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sophistication, such as reengineering and redesigning business processes,
whereby business and work processes are analyzed, simplifi ed, and recon-
structed. Processes have two important characteristics: they have defi ned
business outcomes, and the outcomes have recipients, the customers.
Customers can be internal or external to the organization. Processes can
also occur across or between organizational subunits. Davenport and
Short (1990) provide the following examples of processes: investigating
and paying an insurance claim, writing a proposal for a contract, creating
a marketing plan, developing a new product or service, and ordering goods
from a supplier. There are typically fi ve steps in process redesign:
- Developing a business vision and process objectives to prioritize objec-
tives and set targets
- Identifying the processes to be redesigned to identify critical or bottle-
neck processes
- Understanding and measuring existing processes to identify problems
and set baseline performance expectations
- Identifying IT levers to brainstorm new process approaches
- Designing and building a prototype of the process to implement organi-
zational and technical aspects
The most likely objectives related to process redesign are reducing
costs, reducing the time for tasks to be completed, increasing or improving
the quality of output, and empowering individuals and providing them
with more control over their output (Davenport & Short, 1990).
Improved work-fl ow management has enabled many agencies to reduce
costs and improve customer service at the same time. Information systems
can make organizations more effi cient, and information technology can be
used to redesign and reshape organizations, transforming their structure,
scope of operation, reporting and control mechanisms, work practices,
work fl ows, products, and services. Flatter organizations have fewer levels
of management; lower - level employees are given greater decision - mak-
ing authority, and employees may work away from a manager. Informa-
tion systems make information available to line workers so they can make
decisions that managers previously made. Networks of computers have
made it possible for employees to work together as a team. Information
technologies such as e - mail, the Internet, and videoconferencing allow
employees to work from different locations. For example, employees can
work remotely from their homes or cars and can collaborate while miles
away from the offi ce or other structures, thus vastly expanding organiza-
tional boundaries.
