Succeeding with business process reengineering in the financial service industry

Abstract

The problem of failed projects has been and still is an interesting topic with many views emanating through various research avenues. The research presented in this thesis is one such avenue. In pursuit of Business Process Reengineering (BPR) via defined and executed projects, the financial institutions of South Africa have not seemed able to succeed in executing a high number of successful BPR projects. The research presented in this thesis was undertaken to understand why this was, even though industry accepted methodologies such as Six Sigma and Lean Engineering were adopted. The research focused on understanding what factors influenced the successful execution of BPR projects, by reviewing prior research and by conducting a case study. This analysis led to the development of the “Organisation Ring of Influence” (ORoI) model which highlighted the impact and influence organisation structures and organisation behaviours have on the successful execution of BPR projects. The primary objective of the research, however, was to take this understanding and combine it with the thinking of Systems Theory, more specifically the sociotechnical problem solving methodology developed by Peter Checkland, known as Soft Systems Methodology (SSM), in order to develop a management approach. If applied, the management approach would improve the probability of success of executed BPR projects. The management approach developed was termed the “Pre Project Organisation Environment Enablement Model” (P2OE2M).