Suchergebnisse

Background: The Slovenian healthcare business model (BM) has largely failed to integrate information and communication technologies (ICT) into its operational context, instead maintaining its rigid structure and traditional 'way of doing business'. This situation often results in uncoordinated business operations, while additionally destabilising an already underfinanced healthcare system and compromising the general quality of healthcare. Aim: The aim of this study is to provide an analysis of the BM concept and its implications, and to identify the potential effects of informatisation on the existing healthcare BM in Slovenia. Based on the findings, the paper concludes by presenting a conceptualisation of a transformed healthcare BM adapted to the Slovenian healthcare environment. Method: The study employs a single explanatory/exploratory case study design, while the validation of the hypothesised constructs was undertaken through structured interviews with twelve prominent experts from the Slovenian healthcare system. Interviewees were: healthcare professionals (two general practitioners and two specialists), ICT experts from healthcare (one ICT consultant and three analysts), and healthcare managers (two managers of public healthcare centres and two managers of public clinics). Results: Findings present a roadmap for the redefinition of BM elements and the transformation of the Slovenian healthcare BM. It includes the specific reconfiguration of BM actors and their interactions, and the application of advanced ICT solutions, which could facilitate more effective utilisation of healthcare resources and promote an improved delivery of healthcare services and products. Conclusion: The presented development approach and derived conceptual solution could be transferable to other countries with similar socio-economic characteristics and comparable healthcare systems, subject to certain adjustments and inclusion of national specifics.

Purpose– The purpose of this study is to develop a more comprehensive framework that would provide better insight into the characteristics of organisational transformation (OT) of the public sector organisations in the e-government era. Despite the widespread opinion that successful implementation of information communication technology (ICT) is strongly correlated with the appropriate OT of the public sector, a critical analysis of the available literature within the field indicates that this important dimension of e-government development has been dealt with only partially. Accordingly, the paper attempts the following: to develop a more comprehensive framework for observing OT, to empirically explain the framework through analysis of three Slovenian e-government projects and to develop some general characteristics of ICT-induced OT in the public sector.Design/methodology/approach– The development of the framework is based on an analysis of the available literature, whereas the explanation of such is based on a multiple-case study approach.Findings– The paper contributes to a clearer understanding of what the main characteristics of OT in the e-government era are and how they should be observed.Research limitations/implications– The findings can help researchers to more accurately focus their attention on the most critical aspects of OT. The identified attributes can provide an important basis for future research, particularly from the methodological perspective.Practical implications– The framework can help public managers to focus their attention on the most important attributes of ICT-induced OT to exploit ICT potentials more efficiently.Originality/value– The paper attempts to demystify the concept of OT in the e-government field and place it in a more solid theoretical and empirically explained framework.

Over the last few years e-government in Slovenia has experienced very rapid development, with the latest EU surveys showing that Slovenia is among the most advanced member states in this field. However, the actual use of public e-services lags far behind the growing supply. This paper offers a comparative analysis of the current state of affairs in this field in Slovenia, focusing on the country's administrative units. That analysis is based on the results of empirical research into the administrative units' e-business, which was carried out in the first half of 2009 by the Institute for Public Administration Informatisation at the Faculty of Administration. The research looked at e-business in the most typical areas of the administrative units' work, such as internal affairs, the environment and physical planning, agriculture etc., which most accurately reveal the current state of e-business in Slovenia's public administration, particularly insofar as it relates to operations with citizens. The paper also examines the e-business of administrative units in their internal operations and in operations with other administrative bodies. The final part includes a comparison of the results of the empirical research with the latest results from the EU Capgemini Benchmark study (Capgemini, 2009), as well as a number of other international studies.

Slovenian government has adopted the utilization of outsourcing as one of the main instruments to tackle national/municipal budget deficit and stimulate cost effectiveness of the public sector. While lacking experience as well as formal regulations and expertise in the field of outsourcing, public sector started straying to the growing and increasingly less justified outsourcing of public services, leading to a completely opposite effect than expected and desired. Being aware of the complex and almost unparalleled role of information technology (IT) in the modern organization, IT sourcing issues could define the main trajectory of public sector action in the future as well as articulate its development strategy and long-term goals of e-government in general. This paper focuses on in-depth analysis of the critical success factors of public sector outsourcing, while employing the international studies and primarily the results of the research from 2010, concerning outsourcing of IT-projects in Slovenian municipalities. This paper provides additional analysis of the material, procedural and other relevant aspects within the process of IT outsourcing, an overview of its potential implications and eventually presents a contextual framework and a set of applicable guidelines for quality management of IT outsourcing process and effective implementation of e-government projects in the public sector.