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E-Government and OrganisationDevelopment

E-Government and OrganisationDevelopment

CPMR Discussion Paper28

Orla O’DonnellRichard Boyle

First published in 2004by the Institute of Public Administration57-61 Lansdowne RoadDublin 4Ireland

www.ipa.ie

©2004 with the Institute of Public Administration.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may bereproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording orany information storage and retrieval system, without permissionin writing from the publisher.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available from the BritishLibrary

ISBN 1 904541 11 9ISSN 1393−6190

Cover design by Creative InputsTypeset by the Institute of Public AdministrationPrinted by ColourBooks

CONTENTS

Foreword viiAcknowledgements ixExecutive Summary x

Chapter 1: Introduction 11.1 Research background 11.2 Study terms of reference and research approach 2

Chapter 2: E-government and organisation development:an overview 42.1 Introduction 42.2 The relationship between organisation change and ICT 52.3 Types and levels of organisation change 92.4 Drivers of organisation change/ICT 132.5 Barriers to organisation change/ICT 152.6 Conclusions 19

Chapter 3: E-government policy in Ireland 213.1 Policy developments 213.2 Conclusions 26

Chapter 4: Organisation change underpinned by ICTdevelopments: lessons from practice 274.1 Introduction 274.2 Drivers of ICT-facilitated organisation change 284.3 Barriers to organisation change using ICT

developments 364.4 Key learning points 404.5 Conclusions 42

Chapter 5: Issues and challenges for e-government andorganisation development in the future 445.1 The views of key informants 445.2 Key action points highlighted by key informants 47

Chapter 6: Summary and conclusions 486.1 Introduction 486.2 Ensuring organisation transformation: key factors in

promoting change 526.3 Conclusions 58

Appendices 62Bibliography 115

This paper is the twenty-eighth in a series undertaken by theCommittee for Public Management Research. TheCommittee is developing a comprehensive programme ofresearch designed to serve the needs of the futuredevelopments of the Irish public service. Committeemembers come from the following eight departments:Finance; Environment, Heritage and Local Government;Health and Children; Taoiseach; Transport;Communications, Marine and Natural Resources; Social andFamily Affairs; Office of the Revenue Commissioners andalso from Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublinand the Institute of Public Administration.

This series aims to prompt discussion and debate ontopical issues of particular interest or concern. The papersmay outline experience, both national and international, indealing with a particular issue. Or they may be moreconceptual in nature, prompting the development of newideas on public management issues. They are not intendedto set out any official position on the topic under scrutiny.Rather, the intention is to identify current thinking and bestpractice.

We would very much welcome comments on this paperand on public management research more generally. Toensure that the discussion papers and wider researchprogramme of the Committee for Public ManagementResearch are relevant to managers and staff, we need to hearfrom you. What do you think of the issues being raised? Arethere other topics you would like to see researched?

Foreword

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Research into the problems, solutions and successes ofpublic management processes and the way organisations canbest adapt in a changing environment has much to contributeto good management, and is a vital element in the publicservice renewal process. The Committee for PublicManagement Research intends to provide a service to peopleworking in public organisations by enhancing the knowledgebase on public management issues.Jim Duffy, ChairCommittee for Public Management ResearchDepartment of Finance

For further information or to pass on any comments pleasecontact:

Pat HicksonSecretaryCommittee for Public Management ResearchDepartment of FinanceLansdowne HouseLansdowne RoadDublin 4

Phone: (+353) 1 676 7571; Fax: (+353) 1 668 2182E-mail: [email protected]

General information on the activities of the Committee forPublic Management Research, including this paper andothers in the series, can be found on its website:www.irlgov.ie/cpmr; information on Institute of PublicAdministration research in progress can be found atwww.ipa.ie.

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This study on E-Government and Organisation Developmentcould not have been completed successfully without the activesupport and co-operation of officials in a number of publicservice organisations. Special thanks are due to Sean Sheridanand Tony Kieran (Donegal County Council and the IntegratedServices Delivery Project); Liam Irwin and Pat Molan (theCollector General’s Office, Office of the RevenueCommissioners); Catherine Treacy, John O’Sullivan andMichael Treacy (Land Registry Change Programme); CelineMoore and Ursula Gilhawley (Department of Social andFamily Affairs Modernisation Project); Vera Dervan, CarolineKennedy and Billy Ramsell (the Civil Registration ServiceModernisation Programme); and Bryan Andrews, PatriciaO’Grady, Padraig Love, Martin Bourke, and Áine Gray (TheCivil Service and Local Appointments Commission (CSLAC)Modernisation Programme) who provided wholeheartedsupport to the in-depth case-study analyses of their respectiveorganisations. In addition, the information provided by FrankDaly (Revenue Commissioners), Colm Butler (Department ofAn Taoiseach), Brid Carter (Local Government ComputerServices Board), Clodagh O’Donnell (IBM Ireland), ColmReilly (PA Consulting), Tony Smith (Centre for Managementand Organisation Development (CMOD)) and Mary FrancesO’Connell (IPA) proved very helpful.

Responsibility for the content of the paper, however, rests withthe authors.

Orla O’DonnellRichard BoyleMay 2004

Acknowledgements

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Background

Ireland has performed relatively well in a number of recente-government benchmarking exercises. However, suchbenchmarking surveys do not delve behind the headlinefigures to look at the consequent degrees of impact ofinformation and communication technologies (ICT) onorganisation development and change. This study attempts toexamine some of the organisation development issues andstructural changes that e-government calls for and sets inmotion. The study set out to obtain a clearer understandingof e-government and organisation development; to paint apicture of the developmental stage that Ireland has reached;to compare good practice examples at different levels ofgovernment in Ireland and to point out ways in which thee-government agenda can be further shaped and advanced.

This study presents an overview of the synergiesbetween organisation change and ICT developments. Itprovides important insights into the way e-government isplanned, implemented and evaluated at organisation level. Italso gives an opportunity to examine theories ofe-government progress and organisation development issues.By identifying the success factors that contribute totransformation of services into the e-environment, the studyreveals important lessons for organisations that areembarking on similar processes.

The main focus of the study is on how the existingorganisations and networks engaged in e-government policydevelopment and implementation can be encouraged to worktowards effective organisation development and change.

