LEADERSHIP AND ARCHITECTURAL TECHNOLOGY

Leadership and Architectural Technology

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION3

2. ROLE OF THEORY5

3. CONTEXT OF TRANSFORMATION7

4. MODELING THE ENTERPRISE9

5. A THEORY OF ENTERPRISE TRANSFORMATION13

5.1. Value Deficiencies Drive Transformation14

5.2. Work Processes Enable Transformation15

5.3. Allocation of Attention and Resources18

5.4. Management Decision-Making19

5.5. Transformation Processes23

5.6. Summary of Theory24

6. CONCLUSIONS25

REFERENCES26

Leadership and Architectural Technology

1. INTRODUCTION

Enterprise transformation concerns change, not just routine change but fundamental change that substantially alters an organization's relationships with one or more key constituencies, e.g., customers, employees, suppliers, and investors. Transformation can involve new value propositions in terms of products and services, how these offerings are delivered and supported, and/or how the enterprise is organized to provide these offerings. Transformation can also involve old value propositions provided in fundamentally new ways. Transformation can be contrasted with business process improvement. Adoption of the principles of Total Quality Management [Deming, 1986] has resulted in many enterprises focusing on their business processes and devising means to continually improve these processes. The adoption of TQM may be transformative for an enterprise. However, as judged by the definition of transformation provided here, the ongoing use of TQM subsequent to implementation is not transformative. The whole point of TQM is to make continual change a routine undertaking.

Business Process Reengineering [Hammer and Champy, 1993] can be much more transformative.

Adoption of BPR has led to much fundamental redesign of business processes. This rethinking followed the guidance "don't automate; obliterate." In this way, both the adoption and implementation of BPR tends to be transformative, although success is, by no means, guaranteed. One can then apply the principles of TQM to continually improve the reengineered business processes.

Rather than routine, transformation tends to be discontinuous, perhaps even abrupt. Change does not occur cont inual ly, yielding slow and steady improvements. Instead, substantial changes occur intermittently, hopefully yielding significantly increased returns to the enterprise. Transformation and routine change converge when, as with BPR and TQM, the transformation involves fundamental new ways of pursuing routine change. This paper outlines a theory of enterprise transformation. The theory focuses on why and how transformation happens, as well as ways in which transformation is addressed and pursued in terms of work processes and the architecture of these processes. As later discussion elaborates, the theory argues for the following definition:

Enterprise transformation is driven by experienced and/or anticipated value deficiencies that result in significantly redesigned and/or new work processes as determined by management's decision making abilities, limitations, and inclinations, all in the context of the social networks of management in particular and the enterprise in general.

A variety of industry and corporate vignettes are used to illustrate the elements of this theory and definition. A portfolio of research initiatives are discussed in terms of how they can advance the proposed theory, while also enhancing practices of enterprise transformation.

2. ROLE OF THEORY

The study and pursuit of enterprise transformation is very much a transdisciplinary endeavor. The types of initiatives discussed later in this paper involve disciplines ranging from artists and architects, to engineers of all types and economists, as well as management, public policy, ...