MGT 218 Chapter 4: An investigation into how Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) and Lean concepts could improve the effectiveness of Sheffield University and give them a strategic edge.

4.1 Introduction
The University of Sheffield (TUoS) is currently among the world’s top higher learning institutions, largely due to its high quality staff members and modern infrastructure. To maintain and improve its status among the world’s elite, it is fundamental for the University to understand and implement Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) to its existing processes. BPR can be defined as the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service, and speed (Hammer & Champy, 1990). This chapter aims to dwell deeper into how changing or adding on to existing processes and systems can benefit the University and its stakeholders
4.2 The Current State Of The University’s Systems and Processes
In the past, many universities have restructured the way they ran their business. One good example would be the Montana State University in the United States, which in 2006 reviewed their old financial and administrative processes and subsequently identified areas for improvement. As a result, they managed to increase overall efficiency and eliminate unnecessary costs.
The University of Sheffield currently runs SAP software, and have been doing so since 2007. One way the University is currently implementing SAP’s Enterprise Resource Planning service is to feed data from its fee income, wage payments, and supplier payments into a centralised location, providing real time budget management information. Many business processes were also re-mapped and moved online during the initial implementation along with many other extra services, such as its job