PREFACE

Business process reengineering (BPR) began as a private sector technique to help organizations fundamentally rethink how they do their work in order to dramatically improve customer service, cut operational costs, and become world-class competitors. A key stimulus for reengineering has been the continuing development and deployment of sophisticated information systems and networks. Leading organizations are becoming bolder in using this technology to support innovative business processes, rather than refining current ways of doing work. Not surprisingly, BPR has captured the interest of federal agencies, which are faced with an urgent need to reduce costs and improve service to the American public (see note 1). This guide is designed to help auditors review business process reengineering projects in a federal setting, determine the soundness of these efforts, and identify actions needed to improve the prospects for their success.

The nine major assessment issues in this guide deal with elements considered by experts to be stepping stones to successful business process reengineering. These issues cover a wide range of activities, such as identifying customer needs and performance problems, reassessing strategic goals, defining reengineering opportunities, managing reengineering projects, controlling risks and maximizing benefits, managing organizational changes, and successfully implementing new processes. Taken together, the issues in this guide provide a general framework for assessing a reengineering project, from initial strategic planning and goal-setting to post-implementation assessments.

COMMENTS ON THIS GUIDE

This guide was developed by the Information Resources Management Policies and Issues Group, under the direction of Jack L. Brock, Jr. If you have questions or comments on it, please contact John P. Finedore, Assistant Director, at (202) 512-6248 (email to) or Deborah A. Davis, Assistant Director, at (202) 512-6261 (email to)

We plan to periodically revise the guide based on comments from users, private sector and government reengineering experiences, and our own assessments. Other contributors to this guide are Mark Bird, John Christian, Mike Alexander, Tom McDonald, Sharon Caudle, and Danny Latta. The HTML vesion of this guide was prepared by Phillida Hutcheson.

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