The chaotic nature of healthcare information systems: The need for transdisciplinary collaboration

Copyright @ 2013 EMCIS.This paper demonstrates one of the challenges of the healthcare information systems development, namely the chaotic nature of healthcare systems. Although the reliable evidence demonstrating the positive effects of health information systems on safety and quality remains inconclusive (a growing body of research revealing the unintended consequences and potentially error producing effects of health information systems’ implementation. Different arguments from the literature concerning the chaotic nature of healthcare, including but not limited to the nature of patients and disease have been presented. The requirements of new ways of systems design and the need for transdisciplinary dynamic teams within the requirements engineering phase as a start has been discussed. These arguments have been investigated in the context of an exploratory case addressing one of the advanced oncology centres in the US. This paper concludes that there is an important need to rethink healthcare information systems development method, which has to be in a dynamic ongoing manner for some major issues

An Investigation to Causes and Consequences of IS Operational Misalignment in Chinese SOE Group

IS strategic alignment has consistently been at the forefront of information systems researchers’ and practitioners’ concerns since the seminal paper by Henderson and Venkatraman in 1993. However, scholars have focused more on strategic level alignment. As one of the important perspectives in IS strategic alignment, IS operational alignment are not paid enough attention in the research. This paper investigates operational alignment issues in a Chinese multinational state-owned company. The base research design for the study uses a rigorous Strauss and Corbin grounded theory approach, that consisted of 41 semi-structured interviews in 7 different company branches located in different provinces of China. Based on this study, the IS operational misalignment situations are identified. Furthermore, the causes and consequences of the misalignment situation are further investigated in this Chinese SOE group

Transdisciplinarity as an Inference Technique to Achieve a Better Understanding in the Health and Environmental Sciences

The problems of the world are not categorised into disciplines. They are far more complex, a reality that the tradition of transdisciplinary research has recognised. When faced with questions in public health and sustainability, the traditional scientific paradigm often seems inadequate, and, at least in medicine, transdisciplinary research has not yet been fully appreciated or acknowledged. This lack of recognition may be partly caused by a lack of cooperation between disciplines and between science and society. In this paper, I discuss some of the challenges that scientists and policymakers face in public health and environment within a methodological context. I present transdisciplinarity as a modern research tool that should be applied in research in health and the environment and argue that these topics can be approached beyond the inherent obstacle of incommensurability between disciplines. Thus, a small step might be taken in this immense research arena

INTELLIGENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS, QUO VADIS?

ABSTRACT Based on its most popular incarnations, Intelligen

Organizational transformation through knowledge management : an internship at Luxembourg-slovenian business club

Internship Report presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Information Management, specialization in Knowledge Management and Business IntelligenceThe purpose of this report is to describe a five month internship that the student did at the Slovenian non-profit organization Luxembourg-Slovenian Business Club (LSBC). This internship report stands as partial requirement for obtaining the Master Degree in Information Management with specialization in Knowledge Management and Business Intelligence. Methodologies and the framework followed were largely based on knowledge acquired through the guidance of Nova IMS Information Management Master. The main objective of this internship was to better understand the impact of information on a business context and how to foment a knowledge-based environment. In-depth, the aim was determining the information flow as it stands, identify bottlenecks and help growing a knowledge creation culture while shortening the gap inside the organization and between the organization and its members (both individuals and organizations). The main areas affected by this internship were Knowledge Management, Information Systems and Enterprise 2.0. This report starts by giving an introduction to context and goals where the internship is inserted upon, followed by a detailed description of the background of the organization itself. After this section, it follows literature background focused on Knowledge Management areas - all subjects that were relevant for the internship practical work. Subsequently, an explanation of the of internship objectives and the path to achieve them is further discussed. Also, a presentation of the completed tasks results, followed by a critical opinion about them. Finally, possible future work endeavours that can follow up this project are then present as well as a pragmatic reflexion of the internship. As a result of this report, improvements in information handling and some applied methodologies regarding Knowledge Management will be integrated in the organization. Hopefully, it will also bring to this organization new opportunities to develop business, to establish new partnerships while simultaneously expanding LSBC network of contacts

Exploring strategic leadership challenges in achieving an ICT enabled transformational government

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel UniversityThis empirical research focuses on exploring the role of strategic leadership in the shift from Electronic Government (eGovernment) to Transformational Government (tGovernment). Despite the fact that many countries have implemented eGovernment, the literature reports a number of themhave failed to reach the promised seamless transformation. Moreover, there is a dearth of research into the domain of tGovernment; the research which exists is limited in extent thus leaving scope for timely and novel research contributions. This thesis reveals that a valuable contribution to knowledge could be derived from exploring the domain of transformational government. The leadership motivationand incentives to conduct a radical government organisational change have become an area of great importance. There is limited research on the strategic role of leadership in achieving transformational government domain; hence, the implications of seamless integration for transformational government have yet to be explored. This research discusses transformational government by using a qualitative, multiple case study research strategy. Data is triangulated and analysed according to its explanatory properties and underlying structural context. This researchextends established norms in literature for tGovernment implementation by incorporating established theories in organisational change from other related disciplines. This is to explain the significance of the underlying philosophical nature of the emerging themes, thus enabling government leaders to create robust strategic proposals for tGovernment. This empirical research is conducted in a Middle Eastern cultural context based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The research arrives at several key findings and themesthat contribute to the body of knowledge. A primary finding is the need for a radical change and an innovative managerial approach in using ICT to enable radical change in government organisations. A related finding of this research is that many assumptions underlying the various tGovernment models for transformation fall short to empirically explain the transformational government domain.The government visionary leadership has been proven to be a powerful driver for change in terms of initiating and leading the process for transformational government

