A BPR case study at Honeywell

We embarked on a case study to explore one organization’s experiences with radical change for the purpose of uncovering how they achieved success. The organization we examined was Honeywell Inc. in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. From the interview data, we were able to devise a set of ten lessons to help others transform successfully. Two important lessons stand out above the rest. First, execution of a carefully developed change plan separates the high performers from less successful BPR projects. Second, recognition that dealing with change is difficult and complicated is not enough. Top management should make change management a top priority and communicate the change vision across the organization. Introduction Global competition is driving organizations to become leaner and more streamlined. Many organizations have turned to business process reengineering (BPR) as a means to radically change the way they conduct business. However, dramatic improvements have failed to materialize in many instances (Davenport, 1993; Hammer and Champy, 1993; Kotter, 1995). We thereby embark on a case study to deeply explore one organization’s experiences with radical change for the purpose of uncovering how they achieved success. The organization we examine is Honeywell Inc. in Phoenix, Arizona. From the data, we devise a set of lessons to help others transform successfully. Honeywell (IAC Plant, Phoenix, Arizona) The Honeywell industrial automation and control (IAC) business unit designs, manufactures, and configures the sophisticated TDC 3000X family of systems. These systems enable its customers (refineries, chemical plants, and paper mills around the world) to achieve world-class process-control capability. In late 1989, the management team began a three-year world-classmanufacturing (WCM) program to examine lagging performance results. WCM established ambitious goals for defect reduction, short-cycle production, and materials management. Specific goals included reducing defects by a factor of ten (1,000 percent) and cycle time by a factor of five (500 percent). WCM was created to provide resources and take a system-wide view of the plant. WCM supported a focused-factory environment that harnesses the The research register for this journal is available at http://www.mcbup.com/research_registers The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at http://www.emerald-library.com/ft