EMPIRICALLY ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF BPR ON MANUFACTURING FIRMS

Business process re-engineering (BPR) has been touted by many as drama tic improvements become necessary for organizations to improve competi tiveness and remain strong participants in economic development. While as a concept BPR is like ''motherhood and apple pie'', in practice th ere are many unsuccessful cases. Aims to identify and rate the importa nce of factors proposed as important for successfully implementing BPR projects in organizations, the extent to which various problems and b enefits are being encountered, the extent to which proposed BPR object ives are being included in project plans and are actually being derive d, and the impact of BPR projects on specific business processes and o n the organization as a whale. Tests several basic hypotheses regardin g the BPR implementation process, and makes recommendations for manage rs to focus attention and resources on factors important to success, a nd to proceed in a fashion which minimizes the risk of failure.