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BPR has been around for quite some time: a lot has been written about it in both the practitioner trade press and the academic research journals. However, the controversy still remains if there is any accurate description of BPR, or if BPR is just a fad: an appealing label to tag on to whatever your company is doing to suggest that your latest and greatest work is 'in vogue.' To get some bearing about the question of what is BPR and what is the role of information systems and human factors in that process, you may like to start here.

What is BPR?

Start with Overview Article on BPR that covers key concepts regarding BPR, Processes, Myths about BPR, Relation between BPR and information technology, Role of IS function in BPR, BPR Methodology, Failure of BPR Projects, and Future of BPR. It also contains hyperlinks to selected references. On a related note, you may also like to peruse the diverse notions of 'Enterprise Architecture' as they are relevant to planning and implementing organizational change. These notions are presented in this Overview Article on Enterprise Architecture within a framework of Strategic Capabilities Architecture.

A few other papers that add to the perspective explained in the overview paper are listed below for additional reading on: "What is BPR?"

• Business Process Innovation: What Is It? A text book definition and the six-step approach. The 'radical' and 'dramatic' improvement aspects should be noted for contrasting with the following articles.
• Business Process Reengineering (Dean) A review of diverse perspectives on BPR and argument for the 'humanistic' approach to business transformation.

Is BPR Out of Vogue?

Strategic Planning Is BPR out of vogue? After a decade of streamlining processes for efficiency, companies are adopting a more proactive stance toward the future. The reborn Strategy must be "subversive": it must challenge the internal company rules and industry rules; it must be customer-oriented; and it must be based on "thinking in terms of whole systems." Makes one think if BPR and the "new" Strategy are really 'apples and oranges'?

Does BPR Always Require External Consultants?

Some Companies Reengineer Without Consultants Companies like Texas Instruments and Harley Davidson are setting the precedent for implementing reengineering initiatives with internal process improvement teams. This article outlines the development of their home-grown BPR initiatives that were implemented independent of external consultants.

BPR Initiatives... For the Benefit of Employees?

Balancing Work and Family Short-sighted nature of BPR initiatives has been often criticized because of their key emphasis on restructuring and downsizing [read 'dumbsizing']. BPR efforts have been expected to benefit the company and in several cases the customers of the company. How often have we heard of the BPR efforts oriented to the benefit of the employees? Often we forget that the success of almost all BPR initiatives depends upon the employees: in the final analysis they are the persons responsible for delivering the benefits to the customers and to the company. Here are some companies that are turning the 'nuke them' BPR philosophy on its head. Business processes... meet... work processes.

Systemic View of Organizational Change

If you are interested in a "wholistic" perspective about management of organizational change and organizational interdependence by deploying information technology, you would like to read the paper titled Role of Information Technology in Managing Organizational Change and Organizational Interdependence. This synthesis of ideas from systems theory, organization research and information technology practices, attempts to provide a "wholistic" perspective of the relevant organizational and technological issues. The synthesis suggests that the survival and growth of organizations in an increasingly turbulent environment would depend upon effective utilization of information technology for aligning the organizational structure with environmental preferences and for creating symbiotic interorganizational structures.

BPR: Incremental or Radical?

We are all familiar with the initial thrust of BPR on 'forcing' radical change on the employees propounded by Hammer and Champy. We are also aware of the criticism of such 'radicalism' and the later aboutturn of the above authors when they suggested that BPR needs to take into consideration the human factors necessary for successful implementation. The question remains: BPR, should it be incremental or radical?

Our thinking is that the process changes need to be radical in the sense that they are of framebending or framebreaking nature. In other words, the assumptions underlying the existing processes need to be surfaced and analyzed by considering multiple and contradictory perspectives of the present and the future. However, the implementation needs to be preceded by a well thought out action plan that involves the employees at the various levels. For a relatively recent case study of an organization that used such an approach, peruse the story Enterprise Systems: The Big Switch: Would You Shut Down Your Business to Bring Up A New System? from CIO (Feb. 15, 1997). Going against the generally accepted notion of reengineering business processes piece-by-piece, the computer manufacturer Quantum replaced its worldwide legacy systems with an integrated client/server system using the 'big bang' approach. However, the 'big bang' required: a four year planning and implementation process that involved managers and employees from all business units; the ability to respond quickly to unforeseen situations and take decisive actions; and the resolution to go through several testing cycles while often remaining on tenterhooks.

