Research Paper

FORUM

Information technology in the

European construction industry

The application of workflow management

and business process reengineering
Hector C. Sikazwe

Keywords
Workflow, Workflow management, Business process reengineering, Automation, Continuous process improvement

in general) have dramatically improved Reengineering and Workflow. This

ABSTRACT
Many organisations struggle with the
coordination of work. For example,
procedures that are available on paper
are not, or only partly, used in practice;
work is stuck on desks of people for too
long, task responsibilities are unclear
and much effort is spent in corrective
actions on procedural errors.
To improve such situations, an
understanding of the business process is
necessary.
The business challenge is to exploit the
possibilities that improve and affect
work coordination.
Workflow management is considered as
one of the essential techniques for
providing efficiency and effectiveness
for the Construction office.
It allows the analysis of current
workflow in order to detect potential
bottlenecks and the design of new
workflow patterns so those
shortcomings can be eliminated.
It is a new research area rooted in office
automation, business administration,
data communication; information
system and computer supported
cooperative work.
INTRODUCTION
During the last decade, Construction
firms (Companies and enterprises that
reside within the Construction Industry
information bases and information
processing capabilities.
Complex tools with advanced features
are currently available for most
operations and contracts that are
embarked on.
PURPOSE
The central thrust of this paper is the
question of workflow analysis in the
Construction Industry. The paper deals
with how to realize the full potential of
workflow in a practical construction
process situation. In order to investigate
and manipulate workflow in the
construction industry, this paper
proposes the model of an organization’s
current workflow to be used for
documenting, understanding and
communicating the coordination in
business activities. This particular model
is viewed to be the natural basis for
Business Process Reengineering (BPR).
BPR AND WORKFLOW
IMPACT
The biggest change brought about by
Business Process Reengineering (BPR)
is the orientation of construction firms
toward processes. Workflow, by its very
nature, is process oriented. This makes
Workflow in general an excellent
candidate for implementing the results
of BPR. Swenson et al (1994) has
examined in detail the relationship
between Business Process
paper draws on their findings.
Workflow is concerned with the
automation of processes where
documents, information or tasks are
passed between participants according to
a defined set of rules to achieve, or
contribute to, an overall business goal.
Whilst workflow may be manually
organised, in practice most workflow is
normally organised within the context of
an Information Technology system to
provide computerised support for the
procedural automation. (Schal, 1994)
Hale & Lavery defines Workflow
management (WfM) as being the
productive computer system that
manages the flow of work among
participants according to defined
procedures consisting of a number of
tasks. The authors mention that
workflow is supposed to co-ordinates
users, systems and participants, together
with the appropriate data resources,
which maybe directly accessible by the
system or off line so as to achieve
defined objects by set deadlines (Hale &
Lavery, 1991). This co-ordination
involves passing tasks from participants
in correct sequence, ensuring that that
all fulfil their required contributions
taking default actions where necessary.
Other researchers have referred to
workflow systems as, “… an application
level program which helps to define,
execute, co-ordinate and monitor the
flow of work within organisations or
workgroups. In order to do this, a
workflow system must contain a

