به اکتشاف مسائل مدیریتی و پیامدهای آن در استقرار دولت الکترونیک در بخش عمومی: درس هایی از تجارت خارجی دفتر تایوان

The objective of this article is to explore the experience of reconciling the strategic information system (IS) management with the radical transition of the Information Technology (IT) infrastructure in Taiwan's Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) between 1998 and 2003. This investigation will be beneficial for the implementation of IT projects, as well as the comprehension of the organizational and managerial issues related to the discontinuity of IT development in office automation. This paper conducts an interpretative approach by means of qualitative methods – namely through participatory observation and in-depth interviews with fourteen informants – to reveal the managerial issues and their implications on the adoption of electronic government (e-Government). Through the method of content analysis, this study reviews the process of decision making, implementation, and other issues emerging as a result of the adoption of new technologies in public authorities, such as the cognition of the employee toward the benefits and effectiveness of IS in public authorities. Learning from this case, this article identifies key lessons and provides suggestions regarding the managerial issues related to the discontinuity of technologies in the workplace. These goals are achieved through reflexive exploration of the sense-making process among civil servants. In addition, this study shares the experience and suggestions with a government CIO through the proposition of a framework of SPECISM approaches to cope with the challenges from the appropriation of new IT in a public authority.

1.1. Background In terms of modern government, information technology (IT) and information systems (IS) are seen as a catalyst for the government reinvention and creation of better and more efficient services, in addition to the paradigm shift towards the emerging form of the e-Government (Ho, 2002). The primary objectives for IS deployment in government are to achieve productivity and effectiveness everywhere. However, issues of paradigm shift and disruptive changes have arisen with the introduction of online service delivery and in public organizations. The strategic roles of IT have evolved in important ways that are transforming governance – empowering citizens as well as possessing the potential to reframe the context of authority – which serves as a key element in the strategies involved in government modernization (Grant & Chau, 2005). Brown University's Taubman Center for Public Policy conducted a study to evaluate the government Web sites of 186 regions. It is interesting that Taiwan, Singapore, the United States, Hong Kong, and China were found to have the leading government Web sites (West, 2005). It is obvious that the Chinese regions invest heavily in constructing an e-Government in this digital era. In fact, this study showed that Taiwan's Web sites received the highest marks in 2002, 2004, and 2005. The status of e-Government based on the national vision and strategic agendas in public policy are embedded with the unique and specific institutional requirements. Meanwhile, the recognition is also reflective of the e-Government mindset and the anticipation that overall national competitiveness will be enhanced in relation to the development of e-Commerce and an information society across Asia. While, the difficulties in executing e-Government initiatives include not only the need to address the discontinued technological and organizational changes as usual, but also the need to meet the institutional and managerial issues which arise from the IT evolution in public authority. In particular, when ample impediments exist – such as the red tape, routine procedures, a rigid regulation regime, and a bureaucratic mindset in public organizations – the organizational change and adoption of e-Government innovations are often more obstructed than in the private sectors. 1.2. Research objective/contribution The defining features of bureaucratic organizations are a system governed by the rule of law, hierarchical structure, budget controlled by legislation, specialization, and normalization of process. The differing contexts of the public and private sectors exert significant influence on the agendas set and priorities of managerial issues in the adoption of IT/IS. When there is a lack of prior knowledge and experience regarding e-Government adoption, the changes in government driven by IT are especially disruptive during the period of paradigm. Therefore, this research employs the qualitative research method to probe the emerging process of e-Government structuring, which is not easily captured through hypothetical deductions, but instead requires insider access to relevant organizations. The main objectives of this research are (first) to present the managerial implications for handling e-Government implementation and (second) to discuss how to confront disruptive change and manage it based on institutional limits and a culture of bureaucracy. This is achieved through the study of a successful case in Taiwan. It is expected that this paper will provide some useful points concerning the managerial issues in e-Government design and usage within the governmental context, as well as provide the future vision of e-Government policy in the public sector. By means of the case study approach, this paper provides rich first-hand experience and interpretation about the process of IT evolution and IS implementation in a public authority. It aims to make clear exposition about the emerging phenomenon of e-Government and to explore the different priorities with regards to managerial issues in IT/IS adoption within the context of public sectors. Through the long-term participatory observation and data collection, this paper explains how e-Government practices and its meanings are formed and informed by the language and tacit norms shared by staff in the public sector. For the purpose of interpreting the ways that subjective meanings are created and sustained in the public sector, this research can be accomplished through discussion of the following questions: 1. What main agendas should be taken into account when aligning strategies with IT infrastructure transition to form the e-Government policy at the government level? 2. In terms of implementing e-Government, how should IT/IS projects be undertaken given the uncertainty of radical changes in technologies? What strategies can be executed to reduce a project's risk and failure rates? How should the transformation of e-Government be facilitated? 3. What benefits do the users perceive in the adoption of new IT infrastructures? What are the users' attitudes and interpretations of the e-Government deployment in the workplace? 4. Do users have any expectations with regards to the future functions of IS design and the tendency towards innovation in e-Government initiatives? What are the significant meanings for the policy formulation and implementation?

