Stars Air Ambulance: an Information Systems Challenge

STARS Air Ambulance: An Information Systems Challenge * Identify three or four of the most critical challenges facing the new CIO and make recommendations for how Khan can tackle each of these challenges. * What should Kahn’s objectives be for his upcoming meeting with the CEO and how can he prepare to best meet them? * What should Kahn do about departments contacting their “favorite IS staff member” when they need technical assistance? How can he change this practice and still gain the trust and support of the CEO and other senior managers?

Importance of IS to STARS

The do-it-yourself approach that prevails in this organization regarding information systems may be the result of a fundamental lack of understanding by some managers of the importance of information systems to STARS. Although STARS appears to have maintained the highest standards in recruiting highly trained professionals for its team, these same high standards have not been the case previously with regard to information systems. As the case indicates, the previous CIO was not a member of the permanent staff but a consultant whose time was focused on his own narrow assignments. Department managers with education and professional experience in other disciplines were expected to deal with systems problems on their own. Senior executives do not seem to have had any clear vision as to the importance of IS and the commensurate need for professional leadership. The hiring of Sharaz Khan suggests that senior management finally recognized the problem and have resolved to correct it.
To persuade the senior management of the need for greater control over IS activities, the CIO needs to fully understand the importance of the IS role himself and be able to communicate its significance to both the CEO and the executive committee. The CIO has already had limited discussion with a few of the managers. One argument raised was that even if a lengthy information system outage occurs, information