Solving Issues Faced By BPM Pty Ltd. Through Business Process Architecture Essay.

You are to assume the role of a BPM consultant and you will prepare a professional business report for a business client.Upon successfully completing this assignment you will have demonstrated that you can communicate
clear, written advice to a business owner in relation to specific aspects of the business process management discipline. In providing advice to your client you will identify and take into account various perspectives and circumstances encompassing the business. Your advice will offer the business owner several reasons for adopting a business process management approach and it will contextually include:  

your definition of business process management and an explanation of BPM’s relationship to organisational strategic intent
a clear synthesis of key benefits of BPM
identification and analysis of your client’s critical business process flows and rationales for why these should be redesigned
various diagrams exemplifying your interpretation of your client’s business and key process flows

In this report, the solutions for solving issues faced by BPM Pty Ltd. has been presented so that excellence can be achieved in their business processes. The organization being chosen for this study is a medium sized business that provides recreational packages for clients. The report is focused on illustrating the requirement of developing a Business Process Architecture (BPA) and the advantages that can be gained by the organization from the architecture. The gaps in existing business process that is the ‘As Is model’ has been modified which is presented as ‘To Be’ process flow diagram so that the necessary changes can be easily demonstrated.

Further, the discussions are presented on the key aspects of the solution that has been proposed for the organization. The significant considerations that are required for implementing solution in the organization have also been highlighted and finally recommendations are based on the solutions and considerations in this report.

Proposed Solution 

Importance of developing a Business Process Architecture

For the business of BPMC Pty Ltd., it is essential to develop a Business Process Architecture (BPA) so that they can solve existing issues within the organization. The development of BPA is required for transformation of business processes within the organization. The concept of BPA is increasingly becoming a widely accepted phenomenon in the management world (Rosemann and vom Brocke 2015). The concept of business architecture is different than business requirements and it will help BPMC Pty Ltd.

to define and build a structure so that it could be leveraged throughout their entire management cycle. The development of a BPA is required for the company as in a competitive environment, implementing improvements is as essential requirements and hence a BPA will help the organization to reduce the risks as well as costs associated with the business (Jeston 2014). The ideal approach for developing a BPA is to focus on the customers so that the satisfaction of customers is guaranteed alongside achieving the business objectives.

The BPA for the organization will help to identify as well as achieve the goals and requirements of customers. The present issue of delay in delivery process will be resolved by developing a fruitful BPA for the organization. The customers of an organization comprises of consumers availing the services along with stakeholders associated with the company. The customer focused approach will help the organization to promote customer retention, attain greater customer satisfaction along with it will provide the opportunity to maximize investments (Dar et al. 2015). The development of a BPA will help to transform the organization to be focused on customers.

The BPA will help to provide organizational map such that purpose of the business can be demonstrated lined up with their objectives as well as demands. BPA will provide the opportunity for defining the business strategies along with ensuring proper delivery of service to the customers. BPA will provide a platform for BPMC Pty Ltd. for better decision making so that they could easily meet the challenges faced in their business processes. The development of BPA is necessary for the organization as the objectives can be lined up with business requirements and connecting them with structure and goals of the organization (Lapouchnian, Yu and Sturm 2015). The concept of developing a business process architecture will provide a framework for the organization so that overall management can be carried out successfully within the organization.     

Business Process Architecture

description of ‘To Be’ process

The ‘To Be’ process will support business transformation in the organization so that the gaps being identified and revealed in part A can be fulfilled in context to their business processes. The ‘To Be’ process will help to illustrate the changes that are required within the organization for mitigating the issues within the delivery process. The changes in the existing ‘As Is’ process model can be modified with the help of modelling the ‘To Be’ process and this process will ensure that the suitable procedure is being followed to complete the business activities. The ‘To Be’ process model will help to achieve cost efficiency in terms of the delivering the services to the customers.

