企业流程再造(BPR, Business Process Re-engineering)是一种战略管理工具,最早诞生于1990年代早期。企业流程再造注重分析、设计企业内的工作流程和过程。BPR的目标是帮助企业从根本上,重新思考怎么样工作,以便根本上地提高客户服务,削减运营成本,成为世界级竞争者。[1]在1990年代,全球500强企业中有超过60%的公司启动了企业流程再造,或者有计划进行该方法。[2]
在1990年,麻省理工大学前计算机科学教授Michael Hammer(英语:Michael Martin Hammer)在哈佛商业评论上发表了一篇文章,提到经理人的主要挑战是,消灭不能创造价值的商业流程,而不是用科技将其自动化。[3]这篇文章说经理人常用错精力,一般常用信息科技将现有的流程进行自动化,而不是将没有用的流程变得更加繁复。
Hammer的观点很简单:很多工作没有客户附加值,应该取消,而不是通过电脑进行加速。公司应该重新整理流程,提高客户价值,减少资源浪费。Thomas H. Davenport和J. Short在1990年也在斯隆管理评论上发表了同样的想法。[4]
BPR不仅仅意味着变化,而且是根本性的变化。首先,需要彻底检查公司的结构、管理系统、员工责任和绩效指标、激励系统、技能发展和IT使用情况。BPR可以影响商业运作的每个环节。这种规模的变化可能导致非常成功,或彻底失败。在进行BPR改革之前,近期调查显示88%的公司CIO对BPR改革的结果满意。(Motwani, et al., 1998)。成功的BPR让成本和循环寿命都可大大减少。
Eliyahu M. Goldratt(约束理论的创始人)提出,流程再造在企业约束改进方面不是一个有效的方法
其他人认为,流程再造只是一个名词噱头。Abrahamson(1996)说,管理的流行词汇一般都有寿命,流程再造在1993到1996年间很辉煌。(Ponzi and Koenig 2002)他们认为流程再造实际上不是新内容。(例如,福特公司在1908年就实行了流水线生产,实际上就是流程再造,彻底改变了企业的思考方式)
Johansson et al. (1993): "Business Process Reengineering, although a close relative, seeks radical rather than merely continuous improvement. It escalates the efforts of JIT and TQM to make process orientation a strategic tool and a core competence of the organization. BPR concentrates on core business processes, and uses the specific techniques within the JIT and TQM”toolboxes”as enablers, while broadening the process vision."
A set of short papers, outlining and comparing some of them can be found here, followed by some guidelines for companies considering to contract a consultancy for a BPR initiative:
Davenport, Thomas & Short, J. (1990), "The New Industrial Engineering: Information Technology and Business Process Redesign", in: Sloan Management Review, Summer 1990, pp 11–27
Davenport, Thomas (1993), Process Innovation: Reengineering work through information technology, Harvard Business School Press, Boston
Drucker, Peter (1972), "Work and Tools", in: W. Kranzberg and W.H. Davenport (eds), Technology and Culture, New York
Dubois, H. F. W. (2002). "Harmonization of the European vaccination policy and the role TQM and reengineering could play", Quality Management in Health Care, 10(2): pp. 47–57. "PDF"
Greenbaum, Joan (1995), Windows on the workplace, Cornerstone
Guha, S.; Kettinger, W.J. & Teng, T.C., Business Process Reengineering: Building a Comprehensive Methodology, Information Systems Management, Summer 1993
Hammer, M., (1990). "Reengineering Work: Don't Automate, Obliterate", Harvard Business Review, July/August, pp. 104–112.
Hammer, M. and Champy, J. A.: (1993) Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution, Harper Business Books, New York, 1993. ISBN 0-06-662112-7.
Hammer, M. and Stanton, S. (1995). "The Reengineering Revolution", Harper Collins, London, 1995.
Hansen, Gregory (1993) "Automating Business Process Reengineering", Prentice Hall.
Industry Week (1994), "De-engineering the corporation", Industry Week article, 4/18/94
Johansson, Henry J. et al. (1993), Business Process Reengineering: BreakPoint Strategies for Market Dominance, John Wiley & Sons
Leavitt, H.J. (1965), "Applied Organizational Change in Industry: Structural, Technological and Humanistic Approaches", in: James March (ed.), Handbook of Organizations, Rand McNally, Chicago
Loyd, Tom (1994), "Giants with Feet of Clay", Financial Times, Dec 5 1994, p 8