Senior Information Technology Research Articles

Digitalisation and IT Strategy in the Hospitality Industry

This article explores how digitalisation is impacting the hospitality industry and assesses the evolving role of an Information Technology (IT) strategy in the digitalisation process. The research approach is qualitative and inductive, based on six in-depth interviews with senior IT professionals in the hospitality industry. Findings indicate significant differences in the role of an IT strategy in guiding digitalisation in the companies studied. The depth of information provided by the interviewees supports the development and application of a model that profiles the companies regarding their degree of digitalisation and technology integration. Analysis of interview material allows the identification of key properties for successful digitalization: process agility, workforce adaptability, and technology manageability, along with a clear data culture and ensured cybersecurity. However, disparate systems and technologies, and a lack of data integrity, are key issues that leave hospitality companies with difficult choices in progressing digitalisation initiatives. The applied model and identification of key properties for successful digitalisation contribute to the development of related theory and can also be used as a reference point for senior IT professionals working in the industry.

COVID-19 and the Level of Cloud Computing Adoption: A Study of Sri Lankan Information Technology Organisations

The study’s main objective is to analyse the level of cloud computing adoption and usage during COVID-19 in Sri Lanka, especially in Information Technology (IT) organisations. Using senior IT employees, this study investigates what extent their organisation adopts with cloud computing, the level of cloud computing usage, current use of cloud service model, usage of cloud deployment model, preferred cloud service providers and reasons for adopting and not adopting cloud computing. The study also describes why cloud computing is a solution for new normal situations and the cloud-enabled services used during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The finding suggests that 87.7% of the organisations currently use cloud-enabled services, whereas 12.3% do not and intend to adopt. Considering the benefits, cloud computing is the solution post COVID-19 pandemic to run the business way forward. Keywords: Cloud Computing, COVID-19, COVID-19 Pandemic, Cloud-enabled Services, Sri Lanka DOI: 10.7176/JIEA/13-2-02 Publication date: March 31 st 2023

The relationship between human capital, information technology capability, innovativeness and organizational performance: An integrated approach

The objective of the present study is to identify the existing relationships between the information technology (IT) human capital, IT capabilities, innovativeness, and organizational performance. A literature review indicated that there is space to be filled in the meeting of IT literature, human capital, and innovativeness, insofar as the particularities of these relationships are not clear and their joint role in the performance of organizations. A structural equation model was developed that analyzed the primary data provided by senior IT managers from 258 Brazilian public organizations. The results indicated that IT human capital is a unique construct and independent of IT capabilities, formed by the hard and soft skills of the IT staff, as well as their attitude towards technology. Human IT capital positively impacts the organizational IT capabilities, but it is not part of its composition since it is a corporate resource. The Human IT capital is of the necessary and fundamental inputs for IT capabilities, but it should not be confused with IT capabilities per se. We identified that IT human capital impacts IT capabilities, positively affecting organizational innovativeness. Finally, we identified that innovativeness is a driver for performance and leverages the effect of IT capabilities on performance.

Information technology (IT) governance and IT capability to realize firm performance: enabling role of agility and innovative capability

PurposeWith the ever-growing turbulent business setting, there is a great interest to study how a firm tailors information technology (IT) capability to shape agility and innovation capability to stay ahead of the competition. This study examines how IT governance and IT capability can be tailored to achieve firm performance through agility and innovative capability in a turbulent environment.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on the dynamic capability theory, this study based on the primary survey data of 253 responses from senior IT and business executives in China proves the hypothesized relationship in the proposed model.FindingsThis study shows that the IT governance mechanism positively impacts on IT-enabled dynamic capabilities. Further, IT-enabled dynamic capabilities positively impact on agility and innovative capability that in turn support to achieve firm performance. The environmental uncertainty is only significant in the IT-enabled dynamic capabilities–business process agility relationship.Research limitations/implicationsThis study suggests corporate leaders and executives to better exploit their resources and tailor IT capabilities in the turbulent environment. Further, this study offers theoretical and practical implications.Originality/valueThis study proposes ways for executives to examine the multifaceted nature of environmental uncertainty to achieve agility, innovation and firm performance rather than simply investing in IT.

