Reasons for Implementing BPM by the Company - Essay Example

Business Process Management Name Institution Date Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 4 Literature review 4 Business management process is a management approach that is aimed at increasing the efficiency of an organization. According to Rosemann et al (2010), the efficiency ensures that the clients are satisfied with the products and services of the organization. The business process management mainly promotes efficiency and effectiveness in an organization. Innovation and flexibility is achieved by an organization through integrating the use of modern technology to ensure the success of the organization. This is considering that the modern technology experiences continuous change with time. The business process management is also instrumental during the organizational change. This management tool ensures that measures are in place to handle changes within an organization. Change management is a complicated process and it may lead to the collapse of an organization if it is not handled swell. However with the business management process, the resistance to change by the employees is minimized and the organization adopts the changes successfully (Wendel, 2011). 5 Business process management ensures that an organization is able to satisfy its clients through improving the quality of goods and services and eliminating delays in the delivery time. The business process management involves activities tat ad value to the organization. The roles and objectives of each participant in the process are usually spelt out clearly for the purpose of ensuring the process is well coordinated. The BPM process puts a lot of emphasis in the use of modern technology and new innovations. The strategies involved in the process ensure that the management is able to take full control of the organization. This ensures that change management is well handled by the management and the employees. The process ensures that the revenue of the organization is increased and the wastage of funds is reduced. BPM therefore puts in place measures that are aimed at increasing the profits of an organization and hence meeting the goals of an organization (Wendel, 2011). 5 BPM also focuses on the automation of services within an organization. The automation is mainly for the purpose of ensuring that the management of the business processes is efficient. The automation of services is usually achieved through the use of modern technology. The process thus ensures that the changes in the technology are factored in whenever they are required (Scheer, 2007). The process also ensures that the organization always focuses on the changes in technology. The automation of services is also done together with human interaction. The process allows human interaction where the machines cannot be used. Human judgment is also required in some areas where the conflicts may arise due to the automation of the services. However, the judgment is usually passed by specific members of the organization. The process allows organizations to respond effectively to the needs of the customers and thus increasing customer satisfaction. The changing business environment and the regulations in the market are taken care of by the process (Rosemann, 2010). 6 The BPM process can be coupled with other methodologies to improve on the delivery of services to the clients. BPM can work successfully with the six sigma methodology to improve on the effectiveness of an organization. This coupling ensures that an organization develops its visions that need to be achieved. This leads to the strategizing of functions and the business processes. BPM also ensures that the processes within an organization are improved for the purpose of ensuring that the organization satisfies its customers. The process that needs to be improved is usually defined by the use of BPM and other methodologies. A model that stimulates positive change in the organization is usually put in place by the use of this model. The success of an organization mainly depends on how the model is used to implement changes in the organization. The resistance to change is always minimized if the process if applied in an organization. Control measures for the improvement of any process are very important for any organization. The use of BPM provides for control measures in the business processes and thus ensuring that the operations of an organization are well controlled (Scheer, 2007). 6 The business process management is usually implemented in phases. The phases take a form of cycle that is followed during the implementation period. The vision of an organization is the first phase of the implementation. An organization will require a vision that the BPM will work towards achieving. The process design is also an important aspect of BPM and it is usually implemented after a vision has been put in place. The modeling process follows after the design has been done. The modeling process is mainly for the purpose of ensuring that the issues of uncertainty are addressed. The process aims at putting in place measures that ensures the process runs smoothly during the implementation phase. The execution stage then follows and it aims at improving the performance of the organization. Once the execution has begun, the process must continue and does not stop. Monitoring the process is also important in determining whether the set goals and objectives are being achieved. The monitoring process is also continuous. Optimization of the process is the last step of the process and it includes identification of the real problems encountered during the implementation. 