Description
E-Government (short for electronic government, also known as e-gov, Internet government, digital government, online government, or connected government) is digital interactions between a government and citizens (G2C), government and businesses/Commerce (G2B), government and employees (G2E), and also between government and governments /agencies (G2G).
Research Study on E-government Service Orientation: Gaps between Theory and Practice
Purpose: To date, there has been little support for predictions made in the e-government conceptual literature. This article reviews selected literature on e-government service orientation and highlights differences between academic theory and empirical findings. Design/Methodology/Approach: A conceptual framework for a literature review of egovernment and service orientation is presented. A systematic database search is then undertaken to identify the literature related to e-government and service orientation. Suitable articles are selected, carefully read, and systematically analysed according to the conceptual framework. A discussion and relevant conclusions are then presented. Findings A gap appears to exist between conceptual literature and empirical findings. For example, conceptual research claims that e-government will result in a reduction of staff, yet no empirical findings have proven this to be true. The present study applies institutional theory for understanding the fundamental reasons to this gap. Research limitations/implications The article is based on a literature review of 27 articles, three monographs and one edited volume focusing on service orientation and e-government. It does not attempt to examine the full range of the literature available within the field of e-government. Originality/value This review article uniquely considers the gaps between the theory and practice of egovernment service orientation, and identifies where they exist. Some possible explanations for the gaps are explored which can be of interest to both academics and practitioners working in the field. Keywords: service orientation, e-government, literature review, public administration, service research
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Introduction
Throughout the world, governments and public-sector authorities are increasingly using information and communication technology (ICT) to provide agencies that are accessible to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The term 'e-government' has been introduced into practice and research to describe these developments. The European Union (EU 2003) has defined 'e-government' in the following terms:
... the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in public administrations combined with organisational change and new skills in order to improve public services and democratic processes and strengthen support to public policies.
Some scholars have argued that the emergence of e-government represents a paradigm shift in the organisation of the public sector that will have a profound effect on public administration in terms of technology, cost-efficiency, risks, and benefits to the public (Criado and Ramilo, 2003; Ho, 2002; Reschenthaler and Thompson, 1996). The present study focuses on the propensity of e-government to encourage a so-called 'service orientation' in public administration. For the purposes of the study, the term 'service orientation' is defined as a set of organisational policies, practices, and procedures intended to foster the creation and delivery of service excellence. In undertaking a review of previous research into service orientation in the field of e-government, the study has identified five (somewhat overlapping) areas that are worthy of note: (i) service design; (ii) service systems; (iii) service encounters; (iv) human-resource management; and (v) service leadership. The remainder of the paper is structured as follows. The following section presents a conceptual analysis of service orientation; this serves as a framework for the literature review that follows. This conceptual analysis is followed by a presentation of the methodology used in the present study. The paper then provides a review of the previous conceptual and empirical research into service orientation in the field of e-government. Finally, the wider implications of the findings are discussed by drawing on institutional theory, together with a presentation of the major conclusions and contributions of the study.
2. Conceptual analysis
2.1 Service orientation
The article reviews public management research on e-government by drawing on the research within service management on service orientation. Informed by the conceptual review of research into service orientation by Lytle et al. (1998), we argue that the notion of 'service orientation' is constituted by four essential elements: (i) 'human-resource management' (HRM); (ii) 'service systems'; (iii) 'service encounters'; and (iv) 'service leadership'. Through reviewing more recent research on service
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orientation (e.g. Edvardsson and Enquist, 2002; Goldstein et al., 2002; Grönroos, 2001) we added a fifth constituent element—'service design'. This element encompasses decision-making with respect to the service, including such matters as whether to train service personnel and thereby make improvements to the delivery of service in the service encounter. The five subcategories of service orientation identified for review are explored in greater detail below.
2.2 Individual elements of service orientation
2.2.1 Service design A s e r v ic e c o n s is ts o f a n in te g r a te d c o m b in a tio n o f p r o c e s s e s , p e o p le s k ills , a n d m a te r ia ls . T h e te r m 'service design' is used to describe the planning and integration required to ensure that the intended service is delivered to the targeted customers (Goldstein et al., 2002). Edvardsson and Olsson (1996) have emphasised that the development of a 'service concept' is a critical stage in service design. The term 'service concept' refers to an overall conception of how customer needs can be reconciled with the service provider's strategic intention. The service concept thus includes the what (market and customers) of the service that is envisaged and the how (operational content) of the proposed service (Goldstein et al., 2002). The term 'service logic' is used to describe such an understanding of the needs of the customers in the target market and the alignment of these needs with the organisation's strategy and competitive intentions (Edvardsson and Olsson, 1996). According to Goldstein et al. (2002), a critical aspect of service design is to define the service concept with clarity, thus enabling the achievement of a shared vision of the planned service throughout the organisation. 2.2.2 Service systems The term 'service system' refers to the mix of practices and procedures required for the delivery of the service to the customer. Such a service system includes provision for service standards, communication practices, utilisation of service technology, prevention of service failure, and the delivery of service recovery. The service system must take account of the resources that are available for realising the service concept (Lytle et al., 1998). These resources include staff members, customers, physical and technical resources, and the organisational structure (Edvardsson, 1997). In many instances, the mix of resources that is deemed appropriate in a particular context is formulated as a set of standards. According to Lytle et al. (1998), these standards are more likely to be accepted and implemented if they are understood by every employee in the organisation, thus ensuring that the service system runs effectively.
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The delivery of a consistent level of service quality requires a well-designed service system that functions smoothly across departmental and other organisational boundaries. In this regard, an organisation's utilisation of technology is one of the most critical ingredients in a service system that creates and delivers superior customer value (Lytle et al., 1998). 2.2.3 Service encounters The term 'service encounter' refers to the focal interaction between a service organisation and its external as well as internal customers (Gummesson, 1991). The service encounter is a major opportunity for an organisation to make an impression in the minds of its customers as they evaluate service quality. The way in which customers are treated has a direct impact upon their perceptions of satisfaction with how the service was performed (Grönroos, 2001; Schneider and Bowen, 1995). In the past, service encounters have involved personal interactions between frontline employees and customers. More recently, such interactions have been increasingly mediated by technology. This is especially relevant in the present review of service orientation in the context of e-government. 2.2.4 Service leadership Service leadership is reflected in the attitudes and conduct of the management team in envisioning, shaping, and governing the organisation. Such service leadership is a critical component in the creation and maintenance of a service orientation and an effective service culture among employees (Edvardsson and Enquist, 2002). The likelihood that service personnel will provide excellent service to customers is increased if employees receive excellent service from their own managers. Another important aspect of service leadership is the communication of a service vision (Lytle et al., 1998). 2.2.5 Human-resource management and change management HRM is concerned with the training of employees, supervision of their behaviour, and the provision of employee benefits and compensation (Schneider and Bowen, 1995). The creation of an effective service orientation in any organisation involves a focus on service-oriented HRM throughout that organisation. In particular, the training of frontline personnel who come into direct contact with customers is crucial to the achievement of customer satisfaction. It is thus considered to be of vital importance to manage the personnel in this way achieving organizational change. In addition, there is a link between employee rewards and service performance, and this plays an important role in producing service quality (Lytle et al., 1998). According to Lytle et al. (1998), the service orientation of an organisation is what the employees perceive it to be; as such, any service orientation can best be understood by soliciting employee's perceptions, beliefs, and opinions. According to these authors, if employees perceive their organisation as having a strong service orientation, customers report more positive service experiences. Moreover, an organisation's ability to produce external service quality is directly related to that organisation's internal service quality.
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Organisations can only be as effective as the people who comprise them (Lytle et al., 1998), and the attitudes and behaviour of these people is determined by the sense of personal identity and organisational culture in which they function. The term 'organisational culture' has been defined by Hatch and Schultz (1997, p. 357) as "? the tacit organizational understandings ? that contextualize efforts to make meaning, including internal self-definition". The same authors (1997, p. 357) described 'organizational identity' in the following terms: "Identity refers broadly to what members perceive, feel, and think about their organizations".
2.3 Linking service orientation and e-government
Although the term 'service orientation' has not been explicitly used in the literature on public administration, initiatives associated with e-government apparently have the potential to affect the service orientation of public-sector organisations. For example:
• • • •
HRM initiatives associated with e-government have the potential to enhance service orientation across traditional bureaucratic lines; face-to-face service encounters will certainly be reduced by e-government initiatives; service design is likely to be changed by e-government requirements for secure and confidential services; and strong service leadership is likely to be required to implement effective e-government.
These examples indicate the wide range of potential effects that e-government might have on service orientation. These issues, and others, are explored in greater detail in the review of the literature that forms the focus of the present study.
2.4 Limitations
In identifying the five elements for review, the present study acknowledges that other subcategories of 'service orientation' might have been selected. The subcategory of 'service culture', for example, might have been utilised. However, in the present paper, 'service culture' is incorporated in the elements of 'service leadership' and 'HRM'. Another limitation is that empirical articles published before 2000 has been disregarded.