Drivers of workforce agility: a dynamic capability perspective

PurposeThis paper aims to represent an exploration of drivers of workforce agility under the lens of dynamic capabilities to advance the existing workforce literature on agility and strategic human resource management.Design/methodology/approachIn-depth qualitative interviews with senior information technology professionals, managers, directors and leadership were conducted. Data coding and analysis followed the Gioia methodology to develop a theoretical framework.FindingsThe theoretical paradigm of workforce agility is seeing revisions. In the past it was solely connected to resource-based view theory, current literature superficially speaks of the link with dynamic capability but lacks comprehensive and strategic understanding. The research brings in the evolutionary change by viewing workforce agility directly under the lens of dynamic capability theory and recognizes workforce agility as a high-level strategy. Based on the analysis of the qualitative interviews this study has developed a conceptual heuristic of workforce agility drivers, interlinked with dynamic capabilities micro-foundations – “sensing”, “seizing”, and “continual renewal”. This paper conceptualizes workforce agility as a response to high pressures for the dynamic capability of the company, which requires reconfiguration and redeployment of external and internal human resources and an inherent need to bring some stability to the internal resources of the company.Originality/valueThere is a growing body of literature linking organizational agility with dynamic capabilities, which overlooks workforce agility. This study is theory-based research on workforce agility, which guides practitioners in making human resource processes more agile.

What do Computer Games have to do with Libraries and Learning?

Two teachers have undertaken a project in which year five and six students design computer games and year ten to twelve students build them. The younger students are taught basic flow diagram techniques and thus patterns of logic. They then select a topic of personal interest for their game design. The game is in the form of a quest for the player and must contain material that has been researched using Library resources. The complete, fully documented game designs are passed to the senior Information Technology students who produce them. All students are fully and formally accredited for their work.

A structured approach to strategic alignment between business and information technology objectives

Purpose: Information Technology (IT) is developing at an accelerated rate, making it virtually impossible to separate business and IT strategies. Consequently, the IT strategy of an entity must be integrated with its overall business strategy in order for IT to add value to an entity. It is important that both senior management and IT specialists be involved in the design, implementation, running and revision of IT solutions in order for IT to assist in meeting the strategic objectives of the entity. Miscommunication between senior management and IT specialists is however a major contributing factor to IT projects failing to deliver the desired value. This concept is known as the ‘IT gap’. The IT gap arises because there is a divergence in objectives between these two parties. The differences in objectives arises from the nature of their respective work and the tools they use. Management employs business model design tools (such as the Business Model Canvas), while IT management uses governance frameworks (such as the Control Objectives for Information and Related Technologies [COBIT]). In order for value to be generated, there needs to be alignment between these models and more importantly their objectives. The purpose of this study is to develop a comprehensive list of key driving forces of an entity, known as business imperatives, that can be used by senior management and IT specialists in an entity to ensure that the technology architecture of an entity is designed with the objective of supporting these business imperatives, thereby achieving alignment between the IT and business objectives of an entity. Design/methodology/approach: In this conceptual study the Business Model Canvas was studied and its elements, representing generic business objectives, were converted into business imperatives that could be seen as essential to obtain a competitive advantage in various industries and environments. These business imperatives were mapped to the fifth edition of COBIT (COBIT 5) processes to identify those business imperatives that will be achieved by the IT department when implementing COBIT 5 and can therefore be seen as objectives for the IT department. Findings/results: A comprehensive list of business imperatives was compiled. These business imperatives can be used to determine the design of the IT architecture of an entity, with the ultimate purpose of supporting the business objectives of the entity. Practical implications: By using the comprehensive list of business imperatives identified in this study senior management and IT specialists can work together to ensure that the technology architecture of an entity is designed with the objective of supporting the business imperatives in order to ultimately achieve alignment between the IT and business objectives of an entity. Originality/value: While previous studies primarily focussed on adapting business models to incorporate rapidly evolving technology, this study focussed on the manner in which technology architecture can be designed in order to support the business objectives of an entity.

