Danger is in the eye of the beholders: Social representations of Information Systems security in healthcare

Abstract

This paper investigates the social representations of Information Systems (IS) security of different communities working in a healthcare organization. It considers questions of IS security as socially constructed and dependent on how people make sense of their context of work. The social representations perspective presented in this paper is especially useful to make sense of IS security from the point of view of various communities. The paper illustrates the relevance of this perspective by analyzing the differences and similarities in the way members of seven occupational communities (e.g., physicians, nurses, IS professionals) working in the same healthcare organization represent IS security. The paper finally draws the strategic implications for research and practice of considering the social representations of IS security. In particular, security and awareness programs should be customized to acknowledge that members of various communities “know” different things about security and that they react differently to various security initiatives.