COIT20252- Business Process Management
Case Study Report
Term 2, 2020
Business Process Improvement for Construction Company
Construction Innovation
Word Count: (6179)
Executive Summary
Change is an undeniable aspect of human life, willingly or unwillingly one must accept the change. A positive change is very much important for the up-gradation and success of a business organization. With the development of new technologies, businesses are also changing rapidly, in this modern world the business which will adapt to the changing business environment is only likely to be successful otherwise will be eliminated. Company A established around 80 years ago and operating in northern England is a company with construction and property development and management as its main business. With a significant increment in its business and turnover, the company wants to measure and improve its business processes to stand firmly in this competitive market.
So, the company started working on its business process re-engineering, adopting the business process management. This report depicts how the company has gone through the business process transformation. The report begins with a detailed introduction of company A and its complete organizational background. Followed by this then comes the changing business environment of the construction business and the problems faced by company A, then challenges that inspired the company to re-engineer its business process. Then the need for BPM is explained along with SWOT analysis of the company.
Furthermore, the business transformation approach, iterative development, adoption of BPM is described. Then comes the part where the market threat of the company using Porter’s five forces model is explained. No-sooner for measuring the process management maturity of the company maturity model is described with different types of organizational structure with tangible and intangible benefits achieved by the company after adopting BPM. Then comes the part where the current business processes of the company and the state where the company wants to be after re-engineering its business process are explained.
Moreover, evaluation of the BPM adoption process with the help of the BIZBOK model has been mentioned with critical success factors and the factors enabling and limiting the adoption of BPM have been described. After analyzing the provided case study limitations are listed along with the recommendation which we felt are included. Finally, after preparing the whole report conclusion has been drawn out from our perspective. So, this report is all about the business process management methodologies adopted by company A during its business process re-engineering.
Contents
Part-1: Need for Business Process Improvement 1
1.3 Advantages and disadvantages of BPM.. 5
1.4 The following are the disadvantages of BPM: 6
1.5 Similarity between BPM and BPR. 6
1.6 Conduct of SWOT analysis of company A. 7
Part-2: Business Process and Organisational Maturity. 9
2.1 Business Transformation Approach Methodology Process. 9
2.2 Iterative development phase. 12
Part-3: Measuring Process Management Success. 17
3.2 Organisational Structures. 19
3.3.3 Process Improvement with As-Is and To-Be Process. 21
Part-4: Continuous Process Improvement 22
4.1 BIZBOK Architectural Model 22
4.2 Critical Success Factor. 23
4.3 Supporter and Obstacles of BPM Adoption. 24
4.4 Recommendation for Company A. 25
Introduction
Construction is a huge industry in the world, with a global output of almost $7 trillion dollars. The world we live in is constantly changing; technology that worked good yesterday may become obsolete tomorrow, so staying current with technological developments is essential.
Business process management is a set of practices that emerged because of technological advancements imposed by a different firm to improve the way they do business. A business process is a series or parallel of structured or semi-structured tasks carried out by two or more persons to achieve the same purpose. Simply described, it is the set of operations that a company undertakes to achieve a specific goal for a certain consumer, whether internal or external. Company A has likewise implemented BPM in their business to improve the service they provide to their consumers. So, based on the case study, this is the goal indicated below.
- To do a SWOT analysis on a corporation.
- To demonstrate how a firm may be transformed utilising several methodologies such as the Business Transformation Approach, Iterative Development, and BPM Adaptation.
- To determine the success of the transformation using various measurement tools such as the maturity model, a comparison of functional and process-based organisational structures, and a comparison of the as-is and to-be processes.
- To assess how well Construction Company A has implemented the BPM.
- Analysing critical success factors in construction industry.
Part-1: Need for Business Process Improvement
1.1 Needs of BPM:
Transformation and Innovation In today’s hyper-intense world, agility has become crucial, and BPM provides a means to achieve that agility. A business can use a BPM approach to help it develop and transform to gain more business value. Business process management has evolved into a mission-critical competency. The need to establish a framework for evaluating and adapting BPM practice, under the special elements of the industry, is observed within this report since the success of an organization is dependent on the generated business model and its orientation. In the report and design of an organization, as well as the construction of business system behavior patterns, business processes play a key role. The mechanisms that make construction companies work are quite like the methods that those same companies employ to finish a project. Construction managers must establish a solid organisational foundation, or the entire project will fail. Managers of company A must guarantee that every project participant gets access to the information they require, otherwise the job will not be completed, much as a structure would fail if it were not properly supported. Business process management software might act as the cement that keeps company A alive. The following are some reasons why BPM needed for construction:
- Project management made simple.