IT risk management: interrelationships based on strategy implementation

PurposeRisk management is an under-explored topic in information systems (IS) research that involves complex and interrelated activities. Consequently, the authors explore the importance of interrelated activities by examining how the maturity of one type of information technology risk management (ITRM) practice is influenced by the maturity of other types of ITRM practices. The purpose of this paper is to explore these relationships, the authors develop a model based on organizational strategy implementation theory and the COBIT framework. The model identifies four types of ITRM practices, namely, IT governance (ITG); communications; operations; and monitoring.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use a survey methodology to collect data on senior information technology (IT) executives' perceptions on ITRM practices. The authors use an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to identify four dimensions of ITR M practices and conduct a structural equation model to observe the associations.FindingsThe survey of senior IT executives' perceptions suggests that the maturity of ITRM practices related to ITG, communications and monitoring positively influence the maturity of operations-related ITRM practices. Further, the maturity of communications-related ITRM practices mediates the relationship between ITG and operations-related ITRM practices. The aggregate results demonstrate the inter-relatedness of ITRM practices and highlight the importance of taking a holistic view of ITRM.Research limitations/implicationsGiven the content and complexity of the study, it is difficult to obtain senior executives’ responses in large firms. Therefore, this study did not use a separate sample to conduct the EFA to obtain the underlying four constructs. Also, the ITRM practices identified are perceptions. Even though the authors consider this to be a limitation, it also communicates the pressing areas that senior IT professionals are expected to focus given various external and internal pressures. This study focuses on large firms, hence, small to midsize firms are not well represented.Practical implicationsGiven the demanding regulatory and financial reporting requirements and the complexity of IT, there is an increasing possibility that the accounting profession will require IT professionals to focus on operations-related ITRM practices, such as security, availability and confidentially of data and IS are closely related to internal controls. However, as this study demonstrates, the maturity of operations-related ITRM practices cannot be achieved by focusing solely on operations-related IT risks. Therefore, IT practitioners can use this study to raise awareness of the complex interrelationships among ITRM practices among managers to improve the overall ITRM practices in a firm.Social implicationsThe study also shows the importance of establishing proper communication channels among various business functions with regard to ITRM. Extant IT research identifies the importance of the firm’s communication structure on various firm performance measures. For example, Krotov (2015) mentions the importance of communication in improving trust between the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Firms with established communication channels have the necessary medium to educate and involve other departments with regard to the security of data. Thus, such firms are more likely to have mature risk management practices because of increased awareness of risks and preventive techniques.Originality/valueThe study contributes to ITG and risk management literature by identifying the role of monitoring-related ITRM practices on improving other areas of risk management. The study also extends the existing ITRM literature by providing an organizational strategy perspective to ITRM practices and showing how ITRM practices follow organizational strategy implementation. Further, the authors identify four underlying ITRM categories. Consequently, researchers could choose between two factors (Vincent et al., 2017) or four factors based on the level of detail required for the particular study.

Performance Consequences of Information Technology Investments: Implications of Emphasizing New or Current Information Technologies

The dynamic information technology (IT) market—characterized by frequent new releases, designs, and changing options—requires senior IT executives to look closely at new technologies while deriving long-term benefits from the firm’s current technologies. This study focuses on the allocation of IT resources to new or current technologies, which is becoming even more important with tighter IT budgets. The results indicate that a joint consideration of a firm’s core business strategy and organizational commitment to IT provides insights into whether the firm should emphasize new IT or current IT when allocating IT investments. With an increase in organizational commitment to IT, firms pursuing stable products/markets (i.e., Defender(s)) benefit more from current IT, whereas firms seeking new products/markets (i.e., Prospector(s)) benefit more from new IT. Finally, for firms seeking some stable products/markets and some new ones (i.e., Analyzer(s)), organizational commitment to IT does not influence the benefits from emphasizing new or current IT. This study initiates a line of inquiry on the factors influencing the value firms derive from new and current IT. Senior IT executives should carefully examine their firm’s business strategy and organizational commitment to IT when prioritizing investments in new IT relative to the refinement of current IT.

Are firms ready to use big data analytics to create value? The role of structural and psychological readiness

ABSTRACTIn this study, we leverage Information Technology (IT) readiness literature and resource-based view (RBV) to investigate the impact of firm structural and psychological readiness on firm value creation, as mediated by big data analytics usage. The proposed research model is empirically validated using survey data from 179 senior IT managers. The findings demonstrate the importance of both structural (i.e. IT infrastructure capability, tools functionality, employee analytical capability, and bigness of data) and psychological readiness (i.e. IT proactive climate) in enhancing firm value creation through big data analytics usage. These results provide interesting theoretical and practical insights.

