Synchronization: moving beyond re‐engineering

Purpose – The re‐engineering movement focused on obliterating functional silos and creating processes. As processes become more prevalent, today's challenge is to overcome process silos and synchronize them within and across companies. This paper lays out the key drivers of synchronization challenges and many responses to address them.Design/methodology/approach – The article defines synchronization and uses examples to articulate its impact on businesses. It then identifies six key drivers of synchronization failure: uncertainty, ambiguity, complexity, volatility, urgency, and differing agency incentives across processes. The article then outlines strategies for responding to these shortcomings and examples of organizations that derive competitive advantages from synchronization.Findings – The article presents five steps to improving synchronization within an organization: identify key synchronization opportunities; identify responses to the opportunities; stimulate, evaluate and examine interdependencie...