A study on business re-engineering in the Undersecretariat for Treasury

Abstract

The answer to the proposition “Does Business Re-engineering Have a Chance at the Treasury?” would be a conditional yes. Any program for the complete organization would necessitate a government level back-up. Alternatively, re-engineering could be implemented on a departmental (or general directorate) basis, in which case operational level buy-in needs to be ensured by Treasury senior management and process redesign should involve top to middle management participation both in regard of knowlegde level and to minimize resistance to change. Certain re-engineering principles could be applicable the areas where Treasury needs improvement, especially strategic management to switch from reactive performance to proactive functioning. Achieving this requires a coordinated and well planned transition over a long term towards a totally new organization that truly generates policies rather than being involved with daily fire-fighting. The coordination should include government support and rule based relationships with other agencies. Once a clear and formal objective statement is defined, then concepts of process re-engineering could be employed to attain the objectives, provided that effects are simulated a priori.