Abstract
Over the last decade many governments across the world have intensified their efforts to improve efficiency of public services through Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-enabled transformation of Local Government Authorities (LGAs). Many of these efforts involve implementing new Information Systems and Technology (IS/IT) and integrating various disparate legacy systems to deliver improved services. While there is a surfeit of literature that have outlined the various organizational and technical challenges posed by Technology Integration Solutions (TIS), few studies have examined the role of stakeholders and surrounding challenges when implementing TIS in LGAs. The TIS adoption process involves several stakeholders, each with specific domain knowledge and expertise that are crucial to the success of TIS projects. In this paper, the authors use the concept of stakeholder theory to analyze the role of stakeholders during the TIS adoption process with regards to their perceptions on the factors influencing TIS adoption in LGAs and their involvement on the adoption lifecycle phases. A qualitative multiple case study approach is adopted to empirically highlight the different categories of stakeholders involved in the TIS adoption process, the dynamic nature and importance of their role, and why their domain knowledge and expertise are vital for TIS projects.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 200-210 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Government Information Quarterly |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Early online date | 22 Jan 2011 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Apr 2011 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
In investigating the role of stakeholders in the TIS adoption process, the authors study relevant literature and present three research propositions, which indicate that local authorities' TIS adoption practices have to comprehend and utilize the knowledge and expertise of numerous stakeholders involved in the TIS adoption process. To facilitate this, the present study argues for the use of stakeholder theory. This study offers a brief look at this theory and how it relates to the utilization of knowledge and expertise, particularly in the three areas of stakeholder analysis — namely stakeholders' identification, stakeholders' perception on TIS adoption factors, and stakeholder involvement on the adoption lifecycle phases. No claim for generalization is made for interpretive research of this type, nor is it the intention of this paper to offer prescriptive guidelines for investigating the role of stakeholders in TIS adoption process in LGAs. Rather our intention is to describe case organizations' perspectives that allow others to relate their experiences to those reported. Hence, this paper offers a broader understanding of the phenomenon of investigating the role and involvement of stakeholders' in the TIS adoption process in LGAs. Although the adoption of TIS has become more widespread in modern public administration, particularly with the evolution of e-Government, the study of normative literature indicates that there is a limited understanding of the role and impact that diverse stakeholders have on the different stages of TIS adoption. The TIS adoption process involves several stakeholders, each with specific domain knowledge and expertise that are crucial to the success of TIS projects. In this paper, the authors use the concept of stakeholder theory to analyze the role of stakeholders during the TIS adoption process with regards to their perceptions on the factors influencing TIS adoption in LGAs and their involvement on the adoption lifecycle phases. By doing so, the authors endeavor to fill the void in the literature and offer a number of conceptual contributions to the area of stakeholder analysis and technology integration in public administration. The research propositions that are offered based on the normative literature is further corroborated through the empirical findings in the four case organizations. Therefore, this research has established that stakeholders who can contribute their knowledge and expertise during TIS adoption projects in LGAs can not only be identified based on the activities during the project, but also that those stakeholders can have different perceptions regarding the TIS adoption factors and can be involved in different phases of the TIS adoption lifecycle. In this respect, the specific theoretical contributions of this research can be summarized as follows: • TIS is a critically important area within LGAs in the context of implementing integrated and ‘one stop’ electronic government services. However, there remains an absence of theoretical models to help the identification of internal and external stakeholders involved in the TIS adoption process in LGAs. This research seeks to address this established void by proposing stakeholder theory for investigating the role of stakeholders in the TIS adoption process in LGAs who were attempting to implement integrated e-Government services. • At the conceptual level, this research proposes a systematic process of identifying the stakeholders, exploring their perceptions on the TIS adoption factors and their involvement on the adoption lifecycle phases in a public sector context. • The conceptual research model proposed in the study contributes to the area of stakeholder analysis and fills a void in the literature that existed for appreciating the role of stakeholders in the TIS adoption process in the context of LGAs that are undergoing ICT enabled change to realize integrated e-Government services. The findings of this study also offer valuable practical insights for decision makers, project managers and IS/IT professionals involved in various ICT enabled transformations that are taking place in public administration. In particular, projects that require a high level of IS/IT integration, as in the case of e-Government where the adoption of TIS is imperative, will be better informed in terms of identifying the relevant stakeholders at different phases of technology integration. The specific practical implications of this study can be summarized as follows: • Using an interpretive, qualitative, multiple case study approach this research considered two key dimensions i.e. factors and