Deconstructing symbiotic dyadic e-health networks: Transnational and transgenic perspectives

The 21st century continues to witness the transformation of organizational systems globally through the deployment of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The health care sector is no exception to the inter-organizational dynamics driven by ICT innovations, such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, nomadic information systems and nano-technology. This study explores intersectorial informational network dynamics by extending Zhu’s Wu-Shi-Ren (WSR)-Li framework into the Realpolitik of e-health systems transnationally. This key informant study of the perceptions of inter-sectorial executives engaged in evolving symbiotic dyadic e-health networks in Canada, Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom appears to support Zhu’s WSR-Li model. A key finding of this study is that relational and transactional capital and transformational competencies are essential to the evolution of such e-networks, but they are not sufficient. These components must transcend the boundaries of the dyadic e-networks to engage and integrate transcendent forces in the form of public governance agents rooted in larger socio-political environments. In effect, information system professionals must acquire transcendent knowledge and skill sets to engage the ‘‘transgenic’’ forces, or key socio-political elements, that are critical in evolving inter-sectorial e-networks. Engaging and co-opting these transgenic forces appears to be particularly important in national health care systems, where public governance is a key socio-political value. This underscores the need for further research to explore how transgenic forces influence the evolution of a range of ICT systems inter-sectorially in different socio-political environments. r 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.