Source / Reference:
[1] Harvey, S. & Millett, B. (1999). OD, TQM AND BPR: A COMPARATIVE APPROACh. Retrieved March 6, 2012 from http://www.usq.edu.au/extrafiles/business/journals/HRMJournal/AJMOBarticles/OD-TQM-BPR.pdf
[2] Malhotra, Yogesh. "Business Process Redesign: An Overview," IEEE Engineering Management Review, vol. 26, no. 3, Fall 1998. http://www.brint.com/papers/bpr.htm
[3] BPR to BPM, Retrieved March 6, 2012 from http://www.alagse.com/pm/p14.php
http://www.alagse.com/pm/p14.php
Subject:
A Comparison between BPR, Total Quality Management (TQM), and its tools. When is it appropriate to use what strategy?
Response:
The image below (taken from the lecture notes), generally describes both BPR and TQM.
To summarize the table above, it seems that BPR and TQM are almost opposites. Although, they both serve the same purpose which is to further future business development and to improve the current business process. Similarities include that they both considered cross-functional, which spans over the whole business, eventually.
The biggest and most important difference is the first point, which is the size of the change. BPR would be described as radical while TQM is incremental (revolution and evolution). BPR suggests a whole redesign of the business process that could affect all the tasks, people, and strategies involved as a whole. TQM is more of a step-by-step approach, that is improving process cycle times which in turn improves speed of production. As a result, quality of the product/service is improved as well.
One might think, when should a business use TQM or BPR? What specific situations require these two different approaches to change? One example for the BPR side is that of the introduction of Automated Teller Machines (ATM's). A more radical approach is more suited for the implementation of ATM's. This is why also BPR is suggested to be more IT based. This is because technology can be the driver of the company itself rather than being just a support. The ATM's completely change the way how customers traditionally interact with the bank. As a result, the business process changes from bricks only, to a brick and click organization. The radical change imposed upon the application of ATM's requires an overhaul of the system - processing deposits, withdrawals, checks, etc.
TQM would not work for the application of ATM's. The aspects just don't match as mentioned above. In addition, the continuous improvement that TQM aims to provide doesn't apply to ATMs that much since there is no "more" significant improvements that can be made. Perhaps TQM is more suited to traditional situations, that is improving manufacturing processes, but not only limited to such.
In conclusion, the business environment and situation should be taken into account when using TQM and BPR strategies. One must evaluate and analyze the processes before applying change in addition to considering risks. They can also be used side-by-side, a whole redesign of the business process then enhancing the current changes by applying total quality management techniques.