Managers frequently must manage many projects at the same time. In the Company A, BPM software can assist construction managers with task management, resourcing, and communication. Managers can also utilise the programme to generate an audit trail for posterity.
1.1.2 Continuous tracking that is well-organized
There are a lot of regulations that managers at company A must follow. These regulations are subject to change at any time, and no project manager wants to deal with noncompliance. For both you and your clients, the accompanying fines and penalties can be costly and inconvenient.
1.1.3 Customer Satisfaction
Effective processes help companies produce better services and products, which leads to increased customer satisfaction. Inefficient operations at company A, for example, can be optimised and enhanced, resulting in cost savings and profit maximisation.
1.2 Phases of BPM
The BPM in construction industry have six phases these are following:
Figure 1: The BPM lifecycle
Source: Szelągowski (2018, p.207)
- Process identification
Process identification is a collection of management actions aimed at fully characterizing an organization’s collection of business processes and establishing precise criteria for picking specific processes for improvement. This artifact serves as a foundation for setting process modelling and redesigning project priorities and scope. Szelągowski (2018, p.207).
- Process discovery
Gathering teams and discussing and recording how a specific process is carried out might be as basic as process discovery. You may usually uncover the end-to-end steps of a process across teams, departments, divisions, etc. through discussion and interviews with the people directly engaged.
- Process Analysis
To acquire a thorough view of the process, one must watch it in its current state at the analysis step. If effective improvements are to be made, it must always come before modelling.
This phase’s steps are as follows:
- Interview the people that are involved in the process.
- Examine the paperwork for the process.
- Examine the documents.
- Verify the documentation.
- Process redesign
The design stage makes use of the findings from the process analysis. Bottlenecks lags, and delays should all be well-known at this time. The key question is whether the procedure should be kept as is or changed to address the difficulties that have been found. Szelągowski (2018, p.207).
- Process implementation
It is time to put the (re)designed procedure into practise so it is ready to go. Remember that the altered procedures will become the new “as is” version following implementation. Process implementation necessitates clear communication with all process stakeholders because it comprises change (management) to complete the transformation Szelągowski (2018, p.207).
- Process monitoring and controlling.
Previously established KPIs are monitored in this stage to ensure that the process is aligned with the organization’s overall goals. In this case, continual tracking, measurement, and control would be the norm. The information gathered during process monitoring will assist you in determining whether the process requires any adjustments or adjustments, and whether the redesigned process is reaching its aims and objectives. Szelągowski (2018, p.207).
1.3 Advantages and disadvantages of BPM
The following are the advantages of BPM:
- Productivity has increased.
BPM aids in the development of robust frameworks for all an organization’s processes. Each critical process has been recorded, tracked, and improved. Process efficiency improves when operations are running smoothly with few disruptions (Riemann, 2015).
- Simplified Problem-Solving
Work processes are well-distributed to the suitable workers for the job in BPM, which simplifies the operational framework. If there are issues that need to be addressed or improved, BPM is activated. Employees can devote more time and resources to difficulties in their departments thanks to BPM.
- Risks are lower.
This one is closely related to BPM’s problem-solving capability. Organizational risks and pitfalls are reduced when personnel are strategically placed, if concentration is maintained, and resources are well-managed. Organizations are better prepared to make decisions regarding expected challenges when risks are decreased (Riemann, 2015).
- Access to data that is restricted.
The best technique for striking a balance between data overload and inadequacy is business process management (BPM). You can restrict access to data that is essential to complete a task and choose to hide the rest. Employees require access to data from several sources to function effectively. But that does not imply they have to have access to everything (Riemann, 2015).
- Transformation to the digital age
Using digital technologies and techniques to deliver organisational stability and adaptability is a key component of digital transformation. After determining your organization’s goals for the next 2-3 years, you may utilise BPM to create procedures that will assist you meet those objectives.
1.4 The following are the disadvantages of BPM:
1.4.1 Funds were lost due to poor management.
Only by correctly implementing the BPM framework will the full benefits of the framework be achieved. Failure to follow the methodology will result in a significant loss of dollars and other resources, which is the last thing you want to happen. Bad dissemination of information can also lead to poor analysis (Riemann, 2015).
