Generating insight for reengineering

A critical step in changing organizational structures and systems is the design of models that prescribe future configurations. However, little research has been done on the development of such `to-be' models. It appears that improving this step can have a significant impact on the success of the change effort as a whole. Using the focus theory of group productivity, we developed and evaluated a process for creating `to-be' models and tested it with an organization undergoing reengineering. Results suggest that the combined use of collaborative technology and animated simulation gives organization members a better understanding of current processes and problems associated with them and helps to generate significant ideas for process improvement. Special attention is required to facilitation methods and idea generation techniques that are designed to elicit radical change ideas in order to prevent a dominating focus on incremental improvement ideas.