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E-Government, Changing Jurisdictions and Boundary

ManagementVictor BEKKERS

Erasmus University Rotterdam, Faculty of Social Sciences, Public Administration Group, PO Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Seminar on Electronic Government

Reginald G. UgaddanSKKU Graduate School of Governance

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Contents

A. Introduction

B. Organizational Jurisdictions and Legal Boundaries

C. Other Organizational Models and Other Organizational Boundaries

D. Nature of Organizational Boundaries

E. Interorganizational Information Processing

F. E-government and the Re-Definition of Organizational Boundaries

G. Management of Organizational Boundaries and Changing Organizational Jurisdictions

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Introduction

E-government is synonymous with the modernization of Public Administration

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Government (E-government Initiative)

NGOs/POsOther GOs

Citizens

Companies

Exchange of Information and knowledge & communication

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Blurring of Organizational Boundary

Government(E-Government

Initiatives)

Barriers

Organizational

Geographical

Functional

Blurring of Organization

Blurring of Organizational Boundary

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Government(E-Government

Initiatives)

Blurring of Organization

Government

Quality of Service

Accessibility & Transparency

Efficiency of Gov’t Operations

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Changing organizational boundaries affects several organizational domains: structure of the organization, its process, culture, and the power relations within the organization.

Reasons why boundary management is an issue in PA

E-government can have a profound impact on the exchange and communication in relations with relevant stakeholders in the environment of an organization: the nature of existing relations could alter while new relations could be added.

The boundary management of e-government has important normative implications that are reflected in the notion of jurisdiction.  

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Characteristics of ICT

Efficacy of ICT

Information Architecture

Business Processes

Culture and Staff

Organizational Politics

Strategy of the OrganizationExternal Environment

Internal Environment

In Davenport's idea of information ecology, it is important to take into account the internal and external environment in which e-government initiatives are initiated.

From the notion of information ecology of e-government…

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Organizational Jurisdictions and Legal Boundaries

RATIONAL MODEL OF ORGANIZATION Rational organization is the rational coordination of the activities of a number of people for the achievement of some common explicit purpose or goal, through division of labor and function and through a hierarchy of authority and responsibility.

Emphasis lies on the organizational structure.

How are the boundaries of organization conceived in this model?

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Organizational Jurisdictions and Legal Boundaries

Sub-goals

Tasks and competencies

All tasks and competencies are laid down in all kinds of laws and regulations that define its organizational jurisdiction.

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Organizational Jurisdictions and Legal Boundaries

FORMALIZATION

Formalization

Formalization is the extent to which rules and procedures are followed in an organization in order to reduce uncertainty, variety and subjectivity.

Organizations use formalization to increase their rationality. In one sense formalization is an attempt to make behavior more predictable by standardizing it.

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Organizational Jurisdictions and Legal Boundaries

LEGAL MODEL OF THE ORGANIZATION Government organizations should function according to some principles of the Rechtstaat.

What is Rechtsstaat?

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Rechtsstaat

Rechtsstaat (German: Rechtsstaat) is a concept in continental European legal thinking, originally borrowed from German jurisprudence, which can be translated as "legal state", "state of law", "state of justice", or "state of rights". It is a "constitutional state" in which the exercise of governmental power is constrained by the law, and is often tied to the Anglo-American concept of the rule of law.(Wikipedia)

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Rechtsstaat

In Rechtsstaat, government action which influences and very often restricts the behavior of citizens should be based on the law.

The degree of formalization of the content of a task and territorial and/or functional domain define to some extent the legal boundaries of the government organizations.

Constitutional Right of the Citizen. They are seen as a safeguard against abuse of government organizations such as right of privacy.

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Other Organizational Models and Other Organizational Boundaries

Cultural Model of Organization

Political Model of Organization

Open System’s Model of Organization

Open’s Systems Model of Organization Extended: Inter-organizational Relations

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Other Organizational Models and Other Organizational Boundaries

Cultural Model of Organization

an organization is a community in which it has culture which can be described in terms of values and norms, rituals, heroes, legends and communication patterns. These reduce uncertainty and create stability and safety in the organization.

Political Model of Organization

Organization is seen as an arena in the political perspective wherein it consists of a conglomerate of parties with conflicting, but also with mutual interests.

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Other Organizational Models and Other Organizational Boundaries

Open System’s Model of OrganizationOrganizations are seen as natural and open systems that are connected to an environment through all kinds of input and output processes. An organization draws its resources from the environment (input) and transforms these resources into good or services (output).

Open’s Systems Model of Organization Extended: Inter-organizational Relations

Organizations are not fully in control of themselves. Access, distribution and availability of resources are controlled by other organizations. There is some external control and power over them.

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Nature of Organizational Boundaries

Organizational boundaries refer to the management of critical uncertainty and ambiguity of the outside world and uncertainty that can be controlled and managed in the organization itself. At the same time, organizations become more (inter) dependent from each other, which very often leads to an increase in the exchange of information. ICT facilitates these exchange process.

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Inter-organizational Information Processing

Characteristics of

Communication Potential. Presence availability in terms of sharing the same time, place and location is not an essential condition for effective communication anymore.

Network technologies offer new possibilities for establishing all kinds of links between people and organizations. They become ‘wired’ and the quality and quantity of their interaction increases.

