Aspects of Business Process reengineering that Every Organization must be Aware of
Rakesh is holding an MBA in Marketing from Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad, and Rakesh has over two decades of experience in the areas of strategy formulation, business planning, value proposition development, operations analysis, and process re-engineering. He joined Xerox in 2018, prior to which he has worked with companies such as American Express, COLT Telecom, AAPT, Dell and Basware.
How will business process reengineering reform business processes and enhance efficiency and minimize risk?
Yes, business process reengineering (BPR) is definitely a very effective technique to reform business processes by reducing risks and enhancing efficiency. Redesigned processes and structures make them more relevant to the current time and ecosystem in terms of savings, quality, employee satisfaction, customer experience, risk-taking capacity and many other aspects. BPR targets processes, structures & methods inside-out and explores opportunities to improve the KPIs. Another major advantage of BPR is that it results in improved flexibility for the organization during crisis situations.
If you look at result-oriented as being the basic fundamental principle, BPR reinforces that by focusing on results instead of the tasks, thus enabling the company to be agile and modulate its tasks to achieve the desired outcomes. As a result, BPR perfectly fits-in with result oriented principles.
What, in your opinion, is the most effective framework for applying business process reengineering? What are the advantages for a company?
There are quite a few tried & tested BPR frameworks that a business can incorporate. However, which framework is suitable for a particular company entirely depends on the needs of that company. One of the most commonly used BPR until recent times was the Hammer & Champy framework which was based on seven outcome-oriented principles. Another popular BPR framework is the Lean Six Sigma approach, which involves analyzing a process data and identifying areas of efficiency, and implementing suitable measures in the those areas that need improvement. Thus, the best BPR framework is one which aligns with the goals and objectives of the organization.
What steps should business professionals take to achieve organizational transformation, and what difficulties have you faced in your career?
Having a clear vision is the first step and most important aspect towards achieving an effective business transformation. This is because having a clear understanding of what we want to achieve will enable us to create a common goal and keep everyone in the organization motivated to work hard towards achieving that goal. The next step is to assess our current position and ascertain our next growth milestone. When you are able to assess your current situation across as many parameters as possible, you’ll have to devise a plan of action about the things to be done in order to achieve the set business transformation goals. Also, it is of utmost importance for every organization to include all the key management personnel & stakeholders right from the initial phase and communicate the vision, strategy and action plan with all of them so that they all stay on the same page.
The next & most critical step is the way in which the action plan must be implemented by making necessary changes. Also, during the implementation process, the focus should be on empowering employees at all levels to actively contribute and participate in this transformation journey.
Differentiate between management and leadership. Also, as a leader, how do you ensure that specific tasks re carried-out without any hurdles?
Management and leadership are quite similar in the case where both are aimed at getting some work done from others. However, in terms of their inherent principles, they are very distinctive from each other. Management functions more around planning, organizing and managing the resources to achieve the desired organizational objective. It is typically associated with maintaining the status-quo, where the focus is on efficiency and consistency in meeting the set targets. On the other hand, although leadership is focused on achieving specific set of tasks, it is more about enabling people by inspiring, motivating & guiding them to achieve the set goals. In short, leadership involves setting a vision, developing suitable strategy and empowering people to achieve it. Also, leadership is often associated with driving change and innovation, where the focus is more creative, adaptability and inspiring others.
I always ensure to communicate the tasks as clearly as possible to all my team members so that they all have clarity about the objectives and expectations. Additionally, I also help them in assigning various roles & responsibilities and provide them the necessary timelines as well.
How can comprehensive risk management help macro and micro businesses prepare for unanticipated future events?
There are numerous risk mitigation strategies that a company can adopt. If it is a micro business, the strategies would be more tactical in nature instead of being strategic. This is because the response time towards a risk and the ability to mitigate that risk is detrimental in small scale business as compared to large organizations. To mitigate the risks in a bigger company, the strategies are more solid-build and devised after thorough brainstorming.
How do you plan new company concepts using time management techniques?
Planning a new company with efficient time management require precise planning right from the beginning, breaking-down the entire project into smaller tasks and then prioritizing each of them according to their importance. This can be done efficiently by leveraging project management tools that are readily available today in the market. Also, we also need to conduct regular reviews of each of our process and ensure to remain agile in terms of planning a new business concept or strategy.
