Monday, January 27, 2020

Working with children in need

Working with children in need This assignment will explain the role of a Local Authority (LA) Social Worker (SW) when working with ‘children in need’ and their families, and those in need of safeguarding and protection, will also explain the main role of children and families’ sw and reasons why they would be involved. Furthermore it will discuss the importance of multidisciplinary working; identify different forms of abuse, their impact and alleviation. In line with evidence based practice, the Children Act 1989 sections 17 and 47 will be analysed as intervention methods It’s important as a sw to utilise an understanding of theories of human growth and development to understand the various stages of development that the children are undergoing, before making any decision of safeguarding. Children in need may have faced extraordinary experiences in their early lives that may affect their physical, intellectual, emotional, social or behavioural development. Safeguarding is defined by (HM Government 2013) as ‘the action we take to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm’. Child protection is defined by RCPCH, (2006) as ‘the process of protecting individual children identified as either suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm as a result of abuse or neglect’. Section 17 (10) of the Children Act 1989 (CA 1989) defines a child in need as a child who is ‘unlikely to achieve or maintain, or to have the opportunity of achieving or maintaining, a reasonable standard of health or development without the provision for him/her of services by a local authority’ or ‘his/her health or development is likely to be significantly impaired, or further impaired without the provision for him/her of such services’ or ‘he/she is disabled’ (H M Government, 1989, section 17) gives LA ‘duties and powers to provide services for children in need and their families Part’ 111 (Sec17 (1)). When a referral is made, LA is forced to consider initial enquiries within 10 days. This is to find out what is happening to a child and decide which action should be taken to protect the child as set in the CA1989 S47 of Protection of Children (Brammer 2013). This guide draws’ on all professionals to work together to promote children’s welfare and ensures families are provided with much needed resources. In some historic children cases these processes weren’t upheld and lead to the death of children like Baby P and Victoria Climbie. Lord Laming ((Laming and Office, 2003)) stated that communication has played a major role in successes and failures of the system. He also made recommendations that will ignite working together in terms multi-disciplinary teams working together information sharing’ Connolly and Ward, (2008) suggested ‘It is good practice to consider children’s rights to protection as of paramount duty and at the same time work in partnership with their parents unless doing so would harm them’. The Framework for Assessment of Children (Figure 1) in Need and their Families (DoH, 2000) emphasises the use of an ecological approach to identify the child within the environment and offers a holistic approach (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). It enables professionals to identify systems affecting a child, the most and the social forces impacting on his lifespan therefore, resulting in interventions being applied where they are needed most. An ecological approach looks at people, families, cultures, communities, policies and identifies and intervenes upon strengths and weaknesses in the transactional processes between these systems (Greene and Greene, 2008). Figure1 (Department of Health 2000, p.1) Living conditions may result in disturbed nights, which can lead to strain and tiredness (Hazel, 2002). Similarly, inadequate housing may cause parents anxiety and affect their capacity to care for the children. Therefore, a sw could use their powers to make a referral for families to acquire an adequate accommodation. According to Gill and Jack (2007) the ecological theory is important in the development of holistic approaches to safeguarding children. Its strengths are that it focuses on individuals as part and incorporating other systems, so it integrates social with psychological elements of practice however, it is criticised for assuming that everything fits into a social order (Payne, 2009). A SW is expected to consider human rights issues when completing any assessment. In the community there’s a whole variety of groups e.g. ethnic minorities, women, disabled people, homosexuals children just to mention a few. Professionals are required to uphold and defend the rights of individuals whilst seeking to meet their needs and this are all governed by The Human Rights Act 1998. Brayne Shoot, (2010) said ‘the act has also heavily influenced the Disability Discriminations Act, (2005) and Equality Act, (2006 2010)’ Welbourne (2012) said ‘SW is a profession that engages with people’s lives at all levels, from the practical to the deeply personal. Lord Laming (2003) said ‘child protection is everyone’s business, and it’s important that SW, police, and health workers take the lead role for the procedures and processes that protect children from harm’. The CA 1989 sec 47(1) places a duty on LA to investigate when they: ‘are informed that a child who lives or is found in their area is the subject of an emergency protection order is in police custody’ ‘have reasonable cause to suspect that a child who lives, or is found in the area is suffering, or is likely to suffer a significant harm’ LA will conduct an initial child protection conference that consists of all professionals including the child, family members. This is a partnership aimed at setting out plans in place for both family and the group members. They will meet within 10 days after the initial conference and at least 8 weeks after that. The plan will be considering day to day details of the care plan and to put it into practice. After the case has been opened, implemented and put into practice, a Review Child Protection Case Conference is called to review and assess the progress of the case. The first review is held within 3 months of the initial conference and at least six months after that. A SW will always aim to achieve results and return the child to their parents. Working Together to Safeguard Children 2006 (Department of Health) has 5 identifiable forms of abuse as neglect, physical, emotional, sexual and domestic abuses, and the latter has been recently added and recognised in its own right. Coleen L (2003) suggested that ‘Negligence can include behaviours that receipt, fraudulently misrepresentation, defamation of character act, violation of human rights, malicious prosecution. Maureen O’Loughlin and Steve O’Loughlin (2008) suggested that ‘Parents have a central role in their children’s welfare and protection from harm, and should therefore be included in all decisions and actions taken by professionals†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Parents have their complex needs as well, some abuse drugs and alcohol and generally have low self-esteem. If parents deny sw access to a child and there’s a possibility of a greater risk of life or likelihood of serious harm, LA will apply for the Child Assessment Order sec43 CA 1989 when they considering any kind of contact, LA would have reasons to suspect concerns with development, welfare and health of a child. This order will only last 8 days without extension. Emergency Protection Order (EPO) under S44 of the CA 1989. It can last for 8 days with the option to extend for 7 more days. Brayne Carr, (2010) suggested that ‘It is important that any discussions with children are done in a way that minimises the distress and maximises the likelihood of them providing clear and accurate accounts’ The children may be looked after by the LA with parental agreement (Children Act, 1989, sec. 20. ‘A child may only be kept in police protection however, for 72 hours’ (Brammer 2006). Other order available is Recovery order sec50, will be applied if a child under PPO or EPO is removed from the responsible applicant. Police can recover the child and return them to the place of safety. SW has ‘an obligation to conduct themselves ethically, engaging in ethical decisionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ making, including partnership working with service users’ and this was quoted by The Code of Ethics for Social Work (BASW, 2011). Social work is a very privileged profession, they draw up conclusions and judgement on what they observe and hear. Hence it’s necessary to develop an inner skill not to use prejudice in any engagement. Empowerment has been understood as a paradigm within anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practice (Lishman, 2007) and can be implemented through partnership working, which is a key social work value (Thompson, 2009). This assignment has shown how and why a sw would intervene when a child becomes in need. It also discussed the LA’s responsibility for children in need and their families. Aim is to protect and safeguard children from harm by forming partnership working with families; assist in providing alternative services to promote their welfare. The assignment drew up on relevant legislation that ensure welfare of a child remains paramount, also challenges all professionals to collaborate in a systematic manner. Children have been let down in the past and Every Child Matters ensured it is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that their health and development is secured. This reiterates the importance of SW’s impact into the system, drawn from Code of Ethics sw’s should always challenge any discrimination, recognise diversity, always distribute resources to those in need, challenge unjust policies and practices and work in solidarity. In conclusion a sw would not be awa re if a child is in need or requires protection; however, the facts in this essay provide a sensible method of judgement on whether a child is in need or at risk of significant harm.