- Innovations are scarce.
When it comes to BPM, as previously stated, contemporary technology and the workforce should be exploited to their utmost potential. However, other assessments claim that businesses that use BPM are not very good at adjusting to new technologies or trends. Process management is said to be a barrier to innovation.
- Communication breakdown
Almost everything revolves upon communication. Some businesses are worried that BPM’s approach of separating workflows and processes would result in a lack of communication across departments.
1.5 Similarity between BPM and BPR
Business Process Management is a strategy for overseeing and maintaining workflow to improve existing business processes and organisations as a whole. BPM is a set of procedures that runs on a regular and long-term basis and acts as the foundation for all business operations in an organisation. BPM is a continuous activity that requires continuous process re-engineering, rather than a one-time work. Although BPM is not a technology, it frequently entails automating operations inside a business process. Process improvements can also occur without automation and without the use of technology. Organizations that use BPM can choose from a variety of BPM techniques such as six sigma and lean.
Business process reengineering is the process of reengineering critical business processes to produce significant improvements in productivity, cycle times, and quality. In Business Process Reengineering, companies start with a blank sheet of paper and reimagine existing processes to deliver more value to consumers. Procedures in Business Re-engineering is a business management technique that entails re-engineering a company process with the goal of improving service quality and minimising long-term costs. It is a business approach that necessitates a thorough examination of business and workflow processes.
The similarity in between BPR and BPM, there is a lot to consider.
- Both BPR and BPM go through a series of procedures to improve process productivity.
- They go through some of the same business processes, such as identifying, evaluating, and analysing existing methods.
- The primary objectives of BPR and BPM are to increase the speed and quality of business operations.
- Both approaches aim to cut costs while keeping the organization’s workflow running smoothly.
1.6 Conduct of SWOT analysis of company A
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) is an abbreviation for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. As a result, it can be described as a strategy for analysing company based on these four factors.
Figure 2: SWOT analysis
Source: Riddall, (2021)
Let us talk about SWOT in terms of company A’s operations.
Strength
Strength is something you have that distinguishes you from the competition. This can include things like your staff, your company’s assets, and so on. In the instance of business, Company A, the leaders’ ambition to enhance and uplift their organization using BPM is a significant strength.
Weakness
This is something you desire to improve about yourself so that you can be a better person. The system’s installation of BPM and new information is a disadvantage for company A since altering their current system and adopting new might take time.
Opportunities
Opportunities are anything excellent that can benefit your company. As indicated in the weakness section, firm A’s implementation of BPM and new technology is a vulnerability, but it may also be a source of opportunity for the firm to grow if it is capitalized on. Furthermore, the legislature’s pledge to deploy waste management technology is another potential that could aid company A’s development.
Threats
A threat is something that has the potential to harm your company. New businesses with new ideas and technologies can pose a significant danger to company A, so they must keep an eye on them and make necessary preparations to compete.
Part-2: Business Process and Organisational Maturity
2.1 Business Transformation Approach Methodology Process
The examination followed activity research and the contextual investigation an approach utilizing semi-organized meetings and gathering workshops inside the case association. By and large, six offices were broken down, 35 meetings with senior and center supervisors were led, existing business measure archives were considered, and measures were recorded. The information was gathered utilizing a measure demonstrating programming and Business Process Markup Notation strategy. Also, a longitudinal examination following the finishing of the cycle displaying exercise was done over a time of eight years. Existing investigations on the development business have set up the changing part of venture the executive’s experts and how they are needed to perform capacities outside the conventional extent of undertaking the board (Dave, B., 2017).
The board experts ought to get an expansive scope of information and expertise components. Those abilities can be extensively partitioned into explicit abilities and general abilities. Explicit abilities allude to information and lead straightforwardly to the development projects while general abilities give a large part of the establishment to fostering the venture the executive’s abilities including driving, imparting, arranging, and critical thinking. From another viewpoint, contended that social measures can help development project the board experts in offering more adequately to projects. Social abilities can be gathered into two principal types: task execution practices and context-oriented execution practices. While the previous adds to the specialized capacities and are work explicit, the context-oriented practices allude to work-related demonstrations that aid hierarchical viability (Gao, S et al., 2018).