3. Methodology
To identify the literature related to e-government and service orientation, a systematic search was undertaken (using the keyword 'e-government') in the following databases: (i) Business Source Elite; (ii) Emerald; and (iii) ISI. These databases were chosen because they tend to contain articles which are a synthesis of many separate disciplines such as human resources and change management. The articles revealed in this initial search were briefly reviewed to identify those that were most relevant to the objectives of the present paper. Articles that were clearly connected with 'informationsystem research' were discarded. As mentioned above, empirical articles published before 2000 were
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also disregarded because 'e-government' was at an early stage at that time. This 'first selection' resulted in a total of 70 articles, which were read and analysed. Of these, 28 were deemed to be especially relevant to the present study. Allowing for articles that appeared in more than one database, this 'final selection' was reduced to a total of 20. Table I summarises the numbers of articles identified by this selection process. Take in Table I about here Table I: Numbers of articles in selection process The literature search then continued with a scan of the references cited by the 20 articles. This resulted in an additional seven articles being added to the 'final selection' of 20. This procedure also validated our selection of articles, since we cross-checked it with the references utilized in previous research. In all, 27 articles were thus carefully reviewed and analysed. Table II provides a summary of these articles. Apart from the articles three relevant research monographs and one edited volume were reviewed. Take in Table II about here Table II: Summary of articles chosen for the literature review
4. Findings
The conceptual literature goes far in its prediction of the changes that the introduction of egovernment might result in. The empirical literature, on the other hand, displays a more restrained attitude concerning e-government introduction and the changes that have actually taken place. Service design, service systems, service encounters, service leadership, and human resource management are sub categories of service orientation and is used to structure this literature review section.
4.1 Service design and e-government
The major themes to emerge from the literature review with respect to service design and egovernment were efficiency and the integration of services to meet citizens' needs. In addition, the issues of security and confidentiality were prominent. The need of institutional forces to be studies was also noted as well as that the emergence of e-government might represents a paradigm shift towards a service orientation in the public sector. With respect to efficiency and integration in service design, the USA E-Commerce Policy (2000) noted that e-government creates efficiency by providing citizens with relatively inexpensive, real-time access to consistent, up-to-date information and transaction facilities. Choudrie et al. (2005) concurred in stating their belief that various government services have to be integrated because a citizen should be able to access all services in a single transaction. Horizontal and vertical integration among various services and departments of government was suggested by Daniel and Ward (2006). This view was endorsed by Ebrahim and Irani (2005), who advocated a one-stop e-government portal. These authors argued that the availability of integrated digital data from various organisations might
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result in improved access to government resources, reduced service-processing costs, and a higher quality of service. This is inline with Bellamy and Taylor (1998) who argue that one-stop services simplify and enrich contacts with government organizations. Fagan (2006) argued that the implementation of e-government involves four phases: (i) the dissemination of information; (ii) the provision of forms; (iii) the ability to perform transactions; and (iv) government transformation. Of these, the second and third are directly concerned with the design of the service. Fountain (2001) emphasize that a thorough understanding of the design and use of ICTs require institutional forces to be studied. Torres et al. (2005) and Heeks (2006) showed that concerns about security and confidentiality are major barriers to the development of e-government. Services must therefore be designed and delivered in a safe and trustworthy way. In addition, laws for the protection of personal and confidential data and effective authentication systems are required to enhance the trust of citizens in electronic transactions. Ho (2002) argued that e-government represents a paradigm shift in the organisation of the public sector. According to this author, the 'e-government paradigm' is characterised by innovation, learning, and entrepreneurial organisation. This is a shift from a bureaucratic emphasis on matters of concern to the supplier (such as cost efficiency) to a focus on users—including satisfaction, flexibility in service delivery, and efficient links with relevant parties (both internal and external) (Ho, 2002). The two paradigms are reflected in two common types of portal design—(i) information-oriented; and (ii) useroriented. The former offers a remarkable amount of website content, but the latter categorises information and services according to the needs of different groups of users. The fact that websites are being designed to deliver the required service to targeted customers is a sign that service design in e- government is evolving. Nevertheless, according to Ho (2002), most public-sector entities remain in the 'bureaucratic paradigm', and these agencies tend to organise their websites according to the administrative structure of the government, not according to the needs of efficient service delivery. Bellamy and Taylor (1998) state that the information and communications capabilities associated with ICTs are deeply challenging the institutional order of governance.
4.2 Service systems and e-government
The major themes to emerge from the literature review with respect to service systems and egovernment were an integrated architectural framework of processes and ICT systems among various government agencies and the inclusion of the tools and techniques that are required to promote the security of e-government. According to Narver and Slater (1990), the coordinated use of resources across the whole organisation is required to reach the goal of creating real customer value. According to Landsbergen and Wolken (2001), this horizontal integration has the potential to reduce the paperwork burden in the public sector, and Reschenthaler and Thompson (1996) contended that it enables public-sector
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agencies to act more promptly and effectively in meeting the needs of citizens. However, Criado and Ramilo (2003), in their study of Spanish municipality websites, noted that ICTs are not necessarily producing drastic changes in the core structures of government or the institutional basis of government activity. Ebrahim and Irani (2005) argued that an integrated architectural framework is required for an egovernment portal. Such a portal must be designed in a manner that allows a variety of government agencies from different geographical locations to share and exchange data, independently of formats, devices, and underlying architecture. The e-government architecture must thus define common standards among government agencies in terms of infrastructure components, applications, technologies, business models, and guidelines for e-commerce. Fountain (2001) mean that e- government have the potential to dramatically change the function of the public sector by this across agencies portals. However the ICTs can not by itself create social cooperation in the absence of a base of trust. If easier communication and coordination lead to enhanced trust, then it is a contribution of technology. Fountain (2001) is however accurate in pointing out that the Internet does not substitute for the development of social relations. According to E-commerce Developments (2003), the quality and accessibility of e-government requires governments to explore new relationships with government agencies, including the integration of the IT processes and systems of various government agencies. This can present major difficulties, but it is necessary if value-added services are to be provided to citizens (Choudrie et al., 2005). Daniel and Ward (2006, p. 118) presented an example of such integration in the form of the 'Drug Action Exchange Project' (DaeX), which "? links practitioners from the council's social and caring services with others in education and external practitioners from the health service and the criminal justice services". Finally, the issue of security is an important aspect of service systems in e-government. According to a 2002 survey of local authority e-government policymakers in New Zealand, consumer confidence and trust in performing online transactions is critical to the success of e-government (Deakins and Dillon, 2002). These authors emphasised that the service system must include tools and techniques that promote the security of e-government.
4.3 Service encounters and e-government
The major themes to emerge from the literature review with respect to service encounters and egovernment were: (i) a reduction in employee numbers; (ii) the advent of non-standardised services in the public sector; (iii) savings in time, product prices, and transaction costs; (iv) the effects of the so- called 'digital divide'; and (v) the importance of training employees in technology relating to e- government. Milward and Snyder (1996) noted that the introduction of technology has led to a reduction in the number of middle managers because IT is increasingly taking over many of their duties.
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Furthermore, websites are replacing staff on service desks, and case managers and adjudicating officers are being replaced by advanced information systems (Bovens and Zouridis, 2002). According to Schedler and Scharf (2001) and Schelin (2003), e-government is based on a constant orientation towards the customer. In this regard, Ho (2002) noted that the standardisation of public-sector services is becoming increasingly outdated because e-government offers customised services that are based on customer preferences and needs. Because citizens can access the information they need by themselves, e-government creates the potential for savings on product prices and transaction costs (Deakins and Dillon, 2002). Fagan (2006) provided an example of this in describing how the city of Tyler (Texas, USA) had successfully introduced online payment of traffic-infringement fines via its website in 2000. Ho (2002), Schelin (2003), and Milward and Snyder (1996) all noted that e-government transforms the traditional service encounter by reducing face-to-face interaction and facilitating the access of citizens to government services without the need to negotiate a bureaucratic hierarchy. In contrast to this view, Deakins and Dillon (2002) reported a survey conducted in New Zealand in which most respondents did not expect an information-rich website to reduce the need for face-to-face interaction. Ebrahim and Irani (2005) provided examples of how interaction with the government will be conducted through the advent of e-government—including the increasing accessibility to government websites via private PCs, Internet kiosks, mobile phones (WAP), digital television, and call-and- contact centres. Deakins and Dillon (2002) explored the question of whether some citizens might be deprived of equal access to government services if traditional forms of interaction are not maintained. Their concerns in this regard refer to the so-called 'digital divide', whereby socio-economic, educational, and geographical factors play a part in inhibiting the access of some citizens to computers, the Internet, and digital technology (Choudrie et al., 2005; Deakins and Dillon, 2002). In particular, Choudrie et al. (2005) argued that the lack of Internet and broadband connections in some geographical locations restricts citizens from accessing e-government services, thus inhibiting the implementation of e-government. Heeks (2006) is also concerned about the digital divide and he emphasize that electronic services should be seen as an additional method alongside traditional face- toface and phone-based methods. Otherwise the poor and disadvantaged will gain last and least from the new technology. Empirical and conceptual research is in agreement regarding the importance of educating employees in technology relating to e-government. According to Heeks and Davies (1999), Ho (2002), Schedler and Scharf (2001), and Thompson et al. (2005), insufficient staffing is a major obstacle to the implementation of e-government. This was confirmed by Moon (2002), who showed that 837 of 1,471 US municipal governments lacked technical staff and that this was acting as a barrier to the
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implementation of e-government. Hence, as Heeks (2006) puts it, technology is important to egovernment but people are more important. He also mention that a gap between the competencies staff currently hold and those they need is likely to occur.
