The role of intra-organisational stakeholder dynamics in IT-based innovation adoption processes in hospitals

The introduction of new information technology in hospitals seems to lead to mixed results in practice; projects are delayed or cost more than budgeted thus severely affecting projected goals of quality or efficiency improvement. A project’s stakeholder environment is in continuous movement, both in terms of stakeholder composition as well as in terms of an individual stakeholder’s capacity and intentions. This phenomenon can be described as the stakeholder dynamics of a project. The main objective of our research is to develop a practical methodology to evaluate stakeholder dynamics, in order to provide insights in the role of these dynamics during IT-based innovation adoption processes in hospitals. These insights may ultimately enable the formulation of engagement strategies to enhance IT-based innovation implementation success in hospital settings. Five case studies were selected, comprising five different IT implementation projects in two large hospitals in The Netherlands. The data collection took over one year (2010-2011), involving over 65 interviewees. Several snapshots during the project’s progress were taken for evaluation. The following conclusions are drawn in this study; • As the case studies suggest, knowledge about the stakeholder environment and acting connecting to this knowledge has a positive effect on stakeholder satisfaction. • By using the methodology and toolkit proposed, knowledge about the stakeholder environment can be generated at several points in time, thus taking into account developments in the stakeholder environment. • By integrating stakeholder assessments and evaluation moments in project planning templates, one can keep an up to date overview of developments in the stakeholder environment and can be supported in prioritizing stakeholder attention. • The methodology supports the formulation of intervention activities by suggesting engagement strategies. • The methodology is only effective when stakeholder management maturity of the project team is adequate.