The existing process can be modified in such a manner that the reusable assets can be utilized for completing the business activities and there is no wastage of resources within the organization. The designing of the ‘To Be’ process model will help to determine the particular areas that need modification so that the desired goals and objectives can be fulfilled according to the business requirements. The change project when rolled out in the organization will help to achieve excellence and better performance so that desired outputs can be delivered to the customers.  

‘To Be’ BPMN process flow diagram

The formulation and implementation of BPM processes within the organization will help them to identify and resolve the existing issues so that profit can be gained by the company. The work within the organization can carried out efficiently with the changes in business processes so that they could regain the market and achieve competitive advantage. The modifications in the business processes of the company will help them to perform the business operations at a faster rate and by maintaining coordination between the different departments. The sales team, operations, accounting and service providers will be linked together centrally with the help of ERP system so that they can receive or transmit any update and information between them.

The delay in delivery process could be resolved with the help of improved business process and the ‘To Be’ process model will provide a clear picture of the information flow within the organization. Further, the plans and strategies developed by the company could be easily managed with the help of improved business process. The figure presented below provides a clear picture of the improvements that have to be made in business process of the organization for easy understanding of the areas that needs improvement. It will become easier for the company to operate and fulfill the desired requirements or demands of the customers by following the developed business process model.  

Key aspects in the proposed solution

The proposed solution that will help to solve the existing issues within the organization is transformation of business processes with the help of business process modelling. The implementation of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is required to meet the business requirements and fulfill identified gaps in previous part. ERP is defined as an information system which will help to centralize the business as there is no proper communication or coordination within departments of the organization. An ERP system will also help in unification of the data being flowed from different departments of the organization so that there is proper flow of information (Hammer 2015).

'To Be' Process

The implementation of ERP in the organization will help to improve the decision making process within the organization so that delivery of service can be completed successfully. The implementation of ERP will ensure planning future scenarios with a realistic view such that forecasting realistic estimates will provide better information on present condition of the business. The ERP system will ensure that demands of the customer are fulfilled alongside ensuring that the business goals and objectives are met as per the business strategy (Chang 2016). The ERP implementation will help to align the resources within the organization and those can be connected as well as aligned with strategies of the company. The benefits that will be achieved from the proposed solution are illustrated as below:

• The major achievement that will be acquired by the organization upon implementation of ERP is time management. Like the operations team have to check for availability by physical means and much time is consumed in that process for conveying the message. This issue can be resolved with the proposed solution as automatic updates and information will be available to every department.
• The present documentation is maintained by the company as paper works and in the form of post-its which may cause loosing of vital documents or information. Hence, the proposed solution will provide platform for digital documentation.
• The implementation of ERP system will help to maintain the invoices being generated for customers as well as supplier so that those can be used for future reference or evaluation.
• The ERP system will also help the company to keep track of the revenues generated so that those can be used for future planning or making strategies.
• The ERP system will also ensure that supply chain is being valued and followed effectively in the company to avoid any discrepancy in delivery of services to the customers.
• The automation procedure will enhance the satisfaction of customers as the purchase orders, preparing sales order, checking of inventory and receiving supplies from logistics or service providers will be efficiently managed with the help of proposed solution. The receiving of payments and maintaining accounts will be also easier with the help of ERP system which will in turn increase productivity of the organization.

Solution Considerations

Identification and impact of significant considerations

The cost of implementing ERP system is major factor that have to be taken into consideration while adopting the proposed solution (Pourmirza et al. 2017). The price range of such software application varies according to brand and plan which is being purchased however, the normal charges is between $150,000 and $750,000. The company has only $361,375.00 cash at bank hence there is a need to reconsider the implementation of proposed solution but it will prove to be beneficial for the organization.

