as parallel rather than sequential;
  • various options for the execution of processes depending on the situation;
  • performing work where it can be done most efficiently (up to handing it over to the process client);
  • reduction in the volume of approvals, inspections and control - control on the part of managers is replaced, if possible, by control on the part of consumers of this process.

Possible characteristics of the reengineering process according to the main criteria are shown in Table. 3.

Table 3. Characteristics of reengineering according to the main criteria

Criteria

Reengineering

Origin of the method

Engineering Sciences, Management Consulting Practice

Main idea

Radical rethinking and redesign of the enterprise or production processes

The principal position of the manager

The nature of the changes

Profound and all-encompassing changes, discontinuity of the process, spasmodic changes

Project implementation timeline

Several years focusing on quick success measurable in quantitative terms

Object of change

Enterprise as a whole or key processes

Significant and stable increase in profitability (economic efficiency)

Type of crisis

Liquidity crisis, success crisis

Change strategy

Top down strategy

Key Roles

Leader, reengineering group, specialists

Methodological aspects

Reorganization of key processes in accordance with the adopted market strategy, adaptation of organizational structures and job descriptions,

change in value perceptions, introduction of modern information technology,

personnel development and new methods of remuneration

Strengths

Opportunity for radical renewal, chances for a clear increase in profitability, speed of change, conceptual unity of activities, a significant expansion of the competence of specialists

Weak sides

Instability in the phase of change, time and action restrictions due to the desire to quickly improve results, low social acceptability

Particular attention in the methodology of reengineering is given to the formation of a team and its interaction with the staff of the organization. Process commands replace the old control structure.

Two types of process commands are most commonly used depending on the work to be performed:

  • a team brings together people of different specialties working together, performing routine and repetitive work, for a long time;
  • a team brings together people to solve a non-standard and, as a rule, complex task. Teams of this type are created for the duration of the task and are disbanded upon completion of the project. Moreover, one employee can be a member of several teams at the same time, distributing his time between several projects.

Definition participants reengineering activities and the functions they perform are the basis for the effectiveness of the process (Table 4).

Table 4. Participants in reengineering activities and their functions

Members

1. Project leader - one of the top managers of the company

Leads the activities of reengineering, is responsible for the ideological justification of the project, creates a common spirit of innovation and responsibility

2. Steering committee - senior management members, project leader, process managers

Monitors, coordinates goals and strategies, interests of work teams, resolves conflicts

3. Managers of operational management

4. Process managers

Develop methods and tools for reengineering, conduct training, coordinate, help in the formation of teams

5. Work teams - employees of the company and external consultants and developers

Carry out direct work on reengineering

To form a well-coordinated, efficient team, you need:

  • an accurate description of the main goals;
  • careful budgeting;
  • identification of key roles and fixation of objective requirements for candidates;
  • careful selection and detailed verification of candidates;
  • continuous monitoring, the ability to identify and correct errors.

For the implementation of reengineering, certain tools(Fig. 5).

Stages reengineering are shown in fig. 6.

In general, the steps of the business process reengineering methodology include the following steps:

  • project development and allocation of business processes. The goals and objectives of the project are determined, a reengineering team is formed and an approach to reengineering is determined;
  • documentation of business processes. At this stage, graphical models of business processes are built based on the proposed methodology for documenting them, the composite operations of business processes are timed:
  • comparative analysis of business processes (benchmarking). An analysis of business processes is carried out in order to compare them with the business processes of the advanced divisions of an organization or a competitor organization;
  • development of the image of the future organization. The purpose of this stage is to formulate a system of views on the new organization according to its goals and capabilities. It is advisable to include subjects of the external environment in the reengineering team;
  • problem analysis and redesign of business processes and technologies. The purpose of the stage is to identify problem areas of technological and business processes:
  • introduction of new business processes, technologies and evaluation of results. At this stage, it is necessary to compare the results of the efficiency of the functioning of business processes with the criteria set at the beginning of reengineering, taking into account the costs by types of functional activities.

Rice. 5. Reengineering tools

The success of the reengineering process is due to certain factors (Fig. 7).

