ABSTRACT
Microcomputers and microcomputer technology offer ample opportunity for improving the productivity, decision making, and work quality of government. However, if they are not adequately implemented, the opportunities are lost and resources wasted. One purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of a loosely structured implementation approach on various criteria of microcomputer success, including redundancy, opportunism, decision quality, and work quality. Another purpose is to determine whether the loosely structured approach is just a stage in a development toward a more structured strategy, or alternatively, whether the loosely structured technique is an enduring, workable method of implementation. Loosely structured connotes an approach that has both openness and rules, but favors individual choice over formal organizational rules and structure. The loosely structured approach is important to probe because it may be a default choice. It may be used because of lack of knowledge about traditional, formal methods of computer implementation. It may also be a forced, cost containment choice that relies mostly on endusers, supplemented by some professional systems analysis assistance. The research to investigate these issues is a longitudinal case study of a budget office in a large local government that started with a loosely structured style. The period covered included the years 1985 to 1992 with interviews taking place in 1988, 1990 and 1992.
Theoretical premises were drawn from organizational work on loosely coupled systems and evolutionary models of implementing information technology. The findings show that the loosely structured approach initially encouraged and bred opportunism, that is, innovative and useful application of microcomputers by a few, but low or routine use by many. The loosely structured approach gradually gave some ground to a more traditional systems strategy. This entailed assistance from professional information management specialists on more complex connectivity applications and development tasks, as well as planned systems analysis by the budget staff itself. These efforts yielded better data exchanges plus office wide network applications. However, a linear evolution from loosely structured to planned control did not occur, rather, the two intermingled and existed side by side. Overall, the loosely structured approach benefitted the work of the office, but its functionality also derived from the highly professional nature of the staff and the influx of new staff with greater computer knowledge. Continued work is needed to compare different implementation approaches and different work environments in order to advance the implementation of microcomputers and the associated technology, especially as the microcomputer positions itself to become an integral part of organizational information technology in government.
- Benbsat, I., Goldstein, D., and Mead, M. The Case Research Strategy in Studies of Information Systems, MIS Ouarterly, i1(3), September, 1987, pp. 369-388. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Galletta, D. and Hufnagel, E. A Model of End-User Computing Policy, ~formation and Management, 22, 1992, pp. 1-18. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Gibson, C. and Nolan, R. Managing the Four Stages of EDP Growth, Harvard Business Review, 52, Jan/Feb, 1974, pp. 76-88.Google Scholar
- Gouldner, A. Organizational Analysis, in Socioloav Today. Merton, et. al (eds). Basic Books' NY, 1959, pp. 400- 428.Google Scholar
- Holloran, J. Achieving World-Class End-User Computing, Information Systems Management, Fall 1993, pp. 7-12.Google Scholar
- Huff, S., Munro, M. and Martin, B. Growth Stages of End User Computing, Communications of the ACM, 31, May 1988, pp. 542-550. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Igbaria, M. and Nachman, A. Correlates of User Satisfaction with End User Computing, Information and Management, 19, 1990, pp. 73-82. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Thompson, J. Organizations in Action. McGraw-Hill, NY, 1967.Google Scholar
- Kreamer, K., King, J., Dunkle, D., Lane, J. and George, J. Microcomputer Use and Policy, ICMA, Baseline Data Re~, 17, 1985.Google Scholar
- McKenney, J. and McFarlan, F. The Information Archipelago -- Maps and Bridges, Harvard Business Review. 60, Sept/Oct 1982, pp. 109-119.Google Scholar
- Munro, M. and Huff, S. Managing End User Computing, Journal of Systems Management, December 1988, pp. 18. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Norris, D. High Tech in City Hall: Use and Effects of Microcomputers in United States Local Governments, Social Science Computer Review, 7, Summer 1988, p. 137-146.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Orton, J. and Weick, K. Loosely Coupled Systems: A Reconceptualization, Academy of Management _Review, 15, 1990, pp. 203-223.Google Scholar
- Powers, J., Adams, D., and Mills, 14. _Computer Information System Development, Southwest Publishing Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1984. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Quade, E.S. Analysis for Public Decisions. American Elservier, NY, 1975.Google Scholar
- Reynolds, G. Information Systems for Managers. West Publishing Company, NY, 1992: 194-200. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Rockart, J. and Flannery, L. The Management of End-User Computing, Communications of the ACM, 26, October 1983, pp. 776-784. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Schiffman, S., Meile, L., and Igbaria, M. An Examination of End-User Types, Information and Management, 22, 1992, pp. 207-215. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Weber, M. Theory of Social and Economic Oreanization. Free Press, NY, 1947.Google Scholar
- Weick, K. The Social Psychology of Organizina. Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1967.Google Scholar
- Zuboff, S. In th.e..A..ge of the Smart Machine. Basic Books, New York, 1988. Google ScholarDigital Library
Index Terms
- Implementing microcomputers in local government: a case study of a loosely structured approach
Recommendations
Creating Local Government Innovation: Lessons Learned from an Institutional Theory Perspective
Electronic GovernmentAbstractThe public sector is facing an equation that cannot be solved by continuing doing business as usual. External demands of availability, quality and resilience of services, as well as internal demands of resource efficiency, are putting pressure on ...
Understanding organizational barriers influencing local electronic government adoption and implementation: the electronic government implementation framework
Researches in electronic government have indicated a number of organizational barriers that hinder the adoption and implementation of electronic government. This paper proposes a research framework for analysing how organizational barriers influence the ...
Critical influential determinants of IT innovation adoption at organisational level in local government context
Local government may face different challenges in adopting IT innovation due to its unique characteristic in terms of business functions which dealt directly with the citizens, organisational type, structure, and geographic location. To date, although ...
Comments