7 Reasons for implementing BPM by the company 8 Advantages and disadvantages of BPM 8 Advantages 8 Disadvantages 9 Critical success factors for BPM 10 Change management and employees resistance 11 The use of external experts/consultants 13 Conclusion 13 Reference 15 Wendel, C. (2011). The Disadvantages of Business Process Management. Retrieved on 7 May 2012, from, 15 Rosemann, M. et al, (2010), Handbook on Business Process Management: Strategic Alignment, Governance, People and Culture. International Handbooks on Information Systems Vol. 1 Berlin: Springer 15 Introduction Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) is an oil producing company based in the UAE. The company deals with oil production and it produces about 2.7 million barrels of oil daily (ADNOC, 2012). It also offers other services which include oil exploration and processing. The company was ranked as the largest oil producer in the UAE. ADNOC is a public company owned by the government and it employee the locals as well as expatriates. Due to the large number of employees and the popularity of the company, it initiated business performance management. This is a process of streamlining all the business processes for the purpose of addressing the needs and requirements of the clients (Scheer, 2007). The process promotes effectiveness, efficiency and innovation. The paper discusses business process management at ADNOC. Literature review Business management process is a management approach that is aimed at increasing the efficiency of an organization. According to Rosemann et al (2010), the efficiency ensures that the clients are satisfied with the products and services of the organization. The business process management mainly promotes efficiency and effectiveness in an organization. Innovation and flexibility is achieved by an organization through integrating the use of modern technology to ensure the success of the organization. This is considering that the modern technology experiences continuous change with time. The business process management is also instrumental during the organizational change. This management tool ensures that measures are in place to handle changes within an organization. Change management is a complicated process and it may lead to the collapse of an organization if it is not handled swell. However with the business management process, the resistance to change by the employees is minimized and the organization adopts the changes successfully (Wendel, 2011). Business process management ensures that an organization is able to satisfy its clients through improving the quality of goods and services and eliminating delays in the delivery time. The business process management involves activities tat ad value to the organization. The roles and objectives of each participant in the process are usually spelt out clearly for the purpose of ensuring the process is well coordinated. The BPM process puts a lot of emphasis in the use of modern technology and new innovations. The strategies involved in the process ensure that the management is able to take full control of the organization. This ensures that change management is well handled by the management and the employees. The process ensures that the revenue of the organization is increased and the wastage of funds is reduced. BPM therefore puts in place measures that are aimed at increasing the profits of an organization and hence meeting the goals of an organization (Wendel, 2011). BPM also focuses on the automation of services within an organization. The automation is mainly for the purpose of ensuring that the management of the business processes is efficient. The automation of services is usually achieved through the use of modern technology. The process thus ensures that the changes in the technology are factored in whenever they are required (Scheer, 2007). The process also ensures that the organization always focuses on the changes in technology. The automation of services is also done together with human interaction. The process allows human interaction where the machines cannot be used. Human judgment is also required in some areas where the conflicts may arise due to the automation of the services. However, the judgment is usually passed by specific members of the organization. The process allows organizations to respond effectively to the needs of the customers and thus increasing customer satisfaction. The changing business environment and the regulations in the market are taken care of by the process (Rosemann, 2010). The BPM process can be coupled with other methodologies to improve on the delivery of services to the clients. BPM can work successfully with the six sigma methodology to improve on the effectiveness of an organization. This coupling ensures that an organization develops its visions that need to be achieved. This leads to the strategizing of functions and the business processes. BPM also ensures that the processes within an organization are improved for the purpose of ensuring that the organization satisfies its customers. The process that needs to be improved is usually defined by the use of BPM and other methodologies. A model that stimulates positive change in the organization is usually put in place by the use of this model. The success of an organization mainly depends on how the model is used to implement changes in the organization. The resistance to change is always minimized if the process if applied in an organization. Control measures for the improvement of any process are very important for any organization. The use of BPM provides for control measures in the business processes and thus ensuring that the operations of an organization are well controlled (Scheer, 2007). The business process management is usually implemented in phases. The phases take a form of cycle that is followed during the implementation period. The vision of an organization is the first phase of the implementation. An organization will require a vision that the BPM will work towards achieving. The process design is also an important aspect of BPM and it is usually implemented after a vision has been put in place. The modeling process follows after the design has been done. The modeling process is mainly for the purpose of ensuring that the issues of uncertainty are addressed. The process aims at putting in place measures that ensures the process runs smoothly during the implementation phase. The execution stage then follows and it aims at improving the performance of the organization. Once the execution has begun, the process must continue and does not stop. Monitoring the process is also important in determining whether the set goals and objectives are being achieved. The monitoring process is also continuous. Optimization of the process is the last step of the process and it includes identification of the real problems encountered during the implementation. Reasons