Analysis
Wakefield Radiology is a firm of knowledge workers processing information inputs to create information outputs. The firm has used technology to substitute the medium on which their key information flows are created and stored from film and paper to digital format. ICTs have enabled the firm to produce a better quality product - thus, it can be described as a IT driven improvement from which the firm is endeavouring to gain a competitive advantage.
Wakefield Radiology has been committed in its implementation to make complementary investments in human capital and system and process redesign to make the most of the capabilities that the technology offers. Implementation has been staged to allow learning about the processes to be accumulated before the next stage of the system is deployed. As indicated by Brynjolfsson and Hitt, this should have maximised the probability that productivity gains will be accrued. The business has been prepared to change work flow processes to suit the new information flows, and existing staff positions have been disestablished and new ones created to manage the new tasks.
According to Locke (2002), the practice has also maximised its chances of successfully implementing ICTs by having a clear strategy sitting in behind the investment. The strategy and the business plan have driven the purchase and implementation of the technology rather than the other way around. The growth objective of the strategy has also been a factor, which links Wakefield Radiology with Locke's (2003) analysis of other successful small and medium enterprises that have adopted ICTs. Practice management has a clear understanding of the nature of the business and the industry, and where management has lacked specific skills, there has been a willingness to hire staff with the requisite skills and to develop long-term relationships with suppliers to ensure that the technology continues to operate as intended. Wakefield Radiology's committed staff have also been enthusiastic about the technology, as they recognise that some of the benefits of using the technology accrue to them as skills and experience, which in turn make them more valuable in the employment marketplace. By underwriting the development of these skills, which in effect convey a personal benefit to the staff, the practice has minimised the risks of employee resistance to the necessary changes that implementing the technology has induced.
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