Executive Summary

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Evidence for the study findings was obtained from threemain data sources: a review of national and internationaldocumentation; a series of key informant interviews withindividuals involved in developing e-government initiativesthat have led to organisation development in the publicsector in Ireland; and a review of a small number ofe-government initiatives (case studies) which haveengendered organisation change. Six public sectororganisations were selected as good practice examples: theCivil Registration Service Modernisation Programme;Donegal County Council and the Integrated Service DeliveryProject; the Land Registry Change Programme; theDepartment of Social and Family Affairs ModernisationProject; the Civil Service and Local AppointmentsCommission (CSLAC) Modernisation Programme; and theCollector General’s Office, Office of the RevenueCommissioners. Details of the individual case studies areoutlined in Appendices 1 to 6.

Ensuring organisation transformation: key factors inpromoting change

Information from the literature reviewed, the case studiesand the key informant interviews are discussed in detail inChapters 2 to 5. In summarising the main findings, a numberof key factors are identified as crucial in ensuring thatorganisation change arises from the application of ICTdevelopments.

Identifying and using an overarching driver of change:creative use of a crisis and/or the modernisation agenda

The case studies examined outline a number of factors thatdetermine why and how organisation changes happen. Onesignificant factor is the presence of an overarching driver ofchange that stimulates the desired changes. One such driveris the modernisation agenda in the public sector, whichadvocates greater efficiencies at both intra- and inter-organisational levels. Another pertinent driver is reaction toa crisis, generated by such factors as outdated structures, orold technology systems which cannot cope with increasingdemands on services or meet growing customer

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expectations. In some cases studied, both of these factorswere catalysts of change. Change agents can use such driversto leverage change. In particular, the embryonic linkagebetween pay and performance as part of the modernisationagenda at the national partnership level under SustainingProgress (2003) provides the basis for a strong incentive topromote e-government facilitated organisation change. Thekey point here is that to leverage change, it is important tomake creative use of overarching drivers of change, whetherthese come in the form of crises or opportunities.

Building a business case that includes planned organisationchange targets

Several of the case study organisations and recent literaturehighlight another pertinent factor of change: the need for astrong business case both to underpin and, crucially, tocommunicate the benefits of the change process. The use ofplanned organisation change targets sustains the momentumof change. The use of a business case model, the assignmentof an organisation change specialist/project manager toinstigate a plan and oversee its phased developments and theuse of milestones/indicators as benchmarks of progress canall ensure a smoother change process. Several keyinformants for this study advocate that there should be anobligation on organisations to set out a business case modelto ensure effective transformation. In developing thebusiness case, shared services and outsourcing may provideadditional opportunities in implementing e-developments,and in alleviating skills limitations within the public service.

Providing strategic leadership and managementcommitment

A very important element of the change process involves thebuy-in and commitment of senior management to thetransformation process. The instigation of jointe-government/organisation development initiatives is amedium to long-term process and requires ongoingcommitment by management over a significant number ofyears. The importance of strategic leadership to sustain themomentum of the process cannot be undervalued in terms of

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a successful outcome for the organisations examined in thisreport.

Ensuring and delivering effective project management

The importance of a structured approach to change isadvocated by the organisations we examined in this study. Atthe outset of the change process, many organisationsestablished a project steering group or employed a projectmanager supported by the senior management team toinstigate the change process. A multi-phased projectmanagement plan was implemented by most organisations,and benchmarks were either instigated at the outset or duringthe change process. These benchmarks should be related tothe organisation change targets set out in the business case.Risk management is an important aspect of projectmanagement. Also, as part of the project managementprocess, it is important that the capabilities of participantsare taken into account and plans to address limitations put inplace, through training and development supports,contracting out and so on.

Building inter-agency relationships

The introduction of new technologies has enabled greatercommunication flows and knowledge management withinthe public sector. This has enabled co-operation between andwithin organisations at a greater pace and level thanheretofore. The management and exploitation of these newcommunication flows necessitates a re-examination ofadministrative structures and location; and may lead to a re-examination of the purpose of a number of public serviceorganisations. The efficiencies provided by the newtechnologies will engender a re-examination ofadministrative structures and location. This is important interms of regionalisation/decentralisation of organisationstructures, where communication links will becomeparamount. In managing organisation change arising frome-government, it is important to recognise that managing theinter-organisational aspects of change is at least as crucial asmanaging the internal organisational arrangements.

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Involving the main stakeholders (partnership − internal,consultation − external)

Most of the cases studied involved both the internal andexternal customer in the change process from the outset.Internally, the partnership model enabled the difficult issuesof change to be monitored and resolved on a regular basis ina consensus approach. Lack of attention to human andorganisational aspects are significant factors, which canundermine ICT investments. The case study organisations inthis report underline the importance of partnership andinvolving the stakeholders at all levels in the process. Whereorganisations found difficulties related to implementation ofnew technologies or structures it was often because thechange was not communicated with staff at the outset.

Providing long-term commitment

To facilitate the successful transformation of organisationsthere is a need to ensure commitment over the long-term. Inthis context, it is difficult to sustain the momentum andcommitment of management and staff over a number ofyears unless there is a clearly laid out vision, a business planwith directional indicators, a partnership process to involvestakeholders and a drive and ‘buy-in’ by leadership to thecomplete process over the long term.

Encouraging experimentation

The returns on e-government investment may not be clearlyevident in the short to medium term; indeed, a certainamount of risk may be needed to fully realise the potentialfor transformation of public services and to exploit theefficiencies that are possible through innovative structuresand technologies and to ensure real quality service to thecustomer. These risks can be minimised by experimentingwith different approaches and mainstreaming those thatshow significant benefits.

Conclusions

A central message coming out of this study is thatorganisation change arising from ICT developments is far

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from being simply a technical issue. Introducing ICTs andjust assuming that changes in organisation culture andpractice will follow is a recipe for inertia and inaction.Rather, organisation changes arising from the introduction ofICTs must be explicitly planned for. In this context, it isnecessary that those involved in the change process be awareof the broader issues that need to be managed above andbeyond the introduction of ICTs themselves (these broaderissues are set out in Figure 6.2 in the main body of thepaper).

