PUTTING AN ENGINE INTO REENGINEERING - TOWARD A PROCESS-ORIENTED ORGANIZATION

Process re-engineering, a recently popularised phenomenon, has been ad vocated as a change management strategy that can be used to refocus or ganisational tasks into processes so that dramatic performance improve ments in critical, contemporary measures of performance such as cost, quality service, and speed can be achieved. This paper suggests that b efore an organisation can re-engineer its processes they must first be engineered. Inherent within the philosophy of total quality managemen t (TQM) is the notion of being process oriented. This paper argues tha t a process should be engineered by utilising the philosophical founda tions of TQM. Furthermore, both the technical and social inputs of a p rocess must be designed simultaneously and be performed congruently. W hen engineered processes are no longer considered to be effective and efficient, and dramatic performance improvements are sought, then they should be re-engineered, specifically encouraging breakthrough perfor mance improvements and innovative ways of working and delivering produ cts or services.