(DEMATEL-Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory ) (ANP- Analytic Network Process)
Figure 3: Success Factors for Transformation Process
Source: (Kiani Mavi and Standing, 2018)
BPM selection factors the TOE (Technology-Organization-Environment) system was utilized as quite possibly the most perceived ideas for creative arrangements appropriation on the hierarchical level. The proposed study is a crucial reason for the underlying detailing of examination speculations for the BPM reception model (Gabryelczvk, R., 2018). The TOE system shows a far and wide hypothetical point of view on factors impacting business advancement in associations. This structure clarifies how a mechanical, hierarchical, and natural setting impacts the selection and execution of developments.
2.2 Iterative development phase
The arranging of BTA, creating, and carrying out can be isolated into different iterative periods of improvement. Some phases are described below.
2.2.1 Strategic business change arranging
This stage presents an endeavor for modifying the association’s solidarity contrasted with its rivals. It should be completed adequately and proficiently. To improve the organization’s exhibition, arranging connects the association’s way. Every one of the moves is made appropriately for a huge improvement in the business activity. In the respiratory guideline. Every one of the results is being caught and can be used in the following period of the cycle of business change.
2.2.2 Information framework (IS) advancement and execution.
Considering the IS improvement and execution stage, the firm is viewed as an interaction model of business. It is likewise resolved to be a model of worldwide information. It has been created in the prior stages. It contains every one of the necessities of data and rules for significant improvement All the information here are considered with the reasonable assistance of information. It is likewise founded on the coherent plan of a data set for a productive result. The arrangement of use and information base are of the last phase of results. It is produced for a chose interaction of business. It is additionally created for a specific space of utilization.
2.2.3 Business measure rebuilding and data engineering (IA) improvement
In this stage, the concerned association has recognized basic testing, re-examined, and upgraded the cycle of current business. Different practices and rules have likewise been embraced by the organization. It has been created in various cycles for understanding its approval (Kosasi and Sulsatri, 2019).
All the data necessity of the business strategy is covered by IA improvement of business change. In this stage, the diagram of the data by arranging, planning, and developing should be possible. The significance of the plan of information and rules of business is made comprehended in this stage. It grandstands the requirement for organization breed between time of worldwide data. The result of the period of IA advancement grandstands the organization is a plan of action measure. It additionally involves information design and interaction engineering. The stage can lead the organization to divert various exercises of advancement. As it is the subsequent stage of IA advancement it can assist the organization to manage innovative default.
2.3 BPM Adoption Process
There is a distinction between BPM adoption and association size, proposing that BPM reception levels can similarly be accomplished by huge or little associations. Conversely, a reliance is found for the association area (halfway dependent on market speed), proposing diverse BPM appropriation rehearses as well as speed in various areas (Van Looy, A. and Van den Bergh, J., 2018).
Figure 4: Contingency Theory for BPM adoption
Source: Van Looy, A. and Van den Bergh, J., 2018.
The above figure is a Contingency Theory approach for BPM selection showing the two ideas that embody the Contingency Theory, to be specific “fit” and “execution”. We consider the association size and area as the free logical factors, while BPM reception or how much BPM capacities have been received as the reliant variable.
Though traditional BPM centers around the advancement of expenses, quality, time, and the adaptability of business measures, Green BPM also considers the climate and the equilibrium among these perspectives. Depending on the kind of business measure, ecological manageability can take various structures. For example, the decrease of power consumption or carbon emissions can be considered as biological advancement destinations for business measures. These targets can be tended to by alleged cycle-focused procedures that help the plan, design, order, assessment, and organization of business processes (Couckuyt and Van Looy, 2020).
Essentially, the exploration traces explicit advances taken during an organized cycle improvement practice in a development organization, including techniques for gathering information, creating measure guides, and investigating of information. The longitudinal examination features the difficulties in supporting a particular drive. For specialists, the qualities and shortcomings of different interaction improvement strategies and a point-by-point depiction of a BPM execution can be utilized as a rule for future activities. From an examination perspective, the paper features the requirement for a more profound and long-haul investigation of such drives and the significance of submersion of specialists inside the climate (Dave, B., 2017).
Figure 5: Porter’s Five Forces Framework
Source: Fern Fort University, 2021
2.3.1 Dangers of New Entrants
New contestants in Heavy Construction bring development, better approaches for getting things done, and tension on Construction Company, Inc. through lower estimating procedures, decreasing expenses, and offering new benefit recommendations. Development Company needs to deal with every one of these difficulties and fabricate viable hindrances to protect their strategic advantage.