The governance and values issues that inform the waybusiness is done set the the context for the change. Toachieve success in driving e-government in the future,several key informants advocated the need for a centre ofleadership to clearly and visibly drive the e-governmentagenda and to achieve buy-in by public service leaders. Alsohelpful from a broad governance perspective would be thecontinuance of the explicit linkage between pay andperformance established under Sustaining Progress (2003).Such a linkage can act as an important anchor for securingorganisation change, when linked with verification ofchange. Organisation change should, in this context, be anexplicit goal of ICT-enabled changes arising as part of themodernisation agenda. Similarly, it would be helpful if theInformation Society Fund were to require targets/indicatorsof organisation change in terms of measuring returns on theinvestment.

A vital aspect of change is managing the people issues:the need to get the right people in place to manage theprojects and bring about change. As noted earlier, thechange agent role is a crucial one. The current supports forpolicy analysts being co-ordinated by the Centre forManagement and Organisation Development (CMOD) isaimed at producing staff with skills and competencies thatare appropriate to this change agent role. Drawing on thisexpertise in the future could further facilitate successfulchange.

The management of process issues is where the ICTdevelopments themselves are to the fore. ICTs can be used

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to promote functional integration within organisations andalso across organisations. The planning processes needed tosupport ICT-enabled change are also vital here, particularlythe need for the development of a sound business case andeffective project management, as outlined earlier. Projectsshould be required to identify and enumerate the proposedbenefits arising from planned organisation changes arisingfrom ICT development. Rationalisation of process and datamanagement is also required, with the use of shared servicesbeing used as appropriate to enhance efficiency.

Regarding policy and programme issues, ICT-enabledchange calls for more administrative and programmeintegration: improving the design and co-ordination of arange of related administrative practices and operationalprogrammes to better meet service user needs. The fullimpact of ICT developments will not be gained byorganisations if they are imposed on old policy andprogramme structures and processes.

The presence of learning and accountability issueshighlights the need for tangible measurement of ICTdevelopments in terms of their value to society.Governments must regularly evaluate the progress andeffectiveness of their e-government investments todetermine whether stated goals and objectives are being meton schedule. This includes organisation change goals andobjectives. This requires, for example, personnel orefficiency savings targets to be clearly enunciated at thebusiness case development stage and clear targets set fortheir achievement during implementation.

Finally, with regard to quality service delivery issues,there is a need to take a serious look at service deliverychannels and examine the opportunities for outsourcing,partnerships and the like to create empowered cross-organisation and inter-organisation relationships that moreeffectively address service user needs. The configurationand re-configuration of organisations will be affected byICT- enabled change. Such issues are particularly importantin the context of decentralisation.

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To summarise, transforming the organisation landscapeis a strategic challenge that involves focusing on the wholebusiness change, not just the ICT aspects.

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1

Introduction

1

1.1 Research backgroundThe first CPMR study of e-government (Timonen et al.,2003) explains the concepts of e-government anddecentralisation, and how the two concepts relate. The studynotes that e-government is an area that develops at a rapidpace compared to most other areas of public policy andpublic sector reform. In many ways, it can be seen as theengine that drives changes in other areas such as organisationreform and improvements in customer service. As NewConnections: A Strategy to Realise the Potential of theInformation Society (2002) outlines, e-government isincreasingly seen as a key determinant of national competi-tiveness.

Holden et al. (2003) acknowledge that somecharacteristics of e-government (especially prescriptiveones) purport that e-government has the potential to cutacross geographic, organisation, and disciplinary boundariesand be a driver of organisation transformation and businessprocess re-engineering: ‘E-government is a major paradigmshift in the way that government and public administrationare to function’ (UNTC Occasional Papers Series, No.1,2002). Timonen et al. (2003) draw attention to the fact that:

... the proliferation of many e-government initiatives andthe lack of joined-up e-government mean that one of themost urgent tasks consists of integrating and co-ordinating e-government in Ireland. This in turn requires

Introduction

clear strategic vision and leadership, and presents amajor organisation development challenge for the publicsector as a whole ... This organisation change isnecessary for successful application of e-government inimproving service delivery and in making internaladministration and policy making more effective. McDonagh (2002) emphasises this point: ‘the scale of

organisation change required may be beyond anythingGovernment has previously experienced’. This studyattempts to examine some of the organisation developmentissues and structural changes that e-government calls for andsets in motion.

1.2 Study terms of reference and research approachAt its meeting in February 2003, the CPMR agreed to thecommencement of a new study focusing on e-governmentand organisation development with the following terms ofreference:

(a) An examination of the national and internationalliterature in relation to the organisation developmentaspects of e-government-led change.

(b) An update of the developing national policy andinfrastructural contexts for the promotion ofe-government within Ireland and within Irish publicservice organisations.

(c) A detailed examination of instances of good practice, andleading practices, within the civil service and also thewider public sector, in relation to significant organisationchange as part of the adoption of e-government solutions.

(d) A thorough review of lessons learnt in respect of how theorganisation development aspects of e-governmentmight be furthered more effectively within the Irishpublic service, so as to provide good practice guidancefor managers.

2

E-government and organisation development

The main focus of the study is on how the existing rangeof organisations and networks engaged in e-governmentpolicy development and implementation can be encouragedto work towards effective organisation development andchange. Three main data sources are used:

• Case studies. Here, a review took place of a smallnumber of e-government initiatives which have resultedin organisation change. The aim is to identify lessons ofgood practice with regard to policy development whichhave general applicability, as well as the identification ofpitfalls to be avoided. The cases studies selected are asfollows: the Civil Registration Service; the Departmentof Social and Family Affairs; the Civil Service and LocalAppointments Commission; the Land Registry; DonegalCounty Council and the Integrated Services Centres; andthe Collector General’s Office, Office of the RevenueCommissioners (see Appendices 1-6).

• International initiatives. Derived from a literaturereview and web searches, and from OECD literature onexperiences of other countries in developing initiatives topromote organisation change, aspects of e-governmentinitiatives are analysed.

• Key informant interviews. A small number of interviewswere undertaken with people involved in developinge-government initiatives that have led to organisationdevelopment in the public sector in Ireland. As well askey personnel in a range of government departments,other organisations were also involved.The study provides important insights into the way in

which e-government is planned, implemented and evaluatedat organisation level. It also provides an opportunity toexamine theories of e-government progress and organisationdevelopment issues. Through identifying the success factorsthat contribute to transformation of services into thee-environment, the study reveals important lessons fororganisations that are embarking on similar processes.

