The Reengineering Revolution: A Handbook.

• Author: Barber, Kenneth L.

The Reengineering Revolution gives readers the benefit of reengineering experiences of many organizations without having to endure these experiences themselves. The material has the potential to create trained and fit individuals who aspire to run the reengineering marathon at a sprinter's pace. This situation is possible since the book is not about theory or concept; it is about practices, successful ones to emulate and unsuccessful ones to avoid.

The book's mission is to help organizational leaders who are dedicated to providing cost-effective, superior services succeed at reengineering by bringing into their organization's workprocess "dramatic improvements in performance." Hammer and Stanton's work is a must if one is intrigued and excited by the concept of reengineering but is unsure how to make it realty in an organization. The book is an excellent tool for clarifying any concerns related to realizing the potential of the idea of reengineering. While the work does not provide an all-encompassing formula whose rote application guarantees success, it does provide means and methods that can be studied, learned, adapted, and practiced.

Information on and proven examples of reengineering by chief executives in some of our global village's most successful corporations provided the rough foundation for the handbook. The list includes, but is by no means limited to, individuals from Amoco, Liberty Mutual, Hitachi Data Center, and Scott Paper. Nonetheless, the principles and procedures prescribed by Hammer and Stanton have not stopped at the leaders of corporate industry and can be utilized to success by public-sector leaders from the federal and state level to the local level. The handbook provides concepts and principles that can aid elected and appointed leaders of change through the toughest of revolutions.

The Reengineering Revolution offers a guide to practical action. It is a handbook, a toolkit, a compendium of techniques, a bag of tricks for the trade of addressing the key issues and problems that a reengineering effort will confront. Because reengineering is an art but not yet a science, this book has not and cannot anticipate every situation that change agents will face. Consequently, it will not provide them with...