14056811
Managing e-service development : comparing two e-government case studies
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the progress and the success vs failure in e‐government development, based on case studies of two inter‐organizational (IO) e‐service projects.Design/methodology/approach – The analysis in the paper is made from an e‐government systems development life cycle perspective and a challenge and success factor perspective. The point of departure is theory and a comparative analysis of two e‐government projects.Findings – The main results in this paper are: a combination of perspectives (in a project stage and analysis grid) that can serve as a support when managing e‐service development and a set of identified crucial success factors within an IO e‐government project including project manager skills and position in the agency organization as well as when and how systems maintenance issues are introduced into a project. Existing theory and perspectives are also criticised based on the present study.Practical implications – Lessons ...
32421941
E-Governance & government on-line in Canada: Partnerships, people & prospects
Abstract The objective of this paper is to examine the capacity of the Canadian federal government to effectively harness information technology (IT) as an enabling force in its efforts to meet the present and emerging challenges of a digital age. The main thesis of this paper is that this necessary transformation in public sector governance and accountability is likely to be blocked by an administrative culture that may be ill suited for a digital world. In terms of how governments respond, our two sets of explanatory factors will be determinant. First, partnerships, and the emergence of new collaborative dialogues within government, between governments, and across sectors are a critical dimension. The second, and quite related variable lies in the necessary leadership of people –new skill sets, and new leaders will be required to both empower knowledge workers and defend experimental action. Yet, it is not only the skills composition of workers altering in a digital era, but rather the broader transformations of both everyday and organizational life that are also at play. In this sense, digital government must reposition itself to become an engaged and constructive partner in shaping the new governance patterns that will otherwise render it rudderless. Government must produce a new “culture” in order to harness the enormous potential of digital government.
8456924
e-Government: past, present and future
European Journal of Information Systems (2007) 16, 103–105. doi:10.1057/palgrave.ejis.3000678 According to a report by Kable (a leading provider of public sector research), U.K. central government information and communication technology (ICT) spend, which represents one of the largest in the world, will grow by 21% over the next 3 years reaching d3.2 billion by 2007/2008 and is expected to reach d4.2 in 2010/2011 (Kable, 2006). In contrast, U.K. local authorities are expected to deliver a total of d1.2 billion in accumulated efficiency savings by 2007/2008 directly as a result of such e-Government investments (IDABC, 2005). However, the parliamentary office of science and technology (POST) recently reported that the cost of cancelled or over-budget government ICT projects over the last 6 years is greater than d1.5 billion (POST, 2003). Clearly, questioning normative approaches to e-Government provision building and the appropriateness of existing toolsets. Therefore, there is much need as reflected by Irani et al. (2005) to explore e-Government capacity building such that value for the taxpayer is realised. Innovations in ICT offer rich opportunities for governments to significantly improve the delivery of their services and to interact more openly with their constituents. High-quality experiences with responsive, integrated private sector information systems have led citizens to expect the same kinds of experience from public bodies and agencies (Hazlett and Hill, 2003). Consequently, citizens and businesses are demanding more effective and efficient delivery of services as well as an improvement in the quality of information received (Ongaro, 2004). While ICT can be used to transform the way in which governments offer their services, it should be acknowledged that a detailed business case for implementing the technology must be undertaken with emphasis on cultural change, greater degree of commitment, organisational structure and business processes (Liu and Hwang, 2003). However, e-Government is not a simple matter. Although governments have eagerly looked forward to a digital future since the mid-1990s, their efforts to turn vision into reality have come up against a variety of challenges (Ke and Wei, 2004). According to Strejcek and Theil (2002), many ICT projects initiated by governments fail because they are poorly coordinated and because agencies act too independently. Others believe that e-Government is an evolutionary phenomenon and that therefore e-Government initiatives should be derived and implemented accordingly (Layne and Lee, 2001; Lee et al., 2005). Nonetheless, learning from the past and from the experiences of others is essential for improving the way in which governments can deliver better services. Yet, as innovations in technology emerge, governments will be faced with new demands and challenges. This special issue of European Journal of Information Systems presents a series of papers that examine the past, present and future aspects of e-Government. We begin with a paper examining how user perceptions of the characteristics of REVS (Remote Electronic Voting Systems) such as availability, mobility, accuracy, privacy protection and ease of use, affect their intention to use it. Yao and Murphy argue that the intention to use a voting technology can affect a voter’s decision to participate or not in the election process. In doing so, Yurong and Lisa state that the REVS European Journal of Information Systems (2007) 16, 103–105 & 2007 Operational Research Society Ltd. All rights reserved 0960-085X/07 $30.00
