1.5 - About University

1. Honor the past. Invariably, current business processes are the way they are for historicalreasons. These processes were elaborated over time due to breakdowns in the past, notbecause people were stupid. [☛ 4.5 Culture]2. Redesign processes to get results. Assess where work can be done in parallel, then integratedat crucial points. Results must justify means—redesigning functions, tasks, andjobs. [☛ 2.2 7S Model]3. Combine several jobs or functions into one. Reengineering cuts across traditional functions.4. Maximize use of information technology. Automate, but also harness information technologiesto do things in ways that couldn’t be done at all in the past. (Most reengineeringefforts are highly dependent on the use of information technologies.)5. Capture data only once, if possible. Capture data electronically when it is created.6. Push work and decisions as far down to frontline workers as possible. Reengineered employeebenefits programs have employees accessing their own information and making thechanges on-line, for example. [☛ 9.2 Situational Leadership]7. Minimize handoffs. These are often a source of errors, delays, and conflict.8. Make controls and reconciliation everyone’s responsibility. As with TQM, minimize the needfor checking by others. [☛ 7.7 Quality Tools]9. Emphasize change leadership. With the focus on process redesign, the need to help peoplemake the human transition to new processes and roles is often ignored. [☛ 5.1Change Equation]H OW TO USE THIS LEADERSHIP TOOL“We have found that many tasks that employees performed had nothing to do with meeting customer needs—that is, creating a product high in quality, supplying that product at a fair price, and providing excellent service.Many tasks were done simply to satisfy the internal demands of the company’s own organization.”—Michael Hammer and James Champy, REENGINEERING THE CORPORATIONThis table describes a typical reengineering process. Also, because reengineering has met withskepticism and failure as well as success, a checklist of dos and don’ts is provided.WEB WORKSHEET➊Get Started.➋Analyze currentprocesses.➌Find (invent) more effectiveand efficient ways ofaccomplishing goals.➟ ➟ ➟➍Implement sustainablechanges and capturethe benefits.❑❑Be absolutelyclear about thepurpose andgoals of theproject.Be sure you havetop managementsupport.❑❑Start by mappingthe currentprocess.Work with thepeople who currentlywork withinthe process, tomap the process.This is the most creativephase of the redesign processand can take considerabletime and research.❑ Use these questions toredesign the process:This state involves theintroduction ofchange. Consideradding some newpeople to the teamwho are expert atchange leadership.SECTION 4 TOOLS FOR DESIGNING PRODUCTIVE PROCESSES AND ORGANIZATIONS 109