ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the diffusion and adoption of an organisational innovation, 'Patient Focused Care' (PFC), at a British Hospital Trust. It discusses how PFC emerged in the US context, was propagated by policy-makers, and judged worth adopting by organisational decision-makers. In providing an analysis of the case, it attempts to show how actors within an organisational field, the National Health Service (NHS), were confronted by a 'problem', for which no solutions seemed available within the boundaries of the organisational field. The chapter presents a discussion on the global/US context of the emergence of PFC. This is followed by a section on methodology and research methods. The chapter also looks at the importance of the 'local' context in shaping the adoption of a 'global' organisational innovation. Finally, it deals with the appropriation process at organisational level.