153363362
Costs of e‐participation: the management challenges
Purpose – This paper aims to discuss the cost of e‐participation from the managerial perspective.Design/methodology/approach – The use of digital media to consult and engage citizens and companies in the decision‐making process is a way of improving the design and legitimatization of decisions, as well as potentially increasing the likelihood of successful implementation of policies. This paper discusses if the potential economic benefits from increased or qualitatively improved involvement inherently are long term and have to compete with other activities undertaken by government.Findings – There are great uncertainties regarding the magnitude of the positive effects on governance since there are not only positive, but also negative externalities of e‐participation; thus, there are major challenges in measuring and capitalizing on the e‐participation. Part of the reason for the uncertainty is the lack of explicit awareness of the choice of technology, communication style and institutional approach to imp...
205065659
E-government success factors: Mapping practical tools to theoretical foundations
Strategies are systematic and long-term approaches to problems. Federal, state, and local governments are investing in the development of strategies to further their e-government goals. These strategies are based on their knowledge of the field and the relevant resources available to them. Governments are communicating these strategies to practitioners through the use of practical guides. The guides provide direction to practitioners as they consider, make a case for, and implement IT initiatives. This article presents an analysis of a selected set of resources government practitioners use to guide their e-government efforts. A selected review of current literature on the challenges to information technology initiatives is used to create a framework for the analysis. A gap analysis examines the extent to which IT-related research is reflected in the practical guides. The resulting analysis is used to identify a set of commonalities across the practical guides and a set of recommendations for future development of practitioner guides and future research into e-government initiatives.
154019429
Public sector information system critical success factors
Purpose – Project management literature contains an evolving body of research addressing critical success factors. The majority of these studies have focused on projects completed within private sector organizations or, in a few cases, a mix of public and private sector organizations. Given the distinct qualitative differences that exist between private and public sector entities, it would be naive to blindly apply the lessons learned from prior studies to public sector information technology (IT) project management. This paper seeks to investigate public sector information system critical success factors.Design/methodology/approach – Using a survey research methodology and the project implementation profile, this study empirically tests the critical success factors proposed and confirmed in the existing management literature as important to information system project implementation success within the context of public sector IT projects.Findings – This research effort strongly suggests that significant d...
16127199
Understanding e-Government project trajectories from an actor-network perspective
A number of models have been offered to help explain the trajectories of e-Government projects: their frequent failures and their rarer successes. Most, though, lack a sense of the political interaction of stakeholders that is fundamental to understanding the public sector. This paper draws on actor-network theory to provide a perspective that is used to explain the trajectory of an e-Government case study. This perspective is found to provide a valuable insight into the local and global actor-networks that surround e-Government projects. The mobilisation, interaction and disintegration of these networks underpins the course of such projects, and can itself be understood in relation to network actor power: not through a static conception of ‘power over’ others but through the dynamic-enacted concept of ‘power to’. As well as providing a research tool for analysis of e-Government project trajectories, the local/global networks approach also offers insights into e-Government leadership as a process of network formation and maintenance; and into the tensions between network stabilisation and design stabilisation.
