The Impact of Technology Insertion on Organisations

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HFIDTC/2/12.2.1/1 Version 3 / 21 November 2007 • ‘Management clearly underestimated the difficulties involved in changing the deeply ingrained culture <strong>of</strong> the LAS, and as a result the NHS agenda for LASCAD was far too aggressive’. • Computing within the NHS is complicated by the fact that no one body has overall responsibility for IT. IT is exploited and controlled at a number <strong>of</strong> different levels: region, trust, hospital, department, speciality and general practice. Each stakeholder has a different perception <strong>of</strong> IT. Region and trust ‘tend to emphasise administrative systems’. Hospital and General Practitioner (GP) surgeries ‘emphasise clinical applications’; • LAS management were under ‘undue pressure’ from the NHS to ensure that the LASCAD system was implemented on time and within budget. This pressure and a fear <strong>of</strong> failure ‘blinded them to some <strong>of</strong> the fundamental difficulties <strong>of</strong> the system implementation’. • LAS management chose an inappropriate supplier, a decision that was seen as being ‘detrimental to the project’: ‘In awarding the contract for CAD to a small s<strong>of</strong>tware house, with no previous experience in similar emergency service systems, LAS management was taking a high risk’; • <strong>The</strong>re were also concerns with the quality <strong>of</strong> the contractor that had been recruited to build the CAD system. ‘<strong>The</strong> LAS board gave a misleading impression, by the project team, <strong>of</strong> the previous experience <strong>of</strong> the lead contractor in emergency service systems’; • <strong>The</strong> original procurement document, which was drafted within the guidelines provided by the regional health authority, put price before quality. • <strong>The</strong> reports found that whilst the South West Thames Regional Health Authority procurement rules ‘emphasised open tendering and the quantitative aspects <strong>of</strong> procurement (obtaining the best price) over qualitative aspects (i.e. who will do the job best?)’ and the successful contractor substantially underbid an established supplier and were put under pressure to complete the system quickly. 9.3 Discussion <strong>of</strong> Case Studies <strong>The</strong>se case studies show that the failure <strong>of</strong> technology programmes can occur for a variety <strong>of</strong> different reasons, indeed failure is <strong>of</strong>ten the result <strong>of</strong> several factors interacting with one another. It is also apparent that the failure <strong>of</strong> technology is not simply the result <strong>of</strong> insurmountable technical problems. As also suggested in the literature there are a number <strong>of</strong> organisational and contextual factors that can influence the likelihood <strong>of</strong> success or failure. It is clear that in some cases the selection <strong>of</strong> technology has not considered these factors sufficiently. <strong>The</strong>se issues are perhaps easier to overcome than the cases where ingrained organisational culture, politics or structure has contributed strongly to the eventual failure. <strong>The</strong> over-riding impression is that successfully integrating a new technology into organisations is not easily done. 53
HFIDTC/2/12.2.1/1 Version 3 / 21 November 2007 10 Managing <strong>Technology</strong> <strong>Insertion</strong> 10.1 Methods <strong>of</strong> Supporting <strong>Technology</strong> <strong>Insertion</strong> Given that organisational, social and political aspects <strong>of</strong> organisations have been shown to have such an influence on the success or failure <strong>of</strong> technology insertion projects, it would seem appropriate for practitioners to consider some <strong>of</strong> the techniques available to help manage these aspects. As we have seen, the evidence suggests that most practitioners ‘muddle through’, or use the ‘task and technology’ approach. Despite this, socio-technical systems methods do exist that have been developed with the aim <strong>of</strong> supporting practitioners in the identification and management <strong>of</strong> socio-technical risks. 10.1.1 Open Systems Task Analysis Eason and Harker’s Open Systems Task Analysis (OSTA) follows a socio-technical systems analysis model in which technical requirements are specified alongside social systems requirements, such as usability and acceptability [210]. Its underlying aim is to provide a methodology for understanding the transformation that occurs when a computer system is introduced into the organisation. 10.1.2 Personnel and Organisational Implications <strong>of</strong> New <strong>Technology</strong> A methodology known as POINT (Personnel and Organisational Implications <strong>of</strong> New <strong>Technology</strong>) has been developed by the Centre for Human Sciences (CHS) under a MoD Corporate Research Programme. This technique aims to identify the likely future implications <strong>of</strong> new technologies in terms <strong>of</strong> personnel and organisational outcomes within the military, including implications for new skills requirements, role changes, impacts upon team, branch and organisational structures. Taking a socio-technical systems approach, this method involves the use <strong>of</strong> interviews with subject matter experts, workshops and the development and specification <strong>of</strong> technology options. <strong>The</strong> POINT methodology has been used in several cases in order to generate predictions <strong>of</strong> the impacts that new and future technologies will have upon their military organisations. This method has been used in several technology programmes in order to generate likely personnel and organisational consequences <strong>of</strong> new technologies. For one such technology programme, predicted impacts at the equipment level included the following: • Automation will remove many lower level technical and monitoring tasks; • New requirements for specialist IT and s<strong>of</strong>tware engineering skills; • Possible amalgamation <strong>of</strong> traditional operator and technician roles. At the management level, predicted implications included: • need for comprehensive IT and Computer and Information Science (CIS) knowledge; • lower management roles to assume local network management; 54
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The Impact of Technology Insertion on Organisations

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