IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/techno/v121y2023ics016649722200102x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Innovation strategy and digital transformation execution in healthcare: The role of the general manager

Author

Listed:
  • Denicolai, Stefano
  • Previtali, Pietro

Abstract

This study investigates if and how the definition of an ‘innovation strategy’ affects the execution of digital transformation initiatives within healthcare organisations, managing institutional pressures, and accounting for contingent factors. If and how the pandemic altered the way top managers in healthcare make sense of these challenges are key considerations addressed herein. After discussing our conceptual background based on institutional theory, integrative thinking, and sense-making, we introduce a qualitative survey combining Gioia method and phenomenography. The main source of data is in-depth interviews with 15 general managers, each leading a medium-to-large healthcare organisation in northern Italy. The healthcare environment is expected to generate institutional forces leading to isomorphic patterns of innovation, i.e., very similar to each other. By contrast, our contribution reveals significant variation in innovation strategies. Furthermore, we showed digital transformation is playing a central role in sustaining innovation pushed by the pandemic, making these healthcare organisations more antifragile.

Suggested Citation

  • Denicolai, Stefano & Previtali, Pietro, 2023. "Innovation strategy and digital transformation execution in healthcare: The role of the general manager," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:techno:v:121:y:2023:i:c:s016649722200102x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.technovation.2022.102555
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016649722200102X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.technovation.2022.102555?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kahn, Kenneth B. & Candi, Marina, 2021. "Investigating the relationship between innovation strategy and performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 56-66.
    2. Vincent L. Barker , III & George C. Mueller, 2002. "CEO Characteristics and Firm R&D Spending," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(6), pages 782-801, June.
    3. Schiavone, Francesco & Mancini, Daniela & Leone, Daniele & Lavorato, Domenica, 2021. "Digital business models and ridesharing for value co-creation in healthcare: A multi-stakeholder ecosystem analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    4. Secundo, Giustina & Riad Shams, S.M. & Nucci, Francesco, 2021. "Digital technologies and collective intelligence for healthcare ecosystem: Optimizing Internet of Things adoption for pandemic management," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 563-572.
    5. Chirumalla, Koteshwar, 2021. "Building digitally-enabled process innovation in the process industries: A dynamic capabilities approach," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    6. Teece, David J., 2018. "Profiting from innovation in the digital economy: Enabling technologies, standards, and licensing models in the wireless world," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(8), pages 1367-1387.
    7. Guy, Jean-Sébastien, 2019. "Digital technology, digital culture and the metric/nonmetric distinction," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 55-61.
    8. Wang, Xinchun & Dass, Mayukh, 2017. "Building innovation capability: The role of top management innovativeness and relative-exploration orientation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 127-135.
    9. Miller, Fiona A. & French, Martin, 2016. "Organizing the entrepreneurial hospital: Hybridizing the logics of healthcare and innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(8), pages 1534-1544.
    10. Sariol, Ana M. & Abebe, Michael A., 2017. "The influence of CEO power on explorative and exploitative organizational innovation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 38-45.
    11. Alberto Galasso & Timothy S. Simcoe, 2010. "CEO Overconfidence and Innovation," NBER Working Papers 16041, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Denicolai, Stefano & Previtali, Pietro, 2020. "Precision Medicine: Implications for value chains and business models in life sciences," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    13. Kraus, Sascha & Schiavone, Francesco & Pluzhnikova, Anna & Invernizzi, Anna Chiara, 2021. "Digital transformation in healthcare: Analyzing the current state-of-research," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 557-567.
    14. Rippa, Pierluigi & Secundo, Giustina, 2019. "Digital academic entrepreneurship: The potential of digital technologies on academic entrepreneurship," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 900-911.