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Characteristics of

Enhances the transparency and access of organizations. Information systems of government agencies can be consulted through internet.

There is virtual reality. Everything that occurs in the real world also happens in cyberspace.

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Do boundaries exist in cyberspace if everything is connected?

Through ICT information processing, communication and interaction are being facilitated in the organization – wiring of organizations. Consequently, lose some of their autonomy.

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Scenarios about the Changing Direction of

Organizational Boundaries

Two (2) Types of Scenarios

Scenarios Regarding the

Changing Nature of Organizational

Boundaries

E-Government and the Re-Definition of Organizational Boundaries

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Scenarios about the Changing Direction of

Organizational Boundaries

Two (2) Types of Scenarios

Scenarios Regarding the

Changing Nature of Organizational

Boundaries

E-Government and the Re-Definition of Organizational Boundaries

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Scenarios about the Changing Direction of

Organizational Boundaries

E-Government and the Re-Definition of Organizational Boundaries

The colonization of the environment by the focal organization.

The penetration of the focal organization by the environment

The integration of organizations

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The colonization of the environment by the focal organization.

E-Government and the Re-Definition of Organizational Boundaries

an organization tries to formalize and discipline the exchange of data by extending its discretion through ICT in the exchange of data. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) favors this kind of colonization strategy.

Electronic Data Interchange

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Scenarios about the Changing Direction of

Organizational Boundaries

E-Government and the Re-Definition of Organizational Boundaries

The colonization of the environment by the focal organization.

The penetration of the focal organization by the environment

The integration of organizations

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E-Government and the Re-Definition of Organizational Boundaries

The penetration of the focal organization by the environment

In this scenario we see the opposite. The organization can be penetrated by the environment thereby using ICT and confronting the focal organization with new and unknown forms of uncertainty.

The boundaries become electronically permeable.

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Scenarios about the Changing Direction of

Organizational Boundaries

E-Government and the Re-Definition of Organizational Boundaries

The colonization of the environment by the focal organization.

The penetration of the focal organization by the environment

The integration of organizations

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E-Government and the Re-Definition of Organizational Boundaries

The integration of organizations

In this scenario, the information between organizations is shared and exchanged in such a way, that organizations integrate or couple their information processing, planning and other working processes in order to further reduce uncertainty

This integration takes place between organizations that are a member of the same value-chain. The electronic coupling of the links in the chain created new interdependencies between them

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Scenarios about the Changing Direction of

Organizational Boundaries

Two (2) Types of Scenarios

Scenarios Regarding the

Changing Nature of Organizational

Boundaries

E-Government and the Re-Definition of Organizational Boundaries

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Scenarios Regarding the

Changing Nature of Organizational

Boundaries

The blurring of organizational

boundaries

The fixation of organization boundaries

Controlled transparency

E-Government and the Re-Definition of Organizational Boundaries

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The blurring of organizational

boundaries

E-Government and the Re-Definition of Organizational Boundaries

Boundary blurring can be understood from a cultural and political model. If people from other organizations can look into certain information systems, this influences the notions like awareness and interdependency

It influences how these people at the other end of the line conceived, for instance in terms of ‘Big Brother’.

(e.g. District Attorney’s Office of Dutch City of Rotterdam and Dutch BVE Network)

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Scenarios Regarding the

Changing Nature of Organizational

Boundaries

The blurring of organizational

boundaries

The fixation of organization boundaries

Controlled transparency

E-Government and the Re-Definition of Organizational Boundaries

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The fixation of organization boundaries

E-Government and the Re-Definition of Organizational Boundaries

Organizations are afraid of external uncertainty that is mobilized by ICT. They try to put their own autonomy by establishing firewalls or buffers. Boundaries are reinforced by using ICT applications.

it’s a company-wide network that very often operates like the internet but has none or a limited amount of access to the outside world.

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Scenarios Regarding the

Changing Nature of Organizational

Boundaries

The blurring of organizational

boundaries

The fixation of organization boundaries

Controlled transparency

E-Government and the Re-Definition of Organizational Boundaries

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Controlled transparency

E-Government and the Re-Definition of Organizational Boundaries

Combination of blurring and fixation of organizational boundaries (Scenario 1 + Scenario 2).

The degree to which organizations become transparent to each other is fixed within a certain limits. Within a well-defined framework they become mutually transparent.

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The Management of Organizational Boundaries and Changing Organizational Jurisdictions

Environment are being colonized

Organizations are penetrated by the

outside environment

Integration of organizations

Blurring of Boundaries

The management of organizational boundaries is an important strategic issue in the discussion about the nature of E-government because E-government initiatives influence the definition of organizational jurisdictions.

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The Management of Organizational Boundaries and Changing Organizational Jurisdictions

Issues:

Some jurisdictions become more powerful and dominant while other shrink or integrate .

A question of whether the original description and allocation of certain tasks and competencies still matches with the changing organizational boundaries and jurisdictions and the corresponding changes in the distribution of power.

Checks and balances are challenged while perhaps new checks and balances are created which do not correspond with well-established principles of the legal system.

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Organizational Boundaries

Organizational Jurisdictions

It is important to analyze and assess e-government initiatives from information ecological perspective: looking at the complex interplay of factors which relate to external and internal and institutional environment of a government organization and the technology which is selected, used and implemented.

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Thank You!

Reginald G. UgaddanSeminar on Electronic Government