Towards a Strategic Process Model of Governance for Agile IT Implementation: A Healthcare Information Technology Study in China

To remain competitive in the present dynamic environment, ‘governance for agility’ has become a key solution. Past literature paid little attention to understanding how governance for agility, particularly in regard to the delivery of Information Technology (IT) implementation. Using agile organisation and IT-governance theory as lenses to analyse data from a hospital case study, a strategic process model of governance for agility is empirically derived. This model suggests that agile healthcare information technology implementation is achievable via phase-based IT-governance strategies and forms which authorise decision makers to maneuver resources strategically in a dynamic environment. Theoretically, this study contributes to the dearth of empirical understanding of IT governance in the Healthcare IT literature and advances knowledge by making a conceptual distinction through introducing the use of phase-based IT-governance strategies and forms to generate agile organisational capabilities to achieve agile Healthcare IT implementation. The findings serve as a foundation for future research within the information systems (IS) discipline. Practitioners could plan an agile Healthcare IT implementation by referring to the model—a systematic roadmap for governing and strategising hospital resources and capabilities.