Exploring the impact of RFID on organizational structure changes in a healthcare setting: An adaptive Structuration theory perspective

Changes in organizational structures triggered by information technologies cannot be viewed from a single perspective. There are many factors that influence organizational structure change when advanced technologies are introduced, adopted and implemented. In our research we examine the changes to the organizational structure triggered by RFID adoption in a healthcare setting from the Adaptive Structuration Theory (AST) perspective. Employing the Actor Network Theory (ANT), we described in detail the healthcare organizational structure prior to implementation, during implementation and after the implementation of the RFID technology. We then apply the Adaptive Structuration Theory to explore the role of the RFID technology in the organizational structure change. The contribution of our research is two-fold. First we attempt to clarify the extent to which RFID technology influences the organizational structure change. Second we endeavor to combine ANT with AST to create a roadmap for future research in examining the relationship between IT and organizational changes.