Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
December 1998
David Paper
University of Utah
Recommended Citation
Bahn, David and Paper, David, "BPR vs. BPI: Contrasting Two Constructs" (1998). AMCIS 1998 Proceedings. 37.
http://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis1998/37
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BPR vs. BPI: Contrasting Two Constructs
David Bahn
University of Minnesota
David Paper
University of Utah
Abstract
As the efficacy of business process reengineering (BPR) has come under question, organizations are seeking
ways to modify its implementation. This has led to some semantic confusion over alternate methodologies for
changing an organization’s business processes. This paper attempts to reduce confusion by distinguishing
between BPR and BPI (business process improvement).
BPR/BPI Distinctions
In order to clarify the distinctions between BPI and BPR approaches, we will contrast them across a number of defining
characteristics. Of course, it is unlikely that any project-based effort to engender changes in an organization's business processes
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will be exactly congruent with the characteristics of either BPI or BPR. Nevertheless, two kinds of factors stand out as potentially
distinguishing BPR and BPI:
• The organizational context in which projects to engender business process change are launched
• The manner in which implementation of process changes occurs
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The major problem faced by both organizations is inertia. Habits were very hard to break. When people faced crisis, they
tended to revert back to the old way of doing things. Hence, BPI was important to keep sponsorship continuous and visible.
The distinction between BPR and BPI was very important because it provided teams with a better understanding of the objectives
of each process project.
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