The impact or risks that the proposed solution will have on the organization in terms of its people and its use of modern technologies are listed as below:

1. Training and Education – The most important and major risk of implementing the proposed solution is that the employees may not get familiar with the new system which will in turn hamper the productivity (Harmon 2014). The existing employees have to be provided with proper training and guidance to operate the system which will incur additional costs but it is necessary for the business. Trained and skillful employees only will help to achieve profit for the company by using the new system.
2. Resistance to change – Some employees in the organization may not like the change as they are not used to such system and it is affecting their work process. It will be wastage of money as well as resources of the company if no one is able to operate the system or they restrict themselves from using the system (Samhan et al. 2016). Although the business process will not change but it may affect the behavior of employees upon implementation of the new system.
3. Conflict and coordination issues – There may be conflict issues within different departments in the company as they may find difficulty working together and they may not be accustomed to working in a collaborative manner (Tregear 2015). It is vital for the company that there is coordination and cooperation among employees in the organization so that the work process can be carried out efficiently.
4. Lack of technical support – IT plays an important role in implementation and operation of new systems (Mohammadi and Mukhtar 2017). The existing IT support may difficulty during the implementation process or maintaining the system as they may not be aware of functionalities of the new system.
5. Process for invoking proposed process change

The proposed change in the organization will be carried out with the help of phased approach so that the desired outcomes can be achieved from the new system. The phased rollout approach will be followed for implementing the ERP system in BPMC Pty Ltd. There are various types of approaches in phased rollout process but in this context, phased rollout by module is the most suitable as it will ensure the system is able to carry out the necessary business functions (Vom Brocke, Petry and Gonser 2016).

The different modules for the business activities will be implemented one by one so that testing can also be done at the same time and the respective employees can be trained accordingly. The modules required for daily operations and core business functions will be implemented at first then the other modules and functionalities will be added in next phases. The main purpose of choosing this approach is that the employees will get great exposure to the functionalities of the system step by step so that they can excel more in the subsequent stages.

Process to measure success of proposed system

The metrics that will be used to measure success of the proposed system are presented as below:

Cycle time – It is the time required to respond to the orders placed by customers and it is the measurement of time interval from ordering to delivery of products or services to the customer (Ahmad 2016). Hence, a faster cycle time will ensure that the desired requirements are fulfilled by the new system.

Accuracy of demand forecast – A successful implementation of the ERP system will be able to forecast the future demand based on historical data (Panayiotou, Stavrou and Gayialis 2017). Hence, an effective ERP system will provide accurate forecasting of demands in the near future.

Importance of Developing a BPA

Satisfaction of customers – The feedback from the customers in regards to the improvements in service delivery will ensure success of the proposed system (Kasemsap 2018). The faster and better service to the customers will guarantee successful implementation of the new system.

Recommendations

Some recommendations that could be taken into consideration by Cathryn for improvements in business process of the organization are presented as below:

• The primary focus should be given on successful implementation of the ERP system as it would save time, money along with improvements in the business processes and reduction in wastage of resources.
• The transmission media can be changed from surface mail to Internet as at present it is being used by every stakeholder or association so that the time required for requesting of inventory can be reduced. The request time to acquire inventory or any update from the service providers could be reduced with the help of Internet and implementation of ERP system.
• The accounts have to evaluated properly and managed efficiently as $89,380.00 is with debtors out of which $15,194.60 have to be collected at the earliest considering 17% of them have been outstanding more than 2 months. The statement of the accounts team is that payments are received from time to time and little follow up is required so the accounts have to be checked thoroughly. In this regard, utmost importance have to be given as the company has huge amount under debt as no follow up or action has been taken.
• The delivery of the purchase order can be followed by a member of the company so that the customers are well aware of the itineraries within their purchased package to avoid any confusion at a later stage.
• More technical personnel have to be recruited in the organization with technical skills and abilities so that they can easily operate the ERP system. Alongside, training have to be provided to the existing employees so that they can become aware about the operations of the system.
• The cost for installing ERP system is high in a medium sized business firm and it may incur additional costs to the company for maintaining and operating such system. The company has $361,375.00 cash in bank so it may be a little risky proposition for the company to implement ERP system by investing huge amount so alterative software or centralized system can be adapted. The decision maker Cathryn can also make use of Microsoft Access to maintain records and information.

References

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