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Summarise the Key Aspects of Current Legistative Requirements and Codes of Practice

PREPARING TO TEACH IN THE LIFE LONG LEARNING SECTOR CITY AND GUILDS, LEVEL 4, 7303 Q2; SUMMARISE THE KEY ASPECTS OF CURRENT LEGISTATIVE REQUIREMENTS AND CODES OF PRACTICE RELEVANT TO YOUR SUBJECT AND THE TYPE OF ORGANISATION WITHIN WHICH YOU WOULD LIKE TO WORK. I work within the Private Security Industry for a medium sized company and am employed as a Training Manager. The company mainly provides Retail Security; this includes Uniformed Officers, Store Detectives and providing Loss Prevention Training.As a company we also cater for Commercial and Industrial work. There is currently a team of three trainers that operate throughout the UK. We can be called on to train in many subjects the core of our work is classroom based with the Basic Job Training relevant to the field the Officer may go into. We also provide training for up-skilling the Officers and for Management and Supervisors in their roles and responsibilities. The Security Industry is overseen and regulated by The Security I ndustry Authority (SIA) and the Private security Industry Act 2001 (PSIA).PSIA is the overriding legislation which states that anyone employed within the private contract security field will have to hold a currant Security licence, Front Line Operational Staff, None Front Line Company directors, Part of the requirement laid down by this legislation is that for an individual to gain a front line licence they must attend and pass the basic job programme for the sector they wish to work in. â€Å"It is essential that individuals working in the private security industry undergo a structured training programme that results in a recognised qualification†. SIA website on training 13th November 2009) This is being redefined in 2010 and becoming a basic programme with core modules on sector specifics. However as a company we also cover parts of the United Kingdom and as such we have to comply with the different requirements for example, PSIA 2001 (Designated Activities) (Scotland) Ord er 2007. PSIA 2001 (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 2009. Codes of practice have been adopted by the SIA in regards to these individual sectors and have been derived from the relevant British standards which can be found in appendix 1.When looking to teach in an security environment it soon becomes clear that there are many other things to consider other than just taking a group of students for a lesson, not least the â€Å"The Health and safety at work act 1974† protecting others against risks to health and safety in connection with the activities taking place. Taking into account one’s own behaviour and responsibilities as a teacher, ensuring the safety of the students within the classroom or work place. See appendix 2 The Data Protection Act 1998 also has an impact on working life and habits within the security sector.In your role in lifelong learning you will therefore need to adhere to legislation outlined above. There are many more legislations that I have to be aware of while teaching. It is important that I keep up to date with these legislations and part of my responsibility is to make sure that they are been adhered to and I know what procedure to follow if this is not the case. REFERENCE LIST www. sia. homeoffice. gov. uk/home www. shop. bsigroup. com/ Word count not including question and bibliography 487 Appendix 1BS 7499:2007 Code of Practice for Static Site Guarding, Mobile Patrol Services Recommendations for the management, staffing and operation of an organisation providing manned guarding services on a static and/or mobile patrol basis. (http://shop. bsigroup. com/en/ProductDetail/? pid=000000000030147282) BS 7984:2008 Code of Practice for Keyholding and Response Services Recommendations for the management, staffing and operation of an organisation providing keyholding and response services on a contracted basis.

Friday, January 10, 2020

Everyman-a Medieval Play Review Essay

Summary Everyman is a play which was written to express the importance of morality, to whoever read it or experienced it being performed on stage. Some scholars say that it was written sometime in the late 1400’s, while others insist that it is a translation of a Flemish work called â€Å"Elckerlijc†, which was written by Peter van Diest in 1495. Everyman is an allegory play which is heavily based upon Christian religious perspectives; also it is resoundingly similar to the Christian belief of the resurrection of Christ, and his ascension into Heaven, after the crucifixion. The first act of Everyman, opens with a prologue which takes on the form of a messenger, telling the audience about the fate which is to come to Everyman. The messenger goes on to tell the audience that eventually God will call upon all of humanity to stand before him, and give account of their works which they had wrought in life. The next part of the play is God calling upon Death, to go and bring Everyman to stand before him. God commands Death to go and bring Everyman before him, so that he may give account of his own misdeeds that he has wrought in life. So Death goes and finds Everyman, and tells him that his time has come. Everyman then attempts to bribe Death with a thousand pounds, but Death refuses. However, he states that he will allow Everyman to bring someone with him, so that he does not have to face his judgment alone. Everyman first goes to Fellowship, whom represents friends and companions; and asks him to accompany him to go and stand before the judgment God. Fellowship, whom had promised to stand besides Everyman through whatever may come; tells Everyman that he will not go with him to the grave, because he fears Death and the judgment of God. Everyman is heartbroken, but then goes on to the next in line. Everyman then goes to Kindred and Cousin, which are supposed to represent family and kin; but they too tell him that they will not accompany him on his way to the grave. Thirdly, Everyman turns to Goods, which represents material possessions; nonetheless she also states that she will not go with Everyman to his final judgment. Everyman is very concerned by this point, and so he turns to Good Deeds for companionship. Good Deeds states that she will go with Everyman to face his judgment with him; but unfortunately she lacks the strength for such a journey, because Everyman  has neglected her throughout his life. Good Deeds tells Everyman that he must then go before her sister, Knowledge; for she will know the way in which Good Deeds may regain strength. Upon meeting Knowledge, she tells Everyman that he must go before Confession; and there Everyman confesses his sins. Afterward, Confession gives Everyman a â€Å"jewel† called Penance; which cleanses Everyman of his sins, so that he may stand before God and not be in jeopardy of damnation. With his confession behind him, Good Deeds regains his strength, and is ready to accompany Everyman to the grave. Knowledge then tells Everyman to gather together his attributes of life: Beauty, Strength, Discretion, and Five Wits; so that they too may accompany him to his reckoning with God. But when Everyman gathers them together, they tell him that they will not go with him to the grave; essentially because they are all characteristics of youth, which are all now fleeting from him, as he has the end of life. With that, Knowledge, and Good Deeds accompany Everyman to his final reckoning with God. There enters the character Angel; Knowledge then attests to Angel that Everyman was a good and just person, and in the end, he confessed his sins before God. Then Everyman and Good Deeds go down into the grave, and thus make their way to stand before God in the final judgment of Everyman. Fundamentally, this play ends with the character, Doctor, stating that all accept Good Deeds and Knowledge will all flee from a person, when they go before God for their final judgment. *** Issues in Raised in Key Resources There are several key issues which were raised by the scholars that wrote the major resources which I used to write this report. This play has received a moderate amount of popularity over the past near 500 years; and now today there are some scholars and researchers whom are exceptionally critical, both positively and negatively, of the details as to how it was written. One criticism of note would have to be one which was voiced by Thomas F van Laan. In referring to the general premise of Everyman, he contends of the writer that â€Å"His speech is essentially negative; he focuses solely on the inevitability of death and the destructiveness of sin†. Simply put, Mr. van Laan is stating that at first, the sole purpose of this work appears to emphasize specifically on death and how mankind should feel only sorrow for anything that they do, which goes against the teachings of Christianity. Another criticism of this work which Mr. van Laan refers to is the point in the beginning when God first speaks. Mr. Van Laan states: â€Å"Gods words are wholly negative in force, implying only the difficulty to come, omitting any indication of hope for mankind†. Mr.  van Laan is voicing this criticism on the opening section of the play, fundamentally about how he considers Gods words to be too negative in their approach. In expressing this condemnation, Mr. van Laan is adamant about his beliefs that God would probably not be so disconcerting in his approach to dealing with mankind. However not all that Mr. van Laan has to say about Everyman is negative in nature. He goes on to shed light on the allegory nature of the play, and how this lends credence to