The some of the important principles or rules of reengineering are as follows:
Reengineering is about achieving a significant improvement in process so that contemporary customer requirements of quality, speed, innovations, customisation and service are met.
This entails seven new rules of doing work proposed by Hammer, relating to who does the work, where and when it is done and information gathering and integration. These seven rules are:
Rule 1: Organise around outcomes, not tasks:
Several specialised tasks previously performed by different people should be combined into a single job. The new job created should involve all the steps in a process that creates a well-defined outcome. Organising around outcomes eliminates the need for hand-offs, resulting in greater speed, productivity and customer responsiveness.
Rule 2: Have those who use the output of the process perform the process:
In other words, “work should be carried out where it is”, makes the most sense to do it. This results in people closest to the process actually performing the work, which shifts work across traditional intra and inter- organisational boundaries. For instance, employees can make some of their purchases without going through the purchasing department. Customers can perform simple repairs themselves and suppliers can be asked to manage parts inventory.
Rule 3: Merge information processing work into the real work that produces the information:
This means that people who collect information should also be responsible for processing it which greatly reduces errors by cutting the numbers of external contact points for a process.
Rule 4: Treat geographically dispersed resources as though they work centralised:
Centralised databases and telecommunication networks allow companies to link separate units or individual field personnel, providing them with economies of scale while maintaining their individual flexibility and responsiveness to customers.
Rule 5: Link parallel activities instead of integrating their results:
The concept of only integrating the outcome of parallel activities that must eventually come together is the primary cause of rework, high costs and delays in the outcome of the overall process. Such parallel activities should be linked continuously and coordinated during the process.
Rule 6: Put the decision point where the work is performed and build control into the process:
Decision-making should be made part of the work performed. This is possible today with a more educated and knowledgeable workforce plus decision-aiding technology. Controls are now made part of the process.
Rule 7: Capture information once – at the source:
Information should be collected and captured in the company’s online information system only once at the source where it is created. This approach avoids erroneous data entries and costly re-entries.