Remain tuned in for more on similar issues...

Meanwhile, to provide you with a more focused perspective on the various issues relevant to Business Process Reengineering & Innovation, many other articles are provided below along with extensive annotations.

BPR Papers

More Readings, Case Studies and Papers on BPR

• Business Engineering and Process Redesign in Higher Education: Art or Science?
• An Empirical Study of Practitioner Attitudes toward Effectiveness of Business Process Reengineering Concepts and Tools (Kohli & Hoadley)
• Transformation of the IT Function at British Petroleum The paper provides BPX's "Septagon Model" as a guide for other IS departments as they seek to adapt to a new technological and economic environment.
• Building a Change-Ready IS Organization This paper describes a successful initiative to develop a change-ready IS organization at Bell Atlantic -- a large telecommunications firm (1995 revenues: $13.4B) with a long history of competing in local voice and data markets, now facing a hypercompetitive environment.
• Business Reengineering at CIGNA Corporation: Experiences and Lessons Learned From the First Five Years (Caron, Jarvenpaa & Stoddard 1994) (SIM International's 1994 Best Paper Award) BPR at CIGNA represents a contrast to some general prescriptions: it started out as a "pilot;" it was sustained "from the bottom up;" it was based upon a corporate environment that encouraged learning [from failure]; it was adapted to national cultures; and it was led by business divisions with IS as a partner in enabling radical change.
• Conceptual Re-engineering at Nissan (1997)
• CASE Tools as Organizational Change: Investigating Incremental and Radical Changes in Systems Development (Orlikowski) MISQ Paper of the Year 1993 Based upon empirical findings from two organizations' experience in terms of incremental or radical organizational change, this paper develops a conceptual and theoretical framework for adoption of and use of such tools. The findings underscore the importance of the social context of systems development, the intentions and actions of key players, and the implementation process followed by the organization.
• The Matrix of Change: A Tool for Business Process Reengineering (Brynjolfsson et al.) This paper contends that BPR efforts haven't enjoyed exemplary success rates because of a lack of tools for managing the change process. To fill the void, this paper proposes a tool for managing the change process by identifying the interactions among processes.
• Why IS Projects Fail?: A Case of Media Richness... The greatest threat to the success of any IS project is the failure to communicate. This interview highlights the pros and cons of face-to-face and electronic communication with increasing project size and complexity.
• IS & Risk Management Changing environemental, technological and organizational factors are forcing organizations to change the ways they study and manage computer-related risks. Risk assessment should include the opportunity cost of inaction or failure while doing a cost analysis of the project investment.
• Business Process Reengineering Analysis and Recommendations (Chu et al.) A review of the BPR literature with an assessment of the princliples and assumptions behind BPR, successes and failures, case studies and theoretical alternatives. The key emphasis is on the role of IT in BPR with references to Davenport's "ecological" model and Wheatley's "living systems" model.
• The Market, Technological and Industry Contexts of Business Process Re-Engineering in UK Businesses (Macintosh & Francis) Report on the market, technological and industrial context of BPR in the UK. Also covers a history of BPR, its relationships with other management approaches, case studies of UK companies, and implications of a BPR initiative.
• The Wider Research context of Business Process Analysis (Coombs & Hull) Report on the wider research context of Business Process Analysis w.r.t. the various theories about management, organisation, production, etc, which provide the intellectual context for Business Process Analysis.
• BPR: The Implementation Of Task Groups (Hofman) This article discusses the philosophy and methodology for implementing task groups for the implementation of BPR. Although, the concept is discussed within a context of a production shop floor, however the issues are generalizable to broader BPR contexts.
• Success or Failure of Working in a Product Group Oriented Manners (Hofman) This English translation of a published article seeks to answer if 'Product Group' will be the next buzzword in line of Quality Circles, Total Quality Management (TQM), Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), Kaizen, Learning Organization, etc. This article attempts to depict the linkages, and the progression paths, between these seemingly disparate concepts in terms of Direct Supervision/Skills (Knowledge), Standardization of Working Processes (Regulations) and Standardization of the Output (Target).
