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OD, TQM AND BPR: A COMPARATIVE APPROACH

Bruce Millett & Satrina Harvey
12/05/99

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to compare three approaches to the management of organisational change: Organisational Development (OD), Total Quality Management (TQM) and Business Process Re-engineering (BPR). In order to achieve this comparison the article first defines each of the approaches and then identifies and compares elements of each. The article concludes that although the approaches all aim to increase organisational efficiencies, they are quite different both conceptually and in the way they are practised. This article does not attempt to argue that one of the approaches is better than the others, rather, its perspective is a contingent one. It argues that each of the approaches is suitable for different situations and that each approach can lead to increases in organisational efficiencies. However, the three approaches should be used as they were intended. They should not be utilised as off-the-shelf packages, as this does not allow problems that may exist in organisations to be diagnosed adequately.

KEYWORDS
Organisational Development; Total Quality Management; Business Process Re-engineering

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(For further information regarding this article contact:     millett@usq.edu.au