Higher-level process theory motors of Strategic Information Systems (SIS) alignment: an exploratory study

The need for IS Strategies to be optimally aligned with business strategies in order to maximize both value for the business and usability of technology has lead to an understandable emphases on strategic IS alignment for both academics and practitioners (Henderson and Venkatraman, 1999; Galliers and Newell, 2003). However, on review of both the IS strategy and alignment literatures, important limits in current understanding were identified. Although there has been an increasing acceptance of IS strategy as more likely to have an emergent (Avgerou, Ciborra and Land, 2004) rather than a planned rational nature (apropos the seminal work of Mintzberg and Waters (1985)), descriptive and theoretical understanding of this emergent nature was lacking. Further gaps in the IS alignment literature were identified. The predominant emphases of alignment research were on the outcomes and causes of alignment with insufficient consideration given to the ongoing processes of alignment. Very strikingly, the roles of the informal organisation in alignment had been hitherto underexplored and although process (and indeed strategic process) theory had attained a level of maturity; application in alignment process research was conspicuously absent. In essence, literature evaluation had identified that there was an insufficient understanding of IS alignment as an emerging strategic process, from both theory and practitioner perspectives. The following research question could therefore be derived: What process theory motors and relationships characterise SIS alignment process? The most apposite perspective on process for this research was to frame alignment as a developing sequence of events, rather than the alternative approach of a set of concepts of categories (VanDeVen, 2007) necessitating a longitudinal approach to data collection. The principal motivation of the research question was a nascent attempt to explore and understand rather than measure alignment, so a subjective qualitative approach was most appropriate. Alignment process data was collected at multiple organisational levels and from both primary (i.e. semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders in the alignment process) and second sources (i.e. formal strategy documents and planning schedules). The process of alignment was presented in the form of a case narrative. SIS alignment process events were identified and their progression visually expressed by applying techniques from process research literature (Langley, 1999; Pentland, 1999). Applying the well-established relationship between even progression, generative mechanisms and motors (Pettigrew, 1990; VanDeVen and Poole, 1995) enabled Strategic IS alignment process to be conceptualised in the form of high-level process theory motors. The contributions of this research are as follows. A process theory perspective on Strategic IS alignment process is offered which addresses the identified literature gap. Methodological contributions also arise due to the structured and explicit application of process research analyses techniques, still relatively rare in IS research. Recommendations for managerial practice also arise from the detailed explication of the alignment process and the causes and outcomes of key process events and their progression

Higher-level process theory motors of Strategic Information Systems (SIS) alignment: an exploratory study

The need for IS Strategies to be optimally aligned with business strategies in order to maximize both value for the business and usability of technology has lead to an understandable emphases on strategic IS alignment for both academics and practitioners (Henderson and Venkatraman, 1999; Galliers and Newell, 2003). However, on review of both the IS strategy and alignment literatures, important limits in current understanding were identified. Although there has been an increasing acceptance of IS strategy as more likely to have an emergent (Avgerou, Ciborra and Land, 2004) rather than a planned rational nature (apropos the seminal work of Mintzberg and Waters (1985)), descriptive and theoretical understanding of this emergent nature was lacking. Further gaps in the IS alignment literature were identified. The predominant emphases of alignment research were on the outcomes and causes of alignment with insufficient consideration given to the ongoing processes of alignment. Very strikingly, the roles of the informal organisation in alignment had been hitherto underexplored and although process (and indeed strategic process) theory had attained a level of maturity; application in alignment process research was conspicuously absent. In essence, literature evaluation had identified that there was an insufficient understanding of IS alignment as an emerging strategic process, from both theory and practitioner perspectives. The following research question could therefore be derived: What process theory motors and relationships characterise SIS alignment process? The most apposite perspective on process for this research was to frame alignment as a developing sequence of events, rather than the alternative approach of a set of concepts of categories (VanDeVen, 2007) necessitating a longitudinal approach to data collection. The principal motivation of the research question was a nascent attempt to explore and understand rather than measure alignment, so a subjective qualitative approach was most appropriate. Alignment process data was collected at multiple organisational levels and from both primary (i.e. semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders in the alignment process) and second sources (i.e. formal strategy documents and planning schedules). The process of alignment was presented in the form of a case narrative. SIS alignment process events were identified and their progression visually expressed by applying techniques from process research literature (Langley, 1999; Pentland, 1999). Applying the well-established relationship between even progression, generative mechanisms and motors (Pettigrew, 1990; VanDeVen and Poole, 1995) enabled Strategic IS alignment process to be conceptualised in the form of high-level process theory motors. The contributions of this research are as follows. A process theory perspective on Strategic IS alignment process is offered which addresses the identified literature gap. Methodological contributions also arise due to the structured and explicit application of process research analyses techniques, still relatively rare in IS research. Recommendations for managerial practice also arise from the detailed explication of the alignment process and the causes and outcomes of key process events and their progression