    15. Thakur, Ramendra & Hsu, Sonya H.Y. & Fontenot, Gwen, 2012. "Innovation in healthcare: Issues and future trends," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(4), pages 562-569.
    16. Cleven, Anne & Mettler, Tobias & Rohner, Peter & Winter, Robert, 2016. "Healthcare quality innovation and performance through process orientation: Evidence from general hospitals in Switzerland," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 113(PB), pages 386-395.
    17. Cho, Sam Yul & Kim, Sang Kyun, 2017. "Horizon problem and firm innovation: The influence of CEO career horizon, exploitation and exploration on breakthrough innovations," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(10), pages 1801-1809.
    18. Zeki Simsek & Ciaran Heavey & John (Jack) F. Veiga, 2010. "The impact of CEO core self‐evaluation on the firm's entrepreneurial orientation," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(1), pages 110-119, January.
    19. Rodolphe Durand & Robert M. Grant & Tammy L. Madsen & Eric Yanfei Zhao & Greg Fisher & Michael Lounsbury & Danny Miller, 2017. "Optimal distinctiveness: Broadening the interface between institutional theory and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1), pages 93-113, January.
    20. Ramezani, Javaneh & Camarinha-Matos, Luis M., 2020. "Approaches for resilience and antifragility in collaborative business ecosystems," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    21. Conz, Elisa & Lamb, Peter William & De Massis, Alfredo, 2020. "Practicing resilience in family firms: An investigation through phenomenography," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 11(2).
    22. Denicolai, Stefano & Hagen, Birgit & Zucchella, Antonella & Cubero Dudinskaya, Emilia, 2019. "When less family is more: Trademark acquisition, family ownership, and internationalization," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 238-251.
    23. Macfarlane, Fraser & Barton-Sweeney, Cathy & Woodard, Fran & Greenhalgh, Trisha, 2013. "Achieving and sustaining profound institutional change in healthcare: Case study using neo-institutional theory," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 10-18.
    24. Geels, Frank W., 2004. "From sectoral systems of innovation to socio-technical systems: Insights about dynamics and change from sociology and institutional theory," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(6-7), pages 897-920, September.
    25. Jaegul Lee & Nicholas Berente, 2012. "Digital Innovation and the Division of Innovative Labor: Digital Controls in the Automotive Industry," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(5), pages 1428-1447, October.
    26. Lander, Bryn, 2016. "Boundary-spanning in academic healthcare organisations," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(8), pages 1524-1533.
    27. Sebastian Hermes & Tobias Riasanow & Eric K. Clemons & Markus Böhm & Helmut Krcmar, 2020. "The digital transformation of the healthcare industry: exploring the rise of emerging platform ecosystems and their influence on the role of patients," Business Research, Springer;German Academic Association for Business Research, vol. 13(3), pages 1033-1069, November.
    28. Guido Capaldo & Nicola Costantino & Roberta Pellegrino & Pierluigi Rippa, 2018. "The Role of Risk in Improving Goal Setting in Performance Management Practices within Public Sector: An Explorative Research in Courts Offices in Italy," International Journal of Public Administration, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(12), pages 986-997, September.
    29. Beltagui, Ahmad & Rosli, Ainurul & Candi, Marina, 2020. "Exaptation in a digital innovation ecosystem: The disruptive impacts of 3D printing," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(1).
    30. Miller, Fiona A. & Lehoux, Pascale, 2020. "The innovation impacts of public procurement offices: The case of healthcare procurement," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(7).
    31. Verdu-Jover, Antonio J. & Alos-Simo, Lirios & Gomez-Gras, Jose-Maria, 2018. "Adaptive culture and product/service innovation outcomes," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 330-340.
    32. Mary Tripsas, 2009. "Technology, Identity, and Inertia Through the Lens of “The Digital Photography Company”," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(2), pages 441-460, April.
