Business process redesign in travel management in an SAP R/3 upgrade project: a case study

Travel and related expenses account on average for 7% of an organization's total operating costs and are escalating to be the second largest controllable corporate expense. Based on rising business travel demand in past decades, the management of business travels has received increasing attention. Furthermore, the rapidly changing environment in the travel industry dominated by requirements for e-business offers organizations evident possibilities to manage business travels more efficiently. As a consequence for organizations, all transactions around business travels, from travel planning to reimbursement of expenses, have gained great importance. Organizations aim to reduce and control their travel costs by the utilization of integrated computer systems, such as the enterprise system R/3 and implementation of Travel Management. But how does an organization find its way to reduce costs and at the same time process high amounts of business travels based on a high quality for the traveler? Is this task an insoluble conflict or can it be a win-win situation for all involved parties? The following teaching case provides the initial stages of a process reengineering project undertaken in a shared service provider for local government departments in Australia. The objective of this project is to reengineer the process of business travels applying a reengineering methodology.