From cacophony to harmony: A case study about the IS implementation process as an opportunity for organizational transformation at Sentara Healthcare

The cacophony of criticisms emanating from an organization facing an information technology-enabled transformation can be deafening and deleterious. This is especially true in healthcare in the US, where information systems investments are typically huge and often perceived by change resistant stakeholders as disruptive or even potentially life threatening. We describe how the IS implementation process itself contributed to organizational transformation in terms of changes in coordination, culture, and learning at a successful organization, Sentara Healthcare, which transformed the discordant cacophony of the change process into a harmonious implementation.

► The IS implementation process contributes to organizational transformation. ► Business process change management in essential in the IS implementation process. ► Linking IS implementation and business strategies promotes coordination. ► Planning strategies that stress stakeholder involvement can change culture. ► Process-re-generation can raise the collective medical acumen to promote learning.