Title: Competing forms of fit in a professional bureaucracy: IT management dilemmas

Authors: Philip W. Yetton, Kim D. Johnston

Addresses: Fujitsu Centre for Managing Information Technology in Organisations, Australian Graduate School of Management, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia. Fujitsu Centre for Managing Information Technology in Organisations, Australian Graduate School of Management, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia

Abstract: Organisational and role conflicts within a large Australian public hospital are examined, with a focus on information technology (IT) management issues. Two different fit configurations, similar to Mintzberg|s professional and machine bureaucracies, are found to compete for dominance in the hospital, each with different design corequisites, and requiring incompatible forms of IT management. The paper highlights IT management dilemmas experienced by many health systems facing extreme budgetary pressures and conflicting priorities. Rather than attempting to resolve symptoms within individual functions, the underlying dynamics of the problem are analysed at the level of competing organisational configurations, and the outline of a possible integrative solution is discussed.

Keywords: general management; hospital management; information technology management; organisational fit; organisational forms; professional bureaucracy; strategic fit.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHTM.2001.001115

International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management, 2001 Vol.3 No.2/3/4, pp.142-159

Published online: 30 Jun 2003 *

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