3

E-government and organisationdevelopment: an overview

2.1 IntroductionIreland has performed relatively well in a number of recente-government benchmarking exercises. For example, inFebruary 2003, the recent e-government benchmark study byCap Gemini Ernst & Young ranked Ireland second behindSweden in terms of the sophistication of services online(http://www.cgey.com/news/2003/0206egov.shtml). ‘In thecontext of the e-Europe Action Plans in a fourth assessmentof seventeen european countries on electronic servicedelivery across twenty online public services, Ireland wasrated joint second with Denmark and behind Sweden on theonline sophistication of its services’ (New Connections, 2ndProgress Report, April 2004). However, these benchmarksprovide only a relatively superficial picture of the complexprocess of making public services available online. Inparticular, such benchmarking surveys do not delve behindthe headline figures to look at the consequent degrees ofimpact of information and communication technologies(ICT) on organisation development and change. At thelaunch of the e-government benchmark study, the EuropeanCommissioner Erkki Liikanen stated that ‘e-government inEurope should now focus more closely on the transformationof government authorities into customer-oriented serviceproviders’.

Murphy (2002) in a working paper published by theOECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Industryemphasises that organisation change is key to realising

2

4


benefits from ICT, while ICT in turn contributes toimplementing organisation change, necessitating combinedinvestments to raise productivity growth. Similarly, Muid(1994) outlines that ‘on the one hand the doctrines of newpublic management seek to reform the business ofgovernment: on the other hand informatization acts as acatalyst for change and enables business transformation’.Seamus Mulconry of Accenture Consultants reiterates thispoint in terms of the Irish experience: ‘e-government shouldbe seen as a catalyst for modernisation of the public service… it is really not about putting all services online’ (as quotedin Smyth, 2003). Murphy (2002) further outlines theimportance for OECD enterprises of implementingorganisation changes so as to maximise the benefits fromnew technology, particularly information andcommunications technology (ICT) and to realiseproductivity increases from investments in both tangible(plant, equipment) and intangible (research, training) assets.The working paper also notes that the incidence oforganisation change has been highest in the service sectors.

The aim of this chapter is to examine the theoreticalbackground of changes in ICT on organisation development.The chapter starts by defining what we mean by organisationchange. The drivers of organisation change are then outlined.The synergies between ICT and organisation developmentare assessed in both a private and public sector context. Thedrivers and barriers to organisation change and ICT areexamined.

2.2 The relationship between organisation change and ICT

In thinking about the relationship between organisationchange and the introduction of ICTs, it is helpful tounderstand the environment within which change takesplace. More realistically, it is important to understand themulti-dimensional environments that exist and how theyinfluence change. Figure 2.1 portrays the idea of anorganisation as systems operating in multi-dimensionalenvironments. The temporal environment concerns

5

An overview

historical developments bringing changes over time. Thesemay be general cyclical changes or changes associated withthe particular history of the organisation. The externalenvironment includes the political, economic, socio-culturaland technological influences (often referred to by themnemonic PEST (Johnson and Scholes, 1999)). The internal

6

INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

The Organisation

Formal subsystem management strategy goals structure operations technology

Informal subsystemculture politics leadership staff skills

EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

TEMPORAL ENVIRONMENT

Technological influences

Economic influences

Political-legal influences Soci

o-cu

ltura

l inf

luen

ces

Source: adapted from Senior, B (2002), p. 27

Figure 2.1 The organisation system in multidimensionalenvironments


environment covers both formal management systems andthe more informal aspects such as culture and leadershipstyles. The key point here is that, in instituting technologi-cally driven change, all the other factors in the differentenvironments must be taken into account in determining theinfluence of change on the organisation.

Murphy (2002) defines organisation change as firm-levelmodifications of structures, work interactions and humanresource practices, affecting both internal business processesas well as relationships with customers and other firms. Shefurther emphasises that there is a mutually beneficialrelationship between organisation change in firms and ICTinvestments and also suggests that organisation change canvary in scope and intensity. Her paper points out thatinformation technology is instrumental in facilitating neworganisation approaches, from lean production to teamworkto customer relations. She also states that organisationchange is needed to realise the full benefits of informationand communication technology. The paper suggests that thelevel of efficiencies will be determined by how ICT andworkplace organisation are combined within a firm. Inparticular, she pinpoints enhanced communication,teamwork and training as needed to realise the benefits fromICT investments.

Change may be relatively superficial when restricted tothe introduction of specific work practices or, alternatively,far reaching when radical work reorganisation isimplemented that affects firm boundaries, e.g. throughoutsourcing and networking. Dunphy and Stace (1993) havecategorised four different scales of change that are possible(see Figure 2.2). Murphy (2002) indicates from evidencethat, in the absence of higher-order organisation change,enterprises may fail to realise the benefits of ICT.

A UN sponsored paper on e-government reports that therelationship between information technology andorganisation change has been extensively analysed in theprivate sector. Some of the findings are found to be relevantin the public sector as well, e.g. the flatter organisation withless hierarchical levels, the enablement of decentralised

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An overview8

Scale Type 1: Fine tuning Organisation change which is an ongoing process characterised by fine tuning of the ‘fit’ or match between the organisation’s strategy, structure, people, and processes. Such effort is typically manifested at department/division levels and deals with one or more of the following: • Refining policies, methods, and procedures. • Creating specialist units and linking mechanisms to permit increased volume and

increased attention to unit quality and cost. • Developing personnel especially suited to the present strategy. • Promoting confidence in the accepted norms, beliefs and myths. • Clarifying established roles and the means of allocating resources. Scale Type 2: Incremental adjustment Organisation change which is characterised by incremental adjustments to the changing environment. Such change involves distinct modifications (but not radical change) to corporate business strategies, structures, and management processes, for example: • Shifting the emphasis among products. • Improved production process technology. • Adjustments to organisation structures within or across divisional boundaries to

achieve better links in product/service delivery. Scale Type 3: Modular transformation Organisation change which is characterised by major realignment of one or more departments/divisions. The process of radical change is focused on these subparts rather than on the organisation as a whole, for example: • Major restructuring of particular departments/divisions • Work and productivity studies resulting in significantly reduced or increased

workforce numbers. • Introduction of significantly new process technologies affecting key departments

or divisions. Scale Type 4: Corporate transformation Organisation change which is corporation-wide, characterised by radical shifts in business strategy, and revolutionary changes throughout the whole organisation involving many of the following features: • Reformed organisation mission and core values. • Altered power and status affecting the distribution of power in the organisation. • Reorganisation – major changes in structures, systems, and procedures across the

organisation. • Revised interaction patterns – new procedures, work flows, communication

networks, and decision-making patterns across the organisation.