for implementing BPM by the company ADNOC implemented business process management for several reasons. This is considering that the company required modern means of oil extraction. Technology keeps changing at a very fast rate everyday. The company encourages its employees to be innovative. Any procedure or aspect that will lead to innovation is welcomed by the company. The main reason the company implemented BPM was to encourage innovations in the oil industry. This is considering the aspects that BPM is involved with. BPM was useful to the company in terms of advancing its technology and the aspects of innovations. Customer satisfaction is also an important aspect of business at ADNOC. The company values its customers and always wants to retain them. BPM was thus implemented so as to satisfy the clients. The customer satisfaction required that the company should put in place mechanisms that ensure the customer is satisfied by the services of the company and thus promoting good relationship with the clients. If the customers are satisfied, then it will be easy to retain them (Kohlbacher, 2009). Advantages and disadvantages of BPM Advantages The main advantage of BPM is its ability to improve the efficiency of the business. This is achieved through its main aspects (Rosemann, 2010). BPM ensures that all the business processes are well managed form the beginning to the end. In this case the process ensures that the yields are increased by reducing wastage. This reduces the time taken to produce the products and eliminate the chances of rework during the production. The working hours of the employees are also reduced by the use of BPM. This is because it promotes the use of modern technological means to manufacture products. These means takes a shorter time and thus reducing the working hours for the employees. Errors are also reduced through the use of BPM due to the strict measures that it puts in place to ensure errors are eliminated. This largely contributes to the quality of the final product. Compared to the products ADNOC handles, the errors may lead to environmental hazards due to pollution. BPM increases the quality of the products produced by the organization. This is because the measures put in place are aimed at improving the quality of the goods. One of the key aspects of BPM is also the improvement in the quality of products. The workflow is improved greatly by the use of BPM. This is done through defining, creating, executing and automating the management processes within the organization. An improved workflow leads to increased productivity. The BPM models are also important in visualizing activities within the organization and thus identify any area of weakness that may cause the organization to fail. This is thus advantageous in terms of reducing losses with a company. The model makes it easy to carry out transactions from one company to the other. An example may include the transactions between ADNOC and its trading partners. Disadvantages The main disadvantage of BPM is that it may end up limiting innovations within an organization. The measures put in place do not encourage new innovative practices but it encourages improvisation of certain products in the organization. New innovations are not made but more energy is usually focused on improving the already existing product. In the case of ADNOC, this is a disadvantage as the company requires new techniques of oil extraction as some of the competitors are already advancing. The BPM tools are usually offered as packages which require customization for it to benefit the organization (Wendel, 2011). In some instances, the customized features may not be able to fully address the needs of the organization. This leaves a loophole within the system and t may cause the collapse of the company in some of the areas if it is not fully addressed. The use of BPM is usually guided by software that is supposed to guide the implementation process. Inmost instances when it is still new in an organization, it presents a risk of post deployment. This occurs mainly during deployment and an organization is not able to utilize it fully. It thus results to poor performance that is not desired by the organization. The cost of purchasing the tools to be used for implementing BPM is expensive compared to other improvement methods. This presents a risk to some organizations that may purchase the software but they are unable to fully implement it. The upgrading of the system might also be cumbersome for and it may require a lot of time and resources to fully accomplish the upgrading task (Silveira, 2012). Critical success factors for BPM ADNOC was able to successfully implement BPM due to several critical success factors. The critical; success factors greatly contributes to the success of any strategy being implemented by an organization. ADNOC designed a traceability mechanism to control the process. The traceability is mainly used to make recommendations and to determine the actions to be taken by the company during the stages of implementation. The alignment of actions that will be involved in the business performance management is very important in the implementation stage. This is because it determines when to take the necessary action considering that it has several processes. ADNOC was able to align all it actions and use them at the right time. The actions that were aligned by the company included; strategies, information and performance. ADNOC implemented the business process management with the consideration of all the stakeholders involved including the government. The company ensured that the needs of the stakeholders are put into consideration before taking any action. The main stakeholder the company was considering included the suppliers, the clients and the regulatory bodies. During the implementation process, the failure to put the needs of all the stakeholders into consideration may result to failure of full implementation of the process (Burlton, 2011). A shared commitment is also a critical success factor for the implementation of a successful business process management. All the departments and employees of ADNOC participated in the process with each being allocated a role to play during the implementation process. With the full commitment, the