Information System of the Emergency Medical Service Organization - Case Study Example

Name : xxxxxxxxxxx Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : Application of Social Analysis Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx @2010 Personal Reflection of Assignment 1 In my personal perspective the significant issues that I identified while undertaking assignment 1 include the aspect of how the Information system of the Emergency Medical Service organization is affected frequently by influential factors such as politics and power, yet the management of this particular organization sideline this particular facts in order to avoid contention towards their leadership. What is evidently depicted by this kind of scenario is the notion of information politics. Emergency medical services organizations have an implicit framework of information governance, basically due to the fact that the type services ventured by the organization are basically entrenched on the central aspect of communication in order to respond to emergency situations. In my evaluation I perceived the negative impacts of information politicking as the main cause of not improving the communication systems of Emergency service organization therefore leading to insufficiency in service provision. For instance as highlighted in assignment 1 that With the onset of medical patients showing slight symptoms of a lapse over an acute condition, it becomes imperative to reduce complications that usually tag along on various delay factors average in about 2.5 hours that may rob fellow citizens of their precious life upon sudden deaths . Another major issue is linked to the fact that most dispatchers undertaken by the EMS organization base their evaluation on the heuristic approach which in most cases is dependant on each individual’s skills and knowledge. This particular system of the application of the heuristic approach in my perspective seems unsuitable for the context of the services that are to be offered by this particular unit. When evaluating the concept of building knowledge foundations which basically a very key issue ` in emergency service provision, what is evident is that the heuristic application of skills does not provide an effective platform for improving the organizations performance in terms of attending to emergencies. According to the existentialism theory, the concept of “Ba” or what is also referred to as building foundations for knowledge creation can best be attained within the context of a shared space which should basically serve as the base for knowledge creation. As a result according to the framework of the existentialistic theory, within an organization, knowledge creation should majorly be based on teams weak rather than individual skills and perception as highlighted within the EMS Process operations. Social Analysis of reading 1 The social theory to be used to evaluation of the concept of information politics is the symbolic interactionism theory. The theory is basically a theoretical approach that can be used in order to evaluate how human interaction and action can be made understandable only through the approach of exchanging meaningful symbols and communication. The theory further highlights that humans simply respond to the environment only in situations whereby a stimulus has been evoked as follows a stimulus should automatically evoke a response. The theory however highlights that in some circumstances humans have the capability of disrupting the normal response system whereby they would create a process that entails (stimulus -> cognition -> response).The theory is basically grounded on the aspect micro-levels of interaction. The symbolic interactionism theory is relevant in making a summary of the concepts within the information politics scenario because it brings out a clear explanation concerning how human interaction through communication can practically be affected by several factors which are basically a product of human action. Information politics within organizations may be governed by the management of an organization depending on whether they solve the challenges facing the communication systems or if they choose to ignore these problems. The approach undertaken by the management can either improve the response system within an organization or either derail the process. The models used for addressing communication challenges by managers include; information federalism whereby information is passed using democratic principles. In addition the all stakeholder can freely interact and add their opinions in the decision making process. The other model is the information feudalism whereby the management of an organization chooses to control the information environment like masters or lords. Research indicates that most of businesses are strongly governed by the information federalism approach. The other information political governance is referred to as the information monarchy whereby only one individual control the information within an organization .The communication modal choose by an organization will influence its response capability. . The theory can however predict different results as those discussed in the article concerning information politics. This is because sometimes emergency is well responded to not as a result of effective communication or interaction but rather as a result of obligation. The aspect of information politics adds a theoretical insight to the issues Identified by the CommonKADS method. For instance when analyzing the concept of the information system, the main way of dealing with emergencies is mainly through communication and coordination of ambulance functions and medical care functions. If the EMS organization wants to always achieve its objective of saving the lives of people, it is essential for the organizations to apply information political models that will not be a hindrance to the effective response of the workforce to emergencies. In addition it is essential that a clear hierarchy of power in terms of decision making be established. During emergencies it is vital that the information system should be an interdisciplinary process. The communication directory and system should provide a logical handling and coordination of incoming calls from the patients to facilitate dispatchers on standby at the EMS. The process should be free form any form of interruptions that may affect the response procedures of the organization. Social Analysis of reading 2 The social theory to be used to evaluation of the concept of building foundation for knowledge creation within organizations is based on the existentialism theory. The theory is based on the attempt of trying to make meaning out of situations. The theory is mainly based on rejection rationality in order to give meaning to the issues is life. Existentialism seeks to highlight that people make decisions based on meaning as opposed to rationality. This particular theory can well be liked to the aspect of building foundation for knowledge development. This is because the ba which is a shared space that acts as a foundation for knowledge development finds its meaning in this particular context. Therefore the knowledge that is devised from the ba framework through the integration of interactive thoughts can be useful for building the knowledge base for organizations. As a result it can be perceived that the theory is basically advocating for team work within organizations. Knowledge is a fundamental aspect of in the management of organizations. Many questions have been asked concerning were knowledge is developed; the introduction of the concept of ‘ba’ answered this particular question. The concept of ‘ba’ can be described as shared base were relations emerge; this space can be physical space, mental or even virtual. Ba gives a platform for advancing collective or individual knowledge. The space developed by the ba system is basically grounded on the aspect of utilization of the space for corporate group performance were by the organization should basically focus on team building in order to effectively develop its knowledge base. For instance the use of project teams provides a dynamic strategy for advancing the aspect of building foundation for knowledge development which is essential for the improvement of an organizations performance. The existentialism theory can therefore be linked to the aspect of development of knowledge due to the fact that the ba provides a framework or space were people can interact and come up with the basic foundations of knowledge which can be applied within the organization. The theory can however be contradictory in terms of the linking to the concepts of building foundation of knowledge creation due to the fact that the existentialism theory does not advocate for the use of rationality but rather the application of human experience in the justification of issues. This particular notion is not well grounded to the aspect of knowledge because knowledge goes hand in hand with rationality. The aspect of building foundations for knowledge creation can be associated to the issues proposed by the CommonKADS method, due to the fact that the framework of the developing of the knowledge system within the EMS organization should principally be based on the aspect of creation of space for through the integration of the ba whereby stakeholders of the organization can play the essential role of building the foundations of knowledge within the organization. The major proposal on the basis of this framework is to device an environment whereby team work is applied in all the processes undertaken by the organization. In despite of the existence of a hierarchy in the management system, it is essential that every stakeholder be part of the team in developing the foundations of knowledge within the organization. Bibliography Ikunjiro, N &Noboru K, 1998, The Concept of ‘ba’ Building a foundation for Knowledge, California Management Review, pg 40. James, M, 1968, Information Politics. 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