Search results

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the business process reengineering (BPR) implementation process adopted by organisations grounded in the actual project-level realities. The findings are used to propose a BPR implementation process that can be adopted by organisations to effectively reengineer their processes.

A thorough literature review was used to first develop a conceptual BPR implementation process comprising three key phases and five steps. Then, four case studies were conducted in organisations that have successfully undertaken BPR projects to explore the actual project-level implementation processes. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with respondents who have been actively involved in the different steps of the BPR implementation processes to collect data within the selected organisations.

Altogether 30 activities which are to be carried out throughout the BPR implementation process were identified. Findings disclosed that the minor differences in the activities being performed throughout the BPR implementation process are due to the lack of homogenous characteristics, i.e. type of the process reengineered, form of reengineering and approach for implementing BPR projects.

This paper puts forward a comprehensive view on the BPR implementation process including the key phases, steps and the sequence of activities to be followed. In doing so, the paper addresses a clear gap in literature that calls for a comprehensive model to assist during the BPR implementation to achieve the desired results.

Currently, most of the organisations that undertake business process reengineering (BPR) projects with the intention of enhancing their business performance are encountering several issues throughout their endeavours. As these BPR implementation issues are perceived as one of the key contributory factors leading to BPR project failures, it is crucial to adopt timely strategies to overcome these issues. Hence, this study is focused on identifying the strategies to be adopted to overcome BPR implementation issues.

Four case studies were conducted in organisations that have successfully implemented BPR projects within last five years. In total, 14 semi-structured interviews were conducted among the different stakeholders who got involved in the selected BPR projects for identifying the issues faced and the strategies that they have adopted during their project implementation.

Study derived twenty-seven issues faced by the Sri Lankan organisations during different phases of BPR projects, and forty-five unique strategies to deal with these derived BPR implementation issues.

This study contributes to the field by exploring the issues in implementing BPR projects that should be given enough consideration to ensure the success of BPR projects in the Sri Lankan context along with the strategies to overcome the issues encountered throughout them. It is expected that the findings of this study would be useful in ensuring the success of future BPR projects.

Among the existing buildings, hotels use as much as 50% of their total expenses on energy and offer significant opportunities for energy efficiency improvement. Yet, comparatively the level of implementation of energy retrofits (ER) in hotels appear to be low. This has been mainly attributed, inter alia, to the absence of clearly defined process for ensuring the delivery of ER and lack of proactive guidance for project teams to make right decisions. Hence, this study aims to propose an effective decision-making process, which could support the successful adoption and implementation of in-house-led ER projects in existing hotel buildings.

Two in-depth case studies were carried out focussing on ER projects led by in-house teams in existing hotel buildings. Data was collected via 14 semi-structured interviews and was analysed through code-based content analysis.

The decision-making process for ER projects led by in-house teams was developed, which presents 39 key activities to be performed and 16 key decisions to be made. The parties responsible for these identified actions and decisions as well as the points at which each decision should be made to ensure the success of ER projects was also identified.

A total of 21 new activities and 10 decisions relevant for in-house team led ER decision-making processes previously not found in literature were identified. It is hoped that the decision-making process developed in this study will serve as a roadmap for the effective adoption and implementation of ER in existing hotel buildings.

Despite their energy conservation potential, still existing buildings are slow in embracing building energy efficiency retrofits (BEER), mainly because of the absence of a clearly defined process to deliver the BEER projects, and the lack of proactive guidance for project teams. Further, the identification of factors that can facilitate BEER projects is also important to ensure the project success. This is particularly true in energy service company (ESCO)-led projects. Hence, this study aims at investigating the decision-making process, including the motivators for the successful execution of each stage in implementing BEER when projects are outsourced to a third party.

An in-depth case study was carried out to investigate the decision-making process and motivators in implementing BEER in a selected hotel building. Seven semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect the required data within the case.

Study disclosed the 13 key decisions made and 37 key activities performed in each stage of the project. A total of 19 motivators for the successful execution of the respective stages were also elicited. Ultimately, the research findings are mapped against the five key stages of BEER decision-making process.

The outcome of this study will provide the industry practitioners a basis for the effective adoption and implementation of BEER in existing hotel buildings when an external contractor is involved.

Existing buildings encompass the largest segment of the built environment and, hence, have become a key target for energy retrofits (ER) to substantially reduce global energy usage. The success of ER projects is closely linked to the effective involvement of various stakeholders within the decision-making process. This paper aims to investigate different stakeholders and their involvement throughout the decision-making process of ER projects.

Two successfully implemented ER projects in existing hotel buildings were selected as cases to gain novel insights into the key stakeholders to be involved along with their functions and roles in five different stages of the ER decision-making process. To collect required data, in total 11 semi-structured interviews were conducted with stakeholders involved in different stages of the decision-making process in the respective case studies. Data was analysed using code-based content analysis with the aid of NVivo computer software.

Altogether, 18 stakeholders and 7 roles reflective of the nature of their involvement in the respective stages were established. Findings disclosed that the nature of the project, level of knowledge, expertise and commitment of internal staff, type of ownership of the facility and mode of financing have significant influence on involvement of different stakeholders in ER projects.

The findings of this study are useful in enhancing the successful adoption and implementation of ER through timely and effective involvement and integration of stakeholders.