Increasing firm agility through the use of data analytics: The role of fit

Agility, which refers to a dynamic capability within firms to identify and effectively respond to threats and opportunities with speed, is considered as a main business imperative in modern business environments. While there is some evidence that information technology (IT) capabilities can help organizations to be more agile, studies have reported mixed findings regarding such effects. In this study, we identify the conditions under which IT capabilities translate into agility gains. We focus on a specific and critical IT capability, the use of data analytics, which is often leveraged by firms to improve decision making and achieve agility gains. We leverage dynamic capability theory to understand the influence of data analytics use as a lower-order dynamic capability on firm agility as a higher-order dynamic capability. We also draw on the fit perspective to suggest that this impact will only accrue if there is a high degree of fit between several elements that are closely related to the use of data analytics tools within firms including the tools themselves, the users, the firm tasks, and the data. The proposed research model is empirically validated using survey data from 215 senior IT professionals confirming the importance of high levels of fit between data analytics tools and key related elements. The findings provide the understanding of the impacts of data analytics use on firm agility, while also providing guidance to managers on how they could better leverage the use of such technologies. These findings could be more broadly used to inform the effective use of other forms of IT in organizations.

An investigation into the role of enterprise information systems in enabling business innovation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to articulate clear understanding about the role of enterprise information systems (EIS) in developing innovative business practices. Particularly, it aims to explore the different ways that make EIS enables innovation development. Design/methodology/approach – The study adopted exploratory case study, based on qualitative approach. Investigations included two case studies each involved interviewing a number of senior information technology staff, working at these cases. Findings – The paper provides empirical insights about the EIS role in enabling innovation. The analysis of the case studies revealed that integrating an EIS with other system(s) or with digital devices can provide new practices that could not be easily available without these technologies. The study also found that applying data analytics tools into data accumulated from EIS, to extract new insights, lead to innovative practices. Practical implications – The study provides a set of recommendations for organizations interested to maximize the benefits from their investments in EIS. Originality/value – The paper provides evidences from cases in United Arab Emirates for the EIS role in enabling business innovation.

Do IT audits satisfy senior manager expectations?

Purpose – This paper aims to analyse the relationship between the senior management and the information technology (IT) auditing undertaken in Italian banks, focusing specifically on the internal IT auditing. The purpose of this paper is to investigate senior executives’ expectations regarding IT auditing, the techniques IT auditors apply to meet these expectations, the degree to which senior managers are satisfied with the auditing and the expectation gap. Design/methodology/approach – We conducted 22 interviews with senior managers and IT auditors of seven Italian banks, comprising large and small financial institutions, to gain data for our analysis. Findings – We found that overall, the IT auditors’ contributions satisfy senior managers, even though they still see room for improvement. They expect more support for the IT governance processes, specifically for the alignment between IT investments and business needs and between IT risk management and the value that IT resources provide. In addition, they want IT auditors to focus more strongly on IT security. To meet these expectations, IT auditors would have to improve their technical and non-technical skills. These skills will allow them to expand their activities, to be more proactive and to take on effective roles in IT governance processes. Originality/value – This study contributes to the existing literature by providing insights into the internal audit function’s evolving role and into banks’ IT audit activities. It also provides a valuable insight into senior management’s expectations regarding the role IT audit activities should play to support the profession and the banking policymakers, thus providing a better understanding of IT audit activities and improving these activities’ role.

Operational Levels of Cyber Intelligence

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsTroy MatternTroy Mattern, Deputy Head of Cyber Security at the Zurich Insurance Company Ltd., is also Chairman of the Cyber Intelligence Task Force of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA). Previously the European Response Lead at Zurich Insurance, and Technical Director for Cyber Intelligence at the Software Engineering Institute, he is a graduate of the University of Arizona and the American Military University. A retired U.S. Marine Corps intelligence officer, Mr. Mattern has also served as Military Executive Assistant to the Deputy Commander of the United States Cyber Command in the U.S. Department of Defense.John FelkerJohn Felker is Director of Cyber and Intelligence Strategy for Hewlett-Packard (HP) Enterprise Services. His primary focus is developing business strategy in the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, and the Intelligence Community. He is also co-chair of the Cyber Intelligence Task Force. Previously Vice President for Cyber Security Programs at SCI Consulting, during his thirty-year career with the U.S. Coast Guard, he served as Deputy Commander of the U.S. Coast Guard Cyber Command, and as Commander of the Coast Guard Cryptologic Group. A graduate of Ithaca College, he received his M.A. in Public Administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.Randy BorumDr. Randy Borum, Professor and Coordinator of Strategy and Information Analysis in the School of Information at the University of South Florida, previously taught at the Duke University School of Medicine. He has served on the U.S. Director of National Intelligence's Intelligence Science Board, on the Defense Science Board Task Force on Understanding Human Dynamics, and on the National Academy of Science's Steering Committee for Sociocultural Data to Accomplish Department of Defense Missions. He has also worked as a consultant for the U.S. Secret Service. A graduate of James Madison University, with a Ph.D. from the Florida Institute of Technology at Melbourne, Dr. Borum has written extensively on security matters.George BamfordGeorge Bamford, Deputy Director of the Border Security Division in the Office of Intelligence and Analysis at the United States Department of Homeland Security, was earlier Chief of its Cyber Threat Analysis Branch. He is also a Commander in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve, and Team Chief for Operations and Intelligence at the Joint Chiefs of Staff (J-3) National Military Command Center. He was previously a Senior Information Technology Program Manager at the U.S. Department of Defense, and Director of the Acquisition and Program Management Support division of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Mr. Bamford is a graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, with an MBA from the George Washington University School of Business and an MPA from the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government. This article is adapted, in part, from the Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) White Paper “Operational Levels of Cyber Intelligence,” developed by INSA's Cyber Intelligence Task Force in September 2013.1

