Reengineering based change in the further education sector in Northern Ireland – A qualitative study

The aim of this paper is to investigate the role of a large scale change approach, namely Reengineering, as a method of implementing change in the further education (FE) sector in Northern Ireland (NI). Case studies on 17 FE colleges in NI provided a valuable source of material on how a process‐based Reengineering project can be applied to an FE college. A comparative analysis of the key change issues facing FE colleges and the key elements of business process reengineering (BPR), revealed a commonality in key areas namely: customer focus – a key element of BPR and an imperative for the FE sector; an emphasis on designing and improving key business processes – a key element of BPR and a goal for FE colleges due to internal restructuring caused by incorporation; fundamental change – an essential key tenet of BPR and a key requirement in the FE sector; critical success factors – a key BPR implementation issue covering factors unique to the FE sector that must be addressed for the successful implementation of change.