its being a unique, legitimate work of theater. He contends that â€Å"The first movement, is a falling action, which traces Everyman’s’ decline in fortune. This shatters the apparent serenity of his life, to the depth of his despair†¦fallowed by the second movement, a rising action, which carries him from this nadir unto his final salvation†¦which is symbolized by the words of the welcoming Angel†. It is my belief, that essentially what Mr. van Laan is stating, is that by using actual characters to personify the specific aspects of human nature; the persona of the play becomes a two-fold endeavor. Firstly, by the characters being literal representations of human qualities; they achieve a form of realism, which is normally only conveyed through the use of spoken dialog. Secondly, the movement’s themselves-transpiring from a state of utter despair, to a state of harmonious bliss; is not only characteristic of all great works of drama, but also of life itself. Throughout Mr. van Laan’s review of Everyman, he states his opinion that by the author using characters to represent the individual aspects of human identity; the play conveys a form of realism, which is distinctly unique. Next brings us to the arguments made by the researcher Roger A. Ladd. His belief is that this play was not written for the everyday person, but was in fact written to be a work which would have been performed for the â€Å"bourgeoisie†. His reasoning stems from research which had been done by scholar Dorothy Wertz; the same scholar who also believes that Everyman was probably written strictly to be performed for the elite rich. In her research, Mrs. Wertz points to the fact that â€Å"by simply examining the vocabulary and phrases used in the original piece, one can determine whom the play had been written for†. In that, she states that â€Å"the wording itself would have been too formal for ordinary citizens of the time period to ascertain†. However, unlike Mrs. Wertz, who believes that Everyman is specifically nothing more than a direct translation of Elckerlijc; Mr. Ladd assumes that it is an amalgamation of Elckerlijc and other English literary customs of the era. Mr. Ladd’s purported theory was reached in part, by investigating the traits of the character â€Å"Goods†, and comparing them with the English anti-mercantile satire traditions which were popular in the late-medieval period. An example of which being, that in the Germanic-Dutch based Elckerlijc, Goods is described as appearing as â€Å"Neglected, rusty. . . heaped up, filthy†. However in Everyman as Mr. Ladd purports, Goods appears in a more English anti-mercantile manner as being â€Å"trussed and piled so high, and in chest I am locked so fast, also sacked in bags†. The Everyman description, falls in line with the late-medieval literary tradition of anti-mercantilism; which according to Mr. Ladd, comes as proof that Everyman could not have been strictly just an English translation of Elckerlijc. Another scholar whom is acquiescent in his research of Everyman is Lawrence V. Ryan. Mr. Ryan takes an approach, which seems to be more about discerning the religious implications of the play Everyman. The first point that Mr. Ryan makes is that †Without theology, the artistic merit may not be fully appreciated†¦that the theology involved is indispensable, not indefensible, and furthermore, that it gives the play its characters, structure, significance, and even its dramatic impressiveness†. One of the main points which all three scholars agree upon is that by being deserted by all those whom Everyman turns to for help; the audience develops a strong sense of pathos, for the plight of Everyman. Mr. Ryan suggests that the emergence of these false-friend characters â€Å"all appear in a climactic order, according to the increased danger of each as a distraction from one’s Maker†. Finally, Mr. Ryan gives his opinion about the reason why all the characters that abandon Everyman, as well as Everyman himself, are all men; and why the only characters that accompany him are women. In essence, the logic behind this as Mr. Ryan contends is that â€Å"All men are born into a state of sin†¦and that for dramatic suspense; the author chose to have the only redeeming characters be women†¦to show that women can counteract this dogma†. Personal Reaction to â€Å"Everyman† My personal opinion of this particular play is one of high appreciation. Unlike some of the reviews of scholars which I have read, which did not display too much positive reception for this work; I personally enjoyed reading it, and doing my report on this play. When I first tried to read the Old-English original version of this play, I found it incredibly hard to ascertain what exactly the meaning was behind what the author had written. Understandably it was difficult for me when trying to use the un-translated Everyman, as Old-English is a version of our language, which has been out-of-date for centuries. When I found the translated version of Everyman on the Fordham University website and began reading it, I almost instantly thought that it had been a work which had been written by either someone whom was a priest, or had been another member of the Christian church in some capacity. Another notion which I had was that if the play had not been written by someone who was a church member, then it obviously had to have been written by someone whom had some form of agenda for getting people involved with the Christian church in some form or another. Perhaps the author had a legitimate reason for wanting people to become more involved with the church or to become closer to god in some fashion. On the other hand, perhaps there was a more sinister motive; like getting more people into the flock of the church, in order to acquire more money flowing into their coffers. Personally, I think that it was a combination of both motives, and that whoever had wrote this play, also had a genuine interest in using a popular mode of expression. Or perhaps the author wanted to show that by turning away from the sins of the flesh; that a person could attain a state of consciousness, which could bring them closer to a higher form of enlightenment. No matter what the personal objectives were for its creation, one thing remains clear; this was that the author of this particular piece was incredibly ahead of his time. From what I have examined in doing research for this report project; in reading other plays that date from the late medieval age, I can honestly say with a certainty, that I have not read anything that dates from this period, which is as unique as this. The usage of human emotions and possessions being personified into literal characters is uniquely a modern notion; and from what I have found, does not appear to have been done in a theatrical piece until sometime around 18th or 19th century. This plot construction is something which I have seen in movies and television shows; which are much more recent, than something that dates from the late medieval period. One example that immediately comes to mind is Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol; although not entirely the same in primary foundation, the underlying principle is similar. Some of the scholars that I read about, that reviewed this work; were quick to dismiss it as being either frivolity, or simply nothing more than an act of religious propaganda. I have to disagree with both sides; I feel that this is a excellent illustration of late medieval/early modern era theatrical work, which will more than likely see its relevance come again. Summary of key scholarship on this play The first article which I used to review for this report on the play Everyman was a modern-English translation, of the late medieval original version of the play. This particular article didn’t offer any insight into it, as in scholar reviews; but it was extremely helpful in writing my summary of the play. Without this article, I am not sure if I would have been able to do this research project on this particular play, as I would not have been able to even ascertain what it was about. The next article which I used to write this report was written by Roger Ladd. Mr. Ladd took a definitively scholarly approach to conducting his research. Some of the main issues which he decided to confront were how the play Everyman deals with the religious implications of how material wealth corrupts the good intentions of mankind. Ladd went into detail, comparing the details of Everyman, to other plays of similar genera that date from the period. He explains about how most everyday citizens of the late medieval period, looked at the assemblage of material wealth, as the path to avarice, which puts their immortal souls in jeopardy. Like many other scholars whom have written journals about the â€Å"morality plays†, Ladd believes that in order to find out whom the plays written for, one has to look into the wording of the work; by doing this, he states that it becomes apparent who the target was. For example Everyman, when the main character is forced to give up his worldly possessions; it is written to appear as if this could have been the most dastardly thing which could have occurred in his life. Other key scholarship reviews of this play, comes from the scholarly works of Lawrence V. Ryan. Ryan takes an approach to his research, which is concerned with how organized religion is suspect in this play. One of his main thesis’ is about how in the play, Everyman attains salvation through his own works, and not by the salvation which comes from God. He talks about how many religious figures were quick to label Everyman as a work of unholy declarations; and that how many of