The relationship between strategic orientation, information resources management orientation, and performance: A study of acute care hospitals. (Volumes I-III)

Hospitals face many challenges in providing cost-effective healthcare services in a dynamic and competitive environment. Information resources--information and information technology--are emerging as key strategic assets of hospitals with potential for providing competitive advantage. Strategic orientation describes the general strategies and management context of an organization; information resources management (IRM) orientation describes the strategies and management context related to information resources. This research examines the relationship between strategic orientation, IRM orientation and performance in acute care hospitals. CEOs of a nation-wide random sample of acute care hospitals over 200 licensed beds stratified on the basis of hospital ownership/control and membership in a healthcare system were surveyed on their strategic planning and information resources management practices and performance relative to peer hospitals. The Miles and Snow topology of strategic orientation, the information systems strategic grid (IRM orientation), and a composite measure of performance were used as research constructs. Investigator-developed decision rules were used to classify hospitals into categories of strategic orientation and IRM orientation based upon weighted component measures. The mean weighted score of component measures of performance provided an overall performance measure. The results of the study suggest that (1) a pattern of relationships exists between strategic orientation and IRM orientation in acute care hospitals; (2) independently of one another, strategic orientation and IRM orientation influence hospital performance; (3) although these findings were somewhat inconclusive, in combination, alignment of strategic and IRM orientation may influence performance; and (4) hospitals with a more market-focused strategic orientation and a more future-oriented and market-based IRM orientation may perform better in a dynamic environment. This research provides empirical support for relationships between strategic orientation and IRM orientation, and some evidence of performance effects, that had previously only been anecdotally reported. The study benefits policy makers, practitioners and scholars of healthcare management, strategic management and information resources management by illuminating relationships between strategic orientation, IRM orientation and performance in hospitals in a dynamic environment; providing tools for diagnosing the orientations of their organizations; and suggesting orientations, and alignments of orientations, which may be more effective under certain environmental conditions.