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MPM701 – Business Process Management Trimester 2, 2019 Written Assignment DUE DATE AND TIME: Week 7, Friday 30th August, 2019, 11:59PM PERCENTAGE OF FINAL GRADE: 40% HURDLE DETAILS: Not Applicable Learning Outcome Details Unit Learning Outcome (ULO) Graduate Learning Outcome (GLO) ULO 1: Relate the principles and frameworks of BPM to the achievement of organisational strategies and goals. GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities ULO 2: Generate solutions to organisational problems using the tools and methodologies of BPM. GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities GLO5: Problem solving ULO 3: Critically evaluate the appropriateness of enterprise systems to enable BPM and change. GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities GLO4: Critical thinking ULO 4: Design and deliver informed recommendations about process change to a variety of organisational audiences. GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities GLO2: Communication GLO3: Digital literacy GLO5: Problem solving Assessment Feedback: Students who submit their work by the due date will receive their marks and feedback on CloudDeakin approximately three weeks after the due date. Description / Requirements Business processes permeate all aspects of business and it is arguable that if a business is not adopting a business process management approach to realise its strategies, and its subsequent objectives and goals, then it may reduce its chances for success - even its very survival. By taking a business process management approach, organisations can improve their chances of succeeding in their quests for sustained competitive advantages through greater efficiencies, quality, innovation and customer responsiveness. In, what is now, a Deakin's Bachelor of Commerce and MBA are internationally EPAS accredited. Deakin Business School is accredited by AACSB. https://www.efmd.org/index.php/accreditation-main/epas http://www.aacsb.edu/ 2 highly competitive, global, interconnected and uncertain business environment, there has never been a better time to draw on the advantages offered by applying the BPM discipline to any business or organisation anywhere. Objective Upon successfully completing this assignment you will have demonstrated that you can provide clear written advice, and recommendations for change, to a business owner, in relation to business process management (BPM). Your advice will offer the business owner several reasons for adopting a business process management approach including: an explanation as to what the current business processes are and why they should be redesigned a proposed redesign solution any special considerations that need to be taken into account to deliver the proposed solution successfully succinct recommendations In providing your advice to the business owner you will take into account various perspectives and circumstances encompassing the business. Overview of Pete’s Dynatrix Pty Ltd Pete Playwright is in his late forties and is the inventor of the Dynatrix. The Dynatrix is a hand-held device, similar in appearance to a mobile phone. It sits in the palm of the hand during exercise so that resting and active pulse rates can be easily taken. One of its many features includes a very advanced digital interface, two terabytes of storage capacity, full internet connectivity, an inbuilt heart-rate monitor, oxygen readout, pedometer, blood pressure reader and inbuilt scales recording weight to within 500 grams. As well as these features, the Dynatrix includes a database that tracks physical movement during exercise and gives the reader immediate access to a ten week integrated personal training and nutrition program. The Dynatrix has attracted enormous popularity from a wide range of people in various walks of life but most particularly, with people aged roughly between 25-50 who are interested in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Pete commenced working on his Dynatrix invention during his twenties. His family had a history of medical problems including diabetes, heart failure and obesity and he believed that many of these problems could be prevented if he were able to invent a device which made it easy for people to monitor and continually improve their health. Pete had also seen a number of his close friends develop severe medical problems because they did not pay enough attention to exercise. Following years of testing, he finally launched his Dynatrix in a new business that he established in 2013. Pete’s business is a company called Pete’s Dynatrix Pty. Ltd. The business manufactures the Dynatrix but obtains parts from external suppliers. Most parts suppliers are located in Australia but one is based in Singapore (supplying the Dynatrix’s rubberised casing) and another in Hong Kong (supplying the digital screen and the Dynatrix’s special internal power supply). The Hong Kong supplier is the only company in the world capable of manufacturing this critical component. Pete has built the business to perform most major functions that are typical of a medium sized enterprise. The company’s organisational structure chart