Business process reengineering : a primer for the Marine Corps' process owner

140 Pages·2.9 MB·English

by  Brewster, Rollin D

NPS ARCHIVE
1997.12
BREWSTER, R. 1
NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL
Monterey, California
THESIS
BUSINESS PROCESS REENGINEERING:
APRIMERFOR THE MARINE CORPS'
PROCESS OWNER
by
RollinD. BrewsterIII
December, 1997
Principal Advisor: Kenneth J. Euske
Associate Advisor: WilliamJ. Haga
Thesis
B8057
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December 1997 Master's Thesis
4. TITLEANDSUBTITLE 5. FUNDING NUMBERS
BUSINESS PROCESS REENGINEERING: APRIMERFOR THE MARINE
CORPS' PROCESS OWNER
6. AUTHOR(S)
Brewster III, RollinD.
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Naval Postgraduate School
Monterev. CA 93943-5000
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Defense orthe U.S. Government.
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ABSTRACT
13.
As the defense establishment downsizes, it has turned to the private sector to model its methods for
improved productivity. Business Process Reengineering (BPR) is a technique used by the private sector to
achieve order of magnitude improvements in organizational performance by leveraging information
technology to enable the holistic redesign ofbusiness processes. This thesis provides a guide to the methods
and tools used during BPR, and presents a practical way for Marine Corps' leaders to establish and direct a
reengineering effort. Instruction is provided on the basics ofhow to establish a strategic direction, organize
the reengineering team, and analyze business processes through the use of process-maps, flowcharts,
Integrated Definition for Function (IDEF0) models, Activity-Based Costing (ABC), and value-added
assessment. Approaches and principles useful during the development ofthe new process are discussed, as
well as benchmarking and the factors leading to process implementation and organizational change.
Recommendations are made for further reading.
14. SUBJECTTERMS 15. NUMBEROF PAGES
Business Process Reengineering, BPR, Process Innovation, Process Improvement, Process
Maps, Flowcharting, IntegratedDefinitionforFunction Modeling, IDEF0, Activity Based
137
Costing, ABC, Organizational Change
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BUSINESS PROCESS REENGINEERING:
A PRIMER FOR THE MARINE CORPS' PROCESS OWNER
D
Rollin Brewster III
Captain, United States Marine Corps
B.A., University ofMichigan, 1992
M.S.M., Troy State University, 1996
Submitted in partial fulfillment ofthe
requirements for the degree of
MASTER OF SCIENCE IN MANAGEMENT
from the
NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL
December 1997
AwW*
ftps
DUDLEY KNOX LIBRARY
NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL
ABSTRACT MONTEREY CA 93943-5101
As the defense establishment downsizes, it has turned to the private sector
to model its methods for improved productivity. Business Process Reengineering
(BPR) is a technique used by the private sector to achieve order of magnitude
improvements in organizational performance by leveraging information technology
to enable the holistic redesign ofbusiness processes. This thesis provides a guide to
the methods and tools used during BPR, and presents a practical way for Marine
Corps' leaders to establish and direct a reengineering effort. Instruction is provided
on the basics of how to establish a strategic direction, organize the reengineering
team, and analyze business processes through the use ofprocess-maps, flowcharts,
Integrated Definition for Function (IDEFO) models, Activity-Based Costing (ABC),
and value-added assessment. Approaches and principles useful during the
development of the new process are discussed, as well as benchmarking and the
factors leading to process implementation and organizational change.
Recommendations are made for further reading.
VI
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
I. 1
BACKGROUND
A. 1
B. SCOPE OF THESIS 2
BACKGROUND OF PROCESS IMPROVEMENT TECHNIQUES
H. 5
BACKGROUND
A. 5
B WHAT IS APROCESS? 6
C THREE STRATEGIES TO PROCESS IMPROVEMENT 8
ContinuousProcessImprovement 9
1.
2. BusinessProcessRedesign 9
3. BusinessProcessReengineering 10
WHAT BPR NOT
D. IS 13
E HOW IS REENGINEERING DIFFERENT FOR GOVERMENT/DOD? 15
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND BPR
F. 16
1. Information TechnologyasanEnabler ofBPR 17
2. BPR andthe Role ofthe Information SystemsStaff. 18
G TAILORING YOUR APPROACH TO PROCESS IMPROVEMENT 19
H. HOW THIS DOCUMENT WILL APPROACH PROCESS IMPROVEMENT 19
RECOMMENDED READINGS
I 21
m. ORGANIZING FOR BPR
23
CONSULTANTS
A. 23
/. What Can ConsultantsDo? 24
The Head 24
a.
b. The Heart 24
The Hands 24
c.
2. The Pro's andCon's ofConsultants 25
B. PHASE I: DIRECTION SETTING 27
1. Identifying OrganizationalMandates 29
2. CustomerandStakeholderAnalysis 29
3. ClarifyingMission 30
4. Vision ofSuccess 31
5. Goals, Objectives andPerformance Criteria 32
6. Strategies. 35
C. PHASE II: DEVELOP THE REENGINEERING PLAN 36
1. The Roles in BPR 36
a. Executive Improvement Team (EIT) 37
b. Reengineering Leader 38
c. Reengineering Czar 39
d. The Process Owner 40
e. The Process Improvement Team 41
vn
2. Finding the Processes toFix 44
a. Identify the Major Business Processes 44
b. Selection ofProcesses for Improvement 45
c. Identify Process Boundaries 45
d. Symptoms and Diseases ofBroken Processes 46
D RECOMMENDED READINGS 47
IV. PHASE III - UNDERSTANDING THE OLD PROCESS 49
A. WHY ANALYZE THE OLD PROCESS 49
B TOOLS FOR ANALYZING THE OLD PROCESS 50
ProcessMaps 50
1.
2. Flowcharts 51
3. Integration DefinitionforFunctionModeling (IDEFO) 55
a. WhylDEFO? 55
b. Constructing an IDEFO Diagram 58
c. Software Support for IDEFO 62
4. ActivityBasedCosting 63
What ABC? 64
a. is
How Does ABC work? 67
b.
How ABC Done? 69
c. is
d. ABC and the Activity Accountant 73
5. Time BasedMeasurement 74
6. Value-addedAssessment 75
C RECOMMENDED READINGS 77
V. PHASE IV: DESIGN THE NEW PROCESS 79
A REENGINEERING PRINCIPLES 79
J. Organize Around Outcomes, NotFunctions 80
2. WorkersMake Decisions 80
3. Substitute Parallelfor SequentialProcesses 80
4. ProcessesHaveMultiple Versions 81
5. Work isPerformed Where itMakes theMost Sense 81
6. A CaseManager Provides a Single Point ofContact 82
7. Reconciliation isMinimized. 82
8. HybridCentralized/DecentralizedOperationsare Prevalent 83
9. Bring ''Downstream"Information "Upstream" 83
10. Scrutinize EveryPiece ofPaper in the System 84
11. Communication Flow isHorizontal. 84
B. BRAINSTORMING 84
C STREAMLINING AND SIMPLIFICATION 86
BENCHMARKING
D. 88
WhyBenchmark? 88
1.
2. How to Benchmark? 89
Vlll