4.4 Service leadership and e-government
The major themes to emerge from the literature review with respect to service leadership and egovernment were the need for: (i) comprehensive strategic planning and more resources; (ii) shared egovernment goals and objectives; (iii) strong leadership; and (iv) the importance of ensuring that the benefits of the services offered by e-government should be clearly emphasised to citizens. An e-government strategy is considered to be a key mechanism to produce centralized approach benefits, particularly cost savings and a fit between systems and organizational objectives (Heeks, 2006). Moon and Norris (2005) noted that municipal administrations that pursue e-government initiatives using a comprehensive strategic plan and more resources tend to achieve better results in terms of managerial and organisational change. Daniel and Ward (2006) reported on a West Sussex (UK) initiative in which the major investment was not so much in technology but in change management. In this initiative a 'director of community engagement and organisational development' was appointed, whose responsibilities included e-government and organisational development. Lam (2005) emphasised the importance of shared goals and objectives in noting that the joint planning of projects by multiple government agencies is delayed if there is a lack of clarity in the definition of roles and responsibilities and lines of ownership. In a similar vein, Ke and Wei (2004) identified strong visionary leadership and strategic planning as crucial factors in a successful egovernment strategy in Singapore. The importance of strong leadership was also addressed by Heeks (2006). Burn and Robins (2003) found that leadership from the top, together with an atmosphere of open communication and participation, is an important ingredient of an effective cultural mix for a successful e-government project. Kannabiran et al. (2004) identified an important aspect of service leadership in e-government by noting that citizens are no longer interested in which public official is responsible for which public service; rather service leadership in e-government is reflected in service integration. Both Ho (2002) and Landsbergen and Wolken (2001) have pointed out that the convenience and satisfaction of users requires service integration among existing functional departments across all relevant agencies and their departments. Choudrie et al. (2005) argued for service leadership in the form of marketing campaign in a UK urban area to underline the benefits of e-government to citizens.
4.5 Human-resource management and e-government
The major themes to emerge from the literature review with respect to HRM and e-government were: (i) organisational culture; (ii) information-sharing and the need for improved communication across
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traditional bureaucratic lines; (iii) resistance of members of staff to change; and (iv) enterprise portals as a key resource for employees. The authors reviewed here were unanimous in stating that an appropriate organisational culture is crucial to success in the implementation of e-government (Choudrie et al., 2005; Daniel and Ward, 2006; McIvor et al. 2002; Schedler and Sharf, 2001; Torres et al., 2005). The introduction of egovernment requires increased openness with stakeholders and the overcoming of social exclusion (Choudrie et al., 2005: Schedler and Scharf, 2001). According to Schedler and Scharf (2001), public-sector service delivery has, in the past, entailed departments and individuals performing their duties in isolation; in contrast, e-government requires them to collaborate with colleagues across traditional boundaries. Choudrie et al. (2005) noted that staff members can exhibit resistance to such changes in their roles and responsibilities, and Burn and Robins (2003) contended that overcoming this resistance requires the organisation's vision for change to be embraced at all levels. According to Deakins and Dillon (2002), internal culture is a significant factor to be taken into account in determining the success of e-government, and one respondent in Daniel and Ward's (2006) study noted that differing professional backgrounds in the various services can mean that people come from corporate cultures, which can act as a barrier to the smooth function e-government. McIvor et al. (2002) took a more positive view of cultural change within organisations that adopt e-government. They concluded that the introduction of intranets and associated ICT has the potential to facilitate cultural change by enhancing internal communication and changing attitudes towards greater commitment to innovation, creativity, and collaboration. Landsbergen and Wolken (2001, p. 206) emphasised the problem of information-sharing:
Every important new technology invariably poses a challenge to the status quo and puts a strain on existing social contracts on 'who gets what'.
Choudrie et al. (2005) noted that a requirement to share information and link up with other government institutions can threaten the established hierarchies that exist among some local government employees. Improved communication and interaction across traditional bureaucratic lines is required to overcome these problems and facilitate integrated services (Schedler and Scharf 2001; Schelin, 2003). Verton (2000) reported on an initiative that aimed to develop a 'virtual office' model for egovernment services. According to this model, employees could work from home or from telecommuting sites. However, none of the employees was keen on the 'virtual office' culture, and internal resistance had an adverse effect on the success of this e-government initiative. According to Torres et al. (2005), the only benefits for the administration that the interviewees in their study could agree on were improved customer satisfaction and more flexibility. The
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respondents dismissed other benefits relating to employees—such as new career opportunities and higher salaries. Moon's study (2002) of e-government at the municipal level showed that only a few municipal administrations claimed that e-government programs had been effective in specific areas in terms of cost savings, reductions in numbers of staff, and changed roles of their staff, although many agreed that egovernment initiatives had resulted in an improvement in overall efficiency in the workplace. Moon (2002) also concluded that many respondents thought that e-government practices reduced time demands on staff, but increased task demands.
5. Discussion
It is apparent from this literature review that the largely positive predictions regarding the potential benefits of e-government from a conceptual perspective have not been supported by empirical research. It is possible that it is still too soon to evaluate the full effects of e-government initiatives on service orientation in the public sector. It is also possible that the empirical research conducted to date has been too shallow and has lacked a clear focus on service orientation. In particular, simply asking customers or citizens in an unstructured way about their views on service orientation is insufficient. The present authors contend that deep qualitative research, including participatory observation and interviews, as well as well designed surveys is required in order to understand the relationship between e-government and service orientation more fully. Moreover, the present authors contend that the gap between prescriptive and empirical research could be understood by drawing on institutional theory (Meyer and Rowan, 1977; DiMaggio and Powell, 1983). This theoretical perspective has already been drawn on by Fountain (2001) in her analysis of the organizational role of information technology in the (US) public sector. Fountain (2001) focuses primarily on organizational change as an effect of enactment of information technology, in this way contributing to elaborate on institutional theory in a novel fashion. Since our review show that the predictions in the conceptual e-government literature to a great extent have not been realized, we use institutional theory to understand the reasons to this inertia. Analyzing inertia is usually seen as the main strength with institutional theory. Institutional theory should be seen as an alternative to rational organization theory. The latter, which the bulk of research into e-government is founded on, has conceived of organisations as consisting of rational actors (e.g. Taylor, 1911) or at least actors that have the ability to reach bounded rationality (Cyert and March, 1963; March and Simon, 1958). According to this paradigm, management are given the role of developing goals and formal organizational structures designed to support goal attainment. The personnel are expected to act in accordance with the goals and the prerogatives embedded in the formal structure. In contrast, institutional theory argues that organisations including their formal structures are embedded in the environments that shape them
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(Scott, 1995). According to this view, organisations must obtain 'legitimacy' from their environments if they are to survive. However, the environment is often characterised by conflicting demands, making it problematic for organisations to adjust their operations in accordance with all the various demands placed upon them. In order to deal with this conflict, a central argument of institutional theory is that organisations adapt their formal structures to external demands, in this way gaining legitimacy from the environment. But institutional theory also holds that formal structures and real activities are 'de-coupled' (Meyer and Rowan, 1977; Oliver, 1991). According to this view, an organisation gives the impression of having adapted to the demands in its environment, while simultaneously carrying out its activities in ways incongruent with these demands —thus avoiding potential conflicting demands imposed upon it by the environment. In this regard, Abrahamson (1996) has used the term 'organisational fashion' to describe the phenomenon whereby change processes appear to affect organisations profoundly, whereas the reality is that these apparent changes are only a facade. From an institutional perspective, e-government is an 'institutional pressure' in the environment of public organisations. To be considered 'legitimate', organisations are expected to adapt to these demands, and the conceptual literature can thus be understood as a 'summary' of the demands being made upon public-sector entities in terms of organisational design, implementation, and expected effects. The disappointing results reflected in the empirical research can be interpreted, from an institutional perspective, as indicating that e-government is only loosely coupled to organisational action. According to this view, e-government has thus far served as a means of legitimising the survival of public organisations and can be treated as an 'organisational fashion' (Abrahamson, 1996) rather then 'organizational action'. If so, the talk of a 'paradigm shift' (Kuhn, 1962) is at best inappropriate, and at worst misleading. The problem with some research into e-government is that it is guided by a rational view of organizations thus holding that the formal organization really affects organizational action.
