Reengineering: An ultra-hyped term, flaunted by all experts since 90's, and overused by B-School students these days. I'll get to the real meaning of it soon.

Engineering is kewl, why do "re-engineering" ? I used to think it was another word for "re-working"? No that does not make it re-engineering! Even if I succeed in adding new scientific approach why should I call it re-engineering? It is simple improvement. Let me call not confuse you and call this new improvement : "Improved Engineering" or "Better Engineering". But I fall back to the same space of engineering in a new way.

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”
Did you catch my mistake? I missed out the entire process of improved engineering!

Q. Is this new way of engineering called "Reengineering"?
A. Do you say that shape of moon is semi-circle as it was semi-eclipsed when you saw it? Point is Reengineering has much more to do than simply improve things.

Let me go back to where it started from. U.S. economy was sinking when Japanese had started eroding their markets by getting better products at cheaper price and better service. It was time to re-invent the same thing, but in a different way. In an innovative way with only one thing in mind: SUCCESS. That's when Re-engineering was born and typically changed the way things were done.

Take a very simple example of DELL. Even if you've not purchased your computer from DeLL, you must have heard about it. They came up with this idea: sell cheap, at lowest price, with quality service. Its new busienss model involved eBusiness plugged in with B2C strategy. They did not reach market in conventional way and started selling computers online. Soon, it became a market leader. It re-invented the entire process of selling computers. It brought a revolution.

The roots of Reengineering is so powerful that it can leave you with only one choice- SUCCESS. This breed is built only for SUCCESS. But, if you distort the new idea with a bad strategy, you'll never reap benefits and it wont be reengineering at all.

Q. Can it give quick results?
A. No. A wrong notion in heads of senior executives: 'do anything and get quick results'. Quantity has nothing to do with quality at this point. But, if you come up with an attitude to reengineer things, you will definitely take lead as shown in the example above.

Q. Why can't a good idea bring success? Say IT is used as a weapon now a days. Web2.0 is creating disruption!
A. I'll copy my answer from Hammer and Champy's book: Reengineering the Corporation- A Manifesto for Business Revolution

" From its inception, reengineering has been a close partner of information technology. Technology enables the process that are essence of reengineering to be redesigned. The two have symbiotic relationship:

• Without reengineering, IT delivers little payoff, and
  
• Without IT, little Reengineering can be done.

The most reengineering-related technology of the last 5 years has been ERP, an integrated software system that supports not only your individual functional area but complete business process." That's why we say : BPR+ERP= COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE.

I associate reengineering with a 'needle'; has no edge, but digs fast into enemy's flesh, bleed him painfully with no choice and leaves with high amount of damage. As the enemy won't have strength to fight back you can take the lead. A word of note- you have to time the attack, prepare well, and understand your enemy in advance (Art of War).