these religious leaders informed members of their churches that they would be in danger of hell by going to watch a performance of Everyman. Ryan is perhaps the most non-forgiving of the three scholars that I chose to use. Mostly, he tries to make it known that he is of the opinion that Everyman was only an English translation of the Dutch work Elckerlijc. He does not make use of very much authentic information to make this claim, he simply relies on paraphrasing works which had been written by other scholars. Next, I used the research from the scholar Thomas F. vanLaan. VanLaan goes into detail describing the individual characters of Everyman. Noteworthy, is how he explains the nature of these characters, and how they relate to the human experience. Differing from the other scholars whom I referenced in this report, Mr.vanLaan gives a very logical accounting of why the author chose to incorporate inanimate human natures, as the title characters for this play. The choices for the human failings and material wealth, was carefully used to make the play appeal to nearly everyone whom would have watched its production. An example being, of how Everyman had acquired material goods in his life, which would have appealed to the rich; while on the other hand, Everyman losing his material possessions would have gained the approval of the poor which might have been in the audience. However, I never found one scholarly review, which did not offer at least one compliment about this great play. Endnotes *** Paul Halsall, Internet Medieval Sourcebook, â€Å"Medieval Handbook: Everyman, 15th Century†, Fordham University (August 1998) (Accessed on October 20th, 2010) http://www. fordham. edu/halsall/basis/everyman. html —The entire summary which I wrote was based upon the modern-English translation of Everyman, which was available online at the Fordham University site.

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Effect of Business Process Reengineering Factors on Organizational Performance - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 22 Words: 6452 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Economics Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? The increasing competitive pressure as a result of technological development, globalization, changing customer demand led to survival challenges of many banks in the developing countries and demanded for improvement in quality customer service and speed to enhance profitability performance and cost reduction. This study is aim at exploring possible relationships among the factors of business process reengineering, and test a model that show the effect of BPR factors on firm performance with the moderating effect of IT capability on the causal relationship between the BPR factors and organizational performance of banks in Nigeria. Field study survey would be conducted under natural research setting. The sample of the study consists of commercial banks, microfinance banks and primary mortgage financial institutions. Closed-ended multiple choice questionnaires would be administered to the banks and both descriptive and inferential statistics analysis would be used in data analysis. Key words: Business process reengineering, Factors of business process reengineering, Information technology capability, Organizational performance, Banks, Nigeria, INTRODUCTION Business process reengineering (BPR) is a popular management tool for dealing with rapid technological and business changes (Ranganathan Dhaliwal, 2001). It was first introduced by Hammer (1990), as a radical redesign of processes in order to gain significant improvements in cost, quality, and services (Ozcelik, 2010). BPR creates changes in people (behavior and culture), processes and technology (Al-Mashari Zairi, 2000). It does not seek to alter or fix existing processes; but, it forces companies to ask, whether or not a process is necessary, and then seeks to find a better way to do it (Siha Saad, 2008). BPR integrates all departments into a complete process which have been designed to fulfill a specific business goal (Cheng et al, 2006). Successful implementation of BPR enable s organizations to achieve dramatic gains in business performance (Shin Jemella, 2002). BPR helps banks to deal with new economic challenges and change the traditional processes to improve their customers satisfaction. Business Process Reengineering (BPR) is a management discipline of analyzing and then redesigning current business processes and their components in terms of efficiency, effectiveness and added value to the objectives of the business. The conduct of business process reengineering steps is planned to gather and process business requirements in support of a modernization effort for defined area. The BPR starts with planning activities that include the creation of BPR team, the development of a BPR scope document and an examination of existing proposal that relate to a given area, examines the existing and future business process and improve accordingly. Similar to any other management approaches, the successful implementation of BPR depend on how well it can be fitt ed to the bank/companies cultural norms, and information technology (IT) suggested by (Davenport Short, (1990); Hammer and Champy (1993); Murray and Lynn (1997); Al-Mashari and Zairi, (1999); Bhatt (2000); Khong and Richardson, (2003); Attaran (2004); Ahmad, Francis and Zairi, (2007). Reengineering in a bank should be undertaken as a project, the project management expertise of IT department become a key ingredient in the success of reengineering. The IT capability includes both the technical and managerial expertise required to provide reliable physical services and extensive electronic connectivity within and outside firm. Information technology (IT) increase the market share of the bank through offering of a product or service that is not offered by another bank (e.g. those customers that prefer private/personalized banking or use debit cards have become the focus of retail and investments in banking (Beyers and Lederer 2001; Peffers and Dos Santos 1996; Post et al., 1995). F or example, new innovative banking practice through merger and consolidation enabled Nigerian banks to bridge the service gap in the system (Sidikat and Ayanda 2008). Therefore, the application of IT capability would enhance service delivery process, produce new product, new processes, new strategy, make the productivity of work faster, eliminate all communication barriers in the organization and empower workers to link up with customers and suppliers to achieve competitive advantage (Davenport, 1990; Hammer, 1990; Teng, James, Grover Fiedler, 1994). The banking sector plays the role of a driver in Nigerian economy that contributed over 6.4% against a target of 10% of total GDP (CBN, 2008). The management of information is a key activity in banking, and the influence of process reengineering and innovations through IT is likely to be bigger in banking than in other industries (David-west, 2005). Banks importantly require IT to coordinate enormous volumes of information (David-we st, 2005). Information technology (IT) is perceived as a necessity to pursue the rationalization and cost management due to intensified competition and crisis in the financial sector (De Bandt Davis, 2000). Information technology has helped Nigerian banks to streamline the back office operations by improving both efficiency and cost reduction. Advances in technology also influence the way banks services are delivered with aimed of making it more convenient for customers. For example, many banks in Africa now have their branches connected on-line real time (24/7). This clearly reduces the danger of carrying cash. Some banks have ATM to make cash available to their customers 24/7. Some Nigerian banks practice e-banking, telephone, and mobile banking. Money transfers services through MoneyGramme and Western Union Money transfer have enable Nigerian in Diaspora to send money to their family (CBN, 2008). Information technology capability (IT operations and IT knowledge) moreover, makes Nigerian banks to participate more effectively in international banking arena. For instance, some technologically up to date banks enable them to access international banking networks in order to efficiently affect fund transfer, open, amend, and negotiate letter of credit, retrieve up to date status of customer transactions among the banks that joined the Society for Worldwide Inter-bank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT). RESEARCH PROBLEM STATEMENT The decline in operational performance efficiency of Nigerian banks in terms of return on assets, equity and operating cost requires urgent attention of the banks to re-strategies ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½ for process performance improvement (CBN/BSD, 2008). Sanusi (2010) argued that poor operational performance indices of Nigerian financial institutions were due to inadequate and inflexible operational processes. This was part of the revelations of the special audit for all the Nigerian banks conducted jointly by Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Nigeria deposit insurance corporation (NDIC) in July 2009 for Commercial banks and in February 2010 for Microfinance banks. Vetiva Capital Management (2010), reported a quarterly performance of stocks on the Nigerian Stock Exchange Market for the quarters ended September 2010 that indicated the negative performance of (-2.49%) of banking industry stocks as compared to other industrial sectors of the economy. The weak operational processes of banking services are responsible for decimal performance of the