How will business process reengineering reform business processes and enhance efficiency and minimize risk?
Yes, business process reengineering (BPR) is definitely a very effective technique to reform business processes by reducing risks and enhancing efficiency. Redesigned processes and structures make them more relevant to the current time and ecosystem in terms of savings, quality, employee satisfaction, customer experience, risk-taking capacity and many other aspects. BPR targets processes, structures & methods inside-out and explores opportunities to improve the KPIs. Another major advantage of BPR is that it results in improved flexibility for the organization during crisis situations.
If you look at result-oriented as being the basic fundamental principle, BPR reinforces that by focusing on results instead of the tasks, thus enabling the company to be agile and modulate its tasks to achieve the desired outcomes. As a result, BPR perfectly fits-in with result oriented principles.
What, in your opinion, is the most effective framework for applying business process reengineering? What are the advantages for a company?
There are quite a few tried & tested BPR frameworks that a business can incorporate. However, which framework is suitable for a particular company entirely depends on the needs of that company. One of the most commonly used BPR until recent times was the Hammer & Champy framework which was based on seven outcome-oriented principles. Another popular BPR framework is the Lean Six Sigma approach, which involves analyzing a process data and identifying areas of efficiency, and implementing suitable measures in the those areas that need improvement. Thus, the best BPR framework is one which aligns with the goals and objectives of the organization.
Planning a new company with efficient time management require precise planning right from the beginning, breaking-down the entire project into smaller tasks and then prioritizing each of them according to their importance
What steps should business professionals take to achieve organizational transformation, and what difficulties have you faced in your career?
Having a clear vision is the first step and most important aspect towards achieving an effective business transformation. This is because having a clear understanding of what we want to achieve will enable us to create a common goal and keep everyone in the organization motivated to work hard towards achieving that goal. The next step is to assess our current position and ascertain our next growth milestone. When you are able to assess your current situation across as many parameters as possible, you’ll have to devise a plan of action about the things to be done in order to achieve the set business transformation goals. Also, it is of utmost importance for every organization to include all the key management personnel & stakeholders right from the initial phase and communicate the vision, strategy and action plan with all of them so that they all stay on the same page.
The next & most critical step is the way in which the action plan must be implemented by making necessary changes. Also, during the implementation process, the focus should be on empowering employees at all levels to actively contribute and participate in this transformation journey.
Differentiate between management and leadership. Also, as a leader, how do you ensure that specific tasks re carried-out without any hurdles?
Management and leadership are quite similar in the case where both are aimed at getting some work done from others. However, in terms of their inherent principles, they are very distinctive from each other. Management functions more around planning, organizing and managing the resources to achieve the desired organizational objective. It is typically associated with maintaining the status-quo, where the focus is on efficiency and consistency in meeting the set targets. On the other hand, although leadership is focused on achieving specific set of tasks, it is more about enabling people by inspiring, motivating & guiding them to achieve the set goals. In short, leadership involves setting a vision, developing suitable strategy and empowering people to achieve it. Also, leadership is often associated with driving change and innovation, where the focus is more creative, adaptability and inspiring others.
I always ensure to communicate the tasks as clearly as possible to all my team members so that they all have clarity about the objectives and expectations. Additionally, I also help them in assigning various roles & responsibilities and provide them the necessary timelines as well.
How can comprehensive risk management help macro and micro businesses prepare for unanticipated future events?
There are numerous risk mitigation strategies that a company can adopt. If it is a micro business, the strategies would be more tactical in nature instead of being strategic. This is because the response time towards a risk and the ability to mitigate that risk is detrimental in small scale business as compared to large organizations. To mitigate the risks in a bigger company, the strategies are more solid-build and devised after thorough brainstorming.
How do you plan new company concepts using time management techniques?
Planning a new company with efficient time management require precise planning right from the beginning, breaking-down the entire project into smaller tasks and then prioritizing each of them according to their importance. This can be done efficiently by leveraging project management tools that are readily available today in the market. Also, we also need to conduct regular reviews of each of our process and ensure to remain agile in terms of planning a new business concept or strategy.