Source: Dunphy, D. and Stace, D. (1993), ‘The strategic managementof corporate change’, Human Relations, Vol. 45, No.8, pp.917-18.

Figure 2.2 Defining the scale of change


operation based on revolutionary communicationtechnologies, the transformation of hierarchical structuresbased on networks, the creation of new horizontal andstrategic autonomous agencies etc (United NationsThessaloniki Centre Occasional Paper Series, 2002). Thepaper concludes that evolving technology radically affectspublic organisations not only by reengineering currentprocesses and structures but by also inducing fundamentalchanges to the state’s strategic role.

Bellamy and Taylor (1994b) accept that IT in publicadministrations presents nascent opportunities to reducecosts and to increase efficiency, but also to adaptbureaucracy to the needs of the customer. The paper suggeststhat ‘in these ways IT is identified as the key to thereinvention and, indeed, to the reinvigoration of publicadministration’. (This point is also made by Dutton,O’Connell and Wyer, 1991; Muid 1992; and the OECD1992). An Information Society Commission (ISC) Report(2002) says that ‘the potential of e-governmentdevelopments to support transformation in traditionalbusiness processes has important implications that must beaddressed as a key element of the overall process of publicsector modernisation and reform’. The ISC Reportrecommends that ‘Government needs to develop appropriatearrangements to ensure that the assessment of the return one-government investments captures both tangible andintangible benefits’.

2.3 Types and levels of organisation changeMurphy (2002) classifies firm-level organisation change intothree broad streams: the restructuring of productionprocesses; management systems and employee involvementschemes; and external re-organisation emphasising customerorientation, outsourcing, and firm networks and othercollaborative arrangements (see Figure 2.3). The paperexplains that internal re-organisation typically affects theorganisation of production approaches and work practicescompared to external re-organisation which is associatedwith the improvement of relations with customers and other

9

An overview

firms. In practice, firms tend to apply an eclectic set oforganisation practices, often spanning the three broadstreams.

In introducing these types of organisation change,various change strategies may be used. A number of writershave developed different models that are based on a plannedset of successive steps or phases that must be followed inorder to bring about organisation change. These are oftenbased around Lewin’s (1958) three step model of unfreezing-change-refreezing. But Burnes (1996b) cites a number ofcriticisms that have been levelled at the planned changemodels, which are worth noting here:

• They are based on the assumption that organisationsoperate under stable conditions and can move from onestable state to another in a pre-planned manner. However,both Garvin (1993) and Stacey (1993) argue that suchassumptions are increasingly tenuous and thatorganisation change is more a continuous and open-ended process than a set of discrete and self-containedevents.

• The planned change models emphasise incremental orsmall-scale change and so are not applicable in situationsthat require rapid radical and/or transformational change.

• They are based on the premise that common agreementscan be reached, and that all parties involved in the

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Figure 2.3 Types of organisation change

Production approaches Management practices External relations

Total quality management Lean production Just-in-time Business re-engineering

Decentralisation Teamwork Knowledge management Flexible work arrangements Flexible compensation

Outsourcing Customer relations Networking

Source: Murphy (2002)


change process are interested in and support the changeinitiative. The planned change models largely ignore therealities of organisation conflict and politics.By way of contrast, the emergent approach to change

management, as advocated by both Dawson (1994) andWilson (1992), is based on the premise that the plannedmodel of change management has limited application in aturbulent business environment that is characterised byuncertainty and complexity. Burnes (1996b) in a review ofthe major proponents of the emergent change modelidentifies some of the main tenets of the emergent changethesis:

• Organisation change is perceived as a continuous processof experimentation and adaptation aimed at matching anorganisation’s capabilities to the needs and dictates of adynamic and uncertain environment.

• While comprising many small and incremental changes,over time the change process can constitute majororganisation transformation.

• The key role of managers in this change scenario is tocreate and/or foster an organisation structure and climatewhich encourages and sustains experimentation and risk-taking, and to develop a workforce that will takeresponsibility for change and implementing it.

• Managers are also charged with creating and sustaining avision of what the changed organisation scenario mightbe, so that successive change initiatives can be judgedagainst this vision.

• Central to this change initiative are the organisationactivities of information gathering, communication andlearning.A cursory examination of much of this emergent change

management literature might lead to the conclusion that thisemergent change model is based less on change managementprinciples and more on the burgeoning ‘learning

11

An overview

organisation’ literature − or indeed vice versa − since bothsets of literature depict an organisation that isenvironmentally driven to adopting a continuous process oftransformation and development.

Bovaird (2003) points out that the need for organisationchange in the public sector is not widely questioned. He seesthe push for ICT-enabled organisation change as beingdriven primarily by (a) proponents of new publicmanagement (NPM) reforms, or (b) proponents of ‘publicgovernance’ reforms. NPM proponents primarily seeorganisation change in terms of issues such as the re-designof organisation processes around the needs of the customerand a belief in the supremacy of market-based procurementapproaches. Public governance influenced proponentsprimarily see organisation change in terms of meeting theholistic needs of citizens and changes to authorityrelationships between professionals and service users.

Bovaird (2003) also analyses the debate on the pace ofICT-enabled organisation change in the public sector. Heinforms us that the proponents of radical redesign in publicservices suggest major rethinking − e-enable the rightprocesses rather than the existing processes. He underlinesthat if this tendency were dominant, significant convergencewould be likely to occur in the organisation structures andprocesses of public agencies and public services. Bovairdindicates that the Best Value reviews conducted in UK localgovernment are showing up a number of areas where currentorganisation structures and processes are clearly notjustifiable or sustainable, but they are not pointing clearly toone single way forward for the future (Bovaird andHalachmi, 2001). He also emphasises that it is far from clearthat public agencies have the capacity for specifying andimplementing radically new ICT systems even if they agreewhat is needed − major failures continue to be prevalent inthis area.

