Reengineering guru dies

Posted Sep 5th 2008 2:20PM by Peter Cohan
Filed under: Management, Books

The New York Times reports that one of the co-authors of a very popular and influential management book, Reengineering the Corporation, has died. Michael Hammer, a former MIT professor, helped popularize the idea that managers should view their organizations as a "clean sheet of paper" and make them work more effectively for their customers. In the 1990s, the idea of Reengineering a company took over the thinking of managers around the world and led to billions of dollars worth of consulting work.

As it turns out, I have a professional connection to Hammer and his co-author, James A. Champy. Hammer taught me at MIT -- I took a course called Office Automation Systems from him in which he talked about the importance of imagining how a process would work if it could be re-imagined from scratch. And Champy hired me to work for the firm he co-founded with several MIT Sloan School professors -- Index Systems -- which grew dramatically after the Reengineering book was published. Index was ultimately acquired by Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE: CSC).

Like many management ideas, its period of wild popularity lasted a few years and then faded. But what has stayed with me about the concept of Reengineering is the notion that a business needs to work not to satisfy the needs of its internal fiefdoms, but to make life better for its customers. And that is a legacy of which Hammer might be proud.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in Computer Sciences Corp securities.

Tags: computer sciences corp, computer sciences corporation, ComputerSciencesCorp, ComputerSciencesCorporation, inthenews, james champy, JamesChampy, michael hammer, MichaelHammer

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

9-05-2008 @ 4:59PM

william lindblad said...

Murphy is dead too, but his laws live on. So do Rube Goldberg's impossible machines. Some ideas make it - some don't.
In the case of U.S. business it's not re-inventing or re-engineering, it is simply a matter of high level greed and we are back to the days of the robber barons with a lot more barons. In the last ten years - how many companies have had the executive end rob the stockholders and employees, sometimes into oblivion. How many CEO have left with "golden parachutes", after running the company into the ground. All that is needed to rectify this problem are corporate boards that operate on a "pay for performance" concept, not "pay for inept".
The concept that you describe sounds much like when Lee Iacocco took over the ailing Chrysler in the 80's. He asked the first three exec.'s under him for answers and got none - Lee fired all. When he got down to #5 who was at a gen manager level and in touch with the business, he got answers. He made him his VP and brought the company back. Eventually he collected some 30-40 million in bonus and stock options. At that point the employees were getting healthy profit sharing checks too. This is a case were the boss earned his keep and deserved what he got.
That is what is missing today!!

9-09-2008 @ 4:24PM

Derril Watts said...

It's interesting how we are finally recognized for who we really are and what we really accomplish only after we pass. Michael Hammer's impact on the way we do business, both in the commercial as well as the government sectors, will be felt for a generation or more.

I have taught and consulted with hundreds of organizations around the world for over 20 years and have yet to see a situation where Hammer's focus on process was not only relevant, but critical to their success. With all of the talk that Reengineering is dead, long live six sigma, we have really missed the point. Reengineering in of itself was never the point, performance improvement was. Reengineering was never solely about IT, but most relegated it to the offices of the CIO. As Hammer said on so many occasions, it's about giving people more of what they need to become better at what they do!

I will miss his limitless drive to improve our work and our lives.

We have lost a true warrior!

Derril Watts
President & CEO
Mountain Home Training & Consulting, Inc.
http://www.mhc-net.com