Reengineering in organizations acquires a pronounced anti-crisis focus. The direction of organizational measures in anti-crisis management coincides with the dynamics of changes occurring during reengineering.

In doing so, the following should be noted:

  • effective operation of process teams can lead to the creation of new structural units;
  • the creation or merger of process teams may lead to the fragmentation or consolidation of the enterprise;
  • the creation of process teams in new activities contributes to the transition to a divisional model of enterprise management.

Rice. 6. Stages of business process reengineering

Rice. 7. Success factors for reengineering

Thus, reengineering increases the organization's mobility during the transition to anti-crisis management technologies, which is especially important in modern Russian conditions.

Reengineering (restructuring) of the process

Business process reengineering (BPR)— fundamental rethinking and radical modification of business processes to achieve a turning point in the work of improvement in critical current indicators such as cost, quality, service and speed. RBP is a philosophy of improvement.

The objective of BPO is to achieve fundamental improvements by redesigning the process in such a way as to maximize value addition and minimize other indicators.

This approach can be applied both at the level of a single process and at the level of an entire organization.

The RBP procedure can be divided into four phases (Fig. 8).

1. Planning. The BPR project is defined, the project team is formed and, if possible, the project objectives are defined.

2. Reengineering, based on an existing process. A set of methods allows you to rebuild the process, raise its level, in order to dramatically improve it as a result.

3. Transformation. Determine how to implement a new process, taking into account the existing process, required investments, training, etc.

4. Implementation. The solutions developed and approved in the two previous phases are implemented and the process is changed.

There are two fundamentally different ways to use RBP (Fig. 9).

1. Systematic reengineering— the current process is understood, documented and analyzed to systematically create new and better processes.

Rice. 8. Phases of the business process reengineering procedure

Rice. 9. Ways to use RBP

This type of reengineering is carried out based on the rules ESIA (erase, Simplify, integrate, automatic), and involves the implementation of four main actions designed to systematize existing processes: destroy, simplify, merge, automate.

1st stage. Destroy. Exclusion of all operations that are not related to adding value. This task is very relevant. For example, at Toyota, most traditional manufacturing processes assume that at any time of the day, 85% of employees are engaged in unproductive work:

  • 5% of employees can observe but not act;
  • 25% of employees are waiting for something;
  • 30% of employees do something that increases inventory levels but doesn't add value.
  • 25% work but use outdated standards and procedures.

2nd stage. Simplify. After getting rid of everything superfluous, you need to simplify to the maximum everything that remains. Usually the “simplify” action is carried out on particularly difficult areas.

3rd stage. Merge. There is a further facilitation of the flow from the supplier to the organization and from the organization to the consumer. Businesses that have achieved particularly close relationships with their suppliers and customers are usually in a better position. They have great potential for successful improvement. It is typical to integrate suppliers of key components and their customers into a single product development process.

4th stage. Automate. Information technology, robotic equipment - that's what gives a powerful effect and good results. However, the automation of complex processes is undesirable: uncertainty can lead to a large number of errors. For example, in the field of quality management, it is important to automate the analysis of data collected by statistical methods and.

2. Reengineering from scratch— the existing process is completely destroyed and disposed of. A new process is created from scratch by fundamentally rethinking an existing one.

It is very difficult to give general advice on how to carry out a radical restructuring, which is to destroy everything and start from scratch. The result essentially depends on creative activity, imagination, knowledge, as well as the availability of modern technologies and people who are able to bring all this to life. Each RBP project is unique. Here are the main questions that require their resolution.

  • What basic needs do we want to meet and for whom?
  • Why do we want to meet these needs? Is it consistent with the overall strategy of the organization?
  • Where should these needs be met?
  • When should these needs be met?
  • How will these needs be met? Who will do all this, what technologies are needed?

The decisive factor in perestroika is the creative activity of the performers. To spark imagination and creativity, ask your employees the following questions:

  • Imagine that you need to create an image of your own organization's competitor. How would you do it to achieve the best result?
  • What should the ideal process look like?
  • If you could recreate your entire organization from scratch, what would that organization and its specific process look like?

The last thing to do in the meaningful proposal phase, regardless of how you choose to apply the method, is to develop a list of recommended changes as a result of business process reengineering.



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