James N. Danziger

THE IMPACTS OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ON PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION: AN ANALYSIS OF EMPIRICAL RESEARCH FROM THE “GOLDEN AGE” OF TRANSFORMATION[1]

ABSTRACT The impacts of information technology (IT) on public administration and the public sector are assessed by analyzing the empirical research reported in more than 1,000 issues of recent research journals (published between 1987 and 2000). These impacts are categorized in terms of four broad taxonomic domains and 22 specific impact categories. Almost half of the 230 specific findings identify changes in the capabilities of public sector units to perform functions and more than one-fourth of the findings involve changes in patterns of interaction among political actors. Relatively few IT-related changes affect the distribution of values or the orientations of political actors. In general, the highest proportions of positive impacts from IT are associated with the efficiency and rationality of behavior by units of public administration. The higher incidences of negative impacts tend to involve the more subjective effects of IT on people, in their roles as private citizens (e.g., privacy) or as public employees (e.g., job satisfaction, discretion). It is striking that there are relatively few grounded, empirical studies of the impacts of IT on public administration in the journals analyzed. About half of the empirical studies focus primarily on local level units of public administration, and most studies employ case-study methodology, with nearly one-half of the studies reporting on non-U.S. sites. The summarized and detailed findings in the article are offered as building blocs for more grounded theory on the impacts of IT on public administration and the public sector.

Civil Society and Cyber Society: The Role of the Internet in Community Associations and Democratic Politics

A healthy civil society has long been held as vital to a healthy democracy and there is interest in whether the Internet affects this linkage. This paper explores the relationships between offline and online modes of associational life and also analyzes offline and online interactions with local governments in the US context. Based on our empirical analyses of 1,203 respondents, we show that online participation is not simply an extension of offline participation, but can be distinguished in important ways. First, we find that political and community-oriented engagements cluster separately from more private-regarding engagements. Second, participants of online democratic engagement are not characterized by the SES markers associated with offline democratic engagement who are older, have higher incomes, and have lived in the community longer. Finally, we find significant links between democratic engagement with the political system and involvement with political associations (but not social and community-oriented associations).

Fads and Facts of E-Government: A Review of Impacts of E-government (2003–2009)

This paper analyzes the impacts of e-government as reported in 55 first-hand empirical peer-reviewed journal publications during the period 2003–2009, using a conceptual framework to identify ICT (information and communication technology) impacts on four domains within the public sector: capabilities, interactions, orientations and value distribution. The analysis shows that research findings mostly report positive impacts in all four dimensions. In the empirical research, the majority of impacts from ICT are reported within the domain of capabilities, which is also the domain that features the most balanced mix of positive and negative findings. Findings show that although e-government has elements that make it different from previous use of ICT in public administration, research on e-government is yet to demonstrate a substantial shift in the nature and directions of impacts in comparison to earlier studies.

On cyberslacking: workplace status and personal internet use at work.

Is personal Internet use at work primarily the domain of lower-status employees, or do individuals higher up the organizational hierarchy engage in this activity at equal or even greater levels? We posit that higher workplace status is associated with significant incentives and greater opportunities for personal Internet use. We test this hypothesis using data collected via a recent national telephone survey (n = 1,024). Regression analyses demonstrate that, contrary to conventional wisdom, higher-status employees, as measured by occupation status, job autonomy, income, education, and gender, engage in significantly more frequent personal Internet use at work.

Technology and Productivity A Contingency Analysis of Computers in Local Government

In the searchfor innovations which might generate productivity gains in local govern ment, substantial attention has focused on the utilization of computers and automated information systems. The evaluations of more than 2,600 local government personnel in 42 American cities reveal that local governments have enjoyed some productivity gain attributed to computer applications, particularly with respect to increased work volume. Employing contingency theory as a conceptual framework, this article then assesses whether between-government variations in these productivity gains can be accounted for by size contingencies, technological contingencies, political contin gencies, or the user-technician interface. It is established that intergovernmental variations in productivity gains from computers are most powerfully associated with the nature of the user-technician interface and are somewhat associated with political contingencies.

Which Telework? Defining and Testing a Taxonomy of Technology-Mediated Work at a Distance

Telework has been the subject of study for longer than a quarter century, yet its causes and consequences are poorly understood. A key reason for this shortcoming is that scholars define and use the concept in many different ways. This article presents a taxonomy of telework, distinguishing among three distinct forms: fixed-site telework, mobile telework, and flexiwork. It then offers a series of research questions about the associations among these three types of telework and a variety of other factors. Using data collected in a national telephone survey of more than 1,200 U.S. computer-using workers, the authors empirically demonstrate that the three types of teleworkers are unique along key dimensions regarding their individual characteristics, organizational and technological contexts, and the impacts on their work.

The Adoptability of Inno Va Tions An Empirical Assessment of Computer Applications in Local Governments

Adoptability is the probability that an innovation will be incorprated by an organization. This study explores the question of the adoptability of an innovation for a particular class of technological innovations, computer applications, within the context of American local governments. Four conceptual dimensions are explored to determine their likely independent and interactive influences upon the adoptability of an innovation.

The Impacts of Computer Technology on the Worklife of Information Workers

This article assesses recent research which examines the impacts of computing on the worklife of information workers. It uses a broad analytic framework to organize discussion of research since 1985, to assess the consistency and coherence of the research, and to suggest where systematic comparative analysis is needed in the future. Research findings are summarized with regard to the impacts of computing on decision making, control, productivity, social interaction, work environment, and job enhancement. Keywords social impacts of computing, information workers, decision making, control, productivity, social interaction, work environment, job enhancement.

Innovation in innovation?: the technology enactment framework

The concept of “technology enactment” provides the guiding framework for Jane Fountain’s Building the Virtual State. The framework is used to analyze the implementation and impacts of information technology (IT) in public organizations. The framework highlights the importance of specifying the ways in which IT software and hardware are perceived by actors, who then attempt to shape the use of those ITs. Each instance of technology enactment is also contingent on the organizational and institutional contexts within which the process occurs. This article details how the framework’s dynamic interplay between the technology and those who adopt and adapt it seems consistent with earlier innovation theories developed by both historians of science and social scientists. It also explains why empirical analyses of IT as an innovation in organizations are particularly challenging, because IT is extremely malleable and constantly evolves in conjunction with changing organizational structures and practices.

Computers as an innovation in American local governments

Computers and electronic data processing are a major technological innovation in the operations of American local government. This paper establishes that there is substantial variation among the larger local governments in the rate at which they adopt computer technology, in the level of financial support they provide for EDP, and in the extensiveness and sophistication of their automated applications. The central question addressed is: What might explain the differences between governments in the extent to which they adopt and use computers? Hypotheses are tested for several streams of explanatory factors, using data from more than 500 city and county governments. The findings identify certain local government milieus which are particularly conducive to higher levels of computer innovation. Somewhat unexpected findings reveal the significant impact of the distribution of control over EDP decisions and the dominant political values within the government. Other important factors include the measured need for computer applications and the presence of external funding support for computing. Finally, the paper suggests a framework for identifying the key determinants of other technological innovations.