Prerequisites for and impediments to success in logistics reengineering projects

The purpose of this research was to determine the most important prerequisites for success and the most important impediments to success in logistics reengineering projects. The research design was based on a hypothesized relationships between the independent variables (the prerequisites for success and the impediments to success) and the dependent variable, the outcome (success or failure) of reengineering projects, it was further hypothesized that some of the independent variables help the outcome of reengineering projects, while others have little or no impact. In order to fulfill this objective, a three-part research questionnaire was developed to measure logistics practitioner's reengineering project experiences. This instrument was designed to capture measurements of success in reengineering projects and the determinants of success, prerequisites and impediments, in these projects. This instrument was also designed to collect data regarding the firms. The firms selected for this survey were firms where logistics would play a major role in the firm, such as manufacturers, transportation providers, warehousing, and distribution companies. The information regarding the firms was used to classify the firms to determine if there were any differences in the success or failure of reengineering projects within any given classification of firms. The practitioners to be surveyed were selected from three sources. The first two sources of survey practitioners were the membership roles of the American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS) and the Council of Logistics Management (CLM). The third source of survey practitioners was the Standards and Poor's database. This research found that there was a relationship between project success in reengineering projects and prerequisites for success and impediments to success. This research further found that there was also a relationship between project schedule performance and project budget performance in reengineering projects and prerequisites for success and impediments for success. Further analysis of these relationships resulted in the development of a short list of the most important prerequisites and impediments. Managers now have an opportunity to field test and verify the findings of this research. The list of 34 prerequisites to success and impediments to success developed mainly from the work of consultants has now been shortened to a manageable list. The scope of this research was the determination of the most important prerequisites for success and impediments to success in reengineering projects at firms classically categorized as logistics firms. Beyond this limited scope of reengineering projects initiated at logistically sensitive firms, an examination of other types of projects and other type of firms would be warranted.