A CONCEPTUAL AND ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK FOR BUSINESS PROCESS REENGINEERING

BPR has become a hot buzzword in management and information systems di sciplines. However, there is a lacuna in recognizing the characteristi cs and the way of performing BPR. In this paper, we categorize the rea sons for BPR failure as the lack of understanding of and the inability to perform BPR, and we reviewed BPR based on the four key concepts: f undamental, radical, dramatic, and process. We argue that SSM can be a pplied in performing BPR in the following ways: (1) SSM can be a gener al methodology for BPR, (2) SSM can be an analytical framework for BPR , and (3) SSM is able to deal with the ill-defined and complex busines s situation in a BPR effort. To illustrate the applicability of SSM in the context of BPR, we describe a live case of a BPR effort in develo ping and implementing an image processing system for hospital ward ord ering. Finally, in order to demonstrate the power of SSM, by extending SSM considerations of What/How, we elaborate further on the What's an d How's conceptual framework of an analysis and redesign effort. Based on this framework, we review the roles of information technologies in BPR.