Track: Engineering Management

Abstract

Business process reengineering (BPR) aims to challenge and assist organisations to break away from old ways of conducting business processes and embrace new ways to execute business processes. The implementation of new technology allows organisations to improve and simplify methods of executing business processes. Despite this, the possible benefits provided by new technology are not achieved when ineffective and outdated business processes are reapplied to execute business operational activities even though technology provides alternative ways of executing business processes.

The purpose of this research is to confirm why the benefits provided by new technology are not achieved when technology is implemented without correctly reengineering existing business processes. The research investigates if there are any gaps in the BPR methods applied in power plants during new technology implementation. The research also establishes which BPR success factors are not successfully incorporated when new technology is implemented.

The research uses two case studies within the same organisation to evaluate how BPR is conducted during new technology implementation. The research found that if business processes are not reengineered according to best practices and all success factors are not successfully incorporated during new technology, the benefits that the technology provides are not achieved.