Hammer and Champy, as cited by Rafael Rodriquez and Jasmin Acuña in the article entitled “Reengineering: A Path to Change”, talk about two companies, namely Hallmark and Ford Motors that undergone the reengineering process. For Hallmark, before a greeting card is perfected it has to pass through several segments of the company. Any revisions, no matter how small it seems, create a huge delay for the company’s processes. The management, after recognizing the problem, then decided to put up independent teams that will be focus in the creation of a new greeting card. In Management Accounting, they refer to such teams as a Responsibility Center. The reengineering procedure that was adapted by the Hallmark’s management worked perfectly as reflected by a more efficient and cost-effective means of production. The same reengineering procedure was also adapted in the For Motors Company thereby increasing its efficiency.
San Miguel Corporation, a local example of a company that has reengineered itself was pictured by Rodriguez and Acuña as an entity that was able to down size the number of its employees by adapting its own reengineering procedures. An example that was given would be that of a particular bottling department in San Miguel that was able to downsize its employees from 300 to only 24 upon the acquisition of new equipments that would speed up its operation and the adoption of new procedures. Another example that was given was the implementation of a “pull system” in San Miguel where many functions that require many employees before is now single handedly operated by only one salesman whom the company provided a lap top with a data base management software and a van to take orders from independent customers. Such procedure reduced the need for warehouses and redundant employees since the software was able to create an optimized route for the delivery of the ordered goods.
Edgar Schein on the other hand, talks about six procedures to achieve organizational effectiveness. They are 1) sensing the external and internal environment, 2) Importing information, 3) changing processes and procedures, 4) stabilizing internal change, 5) exporting products and services and 6) getting feedbacks. Following Schein’s procedures, a company would be able to adapt to global trends.
Colgate-Palmolive in terms of restructuring itself was able to promote a lower hierarchy structure for its employee. Ms. Annette Santiago, the HR head of SMART is also proud to say that they were able to do the same since a lower hierarchy structure promotes openness to its employees. A lower hierarchy also promotes transparency since the gap between management and employees are bridged and the employees can easily open up questions pertaining to the company.
The IBM Sales Executive for the Asia-Pacific Region announce the bold move IBM is about to under take by instituting a new procedure in database storage, this is in line with their own reengineering schemes. Thus, most companies now are open to change, those that are not maybe gone by now or maybe inexistent by tomorrow.
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