UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS: 2018/2019
EXAMINATION FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
BBIT309 BAC BUSINESS PROCESS RE-ENGINEERING
FULL TIME/PART TIME/DISTANCE LEARNING
DATE: APRIL, 2019 TIME: 2 HOURS
INSTRUCTIONS: Answer Question One & ANY OTHER TWO questions.
QUESTION ONE
a) Define Business process reengineering. (2Marks)
b) Distinguish between business process redesign and automation. (4Marks)
c) Discuss the principles of reengineering. (7Marks)
d) Describe the difference between BPR and TQM. (6Marks)
e) The purpose of reengineering is to “make all your processes the best-in-class.” Explain
the benefits of benchmarking in Business process reengineering context.
(6Marks)
f) According to many in the BPR field, reengineering should focus on processes and not be
limited to thinking about the organizations, after all organizations are only as effective as
their processes, discuss (5Marks)
QUESTION TWO
a) BPR is often used by companies on the brink of disaster to cut costs and return to
profitability. The danger is that during this process the company may slash its capacity
for future growth. Discuss. (5Marks)
b) Although information technology plays a central role in reengineering, “the IS
organization in many companies is unable to deliver.” Discuss (5Marks)
c) Why must BPR be accompanied by strategic planning, which must address leveraging IT
as a competitive tool? (5Marks)
d) BPR can achieve a radical improvement, but is also very risky. Briefly explain the problems
experienced in business process reengineering implementation. (5Marks)
QUESTION THREE
a) Strategic decision making calls for process modelling to find out what is the right alternative for
organizational change. What are the four conditions for good decision support systems?
(8 Marks)
b) Discuss the architectural characteristics of a business process.
(8Marks)
c) Explain the impact of BPR on organization structure. (4Marks)
QUESTION FOUR
a) Discuss process management in relation to BPR
(5 Marks)
b) Briefly explain each of the five levels of Information Technology enabled business
transformation. Give examples of each
(5 Marks)
c) What is the role of Information Technology in BPR and especially in managing
organisational change and interdependencies
(5 Marks)
d) What are the factors that lead to failure of BPR in organizations
(5 Marks)
QUESTION FIVE
a) The field of knowledge management has gained currency in recent times due to a wide
variety of reasons. Outline some of this reasons
(6 Marks)
b) The use of collaborative tools can enhance any Business Process Reengineering/ Design
effort. Discuss
(6 Marks)
c) Describe the tools used in BPR and outline their application areas.
(8 Marks)