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2.4 Drivers of organisation change/ICTMurphy (2002) found the need to facilitate adoption of newtechnologies, particularly ICT, was ranked far lower thanmarket forces in surveys of drivers of organisation change.She adds that this may reflect a lack of awareness of thesynergies arising from joint implementation of organisationchange and ICT. However, the paper indicates that ‘theadoption of ICT requires a flexible organisation at the sametime that ICT increases the capacity to implement workflexibility. Organisation change can be a principal motivatorfor the introduction of new technology, just as obsoletetechnology can hinder the adoption of new organizationalpractices’.

In the private sector the main driver of organisationchange is the need for firms to adapt to changing competitiveconditions. But how does this relate to a public sectorenvironment where competition does not exist in many of theareas of service provision. What drives organisation changein this instance? Those interviewed by Timonen et al. (2003)did not believe the potential of cost savings was the maindriving force behind development of e-government inIreland. In fact, it was considered that the prospect of costsavings played only very little, if any, role in motivating thee-government project. The paper found rather thate-government work in Ireland is being primarily motivatedby a genuine desire to make government more efficient,citizen-oriented and customer-friendly: the goal ofe-government is to achieve seamless client-centred servicedelivery. This is reflected in the fact that all the main onlineinformation services are organised around the ‘life events’ ofindividuals and businesses, rather than around thebureaucratic structures of government. E-government is alsorecognised and treated as one of the central pillars forprogressing public service modernisation in the future.

Bovaird (2003) identifies a number of drivers of ICTenabled organisation change:

• a growth in the theory and practice of customerrelationship marketing, building up and using a much

13

An overview

more detailed knowledge base in relation to clients’needs, wants and likely reactions to services offered;

• the development of holistic needs assessment, basedaround clients’ desires for a better quality of life (ratherthan better services);

• changing public expectations with respect to servicequality; due partly to changes in family life and workingpatterns, the public expect public services to be availablemore easily and more often than heretofore;

• new methods of staff working, such as part-timeworking, flexible hours etc. These flexibilities areenhanced by ICT but up to now have been seen as quitemarginal in most parts of the public sector.Bovaird points to three separate but interrelated

mechanisms by which ICT can support change in anorganisation:

• Improved use of data bases in the organisation − here thestocks of knowledge in the organisation, at least in so faras they are embedded in the organisation’s data bases, aremore accessible and can be cross-referenced more easily.It is expected that this should help both in improving thedetermination of decisions and in implementingdecisions more consistently.

• Better communications in an organisation − partlythrough the use of the organisation’s data bases, but alsobecause it opens up much faster, more personalisedcommunications channels to individuals and to groups(through e-mail, interactive websites etc).

• Improved decision making in an organisation − here,information flows are made faster, more reliable andmore relevant than they were heretofore, so thatindividual decisions are likely to be improved and thecommunications between decision makers are expedited,so that decisions are more coordinated.

14


Bovaird (2003) illustrates the effect of the threemechanisms listed above by presenting the model developedby the Department for Transport, Local Government and theRegions (DTLR) in the UK to define the key elements ofe-government:

Improved database management is a key aspect ofimproved transactions and successful e-businesssystems. Better communications are required if there areto be improved transactions and successful e-enabledbusiness systems − the search for better communicationsis behind the development of e-enabled access channels.Better decision making is intended to be an outcome ofe-enabled business systems. Clearly, all three of thesefundamental change mechanisms require enablingtechnologies. Finally, none of these changes will actuallymake a difference in the absence of organisationleadership and capacity, which will ensure thate-government is driven by priority public needs ratherthan simply technocratic imperatives.Timonen et al. (2003) advocate that as e-government

development progresses to the next, more demanding, phase,and as funding for e-government initiatives may not be aseasily forthcoming as in the past, it becomes more importantto justify e-government funding in terms of the considerablecost savings that can flow from it. Murphy (2002) indicatesthat there is a need to couple new organisation practices withICT, offering opportunities for reducing costs and enhancingefficiencies along the entire business value chain. Bellamyand Taylor (1994b) illustrate that ‘the economic and businesslogic of the information age gradually, but inexorably, drivesservice organisations, including those in the public sector,towards profound transformations in the design of theirproduction processes and structures’.

2.5 Barriers to organisation change/ICT Muid (1994) affirms that ‘the capability of IT as a catalystfor change is acknowledged and can be regarded as a meansof assisting the reforms’, but he warns that ‘IT can also act

15

An overview

as an inhibitor to change because of systems’ rigidity andcostly legacies of past investment’. Bellamy and Taylor(1994a) ask two key questions in this regard: (a) are theshifts associated with new public management conducive tothe optimal realisation of the potential gains whichinformatisation might bring, or do they inhibit change, and(b) can organisation units − departments, agencies, divisionsetc − be (re)organised both internally and in theirrelationships in order to create the conditions needed for thefull exploitation of new information systems? Murphy(2002) and Brown (2001) imply that in many cases firmperformance may not be improved if ICT investments are notaccompanied by organisation changes. Murphy singles outlack of attention to human and organisation aspects as factorswhich can undermine ICT investments. In particular,Murphy cites a survey of UK firms which found that 80-90per cent of ICT investments failed to meet all of theirobjectives due to poor human resource management andfailure to involve users.

Bellamy and Taylor (1994b) question ‘whether thetechnological capabilities for informatisation areoutstripping the organisation, political and managerialcapabilities of constructing, controlling and regulating newinformation systems and new information flows’. Theyaccept that ‘the very process of informatisation disturbsinter- and intra-organisation relationships in ways that arenot easily controlled and reordered. Its outcomes emergefrom the interaction of managerial, political, professionaland commercial stakeholders around technological infra-structures and the design and distribution of informationalresources’. Bellamy and Taylor (1994b) thus stress that dueto these factors the results of new projects will often becompromised and the exploitation of new opportunitiesirregular. They reiterate in the paper that, ‘if we are right inarguing that the modernisation of public administrationdepends on the effective exploitation of new informationflows in government, then those factors which inhibit thisexploitation will also inevitably compromise the realising ofthe new public management’.

