Business Process Re-engineering As A Tool For Management Of Strategic Change At Kenya Electricity Generating (Kengen) Company Ltd
Abstract
Since the late eighties business process reengineering (BPR) has established itself as one of
the most attractive change management options for coping and adapting in to the new
competitive environment. This study sought to investigate the use of business process
reengineering as a tool for management of strategic change at Ken Gen.
The objectives of the study were to establish the link between applications of BPR as a tool for
mamgernent of strategic change and corporate strategic objectives of KenGen, to examine the
nature of the BPR project management process, characteristics of significant changes made
after the implementation of BPR in KenGen and to identify the challenges faced in the
application of BPR as a tool for management of strategic change in Ken Gen. An interview
method was used to collect data. Seven members of executive body at KenGen were
interviewed. Moreover a focused group discussion involving ten management staff was carried
out to explore additional information.
The major driver for change at KenGen was the growing demand for electricity. Other
drivers included change in the regulatory environment, competition from independent power
producers, regional interconnectivity and the return required on investment. The four
strategic objectives at KenGen to oversee the change process were: capital execution and
planning, regulatory management, operational excellence and overall organizational
effectiveness. When choosing BPR as a tool for management of strategic change the
company looked at three things: business strategy, business process and organizational
structures. BPR was seen as a vehicle for achieving corporate strategic objectives.
There were various preparations that were done before the process could be started. First the
company sought the help of consultants to guide it through the change process. A joint team
comprised of KeGen and the consultant established training of the team has been undertaken.
The resources required for the process were allocated by the CEO to support the process. The
CEO then ensured that all employees were informed of the change taking place. BPR project
was designed and mechanism of step by step execution was put in place. The first step was
identifying the need for strategic change, the second step was identifying the direction you
want to go, the third step was identifying the processes and finally develop the structure that
is responsive to those processes Identification of thirteen major processes that can support the
new strategy conducted. Every body in the company was involved in the project management
process. However the commitment of top management especially the CEO was very high.
Significant improvements in some areas of the pilot projects for implementation of BPR were
gained .. The major challenge faced was resistance from employees who taught the whole
thing would render them unemployed. Through training and effective communication the
company was in a position to address this challenge. However, additional effort from those
involved in managing the strategic change would be recommended to minimize the negative
effect of resistance during the implementation of BPR.
KenGen has not yet commenced implementation of BPR in full scale except in some of the
areas of pilot projects launched. As a result, this study was not able to establish some of the
factors affecting implementation of BPR in Ken Gen. Therefore there is a need for further
study to be conducted on success and failure factors of implementing BPR in KenGen or
other similar organizations.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
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