BPR: Forging the Cultural Metamorphosis

Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) has received much debate in the literature, following from Hammer\u27s (1990) seminal, \u27Re-engineering work: don\u27t automate -obliterate\u27. Nevertheless, research has shown that management in organisations generally has little awareness of the social and cultural needs of the workforce when computerised information systems (IS) are built and implemented as part of a BPR exercise. However, the consequence of BPR, indeed its primary aim, is to change work patterns and how the organisation operates. This is not a technical process, nor should it be perceived as a managementexercise. Rather, it should embody a change of mind-set within an organisation that will engender a cultural shift concomitant with the needs of the organisation\u27s metamorphosis into a new polymorph. In this way, the organisation\u27s workforce are more likely to embrace the new structure -thereby adding to the likelihood of a successful BPR exercise. But, which elements are important? I have recently undertaken research in the UK which has highlighted a number of important issues that should be considered when developing and implementing an IS. This paper discusses some of these issues, and their importance to BPR