Change Management as a Critical Success Factor in e-Government Implementation

Abstract

Change management in e-government implementation is a very complex issue. E-government services are frequently distributed over different IT systems and organizations. There are also events from outside the public administration that cause changes such as government policies and legislation, public-private partnership, etc., and finally a huge resistance to change exists in public administration proverbial. Another problem is that the e-government is predominantly seen only as a technology mission and not as an organizational transformation issue. Those are probably the main reasons that the existing literature about change management in e-government is still missing at large. There are articles dealing with some aspects of changes affected by the new technology implementation, however, there is no comprehensive framework that would identify changes that have to be managed in e-government implementation. Therefore, the main aim of the paper is to identify a comprehensive set of changes that have to be considered in e-government implementation and the role of leadership in such processes. Finally, the paper proposes a conceptual model of change management in e-government implementation.

The impact of employees' resistance to change on implementing e‐government systems: An empirical study in Egypt

“…The technical side of this system is composed of tasks, processes, and technologies that is required to transform input into output. “The elements of the socio‐technical system are interdependent which implies that change in one causes changes in the other; for instance: a change in technology causes a change in processes which consequently causes a change in culture, people, and structure” (Nograšek, 2011).…”

“…Some employees, particularly older staff, consider this change a threat to their future rather than an opportunity (Osman et al, 2012). Consequently, back‐office changes have been ad hoc, implemented very slowly, guided by poor planning; inadequate strategic management; and weak leadership (Nograšek, 2011) as a result of employees' resistance.…”

E-Government Implementation Process in Rwanda: Exploring Changes in a Sociotechnical Perspective

“…On the other hand, the social sub-system is concerned with "the attributes of people (e.g., attitudes, skills, and values), the relationships among people, reward systems, and authority structures" (Bostrom et al, 1977, p. 17). Elements comprising the sociotechnical system, i.e., processes and tasks, people, structures, and technology, are seen to be interdependent as changes in one element can cause changes in another in such a 'socio-technical' system (Nograšek, 2011) and the outputs of the system are assumed to be "the result of joint interactions between these two systems" (Bostrom et al, 1977, p. 17). For example, this view of interdependence and interaction among constituent elements of a socio-technical system is echoed in Zmud et al's (1979) work that shows that changes in internal processes induce changes in the work process and hence changes in responsibilities of the employees.…”

A 7-Layered E-Government Framework Consolidating Technical, Social and Managerial Aspects

“…The government services can generally be distributed between different government organizations. Organizational adjustments are required for the adoption of ICT and inter-departmental coordination [32]. In addition to ICT adoption, two main types of challenges exist: regulatory and internal resistance to change.…”

“…In addition to ICT adoption, two main types of challenges exist: regulatory and internal resistance to change. With the implementations of e-government projects changes to organizational culture, legislation, policies, human resource and organizational structure [32]- [36] have to be performed.…”