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The Violent Rhetoric of Re‐engineering: Management Consultancy on the Offensive

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  • Keith Grint
  • Peter Case

Abstract

Business process re‐engineering (BPR) was a leading form of organizational restructuring from the late 1980s until the late 1990s. This paper seeks to contextualize its development and account for its particularly bellicose language by reflecting on its historical antecedents in the west and its contemporary competitors in the east. We suggest that one way of reading BPR is as a form of ‘inverse colonization’ in which US managerial discourse both assimilated and revolted against the growing domination of Japanese thinking and practice. We conclude with some speculative comments on related causes of the rise of violent managerial rhetoric.

Suggested Citation

  • Keith Grint & Peter Case, 1998. "The Violent Rhetoric of Re‐engineering: Management Consultancy on the Offensive," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(5), pages 557-577, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:35:y:1998:i:5:p:557-577
    DOI: 10.1111/1467-6486.00109
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    Cited by:

    1. Thibaut Bardon & Stewart Clegg & Emmanuel Josserand, 2012. "Exploring identity construction from a critical management perspective: a research agenda," Post-Print hal-00949864, HAL.
    2. Higgins, Colin & Walker, Robyn, 2012. "Ethos, logos, pathos: Strategies of persuasion in social/environmental reports," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 194-208.
    3. Hislop, Donald, 2002. "The client role in consultancy relations during the appropriation of technological innovations," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 657-671, July.
    4. Heusinkveld, Stefan & Visscher, Klaasjan, 2012. "Practice what you preach: How consultants frame management concepts as enacted practice," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 285-297.
    5. Nanette Monin & David Barry & D. John Monin, 2003. "Toggling with Taylor: A Different Approach to Reading a Management Text," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(2), pages 377-401, March.

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