6. Conclusions and contributions
The most important contribution made by the present paper is the literature review on service orientation in the field of e-government. The conclusion of this review is that there is a gap between empirical and conceptual research in this area. This gap has several dimensions:
• many of the writings in the field of e-government and service orientation are of a normative
and predictive nature;
• presumptions concerning a paradigm shift (as predicted in the conceptual literature and
alluded to in this paper) receive very little support in fact (as reported in the empirical literature);
• the empirical literature reveals changes other than those proposed in the conceptual
literature;
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• empirical research into service orientation in the field of e-government is scarce.
It is apparent that more empirical data are needed to understand the effects of e-government on organisations, and the present authors contend that comprehensive case studies or well-designed surveys might be suitable for this purpose. In addition to this, the present paper contrasts the rational conceptualization of organisations that predominates research into service orientation in the field of e-government with institutional theory. This is not original as such since Fountain (2001) already has applied institutional theory to the analysis of the role of informational technology in the public sector. Nevertheless, institutional theory illuminates on the reasons to the gap between conceptual predictions and empirical results of implementation of egovernment initiatives. Furthermore, most research is still informed by narrow rational views on organizations despite of the excellent work of Fountain (2001). This theoretical myopia prevents a deep understanding of the effects of e-government initiatives on organizations.
References
Abrahamson, E. (1996), "Management Fashion", Academy of Management Review, Vol. 21 No. 1, pp. 254-85. Bellamy, C. and Taylor, J.A. (1998), "Governing in the Inforamtion Age", Open University Press, Buckingham. Bovens, M. and Zouridis, S. (2002), "From Street-Level to System-Level Bureaucracies: How Information and Communication Technology is Transforming Administrative Discretion and Constitutional Control", Public Administration Review, Vol. 62 No. 2, pp. 174-184. Burn, J. and Robins, G. (2003), "Moving towards e-government: a case study of organisational change process", Logistics Information Management, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 25-35. Choudrie, J., Vishanth, W. and Jones, S. (2005), "Realising e-government in the UK: rural and urban challenges", Journal of Enterprise Information Management, Vol. 18 No. 5, pp. 568-585. Commission of the European Communities (2003), "The role of eGovernment for Europe's future", Communication No. 567, The Commission, Brussels, 26 September. Criado, J.I. and Ramilo, M.C. (2003), "E-government in practise, an analysis of web site orientation to the citizens in Spanish municipalities", The International Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 16 No. 3, pp. 191-218. Cyert, R.M. and March J.G. (1963), "A Behavioral Theory of the Firm", Blackwell: Malden (Mass). Daniel, E. and Ward, J. (2006), "Integrated service delivery. Exploratory case studies of enterprise portal adoption in UK local government", Business Process Management Journal, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 113-123.
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Deakins, E. and Dillon, S.M. (2002), "E-government in New Zealand: the local authority perspective", International Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 15 No. 5, pp. 375-398. DiMaggio, Paul J. and Powell, Walter W. (1983) The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields, American Sociological Review, Vol. 48 No. 2, pp. 147-168. Ebrahim, Z. and Irani, Z. (2005) "E-government adoption: architectures and barriers", Business Process Management Journal, Vol. 11 No. 5, pp. 589-611. E-commerce Developments. (2003), Transforming governments through e-government projects, IWAYS, Digest of Electronic Commerce and Regulation, Vol. 26 No. 1, pp. 23-27 Edvardsson, B. (1997), "Quality in new service development: Key concepts and a frame of reference", International Journal of Production Economics, Vol. 52 No. 1/2, pp. 31-46. Edvardsson, B. and Enquist, B. (2002), "'The IKEA saga': How service culture drives service strategy" The Service Industry Journal, Vol. 22 No 4, pp. 153-186. Edvardsson, B. and Olsson, J. (1996), "Key concepts for new service developments", Service Industries Journal, Vol. 16 No. 2, pp. 140-164. EU, see Commission of the European Communities. Fagan, M-H. (2006), "Exploring city, county and state e-government initiatives: an East Texas perspective", Business Process Management, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 101-112. Fountain, J. E. (2001). Building the virtual state: Information technology and institutional change, The brookings institution, Washington D.C. Goldstein, S.M., Johnston, R., Duffy, J. and Rao, J. (2002), "The service concept: the missing link in service design research?", Journal of Operations Management, Vol. 20 No. 2, pp. 121-134. Grönroos, C. (2001), Service Management and Marketing, John Wiley & Sons LTD, West Sussex. Gummesson, E. (1991) "Marketing Revisited: The Crucial Role of the Part Time Marketer", European Journal of Marketing, 25(2), pp. 60-75. Hatch, M.J. and Schultz, M. (1997), Relations between organizational culture, identity and image, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 31, pp. 356-65. Heeks, R. (2006) "Implementing and Managing eGovernment: An International Text", Sage Publications, London. Heeks, R., Davies, A. (1999), "Different approaches to information reform", in Heeks, R. (Eds),Reinventing Government in the Information Age: IT Enabled Public Sector Reform, Routledge, London, pp.22-48.
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Ho, A.T. (2002), "Reinventing local governments and the e-government initiative", Public Administration Review, Vol. 62 No. 4, pp. 434-444. Kannabiran, G., Xavier, M.J. and Anantharaaj, A. (2004), "Enabling e-governance through citizen relationship management-concept, model and applications", Journal of Services Research, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 223-240. Ke, W. and Wei, K.K. (2004), "Successful e-government in Singapore", Communication of the ACM, Vol. 47 No. 6, pp. 95-99. Kuhn, T. S. (1962), The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Lam, W. (2005), "Barriers to e-government integration", Journal of Enterprise Information Management, Vol. 18 No. 5, pp. 511-530. Landsbergen, D. and Wolken, G. (2001), "Realizing the Promise: Government Information Systems and the Fourth Generation of Information Technology", Public Administration review, Vol. 61 No. 2, pp. 206-220. Lytle, R.S, Hom, P.W. and Mokwa, M.P. (1998), "SERV*OR: A Managerial Measure of Organizational Service-Orientation", Journal of Retailing, Vol. 74 No. 4, pp. 455-489. March, J.G. and Simon H. (1958), Organizations, Blackwell: Malden (Mass). McIvor, R., McHugh, M. and Cadden, C. (2002), "Internet technologies: supporting transparency in the public sector", International Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 170-187. Meyer, J.W. and Rowan, B. (1977), "Institutionalized Organizations: Formal Structure as Myth and Ceremony", American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 83 No. 2, pp. 340-363. Milward, H. B. and Snyder, L.O. (1996), "Electronic Government: Linking citizens to Public Organizations Through Technology", Journal of Public Administration Research & Theory, Vol. 6 No. 2, pp. 261-275. Moon, M. J. (2002), "The Evolution of E-government among Municipalities: Rhetoric or Reality?", Public Administration Review, Vol. 62 No. 4, pp. 424-433. Moon, M.J. and Norris, D.F. (2005), "Does managerial orientation matter? The adoption of reinventing government and e-government at the municipal level", Information Systems Journal, Vol. 15 No. 1, pp. 43-60. Narver, J.C. and Slater, S.F. (1990), "The effect of a market orientation on business profitability", Journal of Marketing, Vol. 54 No. 4, pp. 20-35. Oliver, C. (1991), "Strategic responses to institutional processes". Academy of Management Review, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 145-179. Reschenthaler, G. B. and Thompson, F. (1996), "The Information Revolution and the New Public Management", Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory: J-PART, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 125-143.
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Schedler, K. and Scharf, M.C. (2001), "Exploring the interrelations between electronic government and the new public management", in B. Schmid, K. Stanoevska-Slabea and V. Tschammer (eds) Towards the E-Society. E-Commerce, E-Business, and E-Government. Boston, MA: Kluwer. Schelin, S.H. (2003), "E-Government: An Overview", In Garson, G.D. ed. Public Information Technology: Policy and Management Issues Hershey, PA: Idea Group, pp. 120-137. Schneider, B. and Bowen, D.E. (1995), Winning the Service Game, Harvard Business School Press, Boston. Scott, W.R. (1995), Institutions and Organizations, Sage, London. Taylor, F.W. (1911), The Principles of Scientific Management, Norton, New York. Thompson, D.V, Rust, R.T. and Rhoda, J. (2005), "The business value of e-government for small firms", International Journal of Service Industry Management, Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 385-407. Torres, L., Pina, V. and Royo, S. (2005), "E-government and the transformation of public administrations in EU countries. Beyond NPM or just a second wave of reforms?", Online Information Review, Vol. 29 No. 5, pp. 531-553. USA E-Commerce Policy (2000), United States Government Electronic Commerce Policy. Verton, D. (2000), "Electronic government", Computerworld, Vol. 34 No.35, p. 50.
