Transformation through Big Data Analytics: a Qualitative Enquiry in Healthcare

With an aim to understand transformation around big data analytics, this paper first investigates the literature to explore elements of change around big data. The research comprises a qualitative enquiry in the New Zealand healthcare context to understand how professionals across the sector view this transformation. Healthcare sectors are increasingly adopting big data technologies to improve healthcare delivery and management. However, for sectors like healthcare, big data brings significant changes in terms of technology architecture, infrastructure, skills, and organisational structure changes. Security measures and policy changes are also apparent. Using a deductive approach to data analysis, it confirms the important elements identified in the literature around big data transformation and highlights the relationships between these elements of change. The paper uses Sociotechnical Systems Theory as the underlying theoretical foundation for this study. The findings of this research contribute to policy and practice in healthcare

Child Influencers in the Creator Economy – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Social media influencers play a well-established social media role in modern society. YouTube is one of the most popular social media platforms for video content creation and vlogging has become a favourite activity among young children. This trend has created many YouTube channels targeting young children as their audience. Many YouTube channels that target kids have children leading them (called child influencers), often managed by parents. Influencer marketing has created the notion of the creator economy, which relates to content creation in social media with an ability to monetize. This research-in-progress paper presents an exploratory research agenda to investigate the notion of child influencers in the creator economy, alluding to the issues of morals, privacy, vulnerability and exploitation

Disruptive Innovation of Mobile Communication Apps

This paper conceptualises mobile communication apps as disruptive innovations that potentially displace incumbent mobile communication services such as voice calls and short messaging services. Using the theoretical lens of disruptive innovation and data from a focus group study and two case studies of mobile service providers, this paper investigates how these apps are signalling radical change in the traditional mobile communication environment through their low cost, simplicity and convenience to create value and growth in order to triumph over powerful traditional incumbents

Alignment of Big Data Perceptions Across Levels in Healthcare: The case of New Zealand

Big data and related technologies have the potential to transform healthcare sectors by facilitating improvements to healthcare planning and delivery. Big data research highlights the importance of aligning big data implementations with business needs to achieve success. In one of the first studies to examine the influence of big data on business-IT alignment in the healthcare sector, this paper addresses the question: how do stakeholders’ perceptions of big data influence alignment between big data technologies and healthcare sector needs across macro, meso, and micro levels in the New Zealand (NZ) healthcare sector? A qualitative inquiry was conducted using semi-structured interviews to understand perceptions of big data across the NZ healthcare sector. An application of a novel theory, Theory of Sociotechnical Representations (TSR), is used to examine people’s perceptions of big data technologies and their applicability in their day-to-day work. These representations are analysed at each level and then across levels to evaluate the degree of alignment. A social dimension lens to alignment was used to explore mutual understanding of big data across the sector. The findings show alignment across the sector through the shared understanding of the importance of data quality, the increasing challenges of privacy and security, and the importance of utilising modern and new data in measuring health outcomes. Areas of misalignment include the differing definitions of big data, as well as perceptions around data ownership, data sharing, use of patient-generated data and interoperability. Both practical and theoretical contributions of the study are discussed

Development of a Taxonomy to be used by Business-IT Alignment Researchers

The nexus between Business and IT research is complex. Due to extended research over time, the context of business-IT alignment has resulted in many different conceptualisations that can be applied to ongoing research. It is challenging to select and adopt a suitable approach to study business-IT alignment across any given field due to the variability of the existing conceptualisations. This study reviews the existing literature to identify alignment conceptualisations and contributes to both theory and practice. Theoretically, through the uncovering of gaps in the literature a taxonomy has been developed which can be used as a guide to select an appropriate alignment lens for business-IT alignment studies. In practice, it is expected that this taxonomy will be beneficial for conceptualising the structure and philosophies underpinning future alignment studies. To validate the taxonomy, the paper presents a case study in healthcare applying the developed taxonomy to investigate alignment of big data in health

Alignment of big data perceptions in New Zealand healthcare : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

The growing use of information systems (IS) in the healthcare sector, on top of increasing patient populations, diseases and complicated medication regimens, is generating enormous amounts of unstructured and complex data that have the characteristics of ‘big data’. Until recent times data driven approaches in healthcare to make use of large volumes of complex healthcare data were considered difficult, if not impossible, because available technology was not mature enough to handle such data. However, recent technological developments around big data have opened promising avenues for healthcare to make use of its big-healthcare-data for more effective healthcare delivery, in areas such as measuring outcomes, population health analysis, precision medicine, clinical care and research and development. Being a recent IT phenomenon, big data research has leaned towards technical dynamics such as analytics, data security and infrastructure. However, to date, the social dynamics of big data (such as peoples’ understanding and their perceptions of its value, application, challenges and the like) have not been adequately researched. This thesis addresses the research gap through exploring the social dynamics around the concept of big data at the level of policy-makers (identified as the macro level), funders and planners (identified as the meso level), and clinicians (identified as the micro level) in the New Zealand (NZ) healthcare sector. Investigating and comparing social dynamics of big data across these levels is important, as big data research has highlighted the importance of business-IT alignment to the successful implementation of big data technologies. Business-IT alignment is important and can be investigated through many different dimensions. This thesis adopts a social dimension lens to alignment, which promotes investigating alignment through people’s understanding of big data and its role in their work. Taking a social dimension lens to alignment fits well with the aim of this thesis, which is to understand perceptions around the notion of big data technologies that could influence the alignment of big data in healthcare policy and practice. With this understanding, the research question addressed is: how do perceptions of big data influence alignment across macro, meso, and micro levels in the NZ healthcare sector? This thesis is by publication with four research articles that answer these questions as a body of knowledge. A qualitative exploratory approach was taken to conduct an empirical study. Thirty-two in-depth interviews with policy makers, senior managers and physicians were conducted across the NZ healthcare sector. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using general inductive thematic analysis. Data were first analysed within each group (macro, meso, and micro) to understand perceptions of big data, then across groups to understand alignment. In order to investigate perceptions, Social Representations Theory (SRT), a theory from social psychology, was used as the basis for data collection. However, data analysis led to the decision to integrate SRT with Sociotechnical Systems Theory (SST), a well-known IS theory. This integration of SRT with SST developed the Theory of Sociotechnical Representations (TSR), which is a key theoretical contribution of this research. The thesis presents the concept and application of TSR, by using it to frame the study’s findings around perceptions of big data across macro, meso and micro levels of the NZ healthcare sector. The practical contribution of this thesis is the demonstration of areas of alignment and misalignment of big data perceptions across the healthcare sector. Across the three levels, alignment was found in the shared understanding of the importance of data quality, the increasing challenges of privacy and security, and the importance of new types of data in measuring health outcomes. Aspects of misalignment included the differing definitions of big data, as well as perceptions around data ownership, data sharing, use of patient-generated data and interoperability. While participants identified measuring outcomes, clinical decision making, population health, and precision medicine as potential areas of application for big data technologies, the three groups expressed varying levels of interest, which could cause misalignment issues with implications for policy and practice

