Selecting business process reengineering projects strategically

Business processes are defined as sequences of linked functional-level activities which take inputs and produce outputs. And Business Process Reengineering (BPR) is defined as the analysis and radical redesign of the business processes within a firm. Undertaking BPR is a high-risk, high-reward proposition. The payback for doing BPR correctly is enormous: 200% to 1000% improvements in key business performance measures are documented. But with those potential rewards comes high risks: studies show more than two-thirds of BPR attempts fail. The research reported in this paper develops a BPR decision support system to reduce the risks while maintaining or improving the rewards. The system is being applied at five U.S. electronics companies where preliminary results look very promising.