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Table I: Numbers of articles in selection process Business Source Elite Keyword Number of hits egovernment* 235 1 n 23 13 230
st
Emerald Number of hits 1st selectio n 31 Final selectio n 10 Numb er of hits 179 1
st
ISI Final selectio n 5 selectio n 16
Final selection
selectio
Table II: Summary of articles chosen for the literature review
DIMENSION OF SERVICE ORIENTATION Service design
FOCAL POINTS
CONCEPTUAL RESEARCH
X
EMPIRICAL RESEARCH
REFERENCE
Efficiency focus and providing citizens with value added services Horizontal and vertical integration
Choudrie USA (2000)
et
al
(20 05 ), P olicy
• What is being
offered
Ebrahim and Irani (2005), E-Commerce
• How it is being
realized
X
Daniel and Ward (2006), Ebrahim and Irani (2005), Fagan (2006) , Bellamy and Taylor (2003)
Institutional needs to be studied
forces
X X X
Fountain (1999)
(20 01 ),
H eeks
E-government services have to be secure and trustworthy Increased level of
Torres et al. (2005), Heeks (2006)
X X.
Ho (2002) Ke and Wei (2004), Moon and Norris (2005), Heeks (2006)
service orientation
Service leadership
A
comprehensive
• The attitudes and
behaviors of the management team
strategic plan is needed The major investment is not in technology but in change management Governments have to deliver information X across agencies Finds the need for a strong important The benefits should be clearly emphasized to citizens X leadership X X X
Daniel and Ward (2006)
Ho (2002), Landsbergen and Wolken (2001) Ke and Wei (2004) Burn and Robins (2005), Heeks (2006) Choudrie et al (2005)
Service encounter
Organizational
change
X
Milward and Snyder (1996)
is needed to become
• Employee
more service-oriented Will res ult in a X Bovens and Zouridis (2002),
19
interaction with customers
reduction of staff Standardization exist Based on a constant orientation toward the customers Cost efficiency focus The traditional service encounter reduction An of face interaction inc reas e of the X X changes, face-toX X X of X public services does not
Milward and Snyder (1996) Ho (2002)
Schedler and Scharf (2001), Schelin (2003) Deakins and Dillon (2002) Ho (2003) Deakins and Dillon (2002), Choudrie et al. (2005), Heeks (2006) X Deakins and Dillon (2002) Ho (20 02 ), Schedler and (20 02 ), Milward and Snyder (19 96 ), Schelin
digital divide No reduction of face-toface interaction Insufficient staffing is a major obstacle X X
Scharf (2001), Thompson et al. (2005), Moon (2002), Heeks (2006)
Service systems
Efficiency focus due to integration
X
Ebrahim and Irani (2005), Landsbergen (2001), (2001) and Wolken and Resc henthaler
• The resources
that should be assembled in order for the service concept to be realized.
Thompson (1996), Fountain ICTs are not making drastic changes in the core structures of X E-Commerce Developments (2003), Choudrie et al. (2005) X X Daniel and Ward (2006) Deakins and Dillon (2002) government Integration in order to provide services Presents an integrated portal The s er vice s ystem must include tools to increase and promote security value added X Criado and Ramilo (2003)
Human
reso u rce
The
or ga niza tional
X
Choudrie et al. (2005), Daniel and Ward (2006), McIvor et al. (2002), Torres et al. (2005),
management
culture is seen as a barrier Notices a reluctance to change X X
• Service culture
emerges through human resource initiatives.
Choudrie
et
al
(20 05 ),
Schedler and Scharf (2001), Verton (2000)
It is difficult to get people and organizations to share information.
X
Choudrie et a l. (20 05 ), Landsbergen and Wolken (2006)
20
An
orga n iz a tio n's
X
Burn and Robins (2003)
vision for change must be embraced throughout all levels of th e X Schedler and Scharf (2001) organisation Stresses the need for improved interaction across traditional bureaucratic lines
21
doc_607089273.docx
E-Government (short for electronic government, also known as e-gov, Internet government, digital government, online government, or connected government) is digital interactions between a government and citizens (G2C), government and businesses/Commerce (G2B), government and employees (G2E), and also between government and governments /agencies (G2G).
Research Study on E-government Service Orientation: Gaps between Theory and Practice
Purpose: To date, there has been little support for predictions made in the e-government conceptual literature. This article reviews selected literature on e-government service orientation and highlights differences between academic theory and empirical findings. Design/Methodology/Approach: A conceptual framework for a literature review of egovernment and service orientation is presented. A systematic database search is then undertaken to identify the literature related to e-government and service orientation. Suitable articles are selected, carefully read, and systematically analysed according to the conceptual framework. A discussion and relevant conclusions are then presented. Findings A gap appears to exist between conceptual literature and empirical findings. For example, conceptual research claims that e-government will result in a reduction of staff, yet no empirical findings have proven this to be true. The present study applies institutional theory for understanding the fundamental reasons to this gap. Research limitations/implications The article is based on a literature review of 27 articles, three monographs and one edited volume focusing on service orientation and e-government. It does not attempt to examine the full range of the literature available within the field of e-government. Originality/value This review article uniquely considers the gaps between the theory and practice of egovernment service orientation, and identifies where they exist. Some possible explanations for the gaps are explored which can be of interest to both academics and practitioners working in the field. Keywords: service orientation, e-government, literature review, public administration, service research
2
Introduction
Throughout the world, governments and public-sector authorities are increasingly using information and communication technology (ICT) to provide agencies that are accessible to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The term 'e-government' has been introduced into practice and research to describe these developments. The European Union (EU 2003) has defined 'e-government' in the following terms:
... the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in public administrations combined with organisational change and new skills in order to improve public services and democratic processes and strengthen support to public policies.
Some scholars have argued that the emergence of e-government represents a paradigm shift in the organisation of the public sector that will have a profound effect on public administration in terms of technology, cost-efficiency, risks, and benefits to the public (Criado and Ramilo, 2003; Ho, 2002; Reschenthaler and Thompson, 1996). The present study focuses on the propensity of e-government to encourage a so-called 'service orientation' in public administration. For the purposes of the study, the term 'service orientation' is defined as a set of organisational policies, practices, and procedures intended to foster the creation and delivery of service excellence. In undertaking a review of previous research into service orientation in the field of e-government, the study has identified five (somewhat overlapping) areas that are worthy of note: (i) service design; (ii) service systems; (iii) service encounters; (iv) human-resource management; and (v) service leadership. The remainder of the paper is structured as follows. The following section presents a conceptual analysis of service orientation; this serves as a framework for the literature review that follows. This conceptual analysis is followed by a presentation of the methodology used in the present study. The paper then provides a review of the previous conceptual and empirical research into service orientation in the field of e-government. Finally, the wider implications of the findings are discussed by drawing on institutional theory, together with a presentation of the major conclusions and contributions of the study.
2. Conceptual analysis
2.1 Service orientation
The article reviews public management research on e-government by drawing on the research within service management on service orientation. Informed by the conceptual review of research into service orientation by Lytle et al. (1998), we argue that the notion of 'service orientation' is constituted by four essential elements: (i) 'human-resource management' (HRM); (ii) 'service systems'; (iii) 'service encounters'; and (iv) 'service leadership'. Through reviewing more recent research on service
3
orientation (e.g. Edvardsson and Enquist, 2002; Goldstein et al., 2002; Grönroos, 2001) we added a fifth constituent element—'service design'. This element encompasses decision-making with respect to the service, including such matters as whether to train service personnel and thereby make improvements to the delivery of service in the service encounter. The five subcategories of service orientation identified for review are explored in greater detail below.
2.2 Individual elements of service orientation
2.2.1 Service design A s e r v ic e c o n s is ts o f a n in te g r a te d c o m b in a tio n o f p r o c e s s e s , p e o p le s k ills , a n d m a te r ia ls . T h e te r m 'service design' is used to describe the planning and integration required to ensure that the intended service is delivered to the targeted customers (Goldstein et al., 2002). Edvardsson and Olsson (1996) have emphasised that the development of a 'service concept' is a critical stage in service design. The term 'service concept' refers to an overall conception of how customer needs can be reconciled with the service provider's strategic intention. The service concept thus includes the what (market and customers) of the service that is envisaged and the how (operational content) of the proposed service (Goldstein et al., 2002). The term 'service logic' is used to describe such an understanding of the needs of the customers in the target market and the alignment of these needs with the organisation's strategy and competitive intentions (Edvardsson and Olsson, 1996). According to Goldstein et al. (2002), a critical aspect of service design is to define the service concept with clarity, thus enabling the achievement of a shared vision of the planned service throughout the organisation. 2.2.2 Service systems The term 'service system' refers to the mix of practices and procedures required for the delivery of the service to the customer. Such a service system includes provision for service standards, communication practices, utilisation of service technology, prevention of service failure, and the delivery of service recovery. The service system must take account of the resources that are available for realising the service concept (Lytle et al., 1998). These resources include staff members, customers, physical and technical resources, and the organisational structure (Edvardsson, 1997). In many instances, the mix of resources that is deemed appropriate in a particular context is formulated as a set of standards. According to Lytle et al. (1998), these standards are more likely to be accepted and implemented if they are understood by every employee in the organisation, thus ensuring that the service system runs effectively.
