Contribution of Business Process Reengineering on Performance of Manufacturing Firms: A Case Study of Bralirwa Ltd.

Abstract

In the era of rapid changes in the markets, shorter product life cycles and consumers' high expectations and demands require fundamental changes in a firm's structure, culture and other management processes. Business Process Reengineering has been found to offer mechanisms for companies and organizations to adjust in order to remain competitive and profitable. However, manufacturing industries among other industries have not fully adopted Business Process Reengineering as a strategy for improving performance. This study investigated the contribution of business process re-engineering on organization performance in Rwanda. Specific objectives for the study included; establishing the contribution of organization structure reengineering on organization performance in Rwanda, to determine the contribution of job redesigning on organization performance in Rwanda, to examine the contribution of organization culture reengineering on organization performance in Rwanda. This study adopted a survey descriptive research design. Both primary and secondary data were used in the study. A total of 114 employees of Bralirwa formed the target population of this study. A sample size of 89 respondents was determined using Slovin's formula. Stratified random sampling procedure selected the sample that represented the entire population. These constituted of managers and non-managers and supportive staffs. This study used questionnaire as the data collection tool which consisted of both open and closed questions. Descriptive analysis was computed to generate frequencies and percentage of various variables. Inferential statistics was done through Pearson correlation analysis to determine if there exists any relationship between the variables. Further linear regression analysis was carried out to determine the percentage change in organizational performance that could be attributed to business process reengineering. Statistical package for social science was used as the appropriate tool for data analysis. Results were presented in tables, pie charts and graphs. The findings of this study suggested a positive significant relationship between organization performance and organizational Structure re-engineering (r =.625, p<0.05). The findings further indicated that a unit increase in the scores of organisation structure reengineering, would lead to a 0.522 increase in the scores of organizations performance, a unit increase in the scores of job redesigning would lead to a 0.445 increase in the score of organization performance while a unit increase in the scores of organisation culture reengineering would lead to a 0.601 increase in the score of organization performance. The study concluded that BPR has an effect on organization performance. Additionally, 71.8% of the variation in organization performance could be explained by all the three independent variables. Based on the findings the study concludes that business process reengineering measured in organizational structural re-engineering, job re-designing, and organizational culture have an immense contribution on organizational performance. Drawing from the conclusion the current study recommends that Organizations should embrace BPR, through team building, reviewing goals and objectives to enhance organizational performance