How This Construction Company, Inc. can handle Bargaining Power of the Suppliers
By developing new items and administrations. New items carry new clients to the crease as well as give old clients motivation to purchase this Construction Company, Inc. items it can tackle the problems.
Building economies of scale so it can bring down the fixed expense per unit.
Building limits and burning through cash on innovative work. New participants are less inclined to enter a unique industry where the set-up players like this Construction Company, Inc. continue to characterize the norms consistently. It essentially lessens the window of unprecedented benefits for the new firms, consequently debilitating new industry players.
2.3.2 Bartering Power of Suppliers
Every organization in the Heavy Construction industry purchases its crude material from various providers. Providers in predominant positions can diminish the edges Construction Company, Inc. can procure on the lookout. Incredible providers in the Industrial Goods area utilize their arranging ability to extricate more exorbitant costs from the organizations in the Heavy Construction field. The general effect of higher provider bartering power is that it brings down the general benefit of Heavy Construction.
How This Construction Company, Inc. can handle Bargaining Power of the Suppliers
By building an effective production network with different providers.
By trying different things with item plans utilizing various materials so that assuming the costs go up of one crude material, the organization can move to another.
2.3.3 Bartering Power of Buyers
Purchasers are frequently a requesting part. They need to purchase the best contributions accessible by addressing the base cost conceivable. This put focus on This Construction Company, Inc’s. productivity over the long haul. The more modest and more impressive the client base is of This Construction Company, Inc. the higher the bartering force of the clients and the higher their capacity to look for expanding limits and offers.
How This Construction Company, Inc. can handle the Bargaining Power of Buyers. By building a huge base of clients. This will be useful tool. It will diminish the bartering force of the purchasers in addition to it will give a chance to the firm to smooth out its deals and creation measure. By quickly enhancing new items. Clients frequently look for limits and contributions on set up items so if This Construction Company, Inc. continues concocting new items then it can restrict the bartering force of purchasers. New items will likewise decrease the abandonment of existing clients of This Construction Company, Inc. to its rivals.
2.3.4 Dangers of Substitute Products or Services
At the point when another item or administration meets comparative client needs in an unexpected way, industry productivity endures. For instance, benefits like Dropbox and Google Drive are substitutes to capacity equipment drives. The danger of a substitute item or administration is high on the off chance that it offers an exceptionally unique incentive from the business’ current contributions.
2.4 Limitations
- The research is based on a single case study in UK.
- Further research is to be carried out on with different construction companies having different work practices, culture, and different location. (Dave, B., 2017).
Part-3: Measuring Process Management Success
3.1 Maturity model
The maturity model shows the capability of a business organization to acquire continuous and real-time improvement. Simply maturity model is a judgment of how good an organization is to improve itself. The maturity model helps to understand the effectiveness and efficiency of the working mechanism and process management ability of the business organization. Maturity as a measure to identify the abilities of a business organization in a certain domain has become well known since the capability maturity model (CMM) has been introduced by the software engineering institute at Carnegie Mellon University (Paulk et al.,1993).
Figure 6: Organisational process maturity model
Source: Paulk et al., (1994)
To identify whether the Company A’s BPM adoption is appropriate or not two maturity models can be studied.
- Process Performance Index (PPI) – Process performance index is a statistical tool to calculate that the sample that is generated from the process can meet the quality desired by the customer and is able to satisfy them. PPI is denoted by Ppk. In simple terms PPI is the index of the performance of the process, that shows whether the system is meeting its specifications and requirements.
- Business Process Oriented (BPO) – An organization is business process-oriented if, in all its thinking, it emphasizes a process as opposed to hierarchies with a special emphasis on outcomes and customer satisfaction. The analysis shows that the company had taken good initiation on re-engineering the business as most of the departmental processes were modeled and framework was made ready for future use, initially, company A was in level 2 in maturity scale after its macro processes were modeled and documented the company reached on the level between 3 and 4 as shown on the above figure, so we can say that Company A was business process-oriented.
3.2 Organisational Structures
The organisational structure is a model where several organisational activities are divided and allocated among different, departments, divisions, positions, and the co-ordinating method with these activities to achieve organizational goals (Ahmady, Mehrpour & Nikooravesh 2016).
