Business Process Design: Correlates of Success and Failure

Abstract

This article summarizes 75 organizational change efforts that had business process design (BPD) as an objective. BPD was found to be a common type of organizational change and usually occurred in combination with other types of change. The success rate for process design was low. Success was more likely when the sponsors were perceived to be mid-level rather than senior executives. BPD was most often undertaken because of cost trends, product problems, process control issues, customer complaints and suggestions, and competition. Statistical data were most often cited to describe successful process design, while unsuccessful change efforts were usually described by opinions. Success correlated most highly with the variables that reflected employee needs, leadership, and project management. Failure correlated most strongly with ineffective leadership and the clash with the existing culture. Success factors and barriers for cultural change resembled the profile for other types of organizational change. The author derived seven implications for managing process design and implementation and discussed difficulties in comparing this study with other research efforts to identify factors that facilitate or inhibit process design.