Alignment of Big Data Perceptions Across Levels in Healthcare: The case of New Zealand

Big data and related technologies have the potential to transform healthcare sectors by facilitating improvements to healthcare planning and delivery. Big data research highlights the importance of aligning big data implementations with business needs to achieve success. In one of the first studies to examine the influence of big data on business-IT alignment in the healthcare sector, this paper addresses the question: how do stakeholders’ perceptions of big data influence alignment between big data technologies and healthcare sector needs across macro, meso, and micro levels in the New Zealand (NZ) healthcare sector? A qualitative inquiry was conducted using semi-structured interviews to understand perceptions of big data across the NZ healthcare sector. An application of a novel theory, Theory of Sociotechnical Representations (TSR), is used to examine people’s perceptions of big data technologies and their applicability in their day-to-day work. These representations are analysed at each level and then across levels to evaluate the degree of alignment. A social dimension lens to alignment was used to explore mutual understanding of big data across the sector. The findings show alignment across the sector through the shared understanding of the importance of data quality, the increasing challenges of privacy and security, and the importance of utilising modern and new data in measuring health outcomes. Areas of misalignment include the differing definitions of big data, as well as perceptions around data ownership, data sharing, use of patient-generated data and interoperability. Both practical and theoretical contributions of the study are discussed

Influential Characteristics and Benefits of Cloud ERP Adoption in New Zealand SMEs: A Vendors’ Perspective

Cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are hosted services offering opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that often lack IT resources. Few studies have examined the adoption of cloud ERP systems in SMEs, specifically, from the perspective of cloud ERP vendors who are the domain experts. Drawing on vendors’ perspectives in the New Zealand (NZ) context, this paper evaluates the influential characteristics for adopting cloud ERP systems in SMEs. The paper uses an integrative model combining the technological, organizational, and environmental (TOE) framework with the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) based on individual dimension for a holistic evaluation. Findings reveal novel characteristics including system reliability and data security that influence adoption of cloud ERP. Further, benefits are identified such as reduced cost and time for deployment, increased scalability, and improved accessibility. The paper presents new insights that can help SME managers successfully adopt cloud ERP in their firms in addition to providing practical guidelines for adoption in NZ. The development of a theoretical model integrating TOE and UTAUT is a novel approach, substantially contributing to the body of knowledge

Analysis and improvement of a construction permit approval process: A teaching case for developing business process development capabilities, targeting developing nations

With the increasing competitiveness in global markets, many developing nations are striving to constantly improve their services in search for the next competitive edge. As a result, the demand and need for Business Process Management (BPM) in these regions is seeing a rapid rise. Yet there exists a lack of professional expertise and knowledge to cater to that need. Therefore, the development of well-structured BPM training/ education programs has become an urgent requirement for these industries. Furthermore, the lack of textbooks or other self-educating material, that go beyond the basics of BPM, further ratifies the need for case based teaching and related cases that enable the next generation of professionals in these countries. Teaching cases create an authentic learning environment where complexities and challenges of the ‘real world’ can be presented in a narrative, enabling students to evolve crucial skills such as problem analysis, problem solving, creativity within constraints as well as the application of appropriate tools (BPMN) and techniques (including best practices and benchmarking) within richer and real scenarios. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive teaching case demonstrating the means to tackle any developing nation’s legacy government process undermined by inefficiency and ineffectiveness. The paper also includes thorough teaching notes The article is presented in three main parts: (i) Introduction - that provides a brief background setting the context of this paper, (ii) The Teaching Case, and (iii) Teaching notes

Theory of Sociotechnical Representations: A Novel Approach to Understanding Technology Perspectives

This paper introduces a new theory to understand perceptions of technology, the Theory of Sociotechnical Representations (TSR). This theory is developed by bringing together Sociotechnical Systems Theory, a well-known theory in IS literature and Social Representation Theory, a theory from social psychology. TSR explains that while people and technology interact and influence each other, people create representations of technology, which may differ across individuals and/or groups. It further alludes to the fact that interactions or influences between people and technology as explained by SST may actually be between people and their representations of technology. As such, this theory explains that understanding representations of technological phenomena play a critical role in the way technologies are understood and used