Business Process Reengineering is "the analysis and design of workflows and processes within and between organizations" (Davenport & Short 1990). Teng et al. (1994) define BPR as "the critical analysis and radical redesign of existing business processes to achieve breakthrough improvements in performance measures."

 How Does BPR Differ from TQM?  

Teng et al. (1994) note that in recent years, increased attention to business processes is largely due to the TQM (Total Quality Movement). They conclude that TQM and BPR share a cross-functional orientation. Davenport observed that quality specialists tend to focus on incremental change and gradual improvement of processes, while proponents of reengineering often seek radical redesign and drastic improvement of processes.

Davenport (1993) notes that Quality management, often referred to as total quality management (TQM) or continuous improvement, refers to programs and initiatives that emphasize incremental improvement in work processes and outputs over an open-ended period of time. In contrast, Reengineering, also known as business process redesign or process innovation, refers to discrete initiatives that are intended to achieve radically redesigned and improved work processes in a bounded time frame.