4
The delivery of a consistent level of service quality requires a well-designed service system that functions smoothly across departmental and other organisational boundaries. In this regard, an organisation's utilisation of technology is one of the most critical ingredients in a service system that creates and delivers superior customer value (Lytle et al., 1998). 2.2.3 Service encounters The term 'service encounter' refers to the focal interaction between a service organisation and its external as well as internal customers (Gummesson, 1991). The service encounter is a major opportunity for an organisation to make an impression in the minds of its customers as they evaluate service quality. The way in which customers are treated has a direct impact upon their perceptions of satisfaction with how the service was performed (Grönroos, 2001; Schneider and Bowen, 1995). In the past, service encounters have involved personal interactions between frontline employees and customers. More recently, such interactions have been increasingly mediated by technology. This is especially relevant in the present review of service orientation in the context of e-government. 2.2.4 Service leadership Service leadership is reflected in the attitudes and conduct of the management team in envisioning, shaping, and governing the organisation. Such service leadership is a critical component in the creation and maintenance of a service orientation and an effective service culture among employees (Edvardsson and Enquist, 2002). The likelihood that service personnel will provide excellent service to customers is increased if employees receive excellent service from their own managers. Another important aspect of service leadership is the communication of a service vision (Lytle et al., 1998). 2.2.5 Human-resource management and change management HRM is concerned with the training of employees, supervision of their behaviour, and the provision of employee benefits and compensation (Schneider and Bowen, 1995). The creation of an effective service orientation in any organisation involves a focus on service-oriented HRM throughout that organisation. In particular, the training of frontline personnel who come into direct contact with customers is crucial to the achievement of customer satisfaction. It is thus considered to be of vital importance to manage the personnel in this way achieving organizational change. In addition, there is a link between employee rewards and service performance, and this plays an important role in producing service quality (Lytle et al., 1998). According to Lytle et al. (1998), the service orientation of an organisation is what the employees perceive it to be; as such, any service orientation can best be understood by soliciting employee's perceptions, beliefs, and opinions. According to these authors, if employees perceive their organisation as having a strong service orientation, customers report more positive service experiences. Moreover, an organisation's ability to produce external service quality is directly related to that organisation's internal service quality.
5
Organisations can only be as effective as the people who comprise them (Lytle et al., 1998), and the attitudes and behaviour of these people is determined by the sense of personal identity and organisational culture in which they function. The term 'organisational culture' has been defined by Hatch and Schultz (1997, p. 357) as "? the tacit organizational understandings ? that contextualize efforts to make meaning, including internal self-definition". The same authors (1997, p. 357) described 'organizational identity' in the following terms: "Identity refers broadly to what members perceive, feel, and think about their organizations".
2.3 Linking service orientation and e-government
Although the term 'service orientation' has not been explicitly used in the literature on public administration, initiatives associated with e-government apparently have the potential to affect the service orientation of public-sector organisations. For example:
• • • •
HRM initiatives associated with e-government have the potential to enhance service orientation across traditional bureaucratic lines; face-to-face service encounters will certainly be reduced by e-government initiatives; service design is likely to be changed by e-government requirements for secure and confidential services; and strong service leadership is likely to be required to implement effective e-government.
These examples indicate the wide range of potential effects that e-government might have on service orientation. These issues, and others, are explored in greater detail in the review of the literature that forms the focus of the present study.
2.4 Limitations
In identifying the five elements for review, the present study acknowledges that other subcategories of 'service orientation' might have been selected. The subcategory of 'service culture', for example, might have been utilised. However, in the present paper, 'service culture' is incorporated in the elements of 'service leadership' and 'HRM'. Another limitation is that empirical articles published before 2000 has been disregarded.
3. Methodology
To identify the literature related to e-government and service orientation, a systematic search was undertaken (using the keyword 'e-government') in the following databases: (i) Business Source Elite; (ii) Emerald; and (iii) ISI. These databases were chosen because they tend to contain articles which are a synthesis of many separate disciplines such as human resources and change management. The articles revealed in this initial search were briefly reviewed to identify those that were most relevant to the objectives of the present paper. Articles that were clearly connected with 'informationsystem research' were discarded. As mentioned above, empirical articles published before 2000 were
6
also disregarded because 'e-government' was at an early stage at that time. This 'first selection' resulted in a total of 70 articles, which were read and analysed. Of these, 28 were deemed to be especially relevant to the present study. Allowing for articles that appeared in more than one database, this 'final selection' was reduced to a total of 20. Table I summarises the numbers of articles identified by this selection process. Take in Table I about here Table I: Numbers of articles in selection process The literature search then continued with a scan of the references cited by the 20 articles. This resulted in an additional seven articles being added to the 'final selection' of 20. This procedure also validated our selection of articles, since we cross-checked it with the references utilized in previous research. In all, 27 articles were thus carefully reviewed and analysed. Table II provides a summary of these articles. Apart from the articles three relevant research monographs and one edited volume were reviewed. Take in Table II about here Table II: Summary of articles chosen for the literature review
4. Findings
The conceptual literature goes far in its prediction of the changes that the introduction of egovernment might result in. The empirical literature, on the other hand, displays a more restrained attitude concerning e-government introduction and the changes that have actually taken place. Service design, service systems, service encounters, service leadership, and human resource management are sub categories of service orientation and is used to structure this literature review section.
4.1 Service design and e-government
The major themes to emerge from the literature review with respect to service design and egovernment were efficiency and the integration of services to meet citizens' needs. In addition, the issues of security and confidentiality were prominent. The need of institutional forces to be studies was also noted as well as that the emergence of e-government might represents a paradigm shift towards a service orientation in the public sector. With respect to efficiency and integration in service design, the USA E-Commerce Policy (2000) noted that e-government creates efficiency by providing citizens with relatively inexpensive, real-time access to consistent, up-to-date information and transaction facilities. Choudrie et al. (2005) concurred in stating their belief that various government services have to be integrated because a citizen should be able to access all services in a single transaction. Horizontal and vertical integration among various services and departments of government was suggested by Daniel and Ward (2006). This view was endorsed by Ebrahim and Irani (2005), who advocated a one-stop e-government portal. These authors argued that the availability of integrated digital data from various organisations might
7
result in improved access to government resources, reduced service-processing costs, and a higher quality of service. This is inline with Bellamy and Taylor (1998) who argue that one-stop services simplify and enrich contacts with government organizations. Fagan (2006) argued that the implementation of e-government involves four phases: (i) the dissemination of information; (ii) the provision of forms; (iii) the ability to perform transactions; and (iv) government transformation. Of these, the second and third are directly concerned with the design of the service. Fountain (2001) emphasize that a thorough understanding of the design and use of ICTs require institutional forces to be studied. Torres et al. (2005) and Heeks (2006) showed that concerns about security and confidentiality are major barriers to the development of e-government. Services must therefore be designed and delivered in a safe and trustworthy way. In addition, laws for the protection of personal and confidential data and effective authentication systems are required to enhance the trust of citizens in electronic transactions. Ho (2002) argued that e-government represents a paradigm shift in the organisation of the public sector. According to this author, the 'e-government paradigm' is characterised by innovation, learning, and entrepreneurial organisation. This is a shift from a bureaucratic emphasis on matters of concern to the supplier (such as cost efficiency) to a focus on users—including satisfaction, flexibility in service delivery, and efficient links with relevant parties (both internal and external) (Ho, 2002). The two paradigms are reflected in two common types of portal design—(i) information-oriented; and (ii) useroriented. The former offers a remarkable amount of website content, but the latter categorises information and services according to the needs of different groups of users. The fact that websites are being designed to deliver the required service to targeted customers is a sign that service design in e- government is evolving. Nevertheless, according to Ho (2002), most public-sector entities remain in the 'bureaucratic paradigm', and these agencies tend to organise their websites according to the administrative structure of the government, not according to the needs of efficient service delivery. Bellamy and Taylor (1998) state that the information and communications capabilities associated with ICTs are deeply challenging the institutional order of governance.