adoption lifecycle phases relating to TIS adoption in an LGA context. • At a practical level, the use of stakeholder theory contributes towards a deeper understanding of the stakeholders involved in the TIS adoption process in LGAs. The empirical research validated the research propositions and model proposed at a conceptual level. • Multiple case studies in four LGAs proved that ICT enabled change to realize integrated, ‘one stop’ e-Government services introduces major transformations to public sector organizations that make TIS an imperative for LGAs. In this context, developing a good understanding of the key stakeholders and their role in the adoption lifecycle will contribute to better decision making and a smother implementation and adoption of TIS in LGAs. • This research showed that common challenges to TIS adoption were faced by four LGAs, which strongly suggests that TIS is a critical issue for most LGAs and public agencies in the context of e-Government. More so, the empirical evidence insinuates that stakeholders can decide the scope of the TIS adoption process thereby influencing the ultimate shape of the e-Government services that are implemented at local government level (i.e. the level of integrated nature of the services). • The empirical evidence also shows that the decision making process for TIS adoption in LGAs is strongly influenced by central government guidelines regarding the local government modernization agenda. In particular, the use of specific TIS such as service oriented architecture and Web services is encouraged by central government and therefore LGA decision makers are largely influenced by such guidelines while taking the decisions for adopting TIS. We acknowledge that the research work presented in this paper is no exception and this research can be further developed. In the light of the above reflections and the limitations of this research, we recommend that further work could usefully be pursed. Despite investigating several stakeholders that are internal, the authors assert that there are other multiple internal and external stakeholders who indirectly or directly influence the TIS adoption process in LGAs. Therefore, a recommendation for future study may be the detailed identification and analysis of other internal and external stakeholders that influence TIS adoption on the adoption lifecycle phases, as this may further enhance and support the decision makers in identifying diverse stakeholders and their perceptions of the factors influencing TIS adoption in LGAs. Moreover, this research is based on four case studies from only one region of England and as such more case studies can be conducted in other parts of the UK in future to harmonize the empirical results. Dr Muhammad Kamal is a Research Fellow at Brunel University Business School, UK. He received his PhD from Brunel University in the area of Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) Adoption in the Local Government Authorities (LGAs). In addition, he holds two MSc's — Distributed Computing Systems (Greenwich University, London) and Computer Sciences (Punjab Institute of Computer Science, Lahore, Pakistan). His current research interest includes investigating and evaluating factors influencing the decision making process for technology adoption in the local government domain, electronic service delivery and transformation in the public sector and integration of Health and Social Care services. He specializes in the use of data analysis methods such as Discrete Choice Analysis and Analytical Hierarchy Process. In his current appointment, Dr. Kamal works on a number of European Commission funded research projects on citizen oriented e-Government and citizen participation in e-Government policy modeling. Currently, he is an active editorial review board member for International Journal of Electronic Government Research (IJEGR) and he has published in several leading journals and international conferences. Dr Vishanth Weerakkody is a full time faculty member in the Business School at Brunel University, UK. He holds an MSc in ‘Business Systems Analysis and Design’ from City University in London and a PhD in ‘Business Process and Information Systems Reengineering’ from the University of Hertfordshire. His current research interests include public sector process transformation and change, innovation and knowledge management in the public sector, technology adoption and diffusion in the public sector and electronic government. He has published over 100 peer reviewed articles and guest-edited special issues of leading journals on these themes, including a special issues of Government Information Quarterly in 2008. He is the current Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Electronic Government Research. He has edited books on ICT enabled transformational government and digital services adoption in the public sector and he is currently involved in two major European Commission funded e-Government research projects. Dr Weerakkody is a Chartered IT professional and he has held various IT positions in multinational organizations, including IBM UK, prior to his career in academia. Professor Zahir Irani is the Head of Business School and a member of Senate at Brunel University (UK). He has co-authored a teaching text-book on information systems evaluation, and written over 200 internationally refereed papers and received ANBAR citations of research excellence. He is on the editorial board of several journals, as well as co-and-mini-track chair to international conferences such as AMCIS, HICSS and EMCIS. He has received numerous grants and awards from funding bodies that include EC FP7, EPSRC, ESRC, Royal Academy of Engineering, Australian Research Council (ARC), QinetiQ, Department of Health and EU. He is the Editor-in-Chief of both the Journal of Enterprise Information Management and Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy. He has edited books on public sector service evaluation and managing projects in the public sector.
Keywords
- E-Government
- Enterprise Application Integration
- Local Government Authorities
- Stakeholder theory
- Stakeholders
- Technology Integration Solutions (TIS)
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Sociology and Political Science
- Library and Information Sciences
- Law
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