Business Renovation Projects in Slovenia

The main goal of the paper is to present the characteristics of business renovation efforts in Slovenia. Renovation is presented as the highest level of strategy for managing change that commonly cannot be handled by continuous improvement and reengineering methods or organizational restructuring. The research is based on the questionnaire about BPR projects implemented in Slovenian organizations. The results of the research are analysed. The paper focuses on using business renovation concept, as well as on the necessity for developing an information system that will be able to successfully support renovated processes. It stresses necessity for changes in organizations. Organizations become more reactive and self-adaptive, faster to respond and capable of dealing with the changing environment. Introduction Business renovation (BR) or business process renovation and informatisation efforts integrate radical strategic methods of business process reengineering (BPR) and more progressive methods of continuous process improvement (CPI) with adequate information technology (IT) infrastructure strategies. Process renovation is a reengineering strategy that critically examines current business policies, practices and procedures, rethinks them through and then redesigns the mission-critical products, processes, and services (Prasad, 1999). In this paper, BR is presented as the highest level of strategy for managing change that commonly cannot be handled by continuous improvement and reengineering methods or organizational restructuring. BR argues for a balanced approach in which we attempt to manage realistic changes rather than always seeking radical change. According to Jacobson, we view BR as an umbrella concept for strategic information system planning (SISP), and both BPR and business improvement (Jacobson, 1995). For a thorough and effective renovation, organizations should combine radical shift (BPR) with those that permanently increase business efficiency and effectiveness (CPI). We observe that IT is now taking significant roles in business processes ± creating new needs, causing new product development, and commanding new procedures. Following full implementation of IT in an organization, these internal changes may also lead to broader shifts in products, markets, and society as a whole (Chan, 2000). The relationship and influence between BPR and IT strategies is a key part of the classic texts in the area (Davenport, 1993) (Hammer and Champy, 1993). In this paper we accept and expand this framework, present results or relevant surveys, and assess the current status of BR practices in Slovenia. Slovenia is one of the youngest European countries, having become an independent state in 1991 and is a full member of the Central European Free T h e r e s e a r c h r e g is te r fo r th is jo u r n a l is a v a i la b le a t http://www.mcbup.com/research_registers T h e cu r r e n t i s s u e a n d fu l l t e x t a r c h iv e o f t h is jo u rn a l i s a v a ila b le a t http://www.emerald-library .com/ft