sector in Nigeria (Ibenta, 2010) The consequences of merger and consolidation of operational process and an intensified foreign competition in financial service industry through liberalization and globalization faced by the organizations led to radical changes in operations, and services that result in conflicting performance (Wei Nair, 2006). The customer retention became a key factor in determining the success of bank. The bank that has the largest customer base and highest customer retention rate will be a market leader in the industry. Hence, the quality of customer service becomes a driving force in ascertaining business survival in the banking industry (Tang Zairi, 1998). Various authors such as Tas Sunder, (2004); Bhatt Trout, (2005); Tennat Wu, (2005) Terziovski, Fitzpatrick ONeill, (2003); Salimifard, Abbaszadeh Ghorbanpur (2010) argued that business process reengineering (BPR) in banking services have continued to increased organizational performance and identified the BPR factors that played a major role to successful outcomes for reengineering projects to includes: change management, management commitment, project management, customer focus, adequate financial resources, egalitarian culture, use of I.T, less bureaucratic structure, and quality management system. CSF is one of the most important areas that practitioner would have a greater opportunity to plan and manage successfully if identified in the research on BPR implement ation (Cheng Chiu, 2008). Therefore, given the popularity of BPR and high degree of failure rate linked with BPR project, the desire to identify the key success factors of BPR has gain importance as contemporary management approach for business success. In Nigerian banking industry, managers realized the effectiveness of BPR for gaining competitive advantage even though it is new, they do not fully understand what BPR is about and the CSFs that drive the successful implementation of the BPR project. Therefore, to fill this gap, an investigation into BPR factors would be worthwhile. When examining the relationship between the reengineering factors such as intangible resources and organizational performance, it has been posited that there may exist some key moderating variables that are important issues to research (Wade Hulland, 2004). A moderator variable is a qualitative/quantitative variable that affect the direction and/or strengthen of the relationship between an independent o r predictor variable and dependent or criterion variable (Baron Kenny 1986). The moderating variable of great interest is organization IT capability and its influence on the intangible resources (BPR factors) performance relationships (Liu, Liu, Hu, 2008). The growing of business dependence on information technology both operationally and strategically require the need to focus on value-creating intangible issues of IT capability, such as process effectiveness, IT experience and innovation. IT management experience and competence is expected to show stronger leadership skills and commitment in organizations (Ross Feeny 1999; Gottschalk 2002; Chun Mooney 2009). Building upon the knowledge-based theory, it is argued that the ability to blend business and IT knowledge, operational experience for innovation and competence through a variety of strong intra-organizational relationships lies at the heart of firms superior ability to understand the potential of information technology to enhance performance (Mata et al. 1995; Armstrong Sambamurthy 1999; Wu et al. 2008). To add up the contingency model in explaining the seemingly conflicting findings regarding the impact of aggregate IT capability. Tuominen et al. (2003) proposed the assessment of innovativeness through organizational adaptability as a pre-performance resource and an intermediate factor for financial performance. With the problem at stake, it has therefore become necessary to advance the understanding of the relationship between the factors in business process reengineering performance and IT capability in terms of IT knowledge and IT operations. Previous empirical studies that examined the BPR factors reengineering performance relationships (Cheng Chiu, 2008) have ignored the specific nature of IT capability and also, has not fully considered important environmental condition that influence the relationships. Drawing on the resource-based view, contingency perspective proposed that IT capab ility impact on firm resources was contingent on the fit between the IT capability/resource a firm possesses and the demands of the industry in which it competes. IT capability is expected to influence the BPR factors and reengineering performance relationships. To the researcher ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s knowledge, this moderating effect has never been investigated by prior studies. Although some firms in Asia, UK and US have examined the application of BPR in financial service industry, evidence revealed that much effort did not reach the original expectation (Hammer Champy, 1993). Therefore, the proposed study is different from the previous researches based on the additional three (3) BPR factors in terms of adequate financial resources; effective process redesign, and less bureaucratic flattered structure (Ahmad et al, 2007; Madubueze, 2007; Salimifard, et al, 2010) were introduced into the previous model used. Also, IT capability in terms of IT knowledge and IT operations was being v iewed as moderator (Tippins Sohi, 2003; Mistry, 2006; Yongmei, Hongjian Junhua, 2008). Huang et al, (2009) argued that the empirical evidence of Italian banks suggests that the development of IT capability, such as creating an Intranet to serve as a repository and communication tool, can support the redefinition of the overall strategy of the bank. Furthermore, cultural integration of the branch network and a life-long training process can be conducted to sustain the banks large scale network (Canato and Corrocher 2004). Despite the fact that the financial service industry is one of the early adopters of new information technologies, the effect of IT capability on firm performance is inconclusive in the service sector in general, which is contrary to its manufacturing counterpart (Brynjolfsson 1993). The comparison to be made between banks with BPR project Vs. banks without BPR project (Xin James He, 2005) as well as settings to identify the discrepancies as a result different cul tures, environment, economic activities and level of infrastructural development (Peppard and Fitzgerald, 1997). In view of the above mentioned gaps and the suggestion for further studies by scholars, this study is attempt to investigate and understand the effect of the I.T capability (in terms of I.T skill/knowledge and IT operations) on the performance of Nigerian banks and financial institutions, the possible relationships among the constructs of BPR factors and performance, and test a model that show the effect of BPR factors on organizational performance as well as the influence of IT capability that moderate the causal relationship between the BPR factors and performance of Nigerian banks (Commercial, Microfinance and Mortgage finance. Hence, this study is aimed to explore possible relationships among the constructs, and test a model that show the effect of BPR factors on firm performance and the moderating effect of IT capability on the causal relationship between the BPR factors and organizational performance of banks in Nigeria. LITERATURE REVIEW Organizational Performance The challenges for globalization of financial markets require major changes on the part of market participants to move beyond national-level competition and achieve international and global competitiveness. The entire banking industry is focusing on major process performance enhancements and gains in domestic market share as a catalyst for successful diversification. Banks are concentrating their efforts on market segments offering the potential for growth and enhancing performance, resulting in a re-direction within the overall financial services sector. Innovative banking services and processes were evolved as the market consolidates due to mergers and acquisitions. This dual trend toward specialization and consolidation is forging banks that will be able to compete in international and global markets. Performance enhancement efforts are aimed at a complete realignment of internal processes. In addition to cost containment strategies, focus is now on improving customer service delivery. Organization processes must be effective, efficient, and be more customer-friendly. Attempts are being made to transfer approaches like process reengineering initiatives that have proven effective in other industries, particularly manufacturing, to the financial sector. Organizational performance comprises the actual output or results of an organization as measured against its inputs. Organizational performance measures allow companies to focus attention on areas that need improvement by assessing how well work is done in terms of cost, quality, and time. Today ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s business environment is characterized by the increasing importance and strength of various stakeholder groups. It has become quite obvious that all stakeholders need to be taken into account when assessing modern company ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s performance. This is the main idea of Freemanà ƒâ€šÃ‚ ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s Stakeholder theory (Freeman, 1984, 1994). The stakeholder view maintains that firms have stakeholders rather than just shareholders to account for. The