The organisational structure shows how business process flows within different levels and departments of the organisation. This gives the organisation a measurable idea how it is structured and the areas it needs to concentrate to achieve its objectives. This company A also has two organisational structures.
3.2.1 Functional Organisational Structure
Functional organizational structure refers to the structure of the organization according to the department and employees. They are divided based on their position, knowledge, and skills. Here every employees from executive position to operational level are separated and assigned particular task .In this functional structure, every department are bound to report to the upper management. Functional organizational structure is best suited to the companies generating larger revenue and particular departments focused on production of limited products and services. As there are numerous departments with various departmental activities in a large organization so it is difficult to coordinate effectively in a functional organizational structure.
3.2.2 Process-based Organisational Structure
The process based organisational structure separates the organization on behalf of the business or service processes rather than a particular task. A process-based organisation mainly focuses on how different processes in the organisation are interconnected like sales process starts when the production process ends, production process only starts when raw materials are available before that research must be done for the final output. The main objective of process-based organisation is to finish a business process leading effectively and productively to the qualitative business output and ensuring customer satisfaction. In this structure business efficiency, co-ordination and customer satisfaction is kept in priority and is best suitable for changing business environment industries.
This company A during this process of business process re-engineering is trying to shift from function-based structure to process based structure to meet the market demand.
3.3 Benefits Achieved.
The idea to re-engineer business processes through the process of BPM by the company A has provided notable benefits to the company. BPM adoption initiative helped the company to go through the business process modelling and analysis resulting in identification of its core value chains and the opportunity to improve the business, this initiation provided the executive management of the company a clear understanding of the business processes and identify the areas which needs major improvement and helped the company to make competitive and productive business strategy for the coming 5-10 years. However, there are some areas of difficulty identified by the company like construction business being a highly competitive and ever changing business so it is very difficult to accurately capture the business process and it will be an ongoing process to statistically identify the business process and such a huge project of BPM adoption requires adequate resource allocation particularly employee time and dedication so it is a challenging task to manage the employee time (Dave, B 2017).
The benefits which can be measured and can be shown in data are called tangible benefits. The tangible benefits can be calculated and are very important on identifying the business value in any organisation. It is the primary factor on measuring the success of the business. This report is about the process during business process re-engineering, so the tangible benefits achieved by company A is that initially the company A was in level 2 in maturity scale after its macro processes modelled and documented the company reached on the level between 3 and 4 as shown on the above figure, of maturity scale.
Those benefits which are difficult to measure and cannot be shown on statistic value are called intangible benefits. Intangible benefits include all the qualitative values like goodwill, market trust, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction etc. The intangible benefits achieved by this company A after BPM initiation are during this process of business process re-engineering, to model the business processes it had to go through several surveys and interviews with the employees and stakeholders, which helped the company to understand the view of employees towards the company and a series of training and programs conducted helped the employees to increase their skills and to understand the business process and their weak areas much better.
3.3.3 Process Improvement with As-Is and To-Be Process
Process improvement is the method of identifying, analyzing, and deciding the improvement of running business processes of business organization for achieving the standard quality of output resulting in an up-gradation and profit of the business. For making a good plan for process improvement it requires to properly documenting and model both as-is and to-be states. The as-is state shows the actual mechanism of how the current business processes are operating, and the to-be states show where the business wants to be after improvement (Vanwersch et al. 2016). Here in this company A’s also after detail research and survey the company find out the (as-is) actual current business process of the company and after identifying the weak areas the company also set a target to improve its weak areas (to-be) state.
The difference between as-is and to-be process is shown in the table below:
| As-Is processes | To-Be processes |
| As-Is indicates to the present state of business processes. | To-Be indicates to the desired upcoming state of business processes. |
| This is the actual view of running organizational business processes. | This is the hypothetical state where we desire our organizational business processes to run. |
| The aim of As-Is process is to study the current business process and to identify the areas which needs modification and to take initiation for business process improvement. | The aim of To-Be process is to systematically assume the areas after improvement of weak business processes and to meet the goal of the business. |
Part-4: Continuous Process Improvement
Continuous Process Improvement can be achieved by analysing the existing business architecture and analysing on its essential success elements. Detection of constraints, as well as suggestions for better process management, are essential for future progress. The following subtopics discuss and evaluate BPM adoption in this section of the study.