Internet filters and academic freedom : librarian and stakeholder perceptions and their impact on access to information

ABSTRACTBackground. Filtering software is used in libraries to block Web-based content; this includes parts or all of certain websites, ranges of IP addresses, as well as key word level sifting of search results that delete or do not return all possible and alternative content. There are academic institutions that actively do filter access to the Internet for their students, faculty and staff.Objective. How do librarians and other key campus stakeholders view the use of Internet filters? The data presented in this paper comes from a cross-institutional study which surveyed senior administrators, IT professionals, faculty and librarians to gauge their views related to use of Internet filters.Methods. The data selected for this article focuses on a comparative analysis of responses to questionnaires completed by both librarians and senior administrators. However, other outcome data will be discussed for all participant groups.Results. Results suggest that while librarians as a professional group stand firmly for open access and against filters, academic administrators are split on the role filters play in denying access to Internet content. While faculty and IT staff each view the necessity and value of filters with varying degree of approval. Significance. These perceptions have policy implications related to academic freedom for teaching, learning and for academic libraries and IT departments, as well as their parent institutions.INTRODUCTIONThe use of Internet filters has been adopted by colleges and universities to monitor and sometimes block access to online content. While filters do play a role in eliminating content that a community finds offensive, is no mandatory legislation requiring higher education institutions to filter content. Data was collected to understand how Internet filtering is viewed across job classifications, different campus settings and Carnegie classifications. This Carnegie system provides a framework to classify colleges and universities specific to the United States. The participants in the original study included college and university administrators, information technology (IT) managers, librarians and faculty from all disciplines.Software and hardware-based filters, which sift through keywords placed in Internet search engines and online databases, work to limit the return of information from these sources. By their very purpose, filters exist to decrease the amount of information researchers can access. The impact of such filters can be found at the institutional level. Kirp (2003) related how Arcadia University (formerly known as Beaver College) was blocked by search engines in certain public, academic and high school settings where filters blocked access to the college's website. Once the name was changed, enrollment at the university increased substantially and by the fall of 2002, there were over five hundred freshmen, the biggest class in the school's history (Kirp, p.14). There have been many attempts to define academic freedom over the decades. Definitions evolve over time as cultural mores and new ideas change our perceptions. For the sake of this discussion, academic freedom is defined by the authors as the fundamental human right for an individual to pursue or express knowledge and information in any venue and via any media during his or her lifetime, unencumbered by any person, policy or law which would deny such access to information.There is significant amount of research and periodical literature related to other aspects of academic freedom. This topical research focuses on free speech, association, curriculum design, teaching methods, and the conflicted or supporting institutional and personal definitions of academic freedom in the workplace.The use of Internet filters in higher education occurs at institutions throughout the United States. However, appears to be no research on why colleges and universities decide to filter Internet content. …

Oss Adoption: Organizational Investment in Internal Human Capital

Adopting Open Source Software (OSS) that has an enterprise-wide implication could be complex and requires an organization to possess adequate level of internal human capital before doing so. In this study, we propose and validate two antecedents of organizational investment in internal human capital in the context of OSS adoption. They are (1) firm-specificity of OSS human capital, which denotes the extent to which the internal OSS human capital is strongly tied to the organization and cannot be equally well applied in other organizations, and (2) learning-related scale, which reflects the extent to which the organizational cost of learning OSS can be spread by applying the knowledge gained to other projects and business functions within the organization. Survey data collected from 114 senior Information Technology (IT) managers and professionals indicates that these two factors are positively associated with the investment in cultivating internal OSS human capital.

