Critical Success Factor: Business Process Improvement (BPI). Description of the Technique, Implementation, Application by other Organizations, Assessing the process and targeting the value

Critical Success Factor: Business Process Improvement
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Table of Contents
Description of the technique……………………………………………………3
Implementation………………………………………………………………….4
Application by other organizations…………………………………………….7
* Definition and documentation………………………………………….8
* Assessing the process and targeting the value…………………………8
* Lean/ six sigma process…………………………………………………9
* Enabling process improvement…………………………………………9
References……………………………………………………………………….11
Description of the technique
Business process improvement (BPI) refers to the systematic approach that assist a corporation to manage its daily functions optimally with the aim of achieving output with high efficiency. The technique got published first in 1991 in the book Business Process Improvement by Harrington (Shen & Yu, 2012). This technique led to the development of both Business Process Reengineering and process redesign. BPI has managed to cut costs and time spent in production by nearly 90% and at the same time has enhanced quality above 60%.
Process improvement originated from the concept of organizational development where the process owner takes many actions with the objective of identifying, analyzing and improving current business functions within the organizational setting to attain new goals and objectives, such as raising the profit margin and performance level, cutting expenditure and speeding up programs. These events depend on a particular action plan to enhance the probability of getting good outcomes (Shen & Yu, 2012). Process improvement involves drafting a new corporate training schedule to improve its efficiency. Process improvement also acts as a technique for initiating function transformations with the aim of improving product and service quality so that they can meet the client requirements.
BPI emphasizes on above average production rather than just producing the right product. The BPI strives at minimizing wasteful functions to attain the maximum output using minimal resource inputs (Shen & Yu, 2012). To deliver on its purpose BPI conducts several functions. It defines the strategic goals and functions for the corporation (What the firm identifies with, what it does, and why it specializes in the service?). It also determines the clients for the firm (Who the organization serves?) It also plans the functions for the corporation to attain the set goals for the business (How the company operates best?) Spontaneous transformation in the enterprise performance forms the primary objective of BPI.
The transformative model got more popularity from Hammer and Champy through the book ‘‘reengineering the Corporation: which was meant to catalyze change in the business sector. The process, however, did not target minimal changes like 15 percent enhancement in quality and 25 percent cut in expenditure. It rather aimed at revolutionizing the business world. The term reengineering seemed common among many enterprises in the 1990s to signal a new era of change (Shen & Yu, 2012). Those corporate bodies that failed to comply with the radical transformations of their business functions lost significantly, and, went ahead to dismiss the process as difunctional. On the contrary, others have proved BPI to be an essential tool for achieving procedural business transformations.
Implementation
The implementation of business process improvement involves approximately six steps. Step 1 involves the Process; where a process to be improved is selected. Every step is documented using a Flowchart and added to the Personal Learning Plan. These tools visually indicate the steps in the process. (Swim lane diagrams seems more sophisticated compared to the flowcharts, although they appear advantageous for the functions involving many people) Detailed exploration of every phase is essential since some features tend to be subdivided and hence difficult to understand (Lai, Hsu & Chen, 2012). Consulting persons with experience of using the process regularly would ensure that all relevant factors get consideration.
The step involves analyzing the Process, where flow chart or swim lane diagrams are used to investigate the problems within the process. Important questions get consideration in this step such as areas where team members or customers experience frustrations, areas where quality declines while costs rise and finally a concern on the measures that need more time or tend to cause delays. Techniques used in this step include; Cause Analysis Add to My Personal Learning Plan, Cause and Effect Analysis Add to My Personal Learning Plan and the 5 Whys Add to My Personal Learning Plan to trace the problem to its origins. Efforts of Speaking to the people affected by the process are also enhanced to determine the shortcomings of the process and better suggestions on improving it are made (Lai, Hsu & Chen, 2012). Furthermore, other teams within the organization are consulted to determine the tactics they have developed in dealing with situations of similar nature.
Step 3 involves redesigning the process with the aim of eliminating the identified problems. Only those directly participating in the process get consulted so that their ideas may reveal new approaches, and, also, because they have a high tendency of adopting the change when involved at initial stages. Everyone must comprehend the purpose of the process so that problems identified in step 2 can get solutions (García, Rivera & Iniesta, 2013). Contributions made by team members are then used to narrow the list of possible solutions by considering how the team's ideas would translate to a real-life context.
The process begins by conducting an Impact Analysis Add to My Personal Learning Plan to understand the full effects of the team's ideas. Then A Risk Analysis Add to My Personal Learning Plan and a Failure Mode and Effects Analysis Add to My Personal Learning Plan ...