Why Business Process Management Fails

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By N.Y. Chow

The prospect of implementing a business process management initiative is truly exciting and interesting. Indeed, most companies look toward these initiatives as the next step in the evolution of a progressive and growing organization. Efficiency, productivity, cost reduction and, ultimately, competitiveness can be improved through better business processes. However, over eagerness and a failure to tread carefully through a holistic planning process may just be the Achilles' heel of a major BPM effort.

This article shares the common failures that typically beset BPM endeavors, all of which I have witnessed and experienced through years in business. My hope is that by sharing the failures, you'll come to understand how to avoid them.

--> Failure #1. Not following leaders or their best practices.

In the early days when BPM methods were first evolving, failure was not uncommon due to a lack of best practices. We were all pioneers. While many trials and errors have been documented and improved upon since then, we're still not thoroughly immune to making mistakes, especially in a constantly advancing environment. Nevertheless, the existence of best practices -- experience and lessons learned -- does provide implementers with some form of vigilance, although the unexpected may still occur.

--> Failure #2. Picking the wrong people for the job.

One of the core failures of BPM initiatives arises from the wrong people being picked for the job. While most BPM responsibilities might be assigned to internal staff, matching the specific tasks to the wrong people can be quite detrimental. For instance, while people from the finance and IT departments would typically be involved in BPM initiatives, the party that ultimately takes the lead should be those from finance -- regardless of which department the initiative is for (sales, marketing, customer service or some other function). The fact is that those from the finance team will possess the necessary insights from a financial perspective, and thus are able to make better judgment on the cost effectiveness of a new project.

Apart from that, the management leader assigned has to possess adequate management skills to push the project forward within stipulated timelines as well as the ability to work through bottleneck issues.

--> Failure #3. Insufficient training.

Another reason BPM initiatives fail is a lack of training extended to the team entrusted with implementation responsibility. As BPM is conducted for the first time within many organizations, team members don't possess essential BPM skills, such as process analysis or design. This lack of expertise will compromise the application of best practices as well as the levels of effectiveness -- unless those individuals receive adequate BPM education. While mere classroom training sessions won't replace real-life experiences in many scenarios, they serve to function as a strong foundation upon which to jumpstart the team and to lead them in the right direction.

--> Failure #4. Lack of prioritization.

Lack of prioritization in the planning process is another factor that can lead to the failure of many BPM initiatives. After you've laid out multiple tasks and components, it's important to identify critical paths for a string of tasks. Certain BPM modules should be implemented logically according to a sequence, although these modules may seem to work on a standalone basis. This requires a timely delivery of the software in a particular order, so as not to affect the implementation timeline. Moreover, factors such as payback period for each task may also influence the sequence and priority of implementation, to balance the need of the corporate management team to see speedy monetary gain from the BPM efforts with the needs of the business units seeking to gain an edge in their processes.

--> Failure #5. A disinterest in understanding current processes and systems.

Another factor affecting BPM implementation success is the failure to comprehensively understand the current processes and systems in an organization. New and old business processes that don't integrate well will only cause distress among their functions and users. Critical areas such as dependencies among processes have to be considered, while clarity in these relationships needs to be identified. One example of this that I had encountered involved an existing billing process that wasn't aligned with the collections process. This resulted in inaccuracy within the records of the accounting system, which caused great frustration among customers. However, a BPM initiative studied the relationship between the collections and billing processes and thereby rectified the issue.

Elements and information that are shared between multiple departments and functions have to be studied and mapped to the new system, which requires planning and design of new process structures. If you don't do this properly, and you don't achieve good integration with existing systems, users may opt to revert to old systems, which are less hassle to use and may also result in greater productivity at present.

--> Failure #6. An inability or unwillingness to change.

The reluctance to change and adapt within an organization is also another human factor that causes much frustration to BPM implementation teams. It's human nature to want to continue working the way you've always worked. However, change is inevitable and, thus, has to be dealt with tactfully. Failure to do this will just render a new process that is generally unaccepted and therefore not exploited by the parties it's intended for. For instance, a new database management system that had been deployed as part and parcel of a BPM implementation project was eventually abandoned; the users were reluctant to adapt to the usage of the new system. Complacency and comfort, as well as a lack of management enforcement, resulted in the entire department reverting to its old processes, which they'd been following for years.

In order to avoid this, ease in adaptability needs to be established through user friendly functions that relate well to the previous system. At the same time you must take care not to emulate the previous system too closely to the point that it becomes more of a clone instead of a critical improvement.

In this sense, the best approach is to focus on process outputs and system designs that would attain these results. Furthermore, a migration plan and proper staff training needs to be implemented so as to thoroughly prepare users for the new system. This is done also to gain acceptance by placing them in a comfortable environment and providing them with a gradual transition from old to new.

--> Failure #7. A faulty management mindset.

A faulty mindset within the management team towards BPM implementations is also another factor leading to failures. As management effectiveness is primarily measured by profits and deliverables, any delays or hiccups in BPM initiatives may cause a frown among top executives and even the board of directors. In any BPM initiative, a certain level of risk is adopted by the company with regards to timely completion and ultimate success. As with any new initiatives that involve change, hiccups, delays as well as trials and errors are expected before a smooth flow of events can be expected.

Thus, the management team needs to understand and accept these risks before a project can commence. Otherwise, forcing an initiative to be completed prior to its being ready for a roll-out will just result in a sub-standard system that fails to live up to expectations. Patience in parenting a project through its infancy and growth by the management team is a key factor in producing a system that is robust, effective and stable. One of the approaches that a BPM implementation team can take is to submit timely reports and data so that their actions are supported and any delays are substantiated.

Foundation for Success

In the end, a strong combination of understanding, support, knowledge and cooperation within all factions in an organization form the core pillars for success in BPM projects. Failure to build this foundation will cause a shortfall in expected results and greater disappointments toward organizational initiatives that could otherwise bring achievements and advancements.

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