【正文】 33 / 33Business Process Analysis A Letter from AmericaProfessor V. ArunachalamDistinguished Service Professor, Departments of Material Science and Engineering Robotics and Engineering Public Policy Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA, 15217 and Dr. Eswaran SubrahmanianSenior Research Scientist,Engineering Design Research Center Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, Pa, 15217 August, 1995 A report to Engineering and Scocial Science Research Council, UK To enable the reader to access this BPRC report speedily and flexibly, it has been organised into the following separate sections: Contents Page Abstract Introduction Reengineering Corporations and Reengineering The Chrysler Corporation Caterpillar Jet Propulsion Innovation in Defense: Hughes Aircraft Innovation in Technologies Government Initiatives Methods and Tools for BPA IT and BPR Japan and Reengineering Human Resources in BPR Problems in Reengineering A Few more lines References A report to Engineering and Scocial Science Research Council, UKSection 1: AbstractThis report is on the recent innovations implemented by American panies in the way they manage their business and by the US government in supporting the industrial and technological base in the country. American corporations visible to outsiders are generally very large, with annual budgets running well above the national budgets of many countries, and with a range of diverse operations transcending divisional, organisational and national barriers. In responding to changes in the global market place, they are continually introducing innovations in process and product technologies and in product development and manufacturing cycles. It is difficult to enumerate, let alone discuss, all the innovations that are seen in US business today. Instead, we shall focus on innovations that are significant and generic for improving business processes. This is relevant as more than fifty percent of US firms are medium or small sized, and the general petitiveness of US industry depends on them as well. In this report, we do not discuss the recent trends in financial, merger, ROD and marketing strategies and processes. Instead, we discuss only those issues related to business processes that impact the ability of US business to meet the identified market demands in cost, quality and time. A phrase, now increasingly in vogue, to describe the efforts in process improvements is Business Process Reengineering (BAR). Hammer and Champ define BAR as the radical rethinking of the business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical contemporary measures of performance as cost, quality and speed. This characterisation of reengineering is often interpreted in multiple ways resulting in different models and methods of implementation of business process reengineering. Reported failure rates of about forty to seventy percent for BAR applications in achieving stated goals can indeed be attributed to the differences in perceived definition of what constitutes reengineering and the level of implementation. In practice, implementations of reengineering span from reengineering local process to a plete restructuring the entire organisation. Business process reengineering for local improvements have led to the development of analytical models for optimisation of existing processes through simpler procedures and incorporation of Information technology. Activity based accounting, an American invention, is also used in conjunction with process reengineering projects efforts. The drive towards BAR in American industries has spawned an industry of consultants and process mapping and simulation tools. A brief review of the stateofthe art in analytical methods and tools such as IDEFO, SAT, BPMAT and Design Process Matrix is also provided in this report. At the other end, there are examples of well established organisational structures and processes being totally replaced by new structures and flexible processes. Such total re structuring efforts may well include use of cross functional teams, retraining and activities related to the management of innovation as integral parts of the business processes, well beyond the conventional activities of design, manufacture, and service of products. The difference between successful and unsuccessful firms that use BAR appears to lie more on the scope and coverage of the BAR efforts than on the mere application of tools and methods. We illustrate the above inferences by discussing the various models used by some US firms and the experience of a few select industries in adopting BAR. There are examples of a laboratory reengineering itself and others from defence industries reengineering themselves to acmodate ending of the Cold War and declining defence budgets. Reengineering depends on people: the way they learn their jobs, work and collaborate with their colleagues. Often, this involves learning new trades and work practices, and embracing a new work ethic that transcends the narrow specialization that the workers find themselves in. Past industrial innovations, successful as they had been, practiced division of labor on the work force to a degree that almost eclipsed the need for human ingenuity and innovation. BPR has brought changes in the way the work force is perceived for effecting organizational changes. Most successful examples of BPR are therefore from the corporations that practice retraining programs. While bigger corporations have the resources to reengineer their processes and retrain their work force, their successes also depend on how effective their suppliers in the value chain are in practicing BPR. The problem of implementing BPR and the training of the work force in supporting firms is generally believed to be the responsibility of the individual firms. Contrary to general belief, the US government is not a passive observer of the restructuring of bu