In the early 1990s, the concept of Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) was popularized by Michael Hammer and James Champy in their bestselling book, Re-engineering the Corporation. The authors state that radical redesign and reorganization of an enterprise with information technology as the key enabler was necessary to bring radical change to lower costs and increase the quality of service. They recommended seven principles of re-engineering for streamlining work processes and, consequently, achieving significant levels of improvement in time management, quality, and cost. In the mid-1990s, BPR had become a popular tool globally, with many leading organizations implementing it.
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (M&M), the flagship company of the Mahindra group, was one of the top industrial houses in India. The company’s plants were suffering from manufacturing inefficiencies, poor productivity, long production cycle, and sub-optimal output. M&M decided to implement BPR at its Igatpuri and Kandivali plants by focusing on re-engineering the layout, method of working, and productivity. M&M’s workforce resisted this attempt to re-engineer the organization and went on a strike. However, the committed senior staff began implementing BPR on shop floors, and the first signs of the benefits of BPR became evident. After five months, the workers ended the strike and started work in exchange for a 30% wage hike. As the situation returned to normalcy, BPR implementation gained momentum. Summing up the company’s success of BPR experience, Anand Mahin- dra, chairman of the group said, ‘Thanks to BPR, we are not only surviving but thriving at these plants’.
“Do not merely automate, obliterate,’
Michael Hammer
Upon completion of this chapter, you will be able to:
- Understand business process re-engineering (BPR) and its developments
- Identify the principles and advantages of BPR
- Study the methodology of BPR and phases of implementation
- Explain re-engineering in the manufacturing and service industry
- Understand re-engineering structure
- Study the limitations and issues surrounding BPR
- Understand the relationship between BPR and TQM
Source: Poornima M. Charantimath (2017), Total Quality Management, Pearson; 3rd edition.
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