Business Process Reengineering (BPR) Versus Outsourcing - Critical Perspectives

Authors

Philip Dobson, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow

Document Type

Journal Article

Publisher

Springer

Faculty

Faculty of Business and Public Management

School

School of Business

RAS ID

2008

Comments

Dobson, P. J. (2003). Business process reengineering (BPR) versus outsourcing—Critical perspectives. Systemic Practice and Action Research, 16(3), 225-233. Available here

Abstract

This article presents a case example involving the renaming of an organizational change process from BPR to outsourcing. The paper discusses the important ramifications of such a name change in that the recognition of outsourcing allowed an organizational commitment to counseling and termination advice. The paper discusses two ways of looking at the name change, one from a critical theory perspective and one from a realist perspective. It demonstrates how theory can provide useful yet markedly different interpretations of such organizational events. Critical theory operates from within what can be termed the transitive epistemological dimension, whereas critical realism tends to emphasize the importance of ontological issues. Each has important things to say about the situation and improves our understanding overall.

DOI

10.1023/A:1023863906650