A business process reengineering framework to enhance strategic planning within higher education : the case of the Tshwane University of Technology

[摘要] The strategic alignment and reengineering of business processes is critical for institutions acrosssectors worldwide to achieve performance improvement and subsequently, competitiveadvantage. Competition within higher education forces higher education institutions, such asTUT, towards management approaches such as business process reengineering to improveeffectiveness and efficiency. This research was triggered by an observation of a lack of aframework, within TUT, to guide the manner in which business processes could be strategicallyreengineered in a uniform, coordinated, and focused fashion. The main focus of the research wasto identify core elements which could be included in a comprehensive framework to assist highereducation institutions, specifically TUT, to strategically align and reengineer their core businessprocesses in order to achieve performance improvement, which is a prerequisite for highereducation institutions across sectors to achieve competitive advantage.The findings of the research were based on the triangulation of data from a robust literaturesurvey to uncover the theoretical underpinnings and to pinpoint core elements of businessprocess reengineering and strategic planning, prescripts from legislation and the regulatoryframework governing higher education in South Africa, an analysis of relevant strategicdocuments within TUT, and opinions and perceptions of sampled respondents within TUT tocompare and contrast the data gathered.The findings of the empirical exploration confirmed the problem that triggered the research,namely, that TUT lacks a framework to guide the manner in which it could strategically alignand reengineer business processes. An analysis of documents within TUT and consistent with theresults of the empirical exploration revealed that although various strategic documents allude tothe strategic alignment and reengineering of business processes, lack of a standardisedmethodology hampers the uniform, coordinated, and focused operationalisation of this nobleintent which is critical for the enhancement of strategic planning across sectors worldwide.Consequently, the main contribution of the research was to develop a comprehensive frameworkto guide the manner in which TUT and other similar higher education institutions couldstrategically reengineer business processes. The proposed framework advocates an incremental approach to business process reengineeringto allow for the continuous improvement of reengineered business processes. At the core of theproposed business process reengineering framework is strategy alignment and stakeholder focus.The framework suggests that when higher education institutions, such as TUT, embark onbusiness process reengineering, they should realise that they are engaging in a strategicendeavour and that business processes targeted for reengineering should be of critical importanceto the enhancement of a strategic orientation. It is imperative that higher education institutions,such as TUT, should prioritise the strategic alignment and reengineering of business processesthat provide stakeholder satisfaction to create competitive advantage and survival.Considering that TUT and other similar higher education institutions operate as an open system,the proposed framework is based on the systems approach to management. Given the dynamicnature of the South African higher education sector, the proposed framework promotes abusiness process reengineering methodology which, amongst others, involves the reengineeringof business processes with due consideration of the national higher education imperatives andlegislative requirements. Consideration of the external environment should cover an analysis ofcritical developments within higher education, including changes to national legislation andother national strategic imperatives. TUT and other similar higher education institutions shouldcontinuously monitor changes that might have an impact on their business processes to ensuretimeous and strategic alignment and reengineering of core business processes in accordance withthe changing environment. Due cognisance of the internal factors and acknowledgement of aneed for internal interaction of various departments and operational units within higher educationinstitutions, such as TUT, should also form the basis of all business process reengineeringefforts.Given the theoretical underpinning that business process reengineering is a strategic endeavourand that the strategic alignment of business processes is critical for institutions across sectors toimprove institutional performance so as to achieve competitive advantage and survival,proposing a comprehensive business process reengineering framework and advocating thestrategic reengineering of business processes within a South African public higher educationinstitution constitute an advancement of knowledge within the Public Administration field of study.

[发布机构] North-West University