Health care organisations in Finland, Norway, Scotland and Sweden face similar challenges when it comes to providing health services in the sparsely populated rural areas. Vast distances, centralized health services, harsh climate and limited access to public transport can make accessing health services difficult. In order to provide health services for the population of the Northern Periphery it is necessary to develop health care service models which can address the problems of isolation, remoteness and centralized health services. One way of overcoming these issues is to develop eHealth services that focus on increasing access to health services in the rural areas. As health care organisations’ resources are often limited, the possibilities to develop, test and implement eHealth services can be restricted. Thus, transferring existing eHealth services across organisational and national boundaries can be beneficial, as the services have already been tested in practice. Taking advantage of the knowledge health care organisations in different countries have can support organisations in their drive to develop service provision models that reach out to the population of the Northern Periphery. The main objective of this thesis is to understand how local conditions influence the outcomes of eHealth transfer. In order to do so the transnational implementation of five eHealth services was investigated in five case studies. This research gives insight into how differences in organisational structure, ICT infrastructure and the size of the patient base impact health care organisations’ possibility to transfer and utilize existing eHealth services. In addition, this research offers rich insights into how these factors impact the sustainability of eHealth services. The case studies also illustrate how stakeholder collaboration and knowledge exchange impact the process of transferring eHealth services, and how patients’ and professionals’ level of trust in eHealth services can materialize in practice. In addition, this thesis demonstrates why the benefits obtained with a specific eHealth service may, or may not be duplicable in another organisational context. The research discussed in this thesis also contributes to the understanding of how assessing organisational readiness prior to transferring and eHealth services can facilitate the implementation process.

Implementing a performance management system is a change process that requires that readiness for change is established as a pre-requisite. This study reports on the relationship between readiness for change and the implementation of a performance management system; that is the extent to which readiness for change influences the implementation of a performance management system. The study was conducted in an engineering support services private sector organisation with a footprint across South Africa. A random sample was drawn from the target population. A multiple regression analysis was subsequently conducted. The findings of this study reflect that readiness for change influences the implementation of a performance management system. Also, reflected in the findings is that the factors of readiness for change influence the implementation of a performance management system, namely business unit climate; job/task requirements; motivation to change; the personal impact of change; the emotional impact of change and change processes. In addition, the findings reflect that there is a statistically significant difference in readiness for change by tenure and by business unit. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)