A similar e-Government implementation experience (Ho & Smith, 2001) occurred in the United States. It reveals that this organization lacked concrete plans and failed to think strategically about the Y2K problem in the beginning of 1999. However, insufficient resources – not management attitudes and system characteristics – were the key problem of the eventual outcomes of planning (Ho & Smith, 2001). In terms of e-Government implementation, the focus of IT/IS adoption should be changed from a common IT/IS installation approach to an institutionalizm approach by emphasizing (1) intuitional innovation in a governmental context and (2) the concerns and needs of the public employees and citizens. 7.1. The suggestions for the implementation of e-Government initiatives Under such bureaucratic conditions, the first question one must ask is how to encourage the public employees to (1) adopt IT that will create added-value and (2) to realize the potential of new IT through institutional innovation. Although the institutional settings between the public and private spheres differ in nature, the leadership and authority possessed by top executives' over the implementation of e-Government remain a constant for both sectors. Therefore, the roles and visions of senior officers and executives in strategy formulation are vital to the success of e-Government and new IT/IS adoption. At present, the basic managerial measures to foster creativity and innovation consist of routine training programs that convey IT skills and knowledge. This is a traditional program which only provides system operation manuals, in addition to increases in information or Internet literacy. It is therefore difficult to increase the employee's identity with and acceptance of e-Government development and innovation. The advanced IT/IS training program should emphasize the acceleration of consciousness of the benefits about strategic MIS for staff and senior officials. To achieve the goal of reducing users' resistance during the implementation process, we suggest that IT managers of the public sectors investigate the stakeholders' modes of behavior and emphasize the management of stakeholders' interests. Managers could also use knowledge management in IS/IT adoption to communicate with colleagues, reduce their anxieties toward the appropriation of new IT, and assist employees in thinking about how to exploit IT to create added value in the workplace. Despite heavy IT investments, many organizations are not realizing significant gains in value from their information systems because they lack the complementary assets required (Laudon & Laudon, 2005). Therefore, during the formation of an action plan for e-Government development, the adoptions of IT/IS should be emphasized in a manner that aligns strategies of public administration with MIS to facilitate paradigm shift, institutional innovation, and new governance patterns derived from the implementation new technologies. However, managerial issues are more critical than technical issues to the success of e-Government implementation (Joyce, 2002). Therefore, this research suggests a practical framework for addressing managerial issues, providing practitioners with a useful managerial checklist that includes the issues of strategic planning, project design and execution, change and innovation management, stakeholder interest management, and MIS competence development in government (Table 2). 7.2. e-Government policy recommendations The emerging e-Government phenomenon is as a social process which consists of organizational and institutional innovation rather than purely IT applications. When confronted with the endless disruptive changes caused by IT, e-Government development should establish long-term commitments, strategies, and policy for adopting innovative applications and building IT capabilities in order to deal with the paradigm shift in governance and the IT revolution. More specifically, in addition to top management, institutional support and public budget constraints will also determine the resource allocations in the public sector. Therefore, the reinforcement of policy support for the vision of an information society and the national e-Government Strategy/Plan will strengthen the identity of e-Government. In other words, in order to respond to the ever-changing challenges of government IT infrastructure transition, the process of developing e-Government should stress the institutional, legal, and political dimensions of government which deal with the specific demands of the public sphere and accelerate the acceptance and positive recognition of the IT adoption. In the future, when the progress of e-Government is driven by the research and development of IT applications, the government should play the role of “Model User” and continue to design and implement the advanced IT/IS and applications. Additionally, the government should advocate for the support of institutional and managerial measures that enhance the adoption of the new IT applications and innovations to create added value in the workplace. In this case, we also find that the maturity of e-Government usage depends on public employees' recognition and comprehension of IT. Besides this, it is wise to develop a community culture to facilitate knowledge management and organizational learning, as well as promote participation via a digital forum and online democracy to enhance the democratic workforce. The development of a citizen's society and the generation of public interest must also be taken into consideration. Furthermore, to transform public organizations, the e-Government implementation should continuously emphasize the development of a new mindset and institutional innovation rather than reinforce the status quo. Subsequently, e-Government endeavors should pay more attention to reframing new conceptions and operation patterns based on new technology adoption. Only by doing so can we exploit the potential of IT to better serve public interests in today's democratic society. The appropriation of IT does not give rise to a technological evolution alone. It also brings forth the paradigm shift in government as well as cultural and social adaptation issues (Evans & Yen, 2005). Finally, this paper anticipates that CIOs and IT managers from the public sectors will play the roles of change agents for institutional innovation, transform the public administration to facilitate new governance, and address citizens' needs and public values rather than reinforce existing hierarchical and regulated structures.