Introduction
Electronic government (E-government) is a new focus area of study in information systems that focuses on using information communication technology to deliver government agencies’ services effectively electronically. The new model can transform the relationship between the arms of government, businesses, and its citizens. Besides these opportunities brought up by e-government, managers have experienced challenges in the public sector, and in these practices, which are well established- the government requires business-oriented officials with the capability of enabling constant control of electronics and skills on how to process are managed. This paper discusses e-government core and other management issues management issues towards achieving these goals in the public realm using Enterprise Network Services (ENS) as my chosen company name for reference.
Firstly, an IT function location is a pivotal factor that conditions an organization’s overall responsibility and as a budgetary determinant. Within a firm, the location of an IT function structure decides what e-government is capable of and cannot be archived in link with the organization’s attitudes. An e-government function can be centralized or decentralized (Orlikowski & Robey, 1991). A centralized e-government function indicates that one individual directs its IT framework decisions. On the other hand, a decentralized e-government function means that the hierarchy of the IT framework is less; thus, its unit is split into various specialization categories and other strategic activities (Orlikowski & Robey, 1991).
Enterprise network services is a centralized e-government service under telecommunication governance that provides cost-effective information technology services to staff offices for management operations in a departmental location. All activities and processes in making decisions and planning are the company’s IT unit manager, who receives commands and reports to the outsourced chief investment officer, the head office, to make critical decisions. The centralized location has enabled quick implementation of the decision in the company since communication is made in the high offices and passed down to lower-level managers. According to Orlikowski and Robey (1991), a centralized departmental structure in a firm makes clear lines of communication hence smooth implementations of strategies and objectives.
Cohen and Eimicke (1996) attest that the quality of work is improved in a firm due to better supervision that ensures high quality and uniformity of outputs. Besides, the expectations that all staff should deliver results as assigned by the top IT office has led to the need for more motivation in decision implementations hence delay and rigidity in working in my organization. It is paramount for Enterprise network services to consider service delivery in terms of goal achievement and the criticality of thought processes rather than delivering results as assigned by the top IT departmental management.
In addition, e-government structures work effectively where technology is relevant despite the essentiality in people (Heeks, 2005). Consequently, it is suitable for managers of e-government to utilize more time handling people-related issues. Enterprise network services strive their best to diminish the digital divide gap to ensure harmony of the legal framework and regulations in service delivery and decision-making while giving attention to e-government mandates. Recruitment bureaucracy is one of the challenges faced by Enterprise network services. It needs to be faster in making decisions due to the processes and systems put in place and successful candidates looking for other appointments before being contacted. This corresponds to Johnson’s (2002) conclusion that diminishing bureaucracy in recruitment constantly can enable an increase in public firms’ number of hires.
Moreover, staff capacity has improved in my organization through the collaboration of training institutions and education toward staff capacity development. This Increases students’ involvement practices in educational activities to monitor the learning process and planning as suggestive capacity-building strategies. Further, Enterprise network services do not recruit some of the IT staff. This has led to challenges in the survival of non-technical roles in my company. According to Boddy, Boonstra, and Kennedy (2005), there are more non-technical roles than technical ones in an IT organizational setting. With a non-technical staff, a different person would take over the mandate of marketing, operations, and business development.
Training and recruiting are critical tools for managers in e-government for staff retention. Boddy, Boonstra, and Kennedy (2005) document a global labor shortage of personnel in the IT industry. Some of the factors attributed to the shortages include workers’ resignation, a toxic working environment the feeling of being underappreciated, among others. Besides, an IT business with high engagement experiences more profits and less turnover (Heeks, 2005). Efficient use of technology reduces expended efforts and stress in an IT firm.IT staff turnover leads to the cost of the recruitment process, low employee morale, and workload due to a lack of a trained workforce. Enterprise network services staff retention policies could be better as employee compensation is not competitive, and salaries are not adjusted regularly.
Furthermore, staff attrition has occurred in Enterprise network services due to a lack of rewards and recognition systems where gratitude needs to be made. In this regard, staff’s short-term and long-term goals are not considered to make them visualize their future in the company. Other poor retention techniques in my organization are needing more skills and development, unhealthy work-life balance, and poor clarity in task specification. Most people refer to working in organizations that cultivate broad networks either inside or outside to visibly examine areas of business that may offer career paths through influential people to guide towards higher roles or other parts like training and mainstream management (Cohen & Eimicke, 1996). Training plays a key role in providing continuous feedback on performance through upskilling because technology is dynamic and changes how people work.
Enterprise network Services Companies can address job content and psychological factors by investing heavily in the latest information technology. This will significantly ensure effective collaboration between staff and customers and will shorten the amount of time and current business processes involved (Heeks, 2005). Further, providing flexitime options will allow staff to do their job outside the office setting (Holmes, 2001). Therefore, staff will have a better work-life balance for families and personal development. Other retention techniques that the company can employ include reinforcing human resource standards. Johnson (2002) mentions that companies with large workforces always have split-up duties. In this context, human resources can evaluate pay practices and establish a significant structure for employee compensation. This will motivate IT, professionals, as Holmes (2001) attests, and willing to work towards achieving the organizational goals.