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To this end, it is particularly important to understand thereactions of individuals to change. Baron and Greenberg(1992) suggest that reactions to change can be categorisedalong a continuum (Figure 2.4).

The most extreme reaction is to leave the job because thechange is perceived to be intolerable. Active resistanceinvolves personal defiance and encouraging others to resistthe change initiative. Opposition essentially involves lack ofco-operation and trying to delay proceedings. Acquiescenceoccurs where individuals may be unhappy about the changebut feel powerless to prevent it, so they put up with it as bestthey can. Reserved acceptance occurs where the main thrustof the change is accepted but individuals may bargain overdetails. Acceptance is characterised by passive co-operationwith the change but no overt wish to participate in it. Finally,at the other extreme there is active support where individualswelcome change and actively engage in behaviours thatincrease the chances of that change becoming a permanentfeature of organisation life.

These factors suggest that, in overcoming possibleresistance to change, a number of issues will need to beaddressed to win acceptance and support. Figure 2.5highlights a number of these issues.

Bovaird (2003) emphasises that the organisation changeswhich can be effected through the e-revolution are only justbeginning to become evident. He points out that evidencefrom the Best Value initiative in the UK suggests that manyexisting organisation configurations in the public sector willnot be sustainable, either on the basis of service quality orvalue for money. However, he suggests that

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Figure 2.4 Individual Reactions to change Quitting Active Opposition Acquiescence Reserved Acceptance Active

resistance acceptance support

Source: Baron and Greenberg (1992)

An overview18

Figure 2.5 Activities contributing to effective changemanagement

Motivating change • Creating readiness for change • Overcoming resistance to

change

Creating a vision • Mission • Valued outcomes • Valued conditions • Midpoint goals

Developing political support • Assessing change agent

power • Identifying key stakeholders • Influencing stakeholders

Managing the transition • Activity planning • Commitment planning • Management structures

Sustaining momentum • Providing resources for

change • Building a support system for

change agents • Developing new

competencies and skills • Reinforcing new behaviours

Effective change management

Source: Cummings and Huse, 1989


... the most appropriate ways forward will only beuncovered through much experimentation withine-government and e-governance programmes. In thenature of experimentation, many of these initiatives willturn out to be unproductive or cost-ineffective − but thatis perhaps the necessary price to pay for the level ofpublic sector transformation which now appears to be inprospect. Therefore, evidence suggests that each public sector

organisation will have to assess its own needs rather thandepend on the premise that one size fits all (generic model).

2.6 ConclusionsDrucker (1988) forecast that ‘the typical large businesstwenty years hence will have fewer than half the levels ofmanagement of its counterpart today, and no more than athird the managers … the typical business will beknowledge-based, an organisation composed largely ofspecialists who direct and discipline their own performancethrough organised feedback from colleagues, customers, andheadquarters. For this reason, it will be what I call aninformation-based organisation’. How far along this road oftransformation have public administrations travelled?Having reached the automation, information, interactionstages of ICT development, how many projects have reachedthe integration or transformation stages?

As the earlier literature in this report points out,organisation change is needed to realise the full benefits ofinformation and communication technology. It can be seenfrom various studies that the relationship between ICT andorganisation development has the capability to engender aflatter organisation with less hierarchical levels,decentralised operation based on revolutionarycommunication technologies, the transformation ofhierarchical structures through the use of networks, and thecreation of strategic autonomous agencies.

19

An overview

But, this brief review has also shown that ICT can alsoact as an inhibitor to change because of systems rigidity, thecostly legacies of past investment and lack of attention tohuman and organisation aspects, as factors which canundermine ICT investments. Further constraints are possiblewhen technological capabilities for informatisation aresurpassing the organisational, political and managerialcapabilities of constructing, controlling and regulating newinformation systems and new information flows. Theseissues are further examined in the next few chapters both interms of national and international experience.

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E-government policy in Ireland3

3.1 Policy developments

It is a misconception to imagine that e-government ismerely an automation of existing government services; itis a radical convergence of government and technologythat has the potential to radically transform the publicservice and the citizen’s experience of it. Thisconvergence requires a major re-organisation of currentadministrative processes. In that sense e-government ismore about government than about ‘e’. (InformationSociety Commission, 2003)This chapter takes a look at recent policy developments

in terms of e-government in Ireland. Appendix 7 outlines theroles and responsibilities of departments and ministers indeveloping e-government in Ireland.

An Information Society Commission (ISC) report (2003)highlights the link between e-government and themodernisation of the public service:

The modernisation process is intimately connected to thee-government process and shares many of the same goalssuch as provision of better quality service, focus on thecitizen, more efficient and effective work practices,improved decision-making. E-government provides thetools which enable the modernisation process to be wide-ranging and effective. It facilitates increased flexibilityand co-operation with ongoing change, increased valuefor taxpayers’ money through more efficient use of

21

E-government policy in Ireland

resources and more robust performance and financialmanagement systems.As Timonen et al. (2003) note, Delivering Better

Government (1996) acknowledges the great potential foreffective use of ICT to transform the way governmentbusiness is conducted and to provide new ways of working.Developments since that time are continuing to place newdemands upon the public service as both a leader and afacilitator of change. The possibilities opened up by ICTdevelopments transcend the limitations of existingorganisation boundaries, thus enabling transformation ofpublic sector organisations and providing a catalyst forgreater inter- and intra- organisation integration. The NewConnections Report (2002) emphasises this point that ‘ICTstherefore make possible new connections − both withinGovernment itself, and between Government and the citizenand Government and the business users of its services’.

