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. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.