Public Sector Transformation Through E-Government
Page 15
rior fi
firm performance (Bharadwaj, 2000). Some empirical studies have
shown that managerial IT skills, capital requirements, proprietary tech-
nology, and technical IT skills are core attributes to provide sustainability
and better performance. Moreover, the quality of IT business expertise and
the relationship infrastructure (competitive capabilities) have been found
to signifi c
fi antly aff
ffect competitive advantage and the intensity of organiza-
tional learning (a dynamic capability) was signifi
ficantly related to all of the
capabilities (Bhatt & Grover, 2005).
RBV has already been applied to public sector organizations through
identifying internal dynamic capabilities and establishing levels of trust
to enable uses of these capabilities. Refl
flecting over the experience, man-
agers involved in the project concluded that “during the planning phase,
where the environmental climate was imperative, the focal capability was
the capability to be innovative. During the developing phase, where the
environmental climate was commutative, the focal capability was the capa-
bility to be adaptive. Finally, during the operating phase, where the envi-
ronmental climate was propulsive, the focal capability was the capability
to be responsive” (Chan & Pan, 2006, p. 492). Therefore, we propose that
the RBV of the organization could be useful to understand the transforma-
tional aspects of digital government at the local level.
3 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
The research reported in this chapter is part of a 2-year project to develop
a model for local digital government in Mexico. The model is conceptual-
ized as a set of strategic guidelines to help local governments in making
transformational investments in information technologies and systems to
create public value. The project involved four main components: (1) an
exploration of current practices and models of digital government at the
Identifying Core Capabilities 79
local level; (2) a national survey of citizens in Mexico about local govern-
ment services; (3) three workshops with municipal CIOs; and (4) three
case studies of local governments in Mexico. This chapter reports on the
third component of the project.
The main purpose of the workshops was to gather views and experi-
ences on the perception and implementation of digital government strat-
egies in Mexican local governments. To select workshop participants,
we divided the 2,441 Mexican Municipalities in four strata according
to the Mexican Senate classifi
fication: rural (less than 10,000 inhabit-
ants), semi-urban (between 10,000 and 149,000 inhabitants), urban
(between 150,000 and 600,000 inhabitants), and metropolitan (more
than 600,000 inhabitants) municipalities. We had the participation of
thirteen CIOs from metropolitan municipalities, thirteen from urban
municipalities, and eight from semi-urban municipalities. All partici-
pants received travel-related expenses, but no other fi na
fi
ncial compen-
sation. The workshops took place between June 29 and July 6, 2010,
two days each. The agenda included discussions related to strategic
components of a transformational digital government strategy at the
local level, such as vision, mission, objectives, core capabilities, and key
challenges. As mentioned before, a total of thirty-four CIOs from local
governments within diff
fferent states in Mexico participated in the work-
shops and they were evenly distributed across the country’s main regions
(see Figure 7.1).
Figure 7.1 Geographic distribution of municipalities participating in the workshops.
80 Luis Felipe Luna-Reyes and J. Ramon Gil-Garcia
To summarize and discuss the main conversations on core capabilities
from the workshops, we use the grammar of system dynamics. The
method helps to obtain a better understanding of verbal theories, with
the potential to inform or improve the activities of both theorists and
empirical analysts (Patrick, 1995). Although the method includes the
mathematical formalization of conceptual models and simulation, in this
chapter we only introduce and discuss the conceptual qualitative model,
which is a commonly used approach to understand structural rela-
tionships among key accumulations in systems (Wolstenholme, 1999).
Such accumulations could be understood as core dynamic capabilities
(Warren, 2002).