4.1 BIZBOK Architectural Model
BIZBOK is a platform for business architects that includes best practises and specializations. A business architect is a leader who oversees putting in place dependable infrastructure in the form of strategic planning and core technologies (BMC Blogs, 2020).
Figure 7: The BIZBOK’s business architecture model
Source: Business Architecture Guild
Business blueprints, business architecture scenarios, and the business architecture knowledgebase are three key components of the business architecture framework. The aggregate collection of activities, programs, and projects that employ business architecture is defined by these business architecture scenarios for Company A’s. A good business architectural approach will provide insight into connected elements of the business, top-down transparency, and context, all of which will help the Company A to run more efficiently. BIZBOK is a teaching and learning tool offered to members of the Business Architecture Guild which is one of the strong elements for organization in present days.
4.2 Critical Success Factor
Critical Success Factor for Business Process Improvement (BPI) at Company A’s can be summarised in the following key points.
4.2.1 Human Resource Management
Human resources are a vital and critical component of an organization’s success of business. Employees and senior management of Company A were critical to the company’s works. Top management was constantly encouraging of its staff and eager to learn how they were doing and how the process was progressing. The active participation of senior executives improves the working environment for the company’s employees.
Employees at Company A, meanwhile, were prepared for good improvements at the company. Most organizations struggle to make changes because their employees are afraid of change and do not readily accept system improvements. Employee collaboration and a continuous attempt to improve contributed to the company’s success.
4.2.2 Process
The procedure at Company A is simple to apply, analytical, and functional. The customers are the major priority, and they must be satisfied. Every employee, process, and top management are motivated to perform smoothly and economically to guarantee that results are apparent. This encourages everyday self-improvement, even if it is minor.
The second aspect is effective communication between departments and staff, as well as a clear understanding of the organization’s process objectives and goals. At Company A, specialized supervision is provided at various levels of work and process. They assist in ensuring the management and performance of the project and ensuring its success.
4.3 Supporter and Obstacles of BPM Adoption
4.3.1 Support of BPM Adoption
The usage of business process architecture at Company A explains the system’s main building blocks and gives an overview of the most fundamental principles, making process management adoption straightforward and simple. Top-level inspired also helped employees to work more efferently. Expert planning enabled the effortless implementation of various business processes and success at Company A.
There are some of the supportive points for Company A which are listed below.
- Business process architecture.
- Key Performance Index, Process Performance Index and Maturity Model.
- Top management involvements.
- Acceptance and readiness to change.
- Gap between as-is process model and to-be process model.
4.3.2 Obstacles of BPM Adoption
It might be difficult to make the transition to process-based management with information technology. Because methods are iterative and continue to evolve, certain support tools are yet to be discovered and built, thereby delaying development and growth. A process model is a detailed, vision-driven representation of difficult-to-achieve outcomes. As a result, the space between the as-is and the to-be models is always in dispute, even though the to-be model is a desired result. To make it possible, the gap between these models should be narrowed.
There are some of the obstacles points for Company A which are listed below.
- Insufficient support tool (Tarhan, Turetken and Reijers, 2016).
- Between as-is process model and to-be process models, there is big gap.
4.4 Recommendation for Company A
By implementing a business process management strategy and integrating technology into operations, Company A has seen significant improvements in the construction sector. However, there is always room for improvement and progress.
Some of the recommendations for Company A are:
- To reduce cost and time more process-oriented system are needed.
- Upgrading the network into more advanced.
- Ensure the content are accurate.
- Getting the BPM system structure right (Process Excellence Network, 2017).
Conclusion
Many high-profile publications have recommended process reform as a remedy to the construction industry’s poor performance. Although many technologies have been developed in the last century to help companies with process improvement activities, there are still large gaps in knowledge about their short- and long-term effectiveness and the factors that affect these initiatives. Construction company A has transitioned from a typical functionally organised way of Business process management to a process-oriented method.
Usually, initial process management and improvement exercises can identify the main problems of the organization’s process and propose solutions. However, according to longitudinal research, new process improvement managers have become increasingly frustrated due to continuous business changes and lack of motivation for department managers to rewrite and improve their processes on a regular basis.
On the other hand, the lack of adequate and customized support tools hinders key development, leaving a gap between existing and future processes. Because the process is iterative and appropriate tools can be developed in the future, it can be completed over time. More research with bigger sample sizes across organizations is needed to expand our understanding of this sector, which is not confined to UK-based construction firms.
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