The relationship between Business Process Reengineering (BPR) and organisational performance: a case of East African Breweries Ltd

Abstract

Reengineering has been defined as the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to bring about dramatic improvements in performance. Business Process Reengineering (BPR) is an approach that aims to achieve a radical rethinking and redesign of organizational process in order to significantly improve key performance measures, such as quality and cost of delivery. The concept has been implemented by various organizations in Kenya, while many others continue to burn the mid night oil with the puzzle of whether to implement it or not. East African Breweries Ltd (EABL) is one of the companies in Kenya to have gone full board with implementation of business process reengineering (BPR), consistently over the years. The moves have been in response to the changing local as well as global environment. The outcome has been years of admirable success and sustained growth as measured by its profitability. This study focuses on the relationship between Business Process Reengineering and organizational performance using the case of EABL. The source of data for this study was Finance Directors and senior managers in the three subsidiaries of EABL in Kenya. These are the people charged with the planning, development and implementation of various BPR processes in EABL. The main findings of this study are that Business Process Reengineering (BPP) results in a symmetrical relationship with organizational performance. The growth of EABL profits can largely be associated with sustained Business Process Reengineering despite various challenges associated with new changes in an organization. The study is not an end in its own, but should be evaluated in view of the limitations of a case study. It should not only be useful to all the major manufacturing companies in Kenya, but also EABL in making decisions on whether to implement BPR or not to embrace it as a way of growth. Those intending to conduct research in BPR will also find the findings of this study useful.