BUSINESS REENGINEERING - A STRATEGY-DRIVEN APPROACH

Organizations across a wide range of industries are recognizing the po tential of re-engineering to deliver discontinuous leaps in performanc e. The competitive climate, and the pace of change within and outside the firm are also encouraging a more co-ordinated and fundamental appr oach to the planning and design of business activity. Two main approac hes to reengineering have emerged. The first-known as Process Reengine ering-offers the opportunity to rethink and streamline individual proc esses. The second-termed Business Reengineering-provides an approach t o rethinking and redesigning the entire business behind a more focused , competence based competitive strategy. The central challenge in re-e ngineering is to understand where and how we can create value for both customers and shareholders. This requires us to ask fundamental quest ions about what we do, how we do it, whether if is necessary and how i t can be improved. Achieving the benefits of re-engineering demands ac tive commitment and participation from the chief executive downwards. The re-engineering process itself needs careful planning around a clea r vision of longer term goals. There are also risks inherent in undert aking these far reaching and fundamental changes. To address the risks , manage the fears, uncertainties and doubts and yet maintain motivati on in the organization, demands a commitment to change management on a scale which few executives will have experienced.