29802758
A general model of performance and quality for one-stop e-Government service offerings
Abstract This paper introduces a framework and methodology for establishing indicators and metrics in order to assess the quality and performance of one-stop e-Government service offerings. The set of quality and performance indicators and metrics proposed has been derived in an outcomes assessment approach, based on the perspectives of e-Government service providers and end-users and following a goal-question-metric line of work that departs from some key quality and performance benefits. A methodology that employs the proposed framework to set improvement targets according to alternative scenarios is presented, and a strategy is elaborated for analyzing root causes of potential quality and performance shortcomings and undertaking appropriate countermeasures. Some results of application in a real case study, in the context of an EU-funded R&D project, are also provided. Finally, recommendations are given about usefulness of the proposed approach for e-Government service providers, as well as policy and decision-makers, and directions of future work are discussed in order to enhance the conceptual coverage of this approach, while at the same time not compromising its simplicity of application and generality of purpose.
14700996
Toward the success of egovernment initiatives: mapping known success factors to the design of practical tools
This paper introduces a strategy for assessing the practical frameworks that government managers use to guide e-government investment decisions. A gap analysis strategy is outlined here and a preliminary application of the analysis is presented using a single e-government investment decision making framework. The gap analysis strategy serves two purposes; to inform the design, development, and use of e-government investment decision making tools and processes; and to propose a strategy for informing the ongoing debate about information systems research relevance.
53928559
Information systems development: methodologies, techniques and tools (3rd edition)
First published almost ten years ago, Information Systems Development is used by lecturers and students worldwide. Through long experience of teaching with the text and feedback from colleagues and students, the authors have continued to build from the solid foundations of the original text. The new 3rd edition of Information Systems Development has been updated and enhanced to reflect the latest developments in IS technology, and to meet the needs of a new generation in IS studies. The book contains comprehensive coverage of diverse topics including Oracle applications, UML notation, RUP, RAD and DSDM. There is a new section on SAP and other ERP systems. E-commerce and web applications such as Dreamweaver are examined, as well as additional information on package development and component based design. The authors further illustrate how these various technologies integrate with social and economic factors to provide a thorough examination of Information Systems Development. Due to this broad content base, Information Systems Development is suitable for a wide range of degree programs without impacting the unique requirements of either computer science, or business and management courses. Both theoretical models and real-world examples provide an engaging and practical text, and there is considerable web-based support material available for both lecturers and students.
20970257
Improving the process of E-Government initiative: An in-depth case study of web-based GIS implementation
Abstract Research on E-Government has largely focused on understanding the “outcomes and outputs of the E-Government project” [Yildiz, M. (2007). E-Government research: Reviewing the literature, limitations, and ways forward. Government Information Quarterly, 24(3), 646–665.]. It is argued that the existing research on E-Government tends to oversimplify the phenomenon. To address the call, the current study focuses on the process of an E-Government initiative by loosely drawing on the ‘technology enactment framework,’ in conjunction with the ‘systems development life cycle’ approach. Using a case study orientation, this study describes in detail how a geographic information systems implementation project is conducted at a local government in the United States. Insights into E-Government initiatives are presented and discussed.
30259433
Building Collaborative Digital Government Systems - Systemic constraints and effective practices
Successful digital government policies and applications often depend on the ability of multiple organizations to collaborate toward shared objectives. Despite compelling benefits, these efforts are fraught with problems, and often fail. The developmental experiences of 18 collaborative digital government initiatives in New York State reveal five systemic constraints that account for the common difficulties: divergent roles, multiple missions, operational diversity, changing technology, and limited ability to adapt to change. The project experiences also offered ten guiding principles that can help make collaborative systems more successful. These focus on purpose, stakeholders, partnership, leadership, managing complexity, skills, resources, communication, work processes, and explicit design methods.
153522020
Engaged Scholarship: A Guide for Organizational and Social Research
Engagement in scholarship is vital to ensure a future for information systems (IS) and business school research. This notion has captivated the attention of IS scholars for over a decade, as expressed in the 'rigor versus relevance' debates. These debates are steeped in the idea that scholars neglect phenomena germane to their practitioner counterparts; therefore, researchers underserve the population their scholarship is meant to inform. Nevertheless, several years after these debates, IS researchers continue to reward rigor, while forsaking relevance.
