Commercial Multimedia Technologies for Twenty-First Century Army Battlefields A Technology Management Strategy (1995) / Chapter Skim
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Corporate Reinvention in the Information Age
Corporate Reinvention in the Information Age
Pages 68-77
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From page 68... ...
Reinvention is achieved by using radical businessprocess reengineering. In the corporate world, most radical reengineering projects were undertaken only when competitors were at the gates.
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From page 69... ...
Finally, in light of the available data and accumulated wisdom in corporate America, the chapter addresses what can realistically be expected by the Army and in what time frame. THE PRODUCTIVITY PARADOX Despite computer power doubling every 18 months, whether this powerful technology has actually enhanced productivity has been hotly debated.
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From page 70... ...
Thus, the business case supporting the application of information technologies in industry, particularly service industries, has been mixed. While for many industries data supporting a return on investment in the form of cost savings or customer satisfaction from the substantial investments made in these technologies are disappointing, there are some major industries that have shown positive retunes and have, in some cases, been substantially changed by information technologies.
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From page 71... ...
It was clear that Ford's basic survival was at stake, and the corporation undertook to dramatically change the corporate culture and business. That turnaround is usually attributed largely to Total Quality Management rather than to technological innovation as in the Federal Express story.
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From page 72... ...
On a visit to Mazda, however, Ford executives found five people doing the accounts payable function. This discove~ prompted Ford to look beyond redesigning what the accounts payable department did to redesigning the entire procurement process.
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From page 73... ...
In point of fact, there are too few software engineers who have completed successful reengineering projects; there are even fewer managers who are current with the technology, understand the business needs, and have actually experienced reengineering successes. In terms of the rare ingredients, the most important one is having the critical skill sets in terms of the people doing the reengineering: subject matter experts familiar with the domain; software engineers with domain expertise and a reengineering success, if possible; and technically skilled managers who are current with the technology to be used and have managed a previous reengineering project.
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From page 74... ...
In a particular case, the reengineered design called for looking at products the business sold in a fundamentally different way from the way the business currently operated. However, the implementers were so involved in the old way of thinking that at every turn in implementation the design was compromised, thereby systematically reintroducing concepts that had been killed in the radical redesign.
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From page 75... ...
These same technologies can be used to reduce the risks of reengineering. For example, the Air Force plans to use simulation, modeling, and work flow computer tools to enable decision makers to better predict the impacts of incremental-to-radical changes in business processes (USAF, 19951.
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From page 76... ...
Successful corporate change seldom results from technology alone; the business processes and the structure of the organization usually change as well. Three successful corporate reinvention cases considered relevant to the Army were discussed.
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From page 77... ...
1995. US Air Force Program Research and Development Announcement (PRDA)
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