From BPR to CPR ‐ conceptualising re‐engineering in construction

As construction is a project‐orientated industry, it is suggested in this paper that traditional business process re‐engineering (BPR) will only improve intra‐organisational business processes, not the inter‐organisational normally used to procure construction facilities because of the degree of process incompatibility between participating organisations. The aim of this paper is to explain why traditional BPR is not considered to be an effective method for improving the performance of projects. The paper argues that an alternative to BPR is needed and suggests that construction process re‐engineering, founded on the “new production philosophy” should be used to initiate change at a project level. Models for re‐engineering processes in construction at a company and project level are presented and discussed.