12430992
Doing interpretive research
Interpretive research in information systems (IS) is now a well-established part of the field. However, there is a need for more material on how to carry out such work from inception to publication. I published a paper a decade ago (Walsham, 1995) which addressed the nature of interpretive IS case studies and methods for doing such research. The current paper extends this earlier contribution, with a widened scope of all interpretive research in IS, and through further material on carrying out fieldwork, using theory and analysing data. In addition, new topics are discussed on constructing and justifying a research contribution, and on ethical issues and tensions in the conduct of interpretive work. The primary target audience for the paper is less-experienced IS researchers, but I hope that the paper will also stimulate reflection for the more-experienced IS researcher and be of relevance to interpretive researchers in other social science fields.
32524851
Barriers to e-government integration
Purpose – Integration is a critical success factor for achieving a mature level of e‐government. This research seeks to identify barriers to e‐government integration (EGI).Design/methodology/approach – Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 14 consultants with significant experience of e‐government projects. The interview transcripts were analysed by the researcher to identify barriers in EGI.Findings – The findings resulted in a set of 17 barriers which were organised into one of four categories: strategy, technology, policy and organization. Strategy barriers include common e‐government goals and objectives, delivery timeframes, and ownership and governance. Technology barriers include architecture interoperability, data standards and legacy systems. Policy barriers include citizen privacy, data ownership and policy implications. Organization barriers include pace of government reform, legacy government processes and management and technical skills.Research limitations/implications – One of the ...
3469941
E-government adoption: architecture and barriers
Purpose – To provide an integrated architecture framework for e‐government that represents the alignment of IT infrastructure with business process management in public sector organisations and classify the barriers that might complicate the implementation of the proposed architecture framework. The study will help IT practitioners in the public sector learn how to use and manage information technologies to revitalise business processes, improve decision‐making, and gain a competitive advantage from the adoption of e‐government. The proposed architecture framework for e‐government adoption will reduce confusion surrounding e‐government infrastructure in the public sector through understanding the implementation processes, identifying requirements of information and communications technology tools, highlighting the importance of the organisational management resources and the impact of barriers.Design/methodology/approach – A range of earlier studies have been critically examined and analysed to provide an...
108136949
Managing MIS implementation: identifying and removing barriers to use
This study examines the challenges of managing an MIS implementation project, using three models for analysis that represent alternative perspectives found in the implementation literature. The research is focused on illuminating the problems of implementing systems that require mutual adaptation of technology and organization over time. The purpose of the research is twofold: (1) To gain some understanding of how an organization can successfully identify and remove barriers to use, and (2) To highlight some of the strengths and limitations of alternative analytical perspectives on implementation. 
This study uses a field-based, multi-site, longitudinal, design to examine the implementation of an internally developed expert support system designed to aid sales representatives with the complex task of configuring computer systems. The research combines both factor and process-oriented approaches, and represents a blend of both quantitative and qualitative techniques. The combination of methods includes surveys, interviews, observations, and a review of archival data. The three models used to guide this research are (1) a technology acceptance model, (2) an organizational change model, and (3) a model that views implementation as organizational problem-solving. 
The results of this study suggest that barriers relating to implementation infrastructure can be overshadowed by other barriers that may exist. The findings also suggest that the most frequently cited barriers to use may not be the most critical barriers and that a holistic understanding of task/technology fit is important for successful implementation. Evidence from this study indicates that an effective problem-solving process is needed to enable the organization to make critical adaptations to both the organization and the technology. If the problem-solving process is not carefully managed, the organization may not be able to remove barriers to use effectively. Finally, the data suggest that inappropriate initial scoping of the problem can create dysfunctional behavior due to path dependency and that design issues cannot be separated from implementation.
