Flexibility First, Then Standardize: A Strategy for Growing Inter-Departmental Systems

Abstract

Any attempt to use IT to standardize work practices faces the challenge of finding a balance between standardization and flexibility. In implementing electronic whiteboards with the goal of standardizing inter-departmental practices, a hospital in Denmark chose to follow the strategy of "flexibility first, then standardization." To improve the local grounding of the system, they first focused on flexibility by configuring the whiteboards to support intra-departmental practices. Subsequently, they focused on standardization by using the white-boards to negotiate standardization of inter-departmental practices. This paper investigates the chosen strategy and finds: that super users on many wards managed to configure the whiteboard to support intra-departmental practices; that initiatives to standardize inter-departmental practices improved coordination of certain processes; and that the chosen strategy posed a challenge for finding the right time and manner to shift the balance from flexibility to standardization.