The role of information technology in strategic management at Aga khan University hospital, Nairobi
Abstract
The world has become a global village and information sharing is at all
-
time high.
Accessing and using this information through technology gives organizations a
compe
titive edge.
Information
Technology (IT) is one of the contemporary themes
affecting strategic management
in a number of organizations at the moment. The
reengineering
process faced by
organizations as a result of I
T raises a number of key
questions which
include how to
take advantage of advances in I
T to make a significant
change in the way organizations are doing business so that they can gain a competitive
advantage; or should organizati
ons invest and concentrate on I
T to improve their
approach to the marketplace; and whether they should
center
their efforts around internal
improvements in the way they currently carry out the activities of the organization.
The
research design adopted the case study approach as its research design, in th
is case
Aga
Khan University
Hospital,
Nairobi (AKUH, N)
with a view to study the role of IT in the
hospital’s strategic management
. Primary data was collected by conducting focused
interviews with middle level management from
IT,
Budgeting and planning,
Me
dical
services,
Finance
, Security, Marketing and Audit.
While
the primary data was analysed
qualitatively,
secondary data provided additional information that was not practically
possible
to obtain
from the primary sources due to the time frame within whic
h this
research has to
be carried out and hence reaching the outreach centers across the country
was not possible.
Content analysis was used to analyse the data since the study seeks
to
solicit for data that is qualitative in nature. The findings support
the RBV
theory which
attributes improvement in firm performance to valuable resource bundles. From the RBV,
one lens through which to look at IT
value creation
is “an indirect role for IT in firm
performance.
It was established th
at strategic management at
Aga Khan University
H
ospital, Nairobi had been influenced by advances and developments in IT. On the one
hand IT is directly responsible for the development of some strategic goals, while on the
other hand investment in the use of IT is required in the ex
ecution and attainment of the
laid down goals.
From the research findings, the researcher recommends an
evaluatio
n of
the existing I
T investments and the exploration of avenues for their
modernization,
improvement and enhancement to
be institutionalized in
the strategic
management
process
at AKUH, N
. The second recommendation is for
AKUH, N’s
management to
continually acquire knowledge, and remain curre
nt, on available and emerging I
T
technologies, their application as well as business capabilities. This is
because some
strategic management processes
are made feasible only thr
ough investment in the use of
I
T, hence
guarding against missed opportunities
in an ever changing and competitive
world
Publisher
University of Nairobi