Information technology leadership in academic medical centers: A tale of four cultures

Persons and groups within academic medical centers bring consistent and pre dictable viewpoints to planning and decision making. The varied professiona l and academic cultures of these individuals appear to account primarily fo r the diversity of their viewpoints. Understanding these professional cultu res can help leaders achieve some predictability in the complex environment s for which they are responsible. Leaders in information technology in part icular, in order to be successful, must become part-time anthropologists, i mmersing themselves in the varied workplaces of their constituents to under stand the work they do and the cultures that have grown up around this work . Only in this way will they be able to manage the challenges that arise co ntinuously as the technology and the needs it can address change over time. In this article, the author briefly describes the concept of culture, port rays four specific professional cultures that typically coexist in academic medical centers, and argues that understanding these cultures is absolutel y critical to effective management and use of information resources.