view that the corporation has obligations only to its stockholders is replaced by the notion that there are other groups to whom the firm is also responsible. Groups with a stake in the firm include shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, lenders, the government, and society (Berman et al., 1999; Harrison Freeman, 1999; Hillman Keim, 2001; Riahi-Belkaoui, 2003). One important notion revealed in many studies is that building better relations with primary stakeholders like employees, customers and suppliers could lead to increased shareholder ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s wealth. A sustainable organizational advantage may be built with tacit assets that derive from developing relationships with key stakeholders (Hillman Keim, 2001). When studying the relationship between stakeholder management and a firm ¿Ãƒ ‚ ½s financial performance, Berman et al. (1999) found that fostering positive connections with key stakeholders (customers and employees) can help a firm ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s profitability. Therefore due to the significance of various stakeholders, organizational performance should not be solely assessed by financial indicators. There are several approaches to organizational performance measurement that encompass different stakeholder ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s perspectives (Tangem, 2004). The balanced scorecard (BSC) (Kaplan Norton, 1992, 1993, 1996) is the most established and most commonly used (Neely, 2005), but by far not the only one. The multi-model performance framework (MMPF) model by Weerakoon (1996) is also very interesting and has four-dimensions including employee motivation, market performance, productivity performance, and societal impact, and covers the satisfaction of various stakeholders such as customers, investors, employees, suppliers, and society. A more recentl y developed conceptual framework is the performance prism, which suggests that a performance measurement system should be organized around five distinct but linked perspectives of performance (Tangem, 2004). Organizational performances in this study refer to the level of bank performance (increase/decrease) in terms of both financial and non financial performance indicators. Organizational effectiveness represents the outcome of organizational activities (Henri, 2004). Organizational effectiveness empirically is the ultimate dependent variable in research on organization (Cameron, 1986). The perception of organizational performance is linked to the continued success and achievement of an organization. There are wide ranging literatures on performance, but there is still no consensus definition of the term performance (Johannessen, Olaisen, Olsen, 1999). Murphy, Trailer Hill (1996), study found the use of term performance to include 71 different measures of performance categoriz ed into eight (8) dimensions of both financial and non financial measures. Majority of the previous studies used financial and non financial indicators to measure performance (Johannessen et al., 1999; Murphy et al., 1996). The debate on what performance measurement to use would continue as criteria could not apply to all settings (Cameron, 1986). A review of the literature on the evaluation of performance in organization context by Gomes, Yasin Lisboa (2004), reveals different emphasis on the performance measurement depending on the objective of the organization in that particular situation. There are many possible benefits from reengineering that translate into improved organizational performance. However, because of wide possibility of benefit from company innovativeness on performance a multiple dimensional scale of performance measurement offers more comprehensive operationalization of organizational performance than on uni- dimensional approach. Examples on some financial performance indicators employed in previous studies are: profitability, success rate of new service (product) introduction, after tax return on investment, sales growth, and after tax return on assets. Example of non financial performance indicators includes: customer satisfaction, customer focus, market research, and customer relationship management, quality and process improvement. Therefore based on the previous studies, this study would consider multiple measurement of performance (Financial performance and Customer service management performance). The financial and non financial performance indicators would consist of: profit, profit growth performance target, sales growth, overall response to competition, future outlook, and success rate in new product launch, overall business performance, customer service management, market research, customer relationship management, customer satisfaction, operational performance, speed, quality service and process improvement. In this stu dy, the perceived measures of financial and non financial performance of organization would be used because subjective measure was found to be correlated with objective measure of performance (Dess Robinson, 1984; Dawe, 1999). Also the previous studies Lyles Salk (1996); Hansen Wernerfelt (1989); Bart et al., (2001) confirmed the reliabilities and correlations between objective measures and perceived measures are strong. Similarly, previous studies conducted by Bontis (1998); and Bontis et al., (2000) revealed that subjective measure of performance (financial and non financial) are feasible. Therefore many organizations are convinced that the implementation of BPR could bring significant and measurable benefits (Vergidis et al 2008). In fact, the risky nature of BPR has motivated a detailed investigation of its critical success and failure factors (Abdolvand et al 2008) and many researchers (Ariyachandra Frolick 2008; Bandara, Gable, Rosemann 2005) have tried to identify BPR fa ctors. Business Process Reengineering (BPR) Factors Business Process Reengineering is being used as a vehicle for re-aligning strategy, operations, and systems to deliver significantly increased financial results and customer satisfaction. It helps to find ways to do more with less, and provide a better product or service in a minimum amount of time, speed, quality, and cost. In one important way, though, reengineering differs from past incremental and analytic methods. BPR factors are the success factors that lead to successful outcomes for reengineering projects, if they are satisfactory, will ensure successful competitive performance for the organization. BPR factors are strongly related to the mission and strategic goals of business or project. Whereas the mission and goals focus on the aims and what is to be achieved, BPR factors focus on the most important factors and get to the very heart of both what is to be achieved and how you will achieve it. The BPR factors are those important factors for success. It was originally developed to align planning with the strategic direction of an organization. It is only when most important factors have been identified that practitioners would have a chance of organizational success. Various BPR factors were developed and validated by authors from studies in organizations operating in different industry such as manufacturing, education, and services. The BPR factor is aptly chosen to represent the factors which are important to achievement of desired outcome of organization performance. BPR factors are of importance that these key areas of activity should receive constant and careful attention from management. BPR factor certainly differ from industry, environment as the company ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s position within industry changes. It is important to understand what factors would be important for BPR in both for understanding the implementation of business process reengineering and organizational performan ce improvement. Therefore, based on an extensive literature review and previous studies of BPR factors in banking process reengineering have been selected based on the scope of study and fit to the banking industry and environment of the proposed study Nigerian banks (Al-Mashari Zairi, 1999; Ahmad et al, 2007; Salimifard, et al. 2010). BPR factors are the independent variable which includes: 1) Change Management; 2) Management Commitment; 3) Less bureaucratic and flattered organizational structure; 4) Project Management; 5) Customer Focus; 6) Effective process redesign; 7) Adequate financial resources; 8) Information technology (I.T) infrastructure. These eight BPR factors are essential elements to the successful transformation process. