Business process re-engineering for competitive advantage

Abstract

There are several models and approaches to implementing BPR and an organization should seek to adopt depending on their organizations’ needs and capabilities. An organization seeking to undertake BPR must therefore examine some key elements of its organization structure beforehand for maximum gains in the BPR implementation. Three such analysis methodologies are functional coupling, architectural triad and the restructuring framework. This study aimed to establish whether The Wrigley Company East Africa achieved operational competitive advantage by implementing Business Process Reengineering (BPR). In addition, the study aimed to explain the possible reasons why The Wrigley Company may have succeeded or failed to attain competitive advantage by implementing BPR. The study intended to determine if there was improvement in the competitive measures of cost management, customer service, quality and productivity. The study also looked at the BPR implementation process by seeking to understand if documented key success factors for BPR implementation were followed and if the success or failure to achieve competitive advantage can be explained by the key drivers for success in BPR implementation. The research was conducted by collecting primary data from the employees of the Wrigley Company. An online questionnaire based on the competitive measures and BPR implementation key success factors was used to collect the data from which certain findings were deduced. It was established that The Wrigley Company gained competitive advantage by implementing BPR. It was also established that it adopted the BPR practises that are critical for successful implementation. From the research findings, the researcher recommends that organizations seeking to undertake BPR initiatives should first understand the need for changing the organization. They will then need to ensure that they adopt the key success factors for BPR implementation and based on the findings of this research, competitive advantage will be attained.