Part B: Reflection

In part A, detailed analysis of BPM at Pochins PLC is presented where the exercise was carried out over a period of five years alongside a major Enterprise Information System implementation. The focus was on involving all major units of the organizations to bring in improvements within the lean framework. Here a continuous improvement framework introduced to avoid stagnation risk in the organization leading to a continuous improvement framework where every unit is responsible for its own processes resulting in higher profitability and smoother supply chain processes. The analysis of the case study explains that process improvement based on lean principles are outstanding in terms of directly addressing wastes lying within the system, thereby helping the company to focus on activities that can add value and result in overall satisfaction of customers. The aim of process modelling is not limited to improving profitability but help in improving overall functioning and performance of the organization with the target of improving customer service and satisfaction (Brocke and Mendling, 2017). However, in order to achieve the targets of BPM effectively it is important to adopt a process-modelling standard like BPMN as follow a step-by-step approach to model the exiting processes (“As Is”) and the improved (“To Be”) processes (Lehnert et al., 2016) while considering the integration of information technology to ensure a comprehensive procedure. 

Feedback from the cohort says that my presentation lacks several important elements of a strong presentation. I was not well prepared with the topic and therefore failed to handle questions from the audience. Also, I realised the need of doing a proper study of the topic and associated concepts to be able to present my ideas instead of just reading through the slides. Lots of text on slides makes it difficult for the audience to grasp the point of discussion and explanation, and therefore it is necessary that only small bullet points are given as a reference while explaining the points by speaking with good language skills. It is equally important to keep the presentation within the assigned time limits and using visual aids to help listeners understand the flow of ideas. My feedback on cohort is also related to content of the slides that failed to be linked with each other. During this activity I realised that there is a wide difference between writing an academic paper or report and presenting the analysis through an actual face-to-face presentation. It is important that slides follow a logical sequence and also explained properly through arguments and counter-arguments to justify the analysis. In my future work, I will focus on bringing in critical analysis of the given topic or case study with an emphasis on keeping the introduction short and crisp while following it with a proper discussion on methods used, reading less from slides and delivering in a controlled and smooth manner. 

Before going through the subject of BPM, I had a rough idea about the use of BOM services in an organization that can help in improving the processes and revenue through effective management leading to optimized business outcomes. I was considering BPM as a tool to lower the cost and increasing the revenue by adding in smart ways of managing the existing processes. However, a detailed and deep study about the subject helped me to gain knowledge about the way BPM increases customer satisfaction, improves employee morale, makes processes efficient along with aligning the business processes with customer requirements. I learnt about the different ways in which BPM can aid decision making areas like measurement, deployment and examining the resources of an organization. Such processes and efficiency of BPM contributes towards a sound maintenance of the financial management system of the company along with providing the opportunities for tracking the progress helping to achieve the desired goal. A major learning lies in exploring the scope of BPM that is not limited to improving the operational performance of organization but several other disciplines like TQM, Operations, LEAN and Six Sigma (Davenport et al., 1994). It is a combined effect of people, process and technology that makes this approach feasible and a successful implementation of BPM in a cyclic manner. The subject allowed me to learn about the key BPM capabilities that result in leverage of efficiency, responding faster and makes managing change easy for the organization. 

Strong formal education in renowned systems analysis and design methodologies have strengthen my skills and knowledge in process modelling and business analysis. It made me skilled enough to use different analytics tools like data mining, text mining, opinion mining, correlation analysis, scenario analysis etc. The subject taught me the way of selecting several techniques and approaches in an efficient manner that can be used to tackle issues in different business situations with the help of DMAIC methodology, VSM and measuring Gate Review Checklist. It will act as a turning point in my career as it helped me discover my interest in structured methodologies that will help me develop my organization skills and bring in BPM to solve various organizational issues. 

However, I doubt my skills to form an efficient BPM team and defining the roles and responsibilities of each team member. It may be difficult for me to define a process while focusing on all the stakeholders impacted by the process, especially while introducing a change in the organization. My decisions may be biased while defining forming a suitable BPM team and focusing on ground rules to bring the changes. I think, it will be the process governance, including impersonal and personal governance that will help me and my team members to ensure proper leadership and management of BPM while implementing the tools and methods in a consistent manner and taking up ownership and accountability of the whole process. 

I feel that it is important for me to consider BPR as a comprehensive process as it will help in bringing change and improvements in the sub-processes making it possible for different teams and departments to understand the new processes and streamline their efforts towards the achievement of a total business process redesign.