STUART D. GREEN

Department of Construction Management & Engineering, The University of Reading, PO Box 219, RG6 6AW, UK.

Abstract

The current research agenda for construction process improvement is heavily influenced by the rhetoric of business process re-engineering (BPR). In contrast to the wider literature on BPR, there is little evidence of critical thought within the construction management research community. A postmodernist interpretation is advocated whereby the reality of management practice is defined by the dominant management discourse. The persuasiveness of BPR rhetoric is analysed with particular reference to the way in which it plays on the insecurity of modern managers. Despite the lip service given to 'empowerment' and 'teamwork', the dominant theme of the re-engineering movement is that of technocratic totalitarianism. From a critical perspective, it is suggested that BPR is imposed on construction organisations to ensure continued control by the industry's dominant power groups. Whilst industry leaders are fond of calling for 'attitudinal and cultural improvement', the language of the accepted research agenda continually reinforces the industry's dominant culture of 'control and command'. Current research directions in process improvement therefore perpetuate existing attitudes rather than facilitating cultural change. The concept of lean construction is seen to be the latest manifestation of this phenomenon.

Keywords business process re-engineering, construction management research, critical theory, lean construction, postmodernism, rhetoric