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CAPABILITY The concept of I.T capability was introduced by Ross, Beath Goodhue (1996), defined I.T capability as the firm ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s ability to assemble, integrate and deploy I.T based resources. Heijden (2000) pointed out that the measurement of I.T capability covers relationships in I.T department with the rest for the business. Bharadwaj (2000), broaden the explanation of accepted views of organisational I.T capabilities to an organisation ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s information technology function. Bharadwaj, (2000) defined I.T capability as the ability of firm to mobilise and deploy I.T based resources in combination with other resources and capabilities. Those I.T-based resources are I.T enabled resources (consist of technical and managerial I.T skills); intangible I.T- enabled resources (such as knowledge, assets, customer orientation and synergy- the sharing of resources and capabilities across organisational division. Therefore capabilities reflect the ability of the firms to combine resources to promote superior performance (Amit Schoemaker, 1993). Tippins Sohi (2003) define IT capabilities as the extent to which an organization is equipped with I.T infrastructure, IT skills knowledge a nd experience as well as effective I.T operations utilization. A high level of IT experience enables the smooth implementation of the organization ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s strategy, develops reliable and cost effective systems for the organization, and anticipates customer needs (Bhatt Grover, 2005). Clark (1997) noted that IT experience in combination with other I.T elements directly determines an organization ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s ability to rapidly develop and deploy more innovative techniques to enhance performance. The role of IT capabilities in enhancing organizational performance is well established in the literature. Various I.T studies suggests I.T capabilities provide a basis of gaining competitive advantage and enhancing organizational performance (e.g. Santhanam Hartono, 2003; Bhatt Grover, 2005) An extensive body of IT capabilities literature agrees that I.T capabilities are resource to facilitate an effective collection and utilization of information (e.g. Bharadwaj, 2000 ). Floyd et al (1990) contend that I.T capabilities enhance service reliability, reduce transaction errors and increase consistency in performance. Further contentions are that capabilities can contribute to enhancing service quality through better customized or individualized services, and in creating knowledge links for identifying and sharing organizational expertise (Quinn et al., 1994). Tippins Sohi (2003) argued that I.T capabilities which is also known as I.T competency enhance performance through an elimination of inefficiency, reduction of long term cost, improve service reliability and reduced transaction errors. While Bharadwaj (2000); Ross, Beath Goodhue (1996); Li, Chen Huang (2006) studies focuses on the importance of IT capability as well as relationship between I.T spending (IT investment) and productivity/performance with moderating effect of IT capability. In this study, the term IT capability is adapted from the study conducted by Tippins and Sohi (2003). The study used I.T knowledge, I.T infrastructure and I.T operations among the dimensions of measuring IT capability. The BPR factors encompass both tangible and intangible elements of resources. Therefore, this study would use I.T knowledge and I.T operation as the main components of measuring I.T capability. The third component i.e. I.T infrastructure would be part of BPR factors as intangible resource. These dimensions demonstrate co-specialized resources that firms cannot utilize the information technology architecture effectively without sufficient knowledge and operations. Therefore I.T capability can provide the ability to understand the existing operations. It is also one of the most considered in bring changes into the business process. Michael Hammer recommends companies to redefine their process first and then automate. I.T can play critical roles in the development of BPR efforts as follows: a. I.T makes it possible to use new ideas and higher standard technology i n order to develop a strategic vision and help to make the business process better before it is designed. b. The communication technology through I.T capabilities helps in breaking down geographical and organizational barriers that makes the acceptance of process change and useful understanding of company ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s strength, weakness opportunities and threat. IT also helps to track information. c. For a firm to manage a process can be adapted from other companies practice outside its industry. The company should combine its team members experience to set a standard that other companies can be compared with. d. I.T staff needs to broaden their knowledge in non technical areas to achieve effective team work in an organisation. e. In order to have a flexible organisational design the firms existing difficult structures must be changed so as to ensure the operation of BPR cross functional teams against departmental activities. f. To gain market share and achieve competitive advantage, the agreement between companies and collaboration between suppliers and distributors takes place at the initial stage of BPR before process design. The Contradictory role of Information Technology as an enabler in Business process reengineering (BPR) One of the most straightforward assertions about BPR is that information technology is a key enabler of process redesign. It is information technology that permits companies to re-engineer business processes; a company that cannot change the way it thinks about information technology cannot re-engineer (Hammer Champy, 1993). Most other BPR proponents also adopt an essentially technical model of organizational change in which information technology basically drives the re-engineering effort (Grey Mitev, 1995; Jones, 1994). These arguments acknowledge the technological determinism inherent to BPR; technology determines not only work structure, but also organizational structure, culture, management styles, an d beliefs (Grey Mitev, 1995). Thus, out of fashioned organizational designs can be changed through the use of advanced, enabling technologies that support new business processes that respond to changing market needs. However reasonable and straightforward, this argument seems, it has also become the source of controversy. Rather than being a simple enabler of new organizational processes, information technology inconsistently can also disable an organization ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s ability to change. When an organization revises its basic business processes using information technology, it introduces a new structure that may become even more difficult to change in the future. Since the technical backbone of automated processes exists as software routines, a later change in process will require a reconstruction of the software application and its various links to other systems. While all changes require reprogramming of some sort, either to human or machine components, software progra ms are often virtually inaccessible to the persons nearest to the application. Given the inevitability of business change, hard-wired business processes that are built today may seriously constrain later efforts to redesign them. BPR may have already produced the organizational structures and processes that will be considered old-fashion tomorrow, and those processes may be more difficult to change because today ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s software conventions will probably also be considered out-fashion tomorrow. Lucas Olson (1994) provide a clear analysis of this in-consistency in their examination of information technology ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s effects on organizational flexibility. They argue that technology provides the capability for more flexible organizational structures by allowing greater variety in the time and place of work while increasing the speed of response. However, they note that information technology also constrains flexibility by embedding routines into software progra ms that are not easy to change. Resolving the contradiction of information technology as an enabler or not in BPR is not easy. Gill (1995) argued that managers should not over program their organizations in search of dramatic productivity gains but to ensure greater flexibility. Lucas (1996) recommends a commitment to continuous investment in new technologies, thereby keeping any programmed routines from becoming hardened in the organization The measurement of the I.T capability in this study is based on: IT knowledge (skills) and IT operations (Tippins Sohi, 2003). I.T Knowledge dimension is related to a manager ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s experiences for performing IT management activities. Knowledge of an IT is essential. Since IT consists of complex technologies, its implementation is always associated with high risks and uncertainty (Umble et al. 2003). A number of IT implementation failures can be attributed to inappropriate IT planning and management (Bergeron et al. 2003). Hence, IT manager has a larger role in controlling and managing the IT implementation process (Willcocks et al. 2000). If an IT manager is involved in a new project and possesses the corresponding IT management experiences, IT strategy can be in accordance with current business processes in order to realize the coordination between IT and business objective, thereby assisting the organization enhance business efficiency and firm performance with IT (Willcocks et al. 2000). The IT manager can supervise and control IT project costs, identify financial and human resources deviations, and adopt timely measures in order to avoid the potential risks incurred during the implementation process. This can foster the alignment of the newly developed IT and business processes (Soffer et al. 2005). Additionally, employees can be encouraged to rapidly adapt to the new IT, assimilate IT knowledge and apply it in their daily routines, which is beneficial for the improvement of organization performance (Shao et al. 2008). According to Knowledge based view (KBV) systems of knowing refers to structures of interaction among team members for sharing their perspectives, pooling of knowledge, and development of shared understanding. It is suggested that systems of knowing provides forums for top