Abstract
While job rotation has been well recognized as an effective management strategy for career development, it could have detrimental effects on the success of a healthcare information system. Junior physicians, who often periodically rotate among different hospitals, are unlikely to be proficient in a particular system. Drawing on the situated learning theory, this study explores how job rotation affects a rotating physician’s system use and related benefits. An interpretive case study was conducted among rotating physicians in a public hospital. The data analysis results reveal three important sets of concepts originating from rotation experiences: direct system knowledge, diversified system knowledge and organization identification. A rotating physician with direct system knowledge may go through a process of repeat-based learning, whereas, diversified system knowledge may trigger a process of comparison-based learning. In addition, organization identification is important to facilitate system knowledge transfer from physicians to the hospital.
Recommended Citation
Tong, Yu; Goonawardene, Nadee; Tan, Sharon Swee-Lin; Teo, Hock Hai; and Low, Cheng Ooi, "The Influence of Job Rotation on Physicians’ System Use: A Situated Learning Perspective" (2011). ICIS 2011 Proceedings. 14.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2011/proceedings/IThealthcare/14
The Influence of Job Rotation on Physicians’ System Use: A Situated Learning Perspective
While job rotation has been well recognized as an effective management strategy for career development, it could have detrimental effects on the success of a healthcare information system. Junior physicians, who often periodically rotate among different hospitals, are unlikely to be proficient in a particular system. Drawing on the situated learning theory, this study explores how job rotation affects a rotating physician’s system use and related benefits. An interpretive case study was conducted among rotating physicians in a public hospital. The data analysis results reveal three important sets of concepts originating from rotation experiences: direct system knowledge, diversified system knowledge and organization identification. A rotating physician with direct system knowledge may go through a process of repeat-based learning, whereas, diversified system knowledge may trigger a process of comparison-based learning. In addition, organization identification is important to facilitate system knowledge transfer from physicians to the hospital.