4 CORE CAPABILITIES FOR LOCAL DIGITAL GOVERNMENT
In this section of the document, we will describe the main conversations
related to core capabilities that took place during the three workshops
with local CIOs. Before describing the main results of the conversations,
and as a way of providing context for such results, we want to share one
of the vision statements, collectively developed during the workshop with
the metropolitan CIOs. From their point of view, digital government at
the local level consists of “using information technologies to support in
an eff
ffective, coordinated, effi
fficient, transparent, and participative way
the implementation of public programs and policies that contribute to
signifi
ficantly improve both citizen’s quality of life and the level of com-
petitiveness of the municipality.” Guided by this transformational vision
Table 7.1 Core Financial Capabilities from the Perspectives of Local CIOs
Semi-urban
Urban
Metropolitan
IT area with enough
14
Special budget for IT
8 Special budget for IT
0
budget
infrastructure
department
Financial plans to
11
Financial support to
0 More fi nancial
fi
resources 7
acquire and maintain
accomplish goals
for technology
infrastructure
investments
Managerial methods
11
Adequate and
2 Short and long term
0
to allocate budget
responsible invest-
budget plan
ment in technology
Well-allocated budget
1 Budget to government 0
to support high-
areas to pay for IT
priority projects
services
Budget for technology 0
investments
Budget for new
0
projects
Identifying Core Capabilities 81
and other similar ones in the other two workshops, CIOs participated in
a brainstorm exercise to answer the question: What are the core capabil-
ities (human, fi
financial, technical, organizational, etc.) that a municipal
government should have in order to accomplish the digital government
vision that we have developed?
Once the three workshops were completed, the research team revis-
ited the capabilities elicited during the brainstorm e
xercise, re-cluster-
ing those with similar meaning. Table 7.1, for example, presents one of these new clusters, core fi
financial capabilities, as described in each of the
three workshops. The table shows an English translation of the labels
used in each workshop, as well as the number of votes that each of the
groups assigned to the capability. Grayscales represent the importance
of each capability relative to others in each workshop. These tables are
useful for comparison purposes. For instance, the three groups recog-
nized having an IT area with an adequate budget as an important capa-
bility. Semi-urban municipalities found this capability to be extremely
important because most participants in this workshop were struggling
to create the municipality’s IT area. The capability was perceived as less
important relative to others for the urban CIOs, but defi ni
fi tively much
less important for metropolitan CIOs. Capabilities listed also show that
the smaller municipalities were more concerned with basic needs, while
larger municipalities were more concerned about long-term investment
plans and new projects.
Following this procedure, the research team created twelve clusters in
the six categories presented in Figure 7.2. This conceptual framework used for categorization of core capabilities is an adaptation of previous
work at the Center for Technology in Government (Gil-Garcia, Pardo,
& Baker, 2007). There were only three clusters associated with the three
more general categories (Context, Institutional Framework, and Interor-
ganizational Collaboration and Networks), one for each category. There
was also one cluster for each of the more technical categories, Technol-
ogy and Information and Data. In contrast, seven clusters were related
to Organizational Structures and Processes, including human resources,
fi
financial procedures, processes and standards, and training among oth-
ers. Unfortunately, because of space limitations, we cannot include in
this chapter the full set of clusters. Interested readers can fi
find the full
list in the project workshop report (Luna-Reyes, Gil-García, & Celorio-
Mansi, 2010).
In terms of technology, participants in the workshops paid special atten-
tion to infrastructure. Smaller municipalities even included appropriate
electrical infrastructure as a basic need. Other CIOs in bigger municipali-
ties included servers, networks, and personal computing in the conversa-
tion. Other identifi
fied capabilities were related to the need for technical
standards for data and development, as well as the optimal use of hardware
and software. Data and information was a category with less importance
82 Luis
Felipe Luna-Reyes and J. Ramon Gil-Garcia
General context
Institutional framework
I
g
nteror anizational
collaboration and networks
Organizational
structures and
processes
Information and
data
Technology
Figure 7.2 Main categories of core capabilities. [Translated
from Luna-Reyes, Gil-García, & Celorio-Mansi (2010)]
from the point of view of workshop participants. The only reference to this
category was made in terms of data and information security plans.