management team members that exchange their strategic IT and business knowledge, and blend them together to foster higher levels of IT diffusion within the organization. For managers, a frequent interaction between other top management team members enables them to achieve timely information with regards to organizational business, thus to plan and deployment IT to align with organizational business process, improve firm performance through the investments in IT. It is found that IT-related information could be disseminated more effectively between the manager and the top management (CEO) through richer channels of communications, and this greater interactions in different IT forums is proved to have favorable influence on firms IT success (Jarvenpaa Ives 1991) I.T Operations are the activities within the organization that are required to meet goals. These activities are underpinned by skills that encapsulate the knowledge within the firm. When IT operations are able to monitor and manage IT resources and services from a real-time business out-come perspective, it can align IT operations with business priorities. As a result, IT operations can streamline business processes and optimize resources to help manage costs, increase efficiency to manage productivity and increase revenue, and help ensure service availability to enhance customer satisfaction ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½rather than simply focus on technology. IT operations can translate raw IT monitoring data into a useful business impact analysis. IT operations should be able to: 1)Understand the configuration, dependencies and relationships of the components that make up the business service; 2) Establish goals and objec tives for service delivery documented in the service level agreement (SLAs); 3) Measure the effectiveness of its services (such as Web server availability and performance) and business ser-vices (such as payment processing response time); 4) Analyze and report on the actual services delivered for the IT group and the clients that use them; 5) Create usage and accounting reports that can be used for chargeback and billing Information Technology Service Capability Maturity Model According to Niessink, Clerc Vliet (2004) the IT Service capability maturity model consists of five (5) maturity levels, which contains key process areas. For an organization to reside on a certain maturity level, it needs to implement all of the key processes for that level and lower levels. The main focus is the maturity of the service organization, not the maturity of individual services, projects or organizational units. The model covers the service delivery process with primary objectives: 1. To enable IT service providers to assess their capabilities with respect to the delivery of IT services 2. To provide IT service providers with directions and steps and further improvement of their service delivery The IT Service CMM fulfils these above objectives by measuring the capability of the IT service processes of organizations on a five level ordinal scale. Each level prescribes certain key processes that have to be in place before an organization resides on that level. Key processes implement a set of related activities that, when performed collectively, achieve a set of goals considered important for enhancing service process capability. Hence, organizations can improve their service capability by implementing these key processes. More formally, we define IT service process capability as the range of expected results that can be achieved by following a service process. IT service process performance represents the actual results achieved by following an IT service pro cess. IT service process maturity is the extent to which a specific process is explicitly defined, managed, measured, controlled and effective. The IT Service CMM focuses on measuring and improving the IT service process maturity of IT service organizations. An organization that scores high IT Service CMM scale will be able to: * Deliver quality IT services, tailored to the need of its customers * Do so in a predictable, cost-effective way * Combine and integrate different services, possibly by different service providers, into a consistent service package * Continually and sustainably improve service quality in a customer-focused way In order to understand the ITS-CMM, it is necessary to see the definitions of the various levels and to understand the structured nature of these definitions. The five levels of the IT Service CMM are: initial level; repeatable level; defined level; managed level and optimizing level. For an organization to reside on a certain maturity l evel, it needs to implement all key processes for that maturity level  ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½ and those for lower levels. The term key process area merely means that these processes are seen as the key to reach a certain maturity level. There might be more  ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½ non-key  ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½ processes, but these are not strictly necessary to reach the next maturity level. The key process areas are grouped into three process categories: The first group is concerned with the management of services; the second category deals with enabling the delivery process by means of support processes and standardization of processes; the third category consists of the processes that result in the consistent, efficient delivery of services according to the appropriate quality levels. METHODOLOGY This study focus on descriptive and causal research (hypothesis testing), since the objective of the study is to examine the relationships between the BPR factors, I.T capability and organization performance. Descriptive research would be undertaken in this study to identify the characteristic of the population such as respondent (commercial bank, microfinance bank and mortgage finance) variability and organization characteristics. Causal research or hypothesis testing and correlation approach would be conducted in the study to explain the relationship between the variables and the variance of the dependent variables. This study would use non experimental design, where the researcher does not have a control over the independent variables that determine their effect on the dependent variable. The research can only control the measurement of the study but do not interfere with the research settings. The research is only interested in gathering the information about the banks and financial institutions performance outcome of implementation of the BPR factors and specifically to examine the relationship of BPR factors, I.T capability and organizational performance within the ba nking and financial service settings. Therefore, non-experimental design or survey using quantitative method of administering questionnaire would be employed for this research. The study would use organization as the unit of analysis. The population of the study is 1,023 financial organizations (consists of 24 commercial banks, 901 microfinance bank and 98 primary mortgage finance). A total of one thousand and twenty three (1,023) banks and financial institutions are registered with Central bank of Nigeria (CBN). The list can be access through the CBN internet website: https://www.cenbank.org/supervision/finstitutions.asp. The survey would be conducted through self administered questionnaires. Although this method would be expensive compared to mail survey, nevertheless the researcher still favour this method due to its advantages. The biggest advantage is that the researcher can collect all completed responses within a short period of time. The second advantage is that resear cher can explain on the spot the terms or part of the questions which the respondents could not understand. Thirdly, the researcher can motivate the respondents to take part in the survey and give their honest opinions (Sekaran, 2003). The survey method strategy would be to collect the data with regard to BPR factors, information technology (I.T) capability and manager ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s perception of the organizations performance. Babbie, (1990) highlighted the three (3) objectives linked with survey research: 1) Description; 2) Explanation; 3) Exploratory objectives. This study ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s objectives are descriptive and explanatory. It involves identifying the characteristics and attribute of the respondent as well as making explanation through the examination of the relationships of the variables of the study. Descriptive statistics according to Babbie (1973) provide a way to streamline the large data to a manageable size that allows easy interpretation and understanding. Statistical package of social science (SPSS) software will be used for the regression model and measuring the causal relationships among the variables. CONCLUSION This paper is based on an ongoing doctoral research and the following hypotheses are propositioned based on the current review of literature. H: 1.The BPR factors related to organizational performance of Nigerian banks H: 2.The I.T capability (IT knowledge and IT operations) attributes related to organizational performance of Nigerian banks H: 3.The Information Technology (I.T) capability (IT knowledge and IT operations) indicators play the role of moderator in the relationship between BPR factors and organizational performance of banks in Nigeria. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Effect of Business Process Reengineering Factors on Organizational Performance" essay for you Create order