Managing change : a model for organisational readiness to adopt pharmacy information systems

Abstract

Although research in organisational readiness is growing, there are still gaps in the context of adopting pharmacy information systems. Evaluating factors that affect organisational readiness to adopt pharmacy information systems might help the health sector to be more successful and avoid negative impacts or losses due to its failure. This paper discussed a proposed model for organisational readiness to adopt pharmacy information systems and factors that affect organisational readiness. A qualitative case study was conducted using interviews, document analysis and observations. This study identified four main categories of factors that influence the organisational readiness to adopt information systems, such as (1) change valence that contributes towards improving the commitment to change, (2) organisational ability that contributes to change efficacy, (3) contextual factors and (4) implementation methods that affect both, commitment to change and efficacy. The study’s findings supported and extended the theory of organisational readiness for change and expanded its use in the context of adopting pharmacy information systems. This study also provides the basis for evaluating organisational readiness on a wider domain such as adopting information systems.