Also, the e-government projects are categorized into tasks that can transform citizen relations, arms of the government as well as businesses. Project in an organization is the style of management, coordination, and communication a team uses for proper management. According to Bekkers and Homburg (2005), project management is examined into three perspectives: hybrid, behavioral, and rational. Most managers use the rational approach since it emphasizes the technical aspects of management and the comfort it offers. In this perspective, managers direct duty execution and monitor the process of implementation.
A behavioral perspective on projects of e-government means sharing common values and beliefs and upholding them during critical times; thus, project leader personality is critical as the staff has to believe in the manager on what is required (Behn, 1995). My organization, enterprise network services, uses the Hybrid perspective to e-government projects to reduce the time for building project stages and emphasize documentation and repeatable steps that would be applied to future projects due to the acknowledgment of the whole gamut of ITPSMO.
Organizations should move towards a more rational perspective to project management because a bounded rationality approach significantly provides decision-making methods and deals with environmental uncertainties and human preferences towards goal orientations. Considering that decision-making may be based on uncertainties and incomplete information, using design guidance, facts, and process to make an optimal decision may help implement projects successfully (Bekkers & Homburg, 2005).
One of the recent e-government projects in my organization, enterprise network services, is an IT project. The key stakeholders in this project are the management team and executive sponsors, where all experts in the field of IT play a key role in discussing and identifying shared expectations and getting the expected authorization to move the project forward. In addition, this project team also examines the external landscape towards developing a similar project. They also use agile methodologies for testing and development of the project. The stakeholders’ value in the project is to stay proactive to mitigate risks in advance while archiving the project objectives within the given constraints. These values and objectives help draw a clear line on the impact of project success on the attainment of company goals. Holding people accountable for all project processes leads to success (Orlikowski & Robey, 1991).
In an enterprise network services organization, communication is key to all projects undertaken to ensure that all stakeholders are aligned with the set goals of the projects and updates the organization on project progress, delays, or any other assistance needed for successful implementation. For these reasons, a hybrid approach is the best concept for project management because it fosters strong relationships among teammates and the capability to disperse learning on success and failures. Especially for a large-scale firm, the approach guarantees a functioning product.
Besides, politicking is a major management concern in e-government since it is attached to resources like equipment, power, and money, and intangible resources like information power in which the politics are formed in the organization. In my organization, Enterprise network services, an e-government project was publicized to enact a defaulters system for traffic violations in the US. It took some time for the project to start due to handling agencies politicking.US traffic police department mentioned upgrade of their systems hence issuing a tender. Using selective realize of information techniques through newspapers and US police blamed the justice delay on the defaulter system. However, the justice ministry refused to allow the tender initiation using legitimate power. Sensing defeat through non-compliance, the police withdrew the case, and the project stalled more.
Even though I had expert power acknowledged by many, it would be a success if I had legitimate power to intervene and make the project a reality. It was fruitless to use bargaining techniques to speak to both the police and justice ministry and reasoning as a request basis with information and data presentations.
Conclusion
In conclusion, e-government can enhance the relationship between citizens and their government. It owns the potential to forge closer alliances with the society of interest and expertise within national development initiatives contexts. The economic development brought by e-government is a positive and significant factor that every government needs, an endeavor that a reasonable government should utilize. This is because e-government has evolved into a new method of using services, business transactions, delivering information, leadership, and deciding strategies. As a concept, the success of e-government lies in establishing significant IT locations in the public sector, emulative methods of staff retention and recruitment, and utilizing effective methods with no politicking in the management of projects.
References
Bekkers, V. J., & Homburg, V. (Eds.). (2005). The information ecology of e-government: e-government as institutional and technological innovation in public administration (Vol. 9). IOS press.
Behn, R. D. (1995). The Challenge of Evaluating M-Government, E-Government, and I- Government: What Should Be Compared With What?. Work in Progress sponsored by the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs (BCSIA).
Boddy, D., Boonstra, A., & Kennedy, G. (2005). Managing information systems: an organisational perspective. Pearson Education.
Cohen, S., & Eimicke, W. (1996). The new effective public manager. American Review of Public Administration, 26, 394-394.
Heeks, R. (2005). Implementing and managing eGovernment. Implementing and Managing eGovernment, 1-304.
Holmes, D. (2001). E-Gov: E-Business Strategies for Government/Nicholas Brealey Publising.
Johnson, N. J. (2002). Recruiting and retaining information systems staff for information age reform. In Reinventing Government in the Information Age (pp. 372-384). Routledge.
Orlikowski, W. J., & Robey, D. (1991). Information technology and the structuring of organizations. Information systems research, 2(2), 143-169.
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