"It Seems to Fill My Head with Ideas": A Few Thoughts on Postmodernism, TQM, and BPR

The main objective of this article is to explode the popular myth that the Total Quality Management (TQM) and Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) constructs have not been properly understood or implemented. Elements of postmodern discourse are used to juggle with the meaning of TQM, BPR, and, at a later stage, with that of postmodernism itself. Problems traditionally identified as hampering TQM/BPR implementation can be thus dissolved. Both the arguments of TQM/BPR advocates and opponents will be shown to be necessarily incomplete. By taking the TQM/BPR constructs less seriously and offering an alternative to the totalizing discourse surrounding them, we may be able to unlock more of their potential.