is shown below: 3 The departmental directors are named in their respective function boxes in the chart. The number of employees working under each director is shown in each of the function boxes respectively (numbers of employees in each department include the directors of those departments). The sales function is also charged with marketing and service responsibilities; service requests though are usually referred to the logistics department. The accounting function is also charged with finance responsibilities. The production function manufactures the Dynatrix and manages the warehouse. The firm has a centralised IT function which provides some of the firm’s IT needs. Dynatrix Pty Ltd currently employs 56 individuals, including Pete. The business experienced strong growth in its first few years and this enabled it to grow quickly. In 2017 things started to change. Sales were down and profits reduced (see profit table below). By 2018 things were worse. By mid-year, consumers were focusing on necessities rather than luxury items and panicking about what the future might hold for them financially. 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Revenue $m 8 9 10 12 10 9 8.0 Expenses $m 3 3 3 3.2 5 5.2 5.6 Profit $m 5 6 7 8.8 5 3.8 2.4 Sales of the Dynatrix essentially relied upon word of mouth communication and a solid marketing strategy had not been developed at all. Worse still, Pete had never put much time or effort into developing streamlined and computer based business processes and rather, resorted to many paper based manual methods to get things done, including purchasing material, controlling production, satisfying customer orders and managing all the accounts. R&D Tim Thinkit (2 employees) Accounting James Recordit (6 employees) Sales Nick Sellit (7 employees) Purchasing Bette Buyit (7 employees) Logistics Dave Deliverit (8 employees) HR Cath Hirit (10 employees) Jan Makit (14 employees) CEO ICT Pete Playwright Ivan Pad (1 employee) Organisational Chart 4 Pete’s business strategy has always centred on differentiation from potential competitors such as heart rate monitor manufacturers and portable blood pressure monitor manufacturers. He underpins this strategy with a focus on quality and customer responsiveness. He realises that most of his competitive advantage comes from innovation – no other company has been able to match the Dynatrix’s looks and features in a single unit. He also realises that, given a recent rise in customer complaints about delays in receiving orders, his firm’s customer responsiveness is waning and needs redress. Pete wishes to maintain his strategic stance but knows that organisational change must occur urgently if it is to work as intended. Pete decided to hold a meeting with his directors. They assembled during the morning around the board room table where Pete asked “What happens when a customer places an order for a Dynatrix?” (Pete’s question assumed that the group would understand that a customer might be a wholesale or retail customer or an individual purchasing directly from the company either online (via eBay) or via phone or fax. Pete’s Dynatrix Pty Ltd does not have a retail store front). Nick spoke up and said, “well, we write up a sales order form and send it to production.” Jan said, “when we get to the sales order form, usually within a week, we physically check to see if there is a Dynatrix (or number of Dynatrixs’) in stock that suits the configuration required and if there is, we pack it, label it and write stock details onto the sales form and send it over to Dave’s guys to ship it out and we also send a duplicate copy to James so he can organise the accounts. We keep a triplicate in a box in my office – I guess I should get a filing cabinet one of these days, last week Leanne tripped over the box and I had papers all over the place, half of which ended up in the bin! Ah well, we shoved most of them all back into the box in about two minutes, not a problem! I also keep ‘post it’ notes of sales orders on my office whiteboard – these usually match the triplicates in the box so I don’t need to fiddle with the papers in the box.” When the box is full, we send it to James in Accounting. Then Dave said, “well, when we get the sales order from Nick, we sign it and make notations of the date and time, then, when we pack the order onto one of the trucks for local delivery or get Toll to collect it for interstate or international delivery, we forward the sales order along with a shipping note to James in accounting. We don’t know what he does with it but we’ve always done this. We keep a photocopy of the shipping note in a ring binder in the warehouse office. When the 5 photocopier is broken we just slap a ‘post it’ note on the order in the folder. This seems to work well because we don’t lose the details for many orders”. Then James spoke up and said, “when we receive the sales order from Nick we file it and wait for the shipping order to come in from Dave. We usually cross check all sales orders and shipping orders that are sitting on our desks every day to ascertain whether an invoice action can be taken. When we see a sales order and a shipping order for the same sale (which