Rengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution

Rating:
Summary: Manifesto or Miscalculation?
Review: According to Hammer and Champy, business process reengineering "is the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service, and speed" (p. 35). It is important that you do not confuse business process reengineering with other types of change management. It is not incremental change, down-sizing, total quality management, nor a "doing more with less" strategy. In business process reengineering, quantum changes are made to core processes, which results in far greater advances. Not only are the emerging business processes vastly different from what was previously in place, but the entire organization must change also. Employees, managers, core processes and business relationships will change in a reengineered company, and the change is significant.

The authors say this process-based approach will benefit three types of companies: 1) Those in deep trouble 2) Ones who are not yet in trouble but have the foresight to see future problems and 3) Those in peak condition but are looking to take a greater lead over their competition.

The authors present their case in a well-written manner and use frequent real world examples to great effect. I would like to see the authors use future printings to update the currency of their examples. They also need to examine the internet's role in reengineering. The few pages in the updated introduction are not adequate. The most recent printing does include an updated introduction where they remark on reengineering's successes and why it is still relevant today. This printing also adds a very useful frequently asked questions section to clarify their position on business process reengineering and lessons learned since the initial printing.

This book is for mid- and senior-level managers who believe whole-scale process changes are warranted. Also, entrepreneurs will glean important ideas for developing sound business processes. It is ideal for students studying management, organizational behavior, or process change. The author's compelling argument may not be for all business situations but their provocative manifesto deserves a thorough examination and serious consideration in today's business environment. Some readers will no doubt find reengineering as a panacea; others will see it as a relevant alternative. Read the book and judge for yourself.

I recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Great Reading
Review: I have read this book first time when I did a course in Business Process Reengineering. It gave me a very good introduction to the subject, history of reengineering and how companies are affected by the three C's Customers, Competetion, Change. Then I have read Beyond Reengineering by the same author. There is no doubt , both are a must reading for every person/company who would like to survive working in today's competitive way of earning livelihood, doing business and keeping fit.

It may sound, the Middle Managers / Supervisors are the most vulnerable group who are targets for change from the operational role perspective, in a BPR exercise.

I came to know recently, that several BPR projects fail also due to lack of proper Knowledge Management in companies. Might be the authors would include effective knowledge management strategies in BPR projects in the future release of their books. Knowledge management in terms of managing tacit , explicit knowledge of a company is also important. When we are reengineering, we are also reengineering the knowledge(creation, (re)distribution, evaluation aspects of knowledge) of a company. Also aspects such as competetive intelligence is worth considering.

Rating:
Summary: Some great ideas, but not thoroughly thought-out
Review: This book has some great ideas, particularly the idea to take a fresh look at processes. For any established process, it's likely that enough has changed since the process was born that the process is no longer the best way to get from the beginning to the result. This book is well written and easy to read and the examples are especially useful in illustrating the major benefits of reengineering.

Unfortunately, many of points are not as well-thought out. For example, the book advocates building teams around discrete processes but fails to realize that this just moves companies from horizontal silos to vertical silos. These vertical silos cause different but still serious problems. Also, the book mentions the critical role of Information Technology, but fails to realize that they can often lead reengineering efforts because if they have a solid knowledge of the business and new technologies they are in the best position to see the new possibilities. Another confusing area is that book indicates certain problems that should be overcome in an initial reengineering project such as functional departments and lack of understanding of reengineering continue to be problems for subsequent reengineerings.

Many of the questions that are not answered in this book are answered in John Case's "Open-Book Management". Open-Book Management and Reengineering have many things in common including empowered workers, performance measured by results, and coaching managers, but Open-Book management does a much better job of explaining what really drives these changes and how they can best be aligned.

Rating:
Summary: Good Summary of the Benefits of Fresh Thinking
Review: This book's subject is the popularized version of the business concept of management process design. Making that concept more accessible is a very useful contribution. The downside of this book is that many people have assumed that it teaches you everything you need to know to do management process design, or to reengineer key processes. That, alas, is not true. If you find the subject of process design or reengineering to be of interest, I suggest that you first read James Champy's excellent book, REEENGINEERING MANAGEMENT. That book is a good template for how to make any beneficial change in an organization, including reengineering. Then, if you want to get fired up to make major changes, use REENGINEERING THE CORPORATION as a way to create passion about the subject for yourself. But do remember, you may not even have all the processes you need, so reengineering is not the only answer. For example, what is the management process that your company uses to improve its stock market valuation? If you are like most, you do not even have an effective process for stock price enhancement. So be sure to see if you have processes where they will do you the most good.

Rating:
Summary: A great update of a much maligned book
Review: What ever your feelings on reengineering (dramatic process improvement or excuse for downsizing payroll) Hammer and Champy reinvigorate the topic for the new millenium in this clear revision. Learning from their mistakes (they move process to the front instead of radical in their four word description), they reintroduce the goal of making major gains in reducing wasted work and time. Their case studies read as a list of comeback stars in corporate America and show that great strides can be made and do pay off. Just as Six Sigma is trying to reengineer TQM for a new economic reality, this book once again brings process improvement to the forefront of business management conciousness.