An investigation of a specific system development methodology for business process reengineering

Abstract

System developers in South African organisations need to recognise, recommend and appreciate the use of System Development Methodologies (SDMs) (Huisman 2004). In this age of rapidly changing technological trends which South African organisations have not been spared of, system developers are constantly trying to find new ways of doing business that align with the technological advancements. In light of this, transforming the way business is done or changing business processes is usually the ultimate solution, thereby invoking Business Process Reengineering (BPR). There is therefore a strong call to employ specific SDMs for the development of Information Systems proposed for BPR (Mavetera 2012). This paper looks at specific SDMs for BPR. As of today, existent SDMs in the computing world are believed to have been designed for the development of completely new Information Systems not systems that are being improved or reengineered. The drive behind investigating specific SDMs for BPR is basically informed by past research from BPR proponents who are concerned that BPR has serious effects on the organisational business processes (Hammer and Champy 2005, Muthu, Whitman and Cheraghi 1999 and Giaglis 2009). They advocate that BPR requires a proper system development approach to be followed if it is to succeed. This theoretical investigation further looks at the extent to which SDMs accommodate the aspect of BPR in terms of BPR characteristics and success factors within their philosophy.