Four case studies of new PSS development for healthcare
informatics were explored, resulting in a new approach to
characterize PSSs, and new understanding of stakeholder
engagement requirements in the early stage of the development
process. It has emerged that the degree of data and process
connectivity between an ICT PSS and its intended operating
environment is an important contextual factor that may impact
effective stakeholder engagement in the early stage development
process. By analyzing and depicting the required level of data
and process connectivity between the new ICT PSS and the other
systems in its future operating environment, stakeholders can be
more systematically identified and more effectively engaged in
the development process.
Although only limited cases specific to the healthcare
ICT sector were included in this article, the propositions
presented provide important directions for future work in PSS
characterization and stakeholder engagement requirements in
new PSS development, and encourage future theory building
about contextual factors, stakeholder engagement, and PSS
development effectiveness. The propositions can also serve
as guiding concepts for engineering managers in the role of
new product, service, or PSS development, to improve their
assessment of the impacts of the intended operating environment
on the new product/service/PSS, and to better identify and engage
stakeholders for the early stage of the development process.
Additional case studies for new healthcare ICT PSS with
different data and process connectivity combinations and for
non-ICT sectors are needed to further explore how PSS can be
systematically characterized for the early stage of the new PSS
development process. Other non-connectivity contextual factors,
such as who initiated or originated the new development and
how new the PSS is, will also need to be further explored in order
to understand the influence of contextual factors on stakeholder
engagement in early-stage new PSS development process.