4.2 Service systems and e-government
The major themes to emerge from the literature review with respect to service systems and egovernment were an integrated architectural framework of processes and ICT systems among various government agencies and the inclusion of the tools and techniques that are required to promote the security of e-government. According to Narver and Slater (1990), the coordinated use of resources across the whole organisation is required to reach the goal of creating real customer value. According to Landsbergen and Wolken (2001), this horizontal integration has the potential to reduce the paperwork burden in the public sector, and Reschenthaler and Thompson (1996) contended that it enables public-sector
8
agencies to act more promptly and effectively in meeting the needs of citizens. However, Criado and Ramilo (2003), in their study of Spanish municipality websites, noted that ICTs are not necessarily producing drastic changes in the core structures of government or the institutional basis of government activity. Ebrahim and Irani (2005) argued that an integrated architectural framework is required for an egovernment portal. Such a portal must be designed in a manner that allows a variety of government agencies from different geographical locations to share and exchange data, independently of formats, devices, and underlying architecture. The e-government architecture must thus define common standards among government agencies in terms of infrastructure components, applications, technologies, business models, and guidelines for e-commerce. Fountain (2001) mean that e- government have the potential to dramatically change the function of the public sector by this across agencies portals. However the ICTs can not by itself create social cooperation in the absence of a base of trust. If easier communication and coordination lead to enhanced trust, then it is a contribution of technology. Fountain (2001) is however accurate in pointing out that the Internet does not substitute for the development of social relations. According to E-commerce Developments (2003), the quality and accessibility of e-government requires governments to explore new relationships with government agencies, including the integration of the IT processes and systems of various government agencies. This can present major difficulties, but it is necessary if value-added services are to be provided to citizens (Choudrie et al., 2005). Daniel and Ward (2006, p. 118) presented an example of such integration in the form of the 'Drug Action Exchange Project' (DaeX), which "? links practitioners from the council's social and caring services with others in education and external practitioners from the health service and the criminal justice services". Finally, the issue of security is an important aspect of service systems in e-government. According to a 2002 survey of local authority e-government policymakers in New Zealand, consumer confidence and trust in performing online transactions is critical to the success of e-government (Deakins and Dillon, 2002). These authors emphasised that the service system must include tools and techniques that promote the security of e-government.
4.3 Service encounters and e-government
The major themes to emerge from the literature review with respect to service encounters and egovernment were: (i) a reduction in employee numbers; (ii) the advent of non-standardised services in the public sector; (iii) savings in time, product prices, and transaction costs; (iv) the effects of the so- called 'digital divide'; and (v) the importance of training employees in technology relating to e- government. Milward and Snyder (1996) noted that the introduction of technology has led to a reduction in the number of middle managers because IT is increasingly taking over many of their duties.
9
Furthermore, websites are replacing staff on service desks, and case managers and adjudicating officers are being replaced by advanced information systems (Bovens and Zouridis, 2002). According to Schedler and Scharf (2001) and Schelin (2003), e-government is based on a constant orientation towards the customer. In this regard, Ho (2002) noted that the standardisation of public-sector services is becoming increasingly outdated because e-government offers customised services that are based on customer preferences and needs. Because citizens can access the information they need by themselves, e-government creates the potential for savings on product prices and transaction costs (Deakins and Dillon, 2002). Fagan (2006) provided an example of this in describing how the city of Tyler (Texas, USA) had successfully introduced online payment of traffic-infringement fines via its website in 2000. Ho (2002), Schelin (2003), and Milward and Snyder (1996) all noted that e-government transforms the traditional service encounter by reducing face-to-face interaction and facilitating the access of citizens to government services without the need to negotiate a bureaucratic hierarchy. In contrast to this view, Deakins and Dillon (2002) reported a survey conducted in New Zealand in which most respondents did not expect an information-rich website to reduce the need for face-to-face interaction. Ebrahim and Irani (2005) provided examples of how interaction with the government will be conducted through the advent of e-government—including the increasing accessibility to government websites via private PCs, Internet kiosks, mobile phones (WAP), digital television, and call-and- contact centres. Deakins and Dillon (2002) explored the question of whether some citizens might be deprived of equal access to government services if traditional forms of interaction are not maintained. Their concerns in this regard refer to the so-called 'digital divide', whereby socio-economic, educational, and geographical factors play a part in inhibiting the access of some citizens to computers, the Internet, and digital technology (Choudrie et al., 2005; Deakins and Dillon, 2002). In particular, Choudrie et al. (2005) argued that the lack of Internet and broadband connections in some geographical locations restricts citizens from accessing e-government services, thus inhibiting the implementation of e-government. Heeks (2006) is also concerned about the digital divide and he emphasize that electronic services should be seen as an additional method alongside traditional face- toface and phone-based methods. Otherwise the poor and disadvantaged will gain last and least from the new technology. Empirical and conceptual research is in agreement regarding the importance of educating employees in technology relating to e-government. According to Heeks and Davies (1999), Ho (2002), Schedler and Scharf (2001), and Thompson et al. (2005), insufficient staffing is a major obstacle to the implementation of e-government. This was confirmed by Moon (2002), who showed that 837 of 1,471 US municipal governments lacked technical staff and that this was acting as a barrier to the
10
implementation of e-government. Hence, as Heeks (2006) puts it, technology is important to egovernment but people are more important. He also mention that a gap between the competencies staff currently hold and those they need is likely to occur.
4.4 Service leadership and e-government
The major themes to emerge from the literature review with respect to service leadership and egovernment were the need for: (i) comprehensive strategic planning and more resources; (ii) shared egovernment goals and objectives; (iii) strong leadership; and (iv) the importance of ensuring that the benefits of the services offered by e-government should be clearly emphasised to citizens. An e-government strategy is considered to be a key mechanism to produce centralized approach benefits, particularly cost savings and a fit between systems and organizational objectives (Heeks, 2006). Moon and Norris (2005) noted that municipal administrations that pursue e-government initiatives using a comprehensive strategic plan and more resources tend to achieve better results in terms of managerial and organisational change. Daniel and Ward (2006) reported on a West Sussex (UK) initiative in which the major investment was not so much in technology but in change management. In this initiative a 'director of community engagement and organisational development' was appointed, whose responsibilities included e-government and organisational development. Lam (2005) emphasised the importance of shared goals and objectives in noting that the joint planning of projects by multiple government agencies is delayed if there is a lack of clarity in the definition of roles and responsibilities and lines of ownership. In a similar vein, Ke and Wei (2004) identified strong visionary leadership and strategic planning as crucial factors in a successful egovernment strategy in Singapore. The importance of strong leadership was also addressed by Heeks (2006). Burn and Robins (2003) found that leadership from the top, together with an atmosphere of open communication and participation, is an important ingredient of an effective cultural mix for a successful e-government project. Kannabiran et al. (2004) identified an important aspect of service leadership in e-government by noting that citizens are no longer interested in which public official is responsible for which public service; rather service leadership in e-government is reflected in service integration. Both Ho (2002) and Landsbergen and Wolken (2001) have pointed out that the convenience and satisfaction of users requires service integration among existing functional departments across all relevant agencies and their departments. Choudrie et al. (2005) argued for service leadership in the form of marketing campaign in a UK urban area to underline the benefits of e-government to citizens.
4.5 Human-resource management and e-government
The major themes to emerge from the literature review with respect to HRM and e-government were: (i) organisational culture; (ii) information-sharing and the need for improved communication across
11
traditional bureaucratic lines; (iii) resistance of members of staff to change; and (iv) enterprise portals as a key resource for employees. The authors reviewed here were unanimous in stating that an appropriate organisational culture is crucial to success in the implementation of e-government (Choudrie et al., 2005; Daniel and Ward, 2006; McIvor et al. 2002; Schedler and Sharf, 2001; Torres et al., 2005). The introduction of egovernment requires increased openness with stakeholders and the overcoming of social exclusion (Choudrie et al., 2005: Schedler and Scharf, 2001). According to Schedler and Scharf (2001), public-sector service delivery has, in the past, entailed departments and individuals performing their duties in isolation; in contrast, e-government requires them to collaborate with colleagues across traditional boundaries. Choudrie et al. (2005) noted that staff members can exhibit resistance to such changes in their roles and responsibilities, and Burn and Robins (2003) contended that overcoming this resistance requires the organisation's vision for change to be embraced at all levels. According to Deakins and Dillon (2002), internal culture is a significant factor to be taken into account in determining the success of e-government, and one respondent in Daniel and Ward's (2006) study noted that differing professional backgrounds in the various services can mean that people come from corporate cultures, which can act as a barrier to the smooth function e-government. McIvor et al. (2002) took a more positive view of cultural change within organisations that adopt e-government. They concluded that the introduction of intranets and associated ICT has the potential to facilitate cultural change by enhancing internal communication and changing attitudes towards greater commitment to innovation, creativity, and collaboration. Landsbergen and Wolken (2001, p. 206) emphasised the problem of information-sharing:
Every important new technology invariably poses a challenge to the status quo and puts a strain on existing social contracts on 'who gets what'.
Choudrie et al. (2005) noted that a requirement to share information and link up with other government institutions can threaten the established hierarchies that exist among some local government employees. Improved communication and interaction across traditional bureaucratic lines is required to overcome these problems and facilitate integrated services (Schedler and Scharf 2001; Schelin, 2003). Verton (2000) reported on an initiative that aimed to develop a 'virtual office' model for egovernment services. According to this model, employees could work from home or from telecommuting sites. However, none of the employees was keen on the 'virtual office' culture, and internal resistance had an adverse effect on the success of this e-government initiative. According to Torres et al. (2005), the only benefits for the administration that the interviewees in their study could agree on were improved customer satisfaction and more flexibility. The
12
respondents dismissed other benefits relating to employees—such as new career opportunities and higher salaries. Moon's study (2002) of e-government at the municipal level showed that only a few municipal administrations claimed that e-government programs had been effective in specific areas in terms of cost savings, reductions in numbers of staff, and changed roles of their staff, although many agreed that egovernment initiatives had resulted in an improvement in overall efficiency in the workplace. Moon (2002) also concluded that many respondents thought that e-government practices reduced time demands on staff, but increased task demands.
