Supporting the “soft” side of business process reengineering

The contemporary business environment in which an organisation exists is becoming increasingly dynamic. The pressing need to improve the existing business processes in an organisation, results in the appearance of a new field called Business Process Reengineering (BPR). However, despite more and more innovative technological solutions for business processes, resistance to change continues to be the biggest BPR obstacle. According to many experts, this is the main reason why reengineering projects in many organisations fail. This paper investigates the “soft” side of BPR (i.e. its human aspects). More precisely, it focuses on ways information technology (IT), in particular group support systems (GSS), can support the soft side of BPR and reduce resistance to change. In this way, the paper introduces the third level of integration of IT and BPR, in addition to the two levels already described in the literature. The approach is illustrated by an example of a company that used GSS during its reengineering efforts.