It Importance in Supporting Reengineering: Performance Perceptions versus Reality

Abstract

Rapid changes in the business environment are causing organizations to dramatically redesign how they do business. Business reengineering has been defined as the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures. Reengineering cannot, however, accomplish radical redesign without the support of fundamental aspects of the organization, such as information technology.

This research project surveyed 43 companies and identified five factors that individuals currently involved in, or experienced with, reengineering believe impact the use of information technology in strategic business reengineering. In addition, the study found six factors that respondents indicated they were actually observing as influencing the IT in BPR. These factors are presented and examined. The impact of critical change management issues are also addressed as integral parts of the factors.