Our experience shows that resistance
to BPM usually centers around six key
questions. As companies seek to address
these questions, we believe the adoption
of an integrated approach—combining
clear articulation of benefits, focus on
critical aspects and centralized support—
can help position them for success.
1. Why is this BPM program business
critical?In many cases, we see the purpose
and benefits of BPM programs articulated
in a generic way. Statements such as
“documenting business processes will help
us to create transparency about the way
we operate” may attract general
acceptance. But because they lack a link
to business-critical outcomes, such
statements are unlikely to generate any
sense of urgency.
To address this challenge, we typically
advise companies to identify precisely
how each BPM project will support and
enable specific strategic business targets.
For example, assuming the business target
is international growth, the program team
must show why documented business
processes are a prerequisite for the rapid
and efficient launch of safe, compliant
operations in new geographies.
2. What’s in it for me?
BPM programs are typically justified from
a predominantly corporate perspective.
Failure to build stakeholder buy-in and level
of understanding can result in loss of
traction for the program.
In our view, the priority should be to
articulate clearly why BPM is critical for
individual stakeholders within the business.
This means identifying core stakeholder
groups and emphasizing the benefits of
BPM in the context of their respective value
drivers. For example, assuming the chief
information officer’s principal value driver
is fit-for-purpose IT solutions, the program
team must demonstrate how documented
business processes will enable IT requirements
to be captured and the business
impacts of new IT solutions to be assessed.
3. What does it help me to do?
BPM activities can appear to be
conceptual exercises. As a result,
stakeholders can find it difficult to
understand the tangible benefits that
these programs can provide for their
day-to-day work.
Based on Accenture’s experience, we
have learned that successful BPM programs
create outputs that individual stakeholders
can use to assist them in doing their jobs
better and to help them create tangible
value. From the perspective of the procurement
department lead, for example,
documented procurement processes could
be attached to supplier contracts specifying
supplier compliance procedures and
interfaces with the organization. The key
performance indicators (KPIs) associated
with these processes can be used to
assess and manage supplier and
employee performance.
Case study: Global oil
company—business process
optimization program
This global company is a leading
exploration and production (E&P)
operator with oil and gas operations
around the world. An E&P diagnostic
study revealed the need to transform
the company’s operating model to
achieve several goals: improve cost
competitiveness and achieve capital and
operational excellence, manage complex
capital projects more effectively, invest
in new technologies to address
environmental challenges, and address
the recruitment and talent management
challenges posed by an aging
professional workforce. With Accenture’s
help, the company embarked on
a business process transformation
program covering its entire E&P business.
High performance delivered
Using business process model design,
the team visualized the business
footprint in scope for transformation;
defined, prioritized, developed and
documented “to-be” core business
processes; and created job aids to
support the rollout of these new
processes to more than 1,000 users.
The program successfully increased the
client’s asset value through integrated
management of optimized and
standardized E&P processes. The results
included an improvement of up to 6
percent in capital investment
optimization and standardization of E&P
core business processes, underpinned
by uniform KPIs, standard documents
and a business/technical standards
action plan.