    33. Tortorella, Guilherme Luz & Fogliatto, Flávio Sanson & Espôsto, Kleber Francisco & Vergara, Alejandro Mac Cawley & Vassolo, Roberto & Mendoza, Diego Tlapa & Narayanamurthy, Gopalakrishnan, 2020. "Effects of contingencies on healthcare 4.0 technologies adoption and barriers in emerging economies," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Liu, Yang & Dong, Jiuyu & Mei, Liang & Shen, Rui, 2023. "Digital innovation and performance of manufacturing firms: An affordance perspective," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    2. Pundziene, Asta & Gerulaitiene, Neringa & Bez, Sea Matilda & Georgescu, Irène & Mathieu, Christopher & Carrabina-Bordoll, Jordi & Rialp-Criado, Josep & Nieminen, Hannu & Varri, Alpo & Boethius, Susann, 2023. "Value capture and embeddedness in social-purpose-driven ecosystems. A multiple-case study of European digital healthcare platforms," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    3. Zahra, Shaker A. & Liu, Wan & Si, Steven, 2023. "How digital technology promotes entrepreneurship in ecosystems," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    4. Cheng, Cong & Wang, Limin, 2022. "How companies configure digital innovation attributes for business model innovation? A configurational view," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    5. Ruokolainen, Jari & Nätti, Satu & Juutinen, Milla & Puustinen, Juha & Holm, Anu & Vehkaoja, Antti & Nieminen, Hannu, 2023. "Digital healthcare platform ecosystem design: A case study of an ecosystem for Parkinson's disease patients," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    6. Shi, Xianwei & Liang, Xingkun & Luo, Yining, 2023. "Unpacking the intellectual structure of ecosystem research in innovation studies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(6).
    7. Raimo, Nicola & De Turi, Ivano & Albergo, Francesco & Vitolla, Filippo, 2023. "The drivers of the digital transformation in the healthcare industry: An empirical analysis in Italian hospitals," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    8. Dal Mas, Francesca & Massaro, Maurizio & Rippa, Pierluigi & Secundo, Giustina, 2023. "The challenges of digital transformation in healthcare: An interdisciplinary literature review, framework, and future research agenda," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    9. Spanò, Rosanna & Massaro, Maurizio & Iacuzzi, Silvia, 2023. "Blockchain for value creation in the healthcare sector," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    10. Paiola, Marco & Khvatova, Tatiana & Schiavone, Francesco & Ferraris, Alberto, 2023. "How do omnichannel strategies contribute to value-based healthcare? An orchestra-based analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    11. Massaro, Maurizio, 2023. "Digital transformation in the healthcare sector through blockchain technology. Insights from academic research and business developments," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    12. Bag, Surajit & Dhamija, Pavitra & Singh, Rajesh Kumar & Rahman, Muhammad Sabbir & Sreedharan, V. Raja, 2023. "Big data analytics and artificial intelligence technologies based collaborative platform empowering absorptive capacity in health care supply chain: An empirical study," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    13. Hongmei Chen & Songlin Cai, 2023. "Research on Evaluation and Influencing Factors of Regional Digital Innovation Ecosystem Resilience—Empirical Research Based on Panel Data of 30 Provinces and Cities in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-20, July.
    14. von den Driesch, Till & Eva Susanne da Costa, Maika & Christina Flatten, Tessa & Brettel, Malte, 2015. "How CEO experience, personality, and network affect firms' dynamic capabilities," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 245-256.
    15. Nadia Loukil & Ouidad Yousfi, 2022. "Do CEO’s traits matter in innovation outcomes?," Journal of International Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 375-403, September.
    16. Garcia-Perez, Alexeis & Cegarra-Navarro, Juan Gabriel & Sallos, Mark Paul & Martinez-Caro, Eva & Chinnaswamy, Anitha, 2023. "Resilience in healthcare systems: Cyber security and digital transformation," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    17. Cannavacciuolo, Lorella & Capaldo, Guido & Ponsiglione, Cristina, 2023. "Digital innovation and organizational changes in the healthcare sector: Multiple case studies of telemedicine project implementation," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    18. Iizuka, Michiko & Hane, Gerald, 2021. "Transformation towards sustainable development goals: Role of innovation ecosystems for inclusive, disruptive advances in five Asian case studies," MERIT Working Papers 2021-001, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    19. Gomes, Leonardo Augusto de Vasconcelos & Flechas, Ximena Alejandra & Facin, Ana Lucia Figueiredo & Borini, Felipe Mendes, 2021. "Ecosystem management: Past achievements and future promises," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    20. Azadi, Majid & Yousefi, Saeed & Farzipoor Saen, Reza & Shabanpour, Hadi & Jabeen, Fauzia, 2023. "Forecasting sustainability of healthcare supply chains using deep learning and network data envelopment analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:techno:v:121:y:2023:i:c:s016649722200102x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01664972 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.