Mindfully Resisting the Bandwagon: Reconceptualising IT Innovation Assimilation in Highly Turbulent Environments

Environmental turbulence (ET), as exemplified by the recent financial crisis between 2007 and 2009, leads to a high degree of uncertainty, and fosters mimicry and resulting bandwagon phenomena in information technology (IT) innovation assimilation processes. In these highly turbulent environments, ‘mindless’ IT innovation assimilation by participating organizations plays a major role in the manifestation and facilitation of mimetic influences. Even in less turbulent economic cycles, highly turbulent industries such as the financial services industry have to deal with demanding IT innovation assimilation processes, and are exposed to varying levels of ET and mimicry. Drawing upon the theory of dynamic capabilities, organizational mindfulness (OM) is one viable means to mitigate the potentially negative consequences of mimetic behaviour. Here, mindful organizations are more successful in overcoming situations of high dynamism, and sometimes are even able to exploit them. So far, little empirical research has been conducted to quantify the influence of OM in scenarios of high dynamism and mimicry. On the basis of 302 complete responses from senior IT managers in the financial services industry from the Anglo-Saxon countries (the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom), this research contributes to a deeper understanding of the interaction of OM with institutional pressures against the background of ET.

Enabling Collaboration with IT

Globalizing organizations, outsourcing, mobile work, inter-organizational teams, innovation, and reaching out to suppliers and customers are driving today’s need to improve collaboration within firms. And information technology (IT) is at the center of these trends. Businesses are also experimenting with different types of collaboration. While IT functions provide the “heavy lifting,” such as connectivity and information integrity, without which most collaboration efforts would not be effective, how new applications are implemented is often as important as the technology itself in delivering business value. This article explores IT’s role in enabling collaboration in organizations, and at the same time, what IT’s role should not be (i.e., what responsibilities and accountabilities should properly be the function of the business). It presents the results of research with a focus group of senior IT managers, looking first at why collaboration is becoming so important and the business value it enables. Next, it examines some of the different characteristics of collaboration and the key components of a collaboration program and at IT’s role in one. It concludes that effective collaboration will not result from implementing more collaboration software. Instead, this will require a proactive and holistic strategy that integrates business goals and technology potential.

IT leadership from a problem solving perspective

Information Technology (IT) leadership is a domain in need of investigation and development. Here, we present a general model for problem solving leadership and describe our application of that model to IT organizations, with special attention to the role of the Chief Information Officer (CIO). We tested the real-world value of this model through intensive interviews with 26 senior IT executives of major organizations, from which we identified four key leadership challenges facing CIOs today: (1) bridging cognitive gaps; (2) building and managing problem solving diversity; (3) shifting focus to process; and (4) solving problems and managing change. Integrating problem solving concepts with insights gained from the interviews, we offer practical approaches for aligning IT with business objectives, transforming the image of IT, and managing change, among other recommendations.

Hidden assumptions and their influence on clinicians’ acceptance of new IT systems in the NHS

The UK National Health Service (NHS) is embarking on the largest investment programme in Information Technology (IT). The National Programme for IT (NPfIT) in the NHS is the biggest civil IT project in the world and seeks to revolutionise the way care is delivered, drive up quality and make more effective use of resources of the NHS. Despite these high expectations, the NHS has historically experienced some high profile IT failures and the sponsors of the programme admitted that there remain a number of critical barriers to the implementation of the programme. Clinicians’ reluctance to accept new IT systems at a local level is seen to be a major factor in this respect. Focusing on such barriers, this paper reports research that explored and explained why such reluctance occurs in the NHS. The main contribution of this research derives from the distinctive approach based on Kelly’s Personal Construct Theory (PCT) to understand the ‘reluctance’. The argument presented in the paper indicates that such reluctance should be viewed not as deliberate resistance imposed by clinicians, but as their inability of changing their established group personal constructs related to ISDD activities. Therefore, this paper argues that the means that could occur to reduce the ‘reluctance’ are creative rather than corrective or normative. The research took place in a NHS Trust and the paper pays considerable attention to technological, behavioural and clinical perspectives that emerged from the study. The research was conducted as a case study in a NHS trust and data was collected from two local NHS IT project. The main research participants in this study were: (a) IT professionals including IT project managers and senior IT managers; and (b) senior clinicians.