• Business Process Analysis - A Letter from America (Arunachalam & Subramanian) Abstract of a report on the recent innovations implemented by American companies and by the US government.
• Business Processes - A Natural Approach (Ferrie) Discussing the "natural system" aspect of BPR with references to such efforts at Rolls Royce Aerospace Group. Focus on the non-linear, people-related aspects drawing on the science of complexity.
• Best Practice Basics & Foundations Also of interest:
  • Determining & Implementing Best Practices / Best Practices Taxonomy
  • Best Practices and SAP (R/3)
  • Best Practices Bibliography
• Quantification of Best Business Practices: An Essay of Competitive Consequence
• In Search of "Best Practices" (Computerworld) Another article crticizing "best practices," this one by Paul Strassmann. In his analysis he found that the Premier 100 firms were all different, in just about every conceivable manner. "Excellence" arises from the way an organization harmonizes its resources, something akin to Porter's argument of 'complementarities.'
• Process Management and Reengineering (Seminar) Council of the Great City School's seminar outline provides a snapshot of basic BPR terms, the theoretical bases, the pros & cons of BPR and lessons learned. The emphasis is upon the systemic basis of BPR.
• Is Re-engineering Possible in the Public Sector?: A Brazilian Case Study (Kock & McQueen)
• Coopers & Lybrand Consulting's BreakPoint BPR (Goldsmith & Maniace) This article reviews the changes that have recently been implemented in Coopers & Lybrand's BreakPoint BPR methodology, along with the relevant tools and methods. The details of the C&L BPR methodology are discussed in the related article Coopers & Lybrand Consulting's BreakPoint BPR
which reviews the BreakPoint BPR Methodology as a three-phased process based upon an interdisciplinary approach. The three phases of this approach: Discover, Redesign, and Realize, provide a BPR framework that is purported to take the contextual and cultural issues into consideration.
• "Valuing IT through Virtual Process Measurement" (Postscript: 2232 K)
• BPR Project Management: A Radical Approach to Project Team Organization (American Programmer) How to overcome the four critical hurdles in reengineering: (a) Lack of cross-organizational commitment, (b) Deliverable complexity, (c) Environmental complexity, and (d) Unrealistic expectations.
• Process Improvement Through Defect Analysis: With Specific Application to the Order Fulfillment Process Defect analysis is based on notion of success or failure of individual transactions' performance as experienced by customers. The paper argues against aggregation of data and recommends some tools for 'defect analysis.'
• The Fad That Forgot People (Davenport) Reviewing the organizational destruction cast by reengineering, Davenport reviews its evolution form a 'decent' fad to a $51 billion industry in 1995. He discusses how the various concepts became 'repackaged' under the label of BPR, and how it led to the decline of various companies. The punchline is: "information technology is only useful if it helps people do their work better and differently." Ironically, he notes, companies are still throwing money at technology -- instead of working with the people in the organization to infuse technology.
• Articles on Quality Management, BPR & Related Topics (HCI, Australia)
• The Enabling Role of EDI in BPR Arguing for a strategic perspective for EDI, this paper reviews case studies whcih involved the implementation of EDI accompanied by reengineering of the business processes.
• The Electronic Antidote to Slow Business: With Bucks, EDI Can Add Zip to Routine Commerce Based on a review of the potential benefits and disadvantages of EDI, the author argues for the use of EDI within a larger framework of process improvement. Internet is proposed as an alternative solution [to EDI] since it can overcome some of the key limitations of EDI.
• Framework for Managing Process Improvement
• KPMG's Managing Transformation in the New Economy This report analyzes how the business environment is being shaped into a "new economy" of knowledge-based businesses by various forces and the related strategic issues that need to addressed by the managers of organizations. Executive Summary & Downloadable File
• The Hocus-Pocus of Reengineering (Strassmann) Strassmann criticizes the rhetoric of reengineering as propagated by Hammer in terms of metaphors that convey violence and destruction. Contrasting this radical "morality of warfare" with "morality of commerce", he argues in favor of evolutionary approaches to deliver better and more permanent improvements: "Evolutionary change stimulates morale and imagination, creating conditions for rewarding organizational learning and for inspiring employees to discover innovative ways to deal with adversity and competitive challenges."