Workflow technology in the Construction industry

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computerised representation of the
structure of the work procedures and
activities.” (Ellis & Nutt, 1993:3-4)
The implementation of WfM and BPR
technology is based on knowledgeable
design teams. Achieving seamless
knowledge quality in the design teams is
vital because co-operation within the
design team still rely to a great extent on
the different levels of Information
technologies applied in the individual
firms that form part of these teams.
The complexity of this scenario invokes
a protracted analysis of how to arrive at
appropriate available workflow
methodologies to be employed for the
industry.
From the existing research findings,
there are various methodologies that can
be exploited and applied within the
Industry. There are though, basic
prerequisites for the implementation to
be successful.
NEED FOR GOOD
INFORMATION BASES
Research work shows that while
automated tools heavily support
construction work, and heavily
mechanised and revolutionary gains in
efficiency have been seen, processes are
not as efficiently supported as required.
Organisations find that their
fundamental problem is their inability to
manage efficiently the construction
business processes (Burati 1989). The
lack of standardisation of processes in
the industry compels individual players
in the industry to spend more and more
time looking for information and less
and less time in exploiting it.
The Eagan report (1998) observes that
many UK construction firms and
companies are taking initiatives to
redesign and optimise their processes
through many different techniques like
Workflow management, (WfM) Total
quality management (TQM) Kaizen and
BPR. Schal (1996) observes that
whatever the technique selected, it is
clear that to a great extent, this change
can only take place due to the improved
support being provided by new
information technologies (IT).
Hammer, (1994) sees Workflow and
GroupWare1 as enabling technologies
for the improvement of Construction
process execution. These technologies
can be applied with or without previous
reengineering experiences. Though the
analysis required for their implantation
always implies some form of process re-
engineering activities, these
technologies have in many instances
been misapplied. This raises the
question of choice of methodology.
METHODOLOGY
There are many methodologies in the
market for process analysis for
workflow management and BPR
purposes within the Construction
Industry. Though many, they all fall into
two main schools of thought:
(a) Continuous Process Improvement
The main proponent is Davenport
(1993). This is based: on refining
existing processes through removing
parts/portions of processes that are of
low value and replacing them with value
added ones.
(b) Clean Slate approach
This is Hammer’s theory that existing
processes have not worked and as such
they are obsolete and should be replaced
by new ones to bring about the desired
radical improvement in an
organisation’s performance. Hammer &
Stanton (1995: p 3-5) defines Business
Process Reengineering as “the
fundamental rethinking and radical
redesign of business processes to
achieve improvements of business
performance in terms of cost, service
and speed.”
1 1
GroupWare is a term used to describe a class of
computer technology that enables information
sharing, co-ordination and collaboration between
groups of people who might be in close proximity
or globally spaced
Workflow technology in the Construction industry
Research Paper
There are though, various issues that
need to be considered when applying
any methodology to the construction
process. Consider the following
attributes of a typical construction firm
that would benefit from new technology:
• Every construction project has
processes that can be transformed by
workflow automation. Many of those
processes are in those parts of the
business with the largest financial risk
and potential gain if managed properly.
• Every construction company
comprises low-risk processes that can
equally like high risk processes be
automated if identified and when they
are found to be of value to the entire
process,
• Every construction company has
processes that can take advantage of
GroupWare and workflow management
technology. For instance, the stores
department needs to access and share
updated information on availability of
materials, reordering and disbursement
transactions. This department would
benefit immensely from automation and
workflow solutions,
• Every company needs to capitalise
on its existing technology know-how,
and needs to observe and assess its
processes with intent to maximise its
operations.
On the other hand, there are serious
factors that need to be taken into
account when reengineering an
enterprise. These factors could be:
• That the company also has ongoing
business that must not be disrupted by
new way of doing business when
reengineering occurs. The fact that BPR
instigates complete annihilation of the
business process of the firm in particular
projects, there are ongoing alternative
projects that might not need their
processes to be redesigned in any way.
These must go on without disruption.
Business process reengineering is
incidental in construction projects. Each
project process is unique though it is the
same firm that carries out the work.
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• The company has large investments
in legacy systems that must be preserved
though the new ways of operating and
the inclusion of new technology will
definitely constrain the firm to obliterate
most existing processes.
• The company has workers that will
use the new system and must be
convinced that the main purpose of the
new system is not to prune them off.
This downsizing fear causes workers to
become insecure and a threat to the
enterprise. Training and knowledge
dissemination is important for an
enterprise that opts to reengineer. For
the construction industry, the
appropriate methodology or solution
would be to adopt a global methodology
that takes into account technical aspects
as well as non-technical ones. It must
take advantage of commonly accepted
benefits of the new technology to:
a. Boost its introduction,
b. It must be aware of potential fears
(rational and irrational ones) within
the industry,
c. It must be adaptable to the maturity
of the organisation with respect to
the new technology and
accompany the organisation on the
path towards becoming a mature IT
oriented organisation,
d. And it must take advantage of the
technology itself to educate future
workers and focus the penetration
of the technology using itself.
PROPOSED
METHODOLOGY
This paper proposes the Continuous
Process Improvement (CPI) as advanced
by Davenport, (1996). CPI appears to be
the most appropriate methodology for
