Information technology and radical re-engineering: Emerging issues in major projects

Abstract

The paper examines the findings from longitudinal case study work conducted in the 1992–95 period in two organizations in the United Kingdom insurance and health care sectors. The study highlights the many cultural, political, and technical issues that emerge in the strategy and implementation of large-scale radical re-engineering projects. The radical re-engineering perspective and model for change presented by Hammer and Champy (1993) are compared against empirical findings. These suggest that the Hammer and Champy advice contains many limitations. The cases show the specific circumstances in which radical re-engineering can be effective in managerial terms, but also point to conditions under which a unitary perspective on the organization often cannot address adequately many critical political and cultural issues. Moreover the case histories point to (1) the dangers of an over-reliance on a methodological holism that can be rarely delivered on in complex large-scale organizations, given the scale of change envisaged; and (2) the difficulties engendered by overemphasizing the need for transformation and “starting again”, and downplaying the role of history and continuity in both the study and management of organizational change.