Developing measures to assess the extent of sustainable competitive advantage provided by business process reengineering

Journal of the Academy of Business and Economics, April, 2003 by R. Srinivasan

2.2 Study Objectives

This study aims to develop asset of measures for the construct, Sustainable Competitive Advantage provided by Business Reengineering (SCORE). It is one of the first steps in a program of substantive and methodological research on the performance impacts of BPR. In order to attain this objective, the SCORE developed by this study must be empirically validated, compared with alternative measures, and if acceptable, subjected to careful replication. The process of developing a construct measure that is used here is based on (Churchill's 1979) approach. The study adopts the comparative approach and aims at linking conceptual definition and empirical indicators SCORE.

The Process of Developing Measures--This study is a planned methodological research program based on (Churchill's 1979) guidelines for developing measures that have the desirable reliability & validity properties. The eight-step process recommended by Churchill is,

* Specifying the domain of the construct

* Generating a sample of items

* Collecting initial data

* Purifying measures

* Collecting new data

* Assessing reliability

* Assessing validity

* Developing norms

2.3 The Domain of the SCORE construct

A construct, also called a theoretical concept, is defined as an abstract entity that represents the 'true' nature of a phenomenon. The first step in construct operationalizations is to delineate its domain. One major factor that largely circumscribes the domain of SCORE is the level of impact of BPR.

The impact of BPR is experienced at different levels in Business Enterprise. The impact of BPR can be at three levels (1) internal i.e. impacting the efficiency & effectiveness of organizational structures and processes so as to achieve goals and objectives, (2) competitive i.e. the effect on the ability to outmaneuver competition in the industry in which the organization does business and (3) business portfolio i.e. effect on which industries to complete in and how to position the organization in these industries.

SCORE has defined at the level of competitive strategy, the level of organizations competing in an industry, because competitive advantage, as commonly defined (Portor 1980) is most directly manifested at this level. Thus, the traits underlying SCORE pertain to the impact of BPR in the competitive position of the organization in the industry.

Within the above domain, the following conceptual definition was adopted: "SCORE" refers to benefits accruing to a Business Enterprise, in terms of changes in the Enterprise's competitive position, that are caused by BPR program. As described above, the phrase "changes in competitive position" includes a variety of effects that enable the Enterprise to compete better.

Literature describes a number of different types of benefits that may be gained from a BPR program. A review of these yielded a comprehensive initial list of different potential benefits. However, many were judged to be components of the same underlying theme and thus grouped together; e.g., cost leadership (Portor 1980), internal and interorganizational efficiency Bakos & Treacy 1986), comparative efficiency (Bakos 1987) and productivity (Synnott 1987).