Automation and regulation of business processes, as a rule, can cause various risks. A project may not be completed on time or exceed the budget. The company may not be able to achieve the desired results using the proposed solutions. The implementation of any of these risks directly or indirectly leads to financial losses of the company. Therefore, the Lego Group needs to assess the risks for its potential loss ratio, as well as the possibility of minimizing the loss associated with the risk. This paper aims at analyzing business risks and rewards of the identified solutions to management issues of the Lego Group.
The choice of a business process automation system is one of the most important stages where the foundations are laid for the success or failure of the entire project. The most common risk at this stage is the lack of a long-term IT strategy for management (Willcocks et al., 2017). Other risks arise when the functionality of the system exceeds the scale of the company’s business. The most unprofitable risks are the inconsistency of the system with the industry specifics of the organization or the lack of a coherent strategy in the field of information technology. However, it is important to understand that the risks can be avoided by choosing a competent and thoughtful system.
Ineffective organizational plans for the implementation of the automation system, erroneous planning of the total cost of the project, as well as wrong timing are common planning risks. Failure to meet project deadlines often occurs when the customer’s specialists are responsible for implementation. The managers of the enterprise are more concerned about the timing, but if they are not involved in the project, the risks of being late arise (Valanarasu & Christy, 2018). Since the project consultants work mainly with top managers, they pay great attention to the shortcomings of their work, while customers are more concerned with how the company’s business processes will be implemented in the system.
The most unprofitable risks are associated with the human factor. The lack of formalized business processes, an increase in the workload on personnel, and the lack of a unified regulatory and methodological framework for the enterprise negatively affect the work of the company. Non-participation of senior managers in the project and the lack of support for implementation from the side of top managers also pose some risks (Valanarasu & Christy, 2018). The planning of a project often does not pay enough attention to the human factor. For example, changes in processes and work regulations that are inevitable during implementation usually cause negative reactions from employees. Therefore, special measures must be thought out to gradually prepare people for the new system.
Analyzing the relationship between investments in business processes automation, employee training, and quality management solutions, it becomes clear that it is necessary to develop technological and management innovations together. Information technology alone does not increase productivity; it grows thanks to management innovation and changes in business processes. To achieve the effectiveness of business decisions and minimize risks, the Lego Group needs to understand in which fields it should increase performance, and, therefore, focus on investments in these areas. It is necessary to transform business processes and reform the organization’s activities to effectively use the capabilities of information technology (Willcocks et al., 2017). Lego Group has to scrupulously calculate when and what sequence the company needs to invest in information technologies and employee training.
Ways to reduce the risks and increase the rewards include reasonable use of a phased approach to organizing implementation and formulated criteria for the success of a project. Timely identification of risks and providing a project with the necessary material and human resources will increase the reward from the proposed solutions. An important factor is the organization of workplaces and interaction procedures in such a way that the members of the project team can constantly and easily communicate with each other (Valanarasu & Christy, 2018). Taking into account these recommendations and paying attention to the highlighted risks will increase the chances of the Lego Group for the successful implementation of solutions for increasing performance and quality management.
The proposed solutions will significantly increase the clients’ engagement level. By automating business processes and investing in teaching employees, the company can achieve excellent results in improving the quality of work performed and reducing transaction costs (Mendling et al., 2018). To get a positive effect, the Lego Group needs to not only spend money on new equipment but also introduce the right changes into the workflow (Valanarasu & Christy, 2018). These changes will positively impact the level of performance, quality management, and the overall brand reputation.
Automation and regulation of business processes, training of the employees, as well as optimization of the organizational structure of the company always carry various risks. However, by analyzing all the risks and rewards at the stage of project planning, companies can minimize the likelihood of losses (Mendling et al., 2018). To avoid risks and increase rewards at the planning stage, the company must independently or together with a consultant form a project team think over the ways to control the results. It is also important to draw up a schedule for the implementation of functional components. The timing and budget of the project must be carefully planned, and the payback of the management solutions must be assessed. The types of risks that emerge during the implementation phase of solutions depend on many factors. The Lego Group is a large company with a complex organizational structure. This means that it will need more functional components of the management system, and the role of the human factor will be more significant.
References
Mendling, J., Decker, G., Hull, R., Reijers, H. A., & Weber, I. (2018). How do machine learning, robotic process automation, and blockchains affect the human factor in business process management? Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 43(1), 1-23. Web.
Valanarasu, R., & Christy, A. (2018). Risk assessment and management in enterprise resource planning by advanced system engineering theory. International Journal of Business Intelligence and Data Mining, 13(1-3), 3-14. Web.
Willcocks, L., Lacity, M., & Craig, A. (2017). Robotic process automation: Strategic transformation lever for global business services? Journal of Information Technology Teaching Cases, 7(1), 17-28. Web.