The adoption of information systems in healthcare is no less significant than in any other commercial or caring organisation. The literature on IS adoption in healthcare, makes it clear that the actors involved in the adoption process are almost universally seen as crucial, which matches our research results too.However, how such actors should be identified remains a topic for investigatory work since these are early days in achieving this. We derive and propose a structured method to model how actors might be identified: structured because such a rationale is explicable and such a method is more readily usable when transferred to others. Our structured method, named IGOHcaps, uses a static and then a dynamic step to pull out the individual, group, organisational and human determinants of the critical actors. In this process, the individual actors' differing views emerge which could enable decision-making bodies to produce more robust proposals if they incorporated some of the appropriate views. We discuss the application of IGOHcaps through a hospital case study. While a single case study cannot be a proof, the engagement of the actors was encouraging.

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A fundamental result of the information technology (IT) and business performance literature is that IT is not a driver of performance per se. However, it can be associated with higher performance if accompanied by organizational change. The identification of the variables describing organizational change is still on-going work. This paper focuses on organizational absorptive capacity and analyses its effects on the relationship between IT and business performance in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Organizational absorptive capacity measures the ability of an organization to complete a learning process. A significant learning effort is typically associated with IT, as it represents a complex technology. To cope with IT's complexity, implementation is typically incremental and is accompanied by a continuous integration effort of data and applications. The degree of integration of a company's information system (IS), called IS integration, is a proxy of IT maturity and quality. In this study, we explore the effect of IS integration on business performance through absorptive capacity, that is, we hypothesize that absorptive capacity has a mediation role between IS integration and business performance. The proposed research model is tested with data surveyed from 466 SMEs sited in Italy, for which exports constitute more than half of their revenues. Results indicate that organizational absorptive capacity has a mediation effect. Alternative models attributing to absorptive capacity a role different from mediation are found to be non-significant.

The short-term mortality of cirrhotic patients who develop renal dysfunction remains unacceptably high, and as such the treatment of this condition is an unmet need. Although features of kidney injury are well recognized in these patients, the pathophysiology is complex and not completely understood. Improved understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in renal dysfunction occurring on a background of cirrhosis is key to developing effective treatment strategies to improve survival. Renal dysfunction due to hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) is characteristic of cirrhosis. Our current understanding is that HRS is functional in nature and occurs as a consequence of hemodynamic changes associated with portal hypertension. However, there is evidence in the literature suggesting that, histologically, the kidneys are not always normal in the vast majority of patients who present with renal dysfunction on the background of cirrhosis. Furthermore, there is emerging data implicating nonvasomotor mechanisms in the pathophysiology of renal dysfunction in cirrhosis. This mini-review aims to present the evidence suggesting that factors other than hemodynamic dysregulation have an important role in the development of this major complication for patients with progressive cirrhosis.

We investigate organisational factors critical to the success of e-Banking (EB). Scholars report that a variety of factors are vital to EB success. A shortcoming in the extant EB literature is that much of the research focuses on a small subset of success factors and an overall ranking of factors is still missing. Our aim, therefore, is to synthesise and test the critical success factors (CSFs) identified in the existing literature, thus, substantiating or not the factors purported to be critical. To achieve our aim, we created a survey instrument from a synthesis of CSFs identified from existing EB and e-commerce literature. We draw upon the e-commerce body of knowledge to take in the widest set of CSFs that can affect EB. Data were collected from U.K.-based financial sector organisations that offer EB services. We found the most critical factors for success in EB are: quick responsive products/services, organisational flexibility, services expansion, systems integration and enhanced customer service. Our research shows that organisations need to manage their EB initiative at a strategic level and treat it as business critical rather than simply a technical or operational issue. They need to pay attention to internal integration, which includes channels, technology and business process integration, and improving the overall services to their customers.