• The Roots Of Business Process Reengineering (Strassmann) Reengineering has been practiced since 1920s under different labels, however its recent radical incarnation is attributable to dismal economic performance and decreased productivity of American corporations: "Reengineering is certainly not a breakthrough in management thinking, but a convenient bandwagon on which management and consultants could readily hop in search of a quick remedy to unfavorable financial health of U.S. industrial corporations that had been festering for a long time. "
• Reengineering (Excerpt from The Politics of Information Management): Strassmann
• The Effect of Outside Consultants Involvement over the Success of BPR Projects
• A Model Management Approach to Business Process Reengineering
• Enterprise Information Systems Integration and Business Process Improvement Initiative: An Empirical Study
• Here Comes SAP
• Desperately Seeking SAP Support (Datamation 1997)
• Dealing with the Aftershock of a New SAP Implementation (Datamation 1997)
• How to Find the Right R/3 Consultant (Datamation 1997)
• Implementing R/3 info on the Web (Datamation 1997)
• Linking Systems: Integration Nightmare : Sounding the Alarm (CIO Koch, Nov '96) If you work toward tightly integrated companywide systems, that's what you may get. The price of tight integration may be slow response and reduced flexibility in face of changing business needs.
• CIO special issue on SAP This series of articles suggest that SAP may not represent a common remedy for all ills related to the firm's business processes. Installation of software is just one part... having the people and processes follow the enterprise resource planning (ERP) mandate is perhaps the greater challenge. Firms may adopt one of the profiled strategies: the Big Bang strategy, the Franchising strategy, or the Slam Dunk strategy. However, the 'integrated streamlining' offered by SAP may not be the optimal strategy for all firms, especially those with nimble and autonomous work units. Also see Packaged Application Strategies and SAP: Breaking the Rules.
• CIO's SAP Online Forum
• SAP Articles
• SAP Web Sites
• CIO's List of SAP Resources A list of hotlinks to SAP related sites and SAP related books.
• Behind Good Products Are Methods that Work A less than 'radical' approach propagated by AMA based on ideas of Ray Manganelli, the author of The Reengineering Handbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Business Transformation. Discusses how the 'step-by-step' method was deployed by Bell & Gossett Co., an ITT unit manufacturing pumps and valves.
• Should You Take the Reengineering Risk?
• Tools for inventing organizations: Toward a handbook of organizational processes
• Does Information Technology Inhibit Corporate Reengineering? (IW) Contrary to general thinking, this 1994 CSC Indexsurvey shows that information technology is considereed by top executives as one of the key inhibitors of business reengineering. Legacy systems, often created to serve independent departments, often hinder the process of the development of the IT infrastructure required for reengineering.
• Grammatical Models of Organizational Processes (Pentland) This paper proposes the metaphor of grammar for describing organizational processes and develops it into a rigorous model for describing and theorizing about organizational work processes. It is argued that a special class of models based on the metaphor of grammar can provide unique insights into the sequential structure of organizational processes.
• Process Grammars: A Generative Approach to Process Redesign (Brian T. Pentland)
• Teaching About Reengineering (Davenport)
• Process Grammars: A Generative Approach to Process Redesign (Brian T. Pentland)
• Reengineering for Results: Keys to Success from Government Experience (by Dr. Sharon L. Caudle)
• Papers on Process Modelling (Software & Organizations) IPG Publications
• Business Process Modelling: Papers (Yu)
• Modelling the Organization: New Concepts and Tools for Re-Engineering
• Business Process Reengineering (BPR) Fundamentals (DoD)
• Planning for Business Process Reengineering (DoD)
• GAO BPR Assessment Guide (DoD)
• Business Process Reengineering (BPR) Process Model (DoD)
• Designing Tools to Support Business Process Reengineering
• Human and Organisational Aspects of Business Process Reengineering
• Business Process Reengineering : Definitions and Models Revisited
• BPR Articles Compilation from Electronic College of Process Innovation Also of related interest: Tools and Techniques for Business Process Reengineering, Glossary of BPR Terms, Bibliography Listing by Topic, and Government BPR Project Reports.
• Articles on Reengineering and Benchmarking (APQC's Continuous Journey Magazine)
• Benchmarking: A Quick Overview from CIO
• Articles on Business Process Redesign (BPR-L)