Information Systems, Operational Research and Business Reengineering

There has been much concern expressed during recent times to ensure that information technology (IT) considerations are firmly aligned with business imperatives. For example, two of the top ranked information systems management issues during the 1980s were concerned with the problems incurred in aligning the Information Systems function with that of the organisation as a whole, and in linking information systems and business strategies. Conversely, recent research and practice has provided us with a vision of IT-induced business process redesign, the opportunity for inter-organisational systems and even the redefinition and refocusing of business products and services. The reality for many organisations remains that IT investment is seen as a necessary evil at best, with many questioning whether it represents value for money. There have also been somewhat negative reactions to the topic of business process redesign itself: is it old wine in a new bottle? And is it all too risky a business to suggest that radical change rather than incremental change is what is required? This paper reviews these issues and argues for a refocussing of our attention on (i) information and business systems, and (ii) implementation issues and organisational change, as opposed to the more common practice of concentrating on information technology per se. It takes an organisational, soft operational research perspective on the subject of business reengineering, and provides some outline guidelines for the process of managing the change that is often both necessary and potentially desirable with the introduction and utilisation of new IT. It raises the question whether the lessons from the application of the softer operational research approaches over the past 20 years or so could be used to provide a more informed intervention, given the complexity of the task … and answers that question in the affirmative!