the construction industry when
considered from the angle that the nature
of the industry is diverse and complex.
Due to the legal and contractual
arrangement that the Industry is
orchestrated in, it would be
inappropriate to apply Hammer’s
approach of business process
reengineering which suggest
annihilation of the existing processes by
starting afresh on a clean slate
Davenport’s methodology of application
of BPR does not suggest to firms to
completely discard the previous way of
doing things and to start creating the
process from the scratch2. CPI suggests
applying BPR based on the original
process, shape and culture of the
organisation and also by continuous
improvements of the process according
to audit data gathered during process
execution.
This methodology proposes a global
framework that comprises both technical
and non-technical aspects. There are no
magic recipes in this methodology, but
has some indications that force the
process analyst to consider all the
aspects that will be important in the
implantation of business process
reengineering.
At a first glance, the CPI school of
thought is seen as negative as it seems
only problems are identified. The
methodology tries to identify in the early
stage the potential problems that may
appear during process execution. During
initial stages of implementation, CPI
suggests that an organisation should
scrutinise itself in the light of it’s:
a) Motivations for introducing the
required technology,
b) The expected benefits and
c) The potential risks and barrier to the
technology to be introduced.
These will have a major influence on the
relative importance of the various
phases of the methodology applied.
Before engaging a professional
consulting company or external
expertise to help in defining the
2
Experiences in Norway Post and Anaya, users of
CPI technology, have shown that it is both workers
and the organisation are more confident in the
process improvement if the previous way of doing
things is considered.
Workflow technology in the Construction industry
Research Paper
methodology strategy, the company
should carefully evaluate its current
position. In particular, the following
aspects must be evaluated:
d) Objectives must be clear
e) Scrutinise current project in which
the new technology is to be applied.
Is there time available to introduce
and deploy the technology?
f) Expected benefits must be ranked.
g) Potential risks (which are many in
the industry) must also be ranked to
take in time appropriate actions.
h) The existing formal description of
business procedures (normally
informal)
i) The organisational culture and the
importance of existing legacy
applications and requirements
concerning their integration with
process to be automated.
j) The education of the company
management and company staff
with respect to the technology
k) The financial aspect is important as
the level of sponsor counts to the
quality of project implementation.
Within this method, construction
organisations avoid the problems of
'change programmes' by concentrating
on “process alignment”. Recognising
that different players in the process have
different roles and responsibilities is
firstly related to the processes in which
these players work.
In CPI senior managers implement the
task of process alignment by a series of
BPR steps that are distinct but clearly
overlapped in nature.
This recommended path develops a self-
reinforcing cycle of commitment,
communication, and culture change in
the organisation. The steps are as
follows.
1. Gain commitment to change through
the organisation of the top team.
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2. Develop a shared vision and mission
of the business and of what change is
required.
3. Define the measurable objectives,
which must be agreed by the team, as
being the quantifiable indicators of
success in terms of the mission.
4. Break down the critical processes into
sub-processes, activities and tasks and
form the teams around these.
5. Re-design, monitor and adjust the
process-alignment in response to
difficulties in the change process.
CPI creates slow change. This change is
expected to create conditions and
circumstances that did not exist before.
The business team is seen to be a
“learning organisation” capable of
adapting to a changing competitive
environment. A learning organisation
aims to create a self-perpetuating
momentum that changes the culture of
the organisation as a whole.
The aim of CPI piecemeal application is
to create a completely different
environment with different attributes.
The environment created has norms,
values and attitudes that underpin
behaviours that are oriented to address
continual improvement and are
constantly questioning processes. This
culture embraces human resources
development on the one hand and
systems development (including BPR)
on the other. For without addressing the
systems of an organisation, CPI has no
foundation.
The organisation created learns to
continually monitor and modify its
behaviour to maintain the change-
sensitive environment. Critics and
traditional hierarchical managers of
course, find it difficult to accept these
changes and are incapable of making the
adjustments, in spite of all the direction,
support and peer pressure brought about
by the process alignment principles.
Replacement of these managers and
possible future saboteurs who cannot
function in the new organisation
becomes inevitable after they have been
given the opportunity to make the
required change.
For such new organisation to be
realised, it takes time and can be
frustrating for the implementers. It also
produces anxiety amongst the
employees, as they have no information
of who would be replaced next due to
the furtive nature in which the new
technology is implemented
CONCLUSION
The construction industry has been at
the crossroads for some time and has
lagged behind other industries in the
integration of new ways of working. The
need to have appropriate methodologies
for the implementation of approved
workflow solutions for the elusive
formal construction process is important
and should be researched into further.
Appropriate research into the choice of
workflow methodologies should take
pre-eminence in the research for
solutions for the construction industry.
The use of Davenport’s ‘CPI’ is
currently preferred to Hammer’s ‘Clean
slate’ due to the level of research that
has been devoted to by the proponents
of the school of thought.
The construction industry needs to
address investment into emerging
technologies and appropriate training for
the construction labour force for the
industry to become responsive to the
new work culture. It is only through
further research that the industry will
benefit from the emerging management
innovations being applied.
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