company was able ton fully implement the strategies. Change management and employees resistance The business process management brings about a lot of changes in the operations of an organization. The changes may affect the employees directly or indirectly. The changes have a lot of impacts and it may lead to resistance by the employees. The resistance may end up paralyzing the operations of the company and thus affecting the whole process. ADNOC had the same problem by some of the employees when the changes occurred. The company was however successful after putting in pace measures that were aimed at breaking the resistance by the employees. The organizational culture that the employees were used to had to change as a result of the process. This contributed to the resistance by some of the employees. The changes brought about by the BPM were mainly aimed at streamlining the operations and also reduce cost and wastage. This is considering how demanding the oil extraction process is. The adoption of new technology and automation of services was a major concern for some of the workers. Most of them thought that if these changes are put in place, then most of them will have to loose their jobs since they will be rendered irrelevant in the company. Employees who are not satisfied with their jobs may also suffer as a result of change management. The communication process used by the company was also a major concern. Some of the older employees could not understand why the changes were being made while the company has been performing well. Some of the supervisors and managers had not communicated well with the employees and thus the problem came up leading to the resistance. The loss of control and power is also a reason that led to resistance by some of the members of the management of the company. This was brought about by being assigned new duties under the same capacity. The changes made some of them to dev elope a feeling of loss of control since they were used to the old practices. This brought about confusion and some of the employees felt like they were not enjoying their previous privileges at the organization. This factor greatly contributed to the resistance by the employees. The BPM strategies brought about changes that required new skills which were mainly based in the areas of information technology (Adenle, 2011). Since the concepts in the information technology changes fast, some of the older employees lacked the required skills and yet they were supposed to accomplish the required tasks. This brought about controversies and the resistance to change ensued in order for the employees to cover up their weaknesses. Despite the resistance, the BPM was still implemented fully. The change did not last for long and it did not make much impact on the company. The problem was solved through proper communication to the employees. The concerns that the employees had were addressed adequately and everyone was assured of the positive impacts the changes would bring. The changes were however implemented in phases so as to ensure all the employees are able to cope with the pace at which the changes took place. This led to full implementation and success of the BPM strategies. The use of external experts/consultants The use of external experts by the company was important for the organization during the execution phase. This was mainly for the purpose of guiding the members of staff through various processes. This is considering that some of the concepts were very new to the employees and the management. The external experts also played a big role in the training the management and the employees of the company. The areas that required technical advice were handled by the experts. Conclusion In conclusion, business process management is an important concept when it comes to achieving aims and objectives within an organization. IBM implemented the process for the purpose of developing the company and to ensure that it had the support of clients through good service delivery. The process had a lot of advantages for the company leading to high growth rate. However the process also comes up with some disadvantages. This is common in the areas of increased costs of operation and upgrading. The process cannot be successful without putting in place some measures. IBM was able to implement the process successfully due to certain critical success factors. The implementation of the process also requires proper communication and training. This is mainly for the purpose of averting resistance to change that may be brought about by the employees. IBM experienced some changes but it was however minimal. Proper mechanisms were used to solve the issue. The company thus became successful in implementing the BPM process fully to the benefit of the company. Reference Burlton, R. (2011). "BPM Critical Success Factors:  Lessons Learned from Successful BPM Organizations," Business Rules Journal, Vol. 12, No. 10. Adenle, C. (2011). 12 Reasons Why Employees Resist Change in the Workplace. Retrieved on, 7 May 2012, from, Kohlbacher, M. (2009): The Effects of Process Orientation on Customer Satisfaction, Product Quality and Time-Based Performance. International Conference of the Strategic Management Society, Washington DC, Scheer, W. (2007). Advanced BPM Assessment, IDS Scheer AG, Wendel, C. (2011). The Disadvantages of Business Process Management. Retrieved on 7 May 2012, from, Rosemann, M. et al, (2010), Handbook on Business Process Management: Strategic Alignment, Governance, People and Culture. International Handbooks on Information Systems Vol. 1 Berlin: Springer Silveira, P. et al, (2012), Aiding Compliance Governance in Service-Based Business Processes, IGI Global, pp. 524-548 ANDOC, (2012). Retrieved on 21 May 2012 from, Appendix Interview questions 1. Why did the company introduce BPM? 2. Who implemented the concepts? 3. What were the benefits of BPM to the company? 4. Did the process bring about any changes in the company? 5. How was change management handled by the employee? 6. Was there any resistance to change? 7. What were the reasons for the resistance by the employee? 8. How did the management deal with the situation? 9. Were the external experts involved in the process? 10. What role did the experts play? Read More