Successful e‑Government Transformation: Pressure, Support, Capabilities and the Freedom to use Them

Abstract

E‑government initiatives struggle with realizing the transformational objectives defined in the most mature stages in the various e‑government maturity models and ambitious e‑government programs. Research indicates that, in general, e‑government initiatives might have improved the efficiency of the public sector incrementally but failed to realize more transformational changes. This research summarizes t‑government challenges and investigates how organizations can successfully overcome them and realize the goals of t‑government in terms of citizen centricity and efficiency. The research is based in dynamic capability theory and on data from a Danish public library that has succeeded in transformational changes in line with the goals of efficiency and citizen centricity described in the t‑government literature. The primary finding is that the success in this particular organization is based on a combination of environmental and organizational factors and on a long history of successful organizational changes. The context provides both pressure (e.g., competition) and support (e.g., funding) for transformation, and the organization has both the autonomy (e.g., to redesign processes) and the capabilities (e.g., regarding organizational change) needed for transformational change.