154461412
Information technology and organizational change: causal structure in theory and research
This article concerns theories about why and how information technology affects organizational life. Good theory guides research, which, when applied, increases the likelihood that information technology will be employed with desirable consequences for users, organizations, and other interested parties. 
 
But what is a good theory? Theories are often evaluated in terms of their content-the specific concepts used and the human values served. This article examines theories in terms of their structures-theorists' assumptions about the nature and direction of causal influence. Three dimensions of causal structure are considered-causal agency, logical structure, and level of analysis. Causal agency refers to beliefs about the nature of causality: whether external forces cause change, whether people act purposefully to accomplish intended objectives, or whether changes emerge unpredictably from the interaction of people and events. Logical structure refers to the temporal aspect of theory-static versus dynamic-and to the logical relationships between the "causes" and the outcomes. Level of analysis refers to the entities about which the theory poses concepts and relationships-individuals, groups, organizations, and society. 
 
While there are many possible structures for good theory about the role of information technology in organizational change, only a few of these structures can be seen in current theorizing. Increased awareness of the options, open discussion of their advantages and disadvantages, and explicit characterization of future theoretical statements in terms of the dimensions and categories discussed here should, we believe, promote the development of better theory.
26502538
Transforming local e-government services: the use of application service providers
Abstract This study examines the potential of application service providers (ASPs) to transform electronic government (e-government) services at the local level. The ASP model helps local governments overcome barriers to offering next wave e-government services such as a shortage of skilled IT staff and limited financial resources. The realization of full potential, however, requires first the adoption of an ASP model. Five conditions that favor the decision to use an ASP are (1) strong top management support, (2) promise of large efficiency gains, (3) enough IT capability on the part of the government unit to identify key piece of technology, (4) less burdensome outsourcing rules and procedures, and (5) a variety of high quality and reliable ASPs from which to choose locally. To ensure the success of an ASP project, local governments need to build in-house IT capability to evaluate an ASP and to develop proper performance measures. Management should focus on serving citizens and businesses and develop the capability to negotiate as well as manage service-level contracts with ASPs. Continual top management support is necessary for dealing with possible initial resistance and ensuring interdepartmental communication and cooperation.
18958949
Learning lessons from evaluating eGovernment: Reflective case experiences that support transformational government
Central Government strategy of e-inclusion is being manifested in the form of eGovernment. Given that it is the public purse that funds such investments, there is increasingly attention being paid to the evaluation of these investments, such that value for money and organisation learning can be realised. In this paper the authors report the findings from three interpretive in-depth organisational case studies that explore eGovernment evaluation within a UK public sector setting. The paper elicits insights to organisational and managerial aspects with the purpose of improving knowledge and understanding of eGovernment evaluation. The findings that are extrapolated from the case study analysis are presented in terms of lessons that gravitate around social factors, evaluation, adoption, ownership, prioritisation sponsorship and, responsibility. These lessons are extrapolated from the empirical enquiry to improve eGovernment evaluation practice. The paper concludes that eGovernment evaluation is an under developed area, with most work being developmental in nature and as a result calls for decision makers to engage with the eGovernment agenda and commission eGovernment evaluation exercises to improve evaluation practice such that transformational Government can realise its full potential. The paper ends by highlighting political, economic, technical and social issues as the drivers of the evaluation cycle.
15658712
Information systems development as emergent socio-technical change: a practice approach
Many information systems development (ISD) initiatives fail to deliver the expected benefits. An important percentage of these are the result of social and organizational factors, not simply technical failures. This paper explores the dynamics of these social and organizational factors to better understand the causes of success and failure. Based on data from a detailed case analysis of an ISD project, the paper depicts the ISD process as an emergent and dynamic one, characterized by continuous local adaptations. The paper ends with a proposal of a feedback-rich framework, based on a practice view of socio-technical change that offers theoretical insights and practical heuristics to system developers and project managers.