Triggers for a BPI Effort

Business change can take many forms--including new technologies, shifts in customer preferences, and the emergence of new competitors.

A BPI effort can be triggered by several types of events.  These include inefficiencies or problematic performance.  For instance, Kara a manger at a regional sales office for a large consumer goods company, realizes that the office's sales figures are 5 percent lower than those of other regional offices.

Her staff work hard, but they're not achieving their goals.  Kara decides to examine key processes--such as the way her staff qualifies sales leads and sets up customer accounts--to see whether any of these processes could be changed in order to increase the sales figures.

Major changes in the business landscape can also trigger a BPI effort.  Business change can take many forms--including new technologies, shifts in customer preferences, and the emergence of new competitors.  For example, Marcus, a manger in his company's human resources department, is intrigued by the possibilities the Internet presents.  He realizes that providing the means for employees to make their yearly benefits changes online would help the company save time and money.  Marcus sets out to review the way the HR department currently caries out its work and to develop ideas for using the Internet to introduce new efficiency to as many processes as possible.

ACTION POINT:  Consider the inefficiencies, problems and major changes your business is facing and the processes that can be changed to address them.