Re-engineering? But isn’t that so yesterday?

October 10, 2012

If you believe that “change is the only constant” then
you will not find it difficult to accept that “re-engineering is the response
to change that keeps you going”.

It is assumed, may I add very wrongly, that
re-engineering business processes is a one-time exercise. If we did live in a
static world, then yes, we could arrive at the perfect process in a few
iterations and stick with it forever. But our world is a very dynamic one.
Today, technology is the one big change, which keeps the need for
re-engineering constant! Here, I’ll digress a bit to remind you of a biology
lesson from school -species which do not adapt to their changing environment
perish and disappear forever. It is no
different in the business world. Corporations, which fail to keep up with
change, are doomed to extinction.

Re-engineering is a major change. It is often a reactive
response to other changes, such as a shift in customer demand, competitive
challenge, government regulation etc. Or, it may be a proactive move to,
distance oneself from competitors who are catching up, re-invent a corporation
in a dying market, or build an altogether new one. Proactive or reactive, any
re-engineering will not give benefits and competitive advantage forever;
because competitors will respond, customers can change, and government may
suddenly decide to impose tough regulations.

That being said, the answer is not to keep re-engineering
without pause. After every re-engineering exercise, process optimization by way
of continuous and incremental refinement of processes, will often extend its
lifetime. But there will come a time when the benefits of process optimization
will be outweighed by its cost. That’s the time to re-engineer afresh.

Re-engineering is not new. It was the silver bullet of
the 1990s, which like other silver bullets has lost its sheen with the passage
of time. But has it also lost its effectiveness and relevance? Not one bit!
Today more than ever, we see a need for corporations to adjust themselves to
the new normal environment. Re-engineering is the answer to many of the
challenges that come with this adjustment!

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