1.2.5: Section 2 Summary
Summary
The advent of information technologies has had a huge impact on how organizations design, implement, and support business processes. From document management systems to ERP systems, information systems are tied into organizational processes. Using business process management, organizations can empower employees and leverage their processes for competitive advantage. Using business process reengineering, organizations can vastly improve their effectiveness and the quality of their products and services. Integrating information technology with business processes is one way that information systems can bring an organization lasting competitive advantage.
Study Questions
- What does the term business process mean?
- What are three examples of business process from a job you have had or an organization you have observed?
- What is the value in documenting a business process?
- What is an ERP system? How does an ERP system enforce best practices for an organization?
- What is one of the criticisms of ERP systems?
- What is business process reengineering? How is it different from incrementally improving a process?
- Why did BPR get a bad name?
- List the guidelines for redesigning a business process.
- What is business process management? What role does it play in allowing a company to differentiate itself?
Exercises
- Think of a business process that you have had to perform in the past. How would you document this process? Would a diagram make more sense than a checklist? Document the process both as a checklist and as a diagram.
- Review the return policies at your favorite retailer, then answer this question: What information systems do you think would need to be in place to support their return policy.
- If you were implementing an ERP system, in which cases would you be more inclined to modify the ERP to match your business processes? What are the drawbacks of doing this?
- Which ERP is the best? Do some original research and compare three leading ERP systems to each other. Write a two- to three-page paper that compares their features.
- Hammer, Michael. "Reengineering work: don't automate, obliterate." Harvard Business Review 68.4 (1990): 104–112. ↵