Business process redesign: hype, hope or hypocrisy?

There have been few management concepts, even including ‘Total Quality’, ‘World Class Manufacturing’ and ‘Excellence’ to have generated such enormous media interest so quickly as the phenomenon of Business Process Redesign (BPR). The IT community in particular has latched on to the concept, although since its inception it has broadened its appeal. This paper discusses the significant issues relating to BPR and makes a distinction between business re-engineering and business process redesign. Based on a study of a number of organizations who claim to be active, the essential ingredients of BPR are presented. The paper then identifies how organizations are managing their redesign initiatives and presents emerging themes. The paper concludes with some of the lessons learned from the research to date and addresses the vital issues of whether BPR is hype, hope or hypocrisy.

Authors and Affiliations

1. Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield, Bedford, MK43 0AL, UK

   C Edwards & J W Peppard

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