The re‐engineering route to business transformation

The paper defines different improvement activities including process improvement, process simplification, process re‐engineering and business re‐engineering. Frameworks are presented for examining the differences between these. It proposes that a re‐engineering activity is a transformational change, moving the business outside its current ‘rules of the game’. A further framework is then presented for managing a re‐engineering transformation. This enables the softer yet more difficult aspects of re‐engineering to be considered so that change can be pursued successfully right through to delivery of real business benefits. The transformation framework is then considered in more detail to illustrate actions which can presage success. Finally, the outcome of re‐engineering work is discussed, and a hypothesis proposed that re‐engineering is a structured way to make a step change in business performance whilst at the same time conditioning it for a state of continuous change.