5. Discussion
It is apparent from this literature review that the largely positive predictions regarding the potential benefits of e-government from a conceptual perspective have not been supported by empirical research. It is possible that it is still too soon to evaluate the full effects of e-government initiatives on service orientation in the public sector. It is also possible that the empirical research conducted to date has been too shallow and has lacked a clear focus on service orientation. In particular, simply asking customers or citizens in an unstructured way about their views on service orientation is insufficient. The present authors contend that deep qualitative research, including participatory observation and interviews, as well as well designed surveys is required in order to understand the relationship between e-government and service orientation more fully. Moreover, the present authors contend that the gap between prescriptive and empirical research could be understood by drawing on institutional theory (Meyer and Rowan, 1977; DiMaggio and Powell, 1983). This theoretical perspective has already been drawn on by Fountain (2001) in her analysis of the organizational role of information technology in the (US) public sector. Fountain (2001) focuses primarily on organizational change as an effect of enactment of information technology, in this way contributing to elaborate on institutional theory in a novel fashion. Since our review show that the predictions in the conceptual e-government literature to a great extent have not been realized, we use institutional theory to understand the reasons to this inertia. Analyzing inertia is usually seen as the main strength with institutional theory. Institutional theory should be seen as an alternative to rational organization theory. The latter, which the bulk of research into e-government is founded on, has conceived of organisations as consisting of rational actors (e.g. Taylor, 1911) or at least actors that have the ability to reach bounded rationality (Cyert and March, 1963; March and Simon, 1958). According to this paradigm, management are given the role of developing goals and formal organizational structures designed to support goal attainment. The personnel are expected to act in accordance with the goals and the prerogatives embedded in the formal structure. In contrast, institutional theory argues that organisations including their formal structures are embedded in the environments that shape them
13
(Scott, 1995). According to this view, organisations must obtain 'legitimacy' from their environments if they are to survive. However, the environment is often characterised by conflicting demands, making it problematic for organisations to adjust their operations in accordance with all the various demands placed upon them. In order to deal with this conflict, a central argument of institutional theory is that organisations adapt their formal structures to external demands, in this way gaining legitimacy from the environment. But institutional theory also holds that formal structures and real activities are 'de-coupled' (Meyer and Rowan, 1977; Oliver, 1991). According to this view, an organisation gives the impression of having adapted to the demands in its environment, while simultaneously carrying out its activities in ways incongruent with these demands —thus avoiding potential conflicting demands imposed upon it by the environment. In this regard, Abrahamson (1996) has used the term 'organisational fashion' to describe the phenomenon whereby change processes appear to affect organisations profoundly, whereas the reality is that these apparent changes are only a facade. From an institutional perspective, e-government is an 'institutional pressure' in the environment of public organisations. To be considered 'legitimate', organisations are expected to adapt to these demands, and the conceptual literature can thus be understood as a 'summary' of the demands being made upon public-sector entities in terms of organisational design, implementation, and expected effects. The disappointing results reflected in the empirical research can be interpreted, from an institutional perspective, as indicating that e-government is only loosely coupled to organisational action. According to this view, e-government has thus far served as a means of legitimising the survival of public organisations and can be treated as an 'organisational fashion' (Abrahamson, 1996) rather then 'organizational action'. If so, the talk of a 'paradigm shift' (Kuhn, 1962) is at best inappropriate, and at worst misleading. The problem with some research into e-government is that it is guided by a rational view of organizations thus holding that the formal organization really affects organizational action.
6. Conclusions and contributions
The most important contribution made by the present paper is the literature review on service orientation in the field of e-government. The conclusion of this review is that there is a gap between empirical and conceptual research in this area. This gap has several dimensions:
• many of the writings in the field of e-government and service orientation are of a normative
and predictive nature;
• presumptions concerning a paradigm shift (as predicted in the conceptual literature and
alluded to in this paper) receive very little support in fact (as reported in the empirical literature);
• the empirical literature reveals changes other than those proposed in the conceptual
literature;
14
• empirical research into service orientation in the field of e-government is scarce.
It is apparent that more empirical data are needed to understand the effects of e-government on organisations, and the present authors contend that comprehensive case studies or well-designed surveys might be suitable for this purpose. In addition to this, the present paper contrasts the rational conceptualization of organisations that predominates research into service orientation in the field of e-government with institutional theory. This is not original as such since Fountain (2001) already has applied institutional theory to the analysis of the role of informational technology in the public sector. Nevertheless, institutional theory illuminates on the reasons to the gap between conceptual predictions and empirical results of implementation of egovernment initiatives. Furthermore, most research is still informed by narrow rational views on organizations despite of the excellent work of Fountain (2001). This theoretical myopia prevents a deep understanding of the effects of e-government initiatives on organizations.
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Table I: Numbers of articles in selection process Business Source Elite Keyword Number of hits egovernment* 235 1 n 23 13 230
st
Emerald Number of hits 1st selectio n 31 Final selectio n 10 Numb er of hits 179 1
st
ISI Final selectio n 5 selectio n 16
Final selection
selectio
Table II: Summary of articles chosen for the literature review
DIMENSION OF SERVICE ORIENTATION Service design
FOCAL POINTS
CONCEPTUAL RESEARCH
X
EMPIRICAL RESEARCH
REFERENCE
Efficiency focus and providing citizens with value added services Horizontal and vertical integration
Choudrie USA (2000)
et
al
(20 05 ), P olicy
• What is being
offered
Ebrahim and Irani (2005), E-Commerce
• How it is being
realized
X
Daniel and Ward (2006), Ebrahim and Irani (2005), Fagan (2006) , Bellamy and Taylor (2003)
Institutional needs to be studied
forces
X X X
Fountain (1999)
(20 01 ),
H eeks
E-government services have to be secure and trustworthy Increased level of
Torres et al. (2005), Heeks (2006)
X X.
Ho (2002) Ke and Wei (2004), Moon and Norris (2005), Heeks (2006)
service orientation
Service leadership
A
comprehensive
• The attitudes and
behaviors of the management team
strategic plan is needed The major investment is not in technology but in change management Governments have to deliver information X across agencies Finds the need for a strong important The benefits should be clearly emphasized to citizens X leadership X X X
Daniel and Ward (2006)
Ho (2002), Landsbergen and Wolken (2001) Ke and Wei (2004) Burn and Robins (2005), Heeks (2006) Choudrie et al (2005)
Service encounter
Organizational
change
X
Milward and Snyder (1996)
is needed to become
• Employee
more service-oriented Will res ult in a X Bovens and Zouridis (2002),
19
interaction with customers
reduction of staff Standardization exist Based on a constant orientation toward the customers Cost efficiency focus The traditional service encounter reduction An of face interaction inc reas e of the X X changes, face-toX X X of X public services does not
Milward and Snyder (1996) Ho (2002)
Schedler and Scharf (2001), Schelin (2003) Deakins and Dillon (2002) Ho (2003) Deakins and Dillon (2002), Choudrie et al. (2005), Heeks (2006) X Deakins and Dillon (2002) Ho (20 02 ), Schedler and (20 02 ), Milward and Snyder (19 96 ), Schelin
digital divide No reduction of face-toface interaction Insufficient staffing is a major obstacle X X
Scharf (2001), Thompson et al. (2005), Moon (2002), Heeks (2006)
Service systems
Efficiency focus due to integration
X
Ebrahim and Irani (2005), Landsbergen (2001), (2001) and Wolken and Resc henthaler
• The resources
that should be assembled in order for the service concept to be realized.
Thompson (1996), Fountain ICTs are not making drastic changes in the core structures of X E-Commerce Developments (2003), Choudrie et al. (2005) X X Daniel and Ward (2006) Deakins and Dillon (2002) government Integration in order to provide services Presents an integrated portal The s er vice s ystem must include tools to increase and promote security value added X Criado and Ramilo (2003)
Human
reso u rce
The
or ga niza tional
X
Choudrie et al. (2005), Daniel and Ward (2006), McIvor et al. (2002), Torres et al. (2005),
management
culture is seen as a barrier Notices a reluctance to change X X
• Service culture
emerges through human resource initiatives.
Choudrie
et
al
(20 05 ),
Schedler and Scharf (2001), Verton (2000)
It is difficult to get people and organizations to share information.
X
Choudrie et a l. (20 05 ), Landsbergen and Wolken (2006)
20
An
orga n iz a tio n's
X
Burn and Robins (2003)
vision for change must be embraced throughout all levels of th e X Schedler and Scharf (2001) organisation Stresses the need for improved interaction across traditional bureaucratic lines
21
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