HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY APPLY CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS IN HEALTHCARE INFORMATION SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT ? A STORY FROM THE FIELD

Many studies have focused on retrospectively identifying critical success factors (CSFs) for healthcare information system (HIS) development projects. In this paper the central question is how in advance selected CSFs can be applied in the best way. An action research study has been carried out in a large Swedish healthcare organization during 2010 and 2011 where the application of four CSFs has been planned, documented and reflected upon. Challenges are identified that may arise when tailoring general CSFs to situational circumstances. For example, the self-evident CSF of ?having a clear and accepted objective? becomes tricky and complex in practice when facing 15 autonomous boards that all need to support the project. Similar insights are gained for other CSFs. More research is needed to illuminate the complexities of how to apply CSFs. Another important observation is that different CSFs strengthen one another, which implies that they should be applied and analysed in concert rather than isolated. Finally, healthcare practitioners need to be aware that CSFs are very helpful, but that tailoring general CSFs to the unique situation of the HIS development project requires much effort and continuous reflection from a holistic perspective embedded in systems thinking

Building knowledge repositories with enterprise modelling and patterns – from theory to practice

An approach to building knowledge repositories, Enterprise Knowledge Patterns (EKP), has been developed and applied throughout a number of research projects, most recently in the ELEKTRA, HyperKnowledge1 and EKLär projects. The EKP approach combines Enterprise Modelling with organisational patterns. Systematic evaluations of applying the approach have been carried out in two of the projects, while the third project is currently running. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the evaluation results and to share practical experiences from building knowledge repositories with Enterprise Modelling and organisational patterns. We discuss issues concerning the knowledge content of pattern based knowledge repositories, the language used to express knowledge in organisational patterns and technology support for storing and retrieving knowledge components.

Vidareutveckling av informationssystem: Vilka olika aktiviteter går att identifiera i VAD-fasen?

Utmärkande för morgondagens IS är att integrera befintliga resurser med nya IS (Lindencrona 2000), dvs att vidareutveckla i stället för att nyutveckla. Då det saknas systematiserad kunskap om den utvecklingsprocess som äger rum då morgondagens IS ska utvecklas är det av yttersta vikt att arbeten vars syfte är att belysa denna process genomförs. Syftet med denna rapport är att undersöka vilka olika aktiviteter som går att identifiera i VAD-fasen, processen fram till kravspecifikationen, då ett administrativt informationssystem ska vidareutvecklas. Inom ramen för detta examensarbete har en litteratur-survey, fokuserad på att samla in material som detaljerat belyser VAD-fasen, utförts. För att samla in material som möjliggör en identifiering av olika aktiviteter i VAD-fasen då ett IS ska vidareutvecklas, har en enkät- respektive en intervju-undersökning av olika organisationer inom aktuell population genomförts. Då det insamlade materialet analyserats har i VAD-fasen följande fyra olika aktiviteter kunnat identifieras då ett IS ska vidareutvecklas: · Fatta beslut · Utföra undersökningar med hjälp av informationsinsamlande aktiviteter · Författa dokument · Deltaga i diskussioner Det erhållna resultatet innebär en god plattform att utgå ifrån då ytterligare forskning ska göras inom området och då metoder för utvecklingen av morgondagens IS ska utvecklas och arbetas fram

IT-supported Knowledge Repositories : Increasing their Usefulness by Supporting Knowledge Capture

Organizations use various resources to achieve business objectives, and for financial gain. In modern business, knowledge is a critical resource, and organizations cannot afford not to manage it. Knowledge Management (KM) aims to support learning and to create value for the organization. Based on three levels of inquiry (why, what, how), work presented in this thesis includes a synthesized view of the existing body of knowledge concerning KM and hence a holistic characterization of KM. This characterization reveals a strong dependency between KM and Learning Organization (LO). Neither of them can be successful without the other. We show that a KM project resulting in an IT-supported knowledge repository is a suitable way to start when the intention is to initiate KM work. Thus, our research focuses on ITsupported knowledge repositories. Large numbers of KM projects fail, and organizations lack support for their KM undertakings. These are the main problems that our research addresses. In order for an IT-supported knowledge repository to be successful, it must be used. Thus, the content of the repository is critical for success. Our work reveals that the process of capturing new knowledge is critical if the knowledge repository is to include relevant and updated knowledge. With the purpose of supporting the capture process, this thesis provides a detailed characterization of the capture process as well as guidance aiming to facilitate the implementation of the capture process in such a way that knowledge is continuously captured, also after the KM implementation project is completed. We argue that the continuous capture of new knowledge which can potentially be stored in the knowledge repository will, in the long term perspective, have a positive influence on the usefulness of the repository. This will most likely increase the number of users of the repository and accordingly increase the number of successful KM projects. All the work presented in this thesis is the result of a qualitative research process comprising a literature review and an empirical study that were carried out in parallel. The empirical study is a case study inspired by action research, which involved participation in the project Efficient Knowledge Management and Learning in Knowledge Intensive Organizations (EKLär)

Planning for Information Systems Development : A Framework for supporting the management of Success Factors

In the information systems development process there are important success factors. By doing an extensive literature survey we have found that these factors emerge mainly from organisational issues concerning the objective of the process and the stakeholders.One factor - to discuss the system, its subsystems and to define the system's boundary - is a prerequisite for all the others. Factors emerging from the objective are mainly about the objective being well analysed and defined, being accepted among the stakeholders and meeting business objectives. Factors emerging from stakeholders are mainly about involving the right stakeholders in the process, achieving a positive attitude and taking care of their needs about knowledge and confidence. Based on this we have developed a framework aiming to guide organisations in what considerations they should make before the project begins. As a result of our framework there will be both a clear objective, which support the business mission, as well as positive stakeholders to support the information systems development process

Seven Types of Knowledge Loss in the Knowledge Capture Process

Society is based on knowledge and the availability thereof. Access to knowledge empowers people, and organizations must reuse knowledge to be competitive. The right knowledge to the right person at the right time is important for success, and IT plays an important role in order to achieve this goal, for example in the form of Electronic Knowledge Repositories (EKR). The success of an EKR depends on what is stored therein, and the ability to capture the right knowledge is hence a key aspect. This, however, is a complex issue. The goal of this paper is to identify and describe different types of knowledge loss, seven of which have been identified and characterized. As an example, one knowledge loss shows that not all knowledge can be stored, and critical knowledge elements may therefore be lost when attempting to store it. Some knowledge loss may be desirable, since an organization should not want to store everything. The results contribute to capturing the right knowledge, and hence to successful EKR. The results thus contribute to elevating the competitive power of an organization