Implementing Major Organizational Change : Can We Really Do It?

Business process re‐engineering (BPR) is a radical rethinking of an organization and its cross‐functional, end‐to‐end processes and has taken corporations by storm. Despite the excitement over BPR, however, the rate of failure for re‐engineering projects is over 50 per cent. Uses two well‐established models, the information technology strategic grid and the corporate tribes culture model, to provide some insight into the difficulty of implementing BPR successfully. Analysis specifically the potential impacts of each culture type. The strategic relevance of a process, as delineated in the strategic grid, is examined for its relationship to BPR implemention. Integrates the combined impact of culture and strategic relevance into a practical framework to guide managers in planning for the successful implementation of BPR.