The success of energy retrofits (ER) projects is highly dependent on the involvement of right stakeholders at the right stage. So far, little insight is available from previous literature on the involvement of different stakeholders during various stages of the ER decision-making process, and their roles and functions in the respective stages. This is specifically true in the context of Energy Service Company (ESCO) led ER projects, which is an emerging trend in the current context. Hence, this paper aims to investigate the roles and functions of stakeholders during different stages of an ESCO-led ER project in the hotel sector.

An in-depth case study was conducted in a selected hotel building to gain insights into the roles and functions of stakeholders throughout the project stages. To collect the required data, face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven selected respondents within the case.

The study identified nine key stakeholders that were involved during five different project stages along with their functions. Based on these identified functions, four main roles (i.e. decision-maker, performer, monitor/observer, and supporter) emerged that were reflective of the nature of the stakeholders' involvement in different stages of the decision-making process. Owner/client, facilities manager (FM), ESCO and architect attached to ESCO emerged as the key “decision-makers” during project implementation process.

The outcomes of this research would be useful in ensuring the proactive involvement of all the identified stakeholders in respective project stages of ESCO led ER projects in the hotel sector.

Despite the pressures around the world to retrofit existing buildings to have higher energy performance, still the level of adoption and implementation of Building Energy Efficiency Retrofits (BEER) appear comparatively low. The purpose of this paper is to explore the barriers that affect the successful implementation of BEER in actual project level executions and identify strategies to overcome such barriers.

In total, two case studies were conducted in selected hotel buildings to explore the barriers that hamper the adoption and implementation of BEER in the local context and in turn identify the strategies to overcome them. Altogether 11 semi-structured interviews were conducted with respondents involved in different phases of these BEER projects. The data were analysed using code-based content analysis.

Altogether 38 barriers were identified under the three main project phases. Furthermore, the study revealed 77 strategies to overcome the identified barriers, classified as individual, organisational and national level strategies.

This paper has made a unique contribution to the field by identifying the barriers in each phase of BEER projects and proposing strategies to be taken at different levels to overcome them. The findings of this study will provide a basis for setting up country-wide and organisation-wide strategies for successfully improving the energy efficiency of existing hotel buildings.

Business process re-engineering (BPR) initiatives are complex endeavours which require many factors to ensure success. However, most studies focus on the organisational processes and improvement within the organisation itself and less on the project team and management dynamics. The study aimed to identify factors that enabled the completion of a BPR, in a technical firm, based on reflections on the project management style.

The study entailed a descriptive and interpretive case study with reflections from project team members. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and content analysis.

Findings revealed that critical success factors for BPR in a technical firm include project leadership and sponsorship, organisational culture and attributes, team dynamics and the nature (activities), and duration of the process.

The findings will benefit project managers in improving their competence and project success through reflective practice. The identified factors could be used in future projects of a similar nature and size to improve how organisations execute BPR projects.

The study used reflections to identify success factors for BPR in a technical firm.

Energy consumption in existing office buildings has been growing in parallel with the rise in occupant energy demand. As a result, many building owners have given smart retrofits (SRs) a higher priority. However, the utilisation of suitable SRs from a range of SRs has become a challenging task. The purpose of this paper is to develop a decision-making model to select the most suitable SRs for conventional office buildings and form a set of benchmarks for assessing the performance of SRs.

A qualitative approach with six case studies was used. Content analysis was carried out using NVivo to explore the factors considered for the selection of SR techniques. A decision-making model for selecting SRs in Sri Lankan office buildings was proposed. SR performance benchmarks were developed by referring to established standards and studies done in tropical office buildings.

Out of 18 identified SRs from literature, fan cycling, ventilation control and LED luminaires have been recognised as commonly used SRs in Sri Lankan office buildings. Analysis showed that HVAC retrofits saved more energy, while lighting retrofits could be easily implemented in existing buildings. The proposed decision-making model can explore further improvements to enhance the performance of SRs.

The selection of SRs is a comprehensive decision-making process. Metrics were established to benchmark the performance of SRs. The proposed model offers a tool for building owners and facility managers to optimise facility operations.

It is crucial to consider the multitude of possible building adaptation design strategies for improving the existing conditions of building stock as an alternative to demolition.

Integration of physics-based simulation tools and decision-making tools such as Multi-Attribute Utility (MAU) and Interactive Multi-objective Optimization (IMO) in the design process enable optimized design decision-making for high-performing buildings. A methodology is presented for improving building adaptation design decision making, specifically in the early-stage design feasibility analysis. Ten residential building adaptation strategies are selected and applied to one primary building system for eight performance metrics using physics-based simulation tools. These measures include energy use, thermal comfort, daylighting, natural ventilation, systems performance, life cycle, cost-benefit and constructability. The results are processed using MAU and IMO analysis and are validated through sensitivity analysis by testing one design strategy on three building systems.

Quantifiable comparison of building adaptation strategies based on multiple metrics derived from physics-based simulations can assist in the evaluation of overall environmental performance and economic feasibility for building adaptation projects.

The current methodology presented is limited to the analysis of one decision-maker at a time. It can be improved to include multiple decision-makers and capture varying perspectives to reflect common practices in the industry.

The methodology presented supports affordable generation and analysis of a large number of design options for early-stage design optimization.

Given the practical implications, more space and time is created for exploration and innovation, resulting in potential for improved benefits.