As mentioned before, the category of organizational structures and pro-
cesses had the most ideas derived from the workshops. Workshop participants
discussed the importance of having enough personnel with the proper creden-
tials, certifi ca
fi tions, and experience, as well as the capability of continuous
learning through formal training programs for all employees in the munici-
pality, not just the IT personnel. Financial resources and budgeting processes
were other important core capabilities included in the conversation. Another
cluster of core capabilities the local CIOs identifi e
fi d in the workshops were
related to standard processes and IT methodologies. First, they discussed the
importance of having effe
ff ctive, and even ISO certifi e
fi d, business processes in
the municipality and formal programs of process improvement. On the other
hand, they referred to specifi c
fi IT methodologies, such as ITIL (Information
Technology Infrastructure Library), as important capabilities to develop, as
well as having multiple channels for service delivery. Top-management support
and an appropriate organizational structure for the IT area were also included
as important capabilities in the organizational category. Finally, planning and
project management were the last clusters identifi
fied by workshop participants
in the area of organizational processes and structures.
Identifying Core Capabilities 83
Table 7.2 Top Fifteen Capabilities in Terms of Importance
Votes Votes
Votes Total
Capability
S-Urb Urban Metro Votes
1. Well-trained human resources
Y
9 Y 14 Y
7
30
2. Laws and regulations for IT in government
Y
6 Y
9 Y 10
25
3. Special budget for IT department
Y 14 Y
8 Y
0
22
4. Adequate infrastructure
Y
7 Y 11 Y
3
21
5. Commitment from public servants
Y
8 N
0 Y 12
20
6. Budget for technology investments
Y 11 Y
2 Y
0
13
7. Resource managerial methods to allocate budget
Y 11 Y
1 N
0
12
8. Senior management support
N
0 N
0 Y 11
11
9. Project continuity
Y 10 N
0 Y
0
10
10. Well-allocated budget to support high-priority
Y
8 Y
2 N
0
10
projects
11. Paradigm change
Y
9 N
0 N
0
9
12. Corporate information security plan
N
0 Y
9 Y
0
9
13. Long term vision
N
0 N
0 Y
8
8
14. IT decision capacity
N
0 Y
0 Y
8
8
15. Smart innovation according to trends and needs Y
8 N
0 N
0
8
In terms of interorganizational collaboration and networks, municipal
CIOs mainly discussed the importance of relationships with all ministries
and areas of the municipal government to facilitate collaboration in project
development and implementatio
n, but also the idea of exchanging technol-
ogies and applications among municipalities emerged in the conversation
several times. In terms of institutional capabilities, local CIOs talked about
the creation of an organizational culture of innovation, as well as hav-
ing a proper set of laws and regulations to guide digital government plans
and activities. All CIOs mentioned as an important institutional enabler
the fact that the Municipal Development Plan explicitly includes a strate-
gic component on information technologies. Some CIOs also mentioned
governance structures and citizen councils as core capabilities for success.
Finally, in terms of the general context, CIOs included the availability of
research on current IT trends and needs in terms of information technolo-
gies and the development of an informatics culture among the public as
core capabilities.
Additionally, the whole list of ideas was organized in terms of votes
and perceived level of development. Both the labels and descriptions of
the ideas were taken into consideration to make a fi
final list of 91 diff eren
ff
t
capabilities. Table 7.2 shows the top fi
fifteen capabilities in terms of the
number of votes that they obtained in all workshops. The list of the top
84 Luis
Felipe Luna-Reyes and J. Ramon Gil-Garcia
fi
fifteen mainly includes capabilities in the organizational category, with
a couple of capabilities in the institutional and technology categories.
Several of these top-ranked capabilities belong to the fi
financial cluster,
as well as personnel experience and commitment. Project continuity and
a long-term vision are also core capabilities in this top list. However,
the most important capabilities in terms of votes were not necessarily
the best developed from the perception of participants (see Table 7.3).
Only two of the items listed in the top fi
fifteen were also considered best-
developed capabilities. It is important to note that long-term vision and
laws and regulations are particularly low in the table, as well as a set
of capabilities related to fi
financial resources. Although infrastructure is
ranked nineteenth in terms of level of development, it gets an average
of 7.4 on a 10-point scale, which describes a situation in which there is
plenty of room for improvement.
Table 7.3 Assessment of Current Development of the Top Fifteen Capabilities
Avg.
Avg.
Avg.
Avg.
Capability*