The ISC report (2003) acknowledges the far-reachingpotential of e-government:

It has the capability to ensure the greater engagementwith citizens, higher productivity in terms of reducedcosts, more efficient administrative procedures, deliveryof higher quality services and provision of better policyoutcomes. In addition to providing services directlyonline, e-government has the potential to improve thequality of existing services, e.g. to support a publicservant in a one-stop shop dealing with a person’s query. Timonen et al. (2003) note that ‘all in all, the

e-government process in Ireland has been relativelydecentralised. While significant funding and a basic strategicframework of e-government originate in the two centralgovernment departments, agencies and departments havehad considerable scope for innovation and initiative’ (p.62).The REACH, OASIS, BASIS and ROS initiatives show thatdepartments and agencies have considerable room to shapetheir own e-government projects and products. The RevenueOnline Service (ROS) reveals that while some of theingredients of its success originated in the ‘centre’, credit for

22


its dynamism has to be given first and foremost to the factorsand individuals operating at the ‘decentralised’ agency level.

The New Connections Action Plan (2002) put forwardthe objective that government was committed to having allpublic services available online through a single point ofcontact by 2005. Individual departments and agenciesincluded this objective in their statements of strategy withthe intention of linking the e-government agenda with theirbusiness strategy. The ISC report (2003) highlights thatconcern has been expressed that due to budget constraints,and the sheer scale of the organisation change involved, thistarget may not be met. The ISC report consequently stressesthat ‘the key point in relation to providing public servicesonline is that only those services which are deemed to beworthwhile and capable of online delivery should be onlineby 2005. Factors to be considered in determining what isworthwhile include likely usage patterns, service quality andsatisfaction levels. Clear and relevant improvementmeasurement indicators will assist this process. Priorityshould be given to those services which confer greatestbenefit by being online’. The ISC report further emphasisesthat significant costs are involved in providing onlineservices and it is important that potential demand for serviceswhich are earmarked for online service delivery must betaken into consideration to ensure value for money

The intention is that all public services will put theirinformation and services on the Public Service Broker(PSB), so that users can access all services from onelocation. Processing of the services will usually take placeelsewhere (in the back offices, agency computer systems etc)but the user does not see this and only deals with the userinterface which is straightforward and standardised. If aservice requires dealing with many different agencies, thatcan also be accommodated: forms will be built so that ifnecessary the PSB can break up the form and send therelevant parts to different agencies. All the services on thebroker will be standardised and a services’ catalogue will beavailable to choose from according to one’s service needs. Inaddition to the PSB there will be contact centres; it is

23


essential to provide users with a mix of channels so that ifthey need assistance or if the service breaks down, they cancontact a service centre.

The New Connections Progress Report (2003) informsus that the ‘Public Service Broker’ has been rebranded asReachServices and the portal went live in April 2002. Itcomprises an online citizen registration service, a centralauthentication system, an application forms’ repository and,since August 2002, an online e-receipts facility forparticipating agencies. A phased approach to developmentsis planned, with Phase 1 involving the development of anumber of initial ‘launch services’ in addition to an inter-agency messaging system. Other priorities highlighted in theProgress Report include the incorporation ontoReachServices of existing online services and thedevelopment of high-value services in the social welfare,education, health and local government sectors. The NewConnections Second Progress Report (2004) outlines theconsiderable progress made in terms of e-government inIreland. The Report (2004) states that following theselection by the REACH agency of a preferred supplier todesign and build the Public Service Broker, the aim is tohave the Broker in place by defined target dates in 2004.

An OECD report (2003) illustrates that ‘the impact ofe-government at the broadest level is simply bettergovernment by enabling better policy outcomes, higherquality services, greater engagement with citizens and byimproving other key outputs’. The ISC report (2003) alsostresses this point that ‘by making intelligent use of ICTs,particularly the Internet, government can exploit the hugepotential of these technologies as a means of achieving bettergovernment’. Citizen centric provision of e-government is akey concept highlighted in the ISC report. This frees thecitizen from the need to understand the complex structures ofgovernment in order to deal effectively with it. The reportacknowledges that this also requires government to embracethe concept of a single integrated delivery channel to enablethe citizen to access the specific information or governmentservice required.

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The New Connections Progress Report (2003) highlightsthat the slow delivery of the Public Services Broker is thebiggest issue in the development of e-government. Thereport also calls attention to the fact that the continued delaywill adversely affect the development of online servicedelivery in agencies awaiting the shared components thatcomprise the Broker (registration, authorisation, personaldata vaults, process flow etc). The report also acknowledgesthat there is a general acceptance of the need to concentrateon the further development of e-government, beyond pureservice delivery, to encompass transformation of the policyand administrative processes. McDonagh (2002) emphasisesthat transforming the landscape is a strategic challengewhich involves focusing on the whole business change, notjust IT aspects. He underlines the importance of goodleadership and clear responsibility for IT-enabled change andalso adequate resourcing for the ‘soft’ aspects of change. Hestresses the need for excellence in programme and projectmanagement skills and also robust risk management, takinga business-wide rather than a project view. He emphasisesthe need for effective measurement and management ofbenefits and effective communication between stakeholders.Importantly, he affirms learning from experience and sharinglessons learned.

Launching joined-up services will call for innovationbeyond the scope of any single agency (E-Government: AStrategic Framework for Public Services in the InformationAge, 2000). The scale of organisation change required maybe beyond anything government has previously experienced(Electronic Government Services for the 21st Century,2001). The ISC report (2003) reiterates this point:

Fully-fledged e-government will be hard to achieve. Thehuge scale of government operations, the difficulties ofhandling the kind of private sector involvementincreasingly favoured for implementing major ITprojects, the requirement for thousands of efficientprocesses to be re-engineered if the technology is to beallowed to demonstrate its latent capability, and the sheereffort of cultural transformation, all make e-government

25


fundamentally more challenging than ICT deployment inthe commercial sector. To support these inter-agency developments, maximising

the use of shared services is an emerging government priority. Atthe request of the Taoiseach, an inter-divisional group was set upwithin the Department of Finance in late 2003 to study thepossibilities for sharing and pooling common services acrossdepartments and offices. There are many potential sharedservices which are likely to feature significantly in the comingyears.

3.2 ConclusionsA re-assessment of government policy with regard toe-government is taking place in the light of evolving economiccircumstances. The New Connections Progress Report (2003)has outlined the need to refine the target date for the delivery ofonline services: ‘In relation to the target of 2005 for the deliveryof online services, there is a need to refine that target to ensurethat optimum results are achieved in terms of effectiveness andimpact’. The minister with responsibility for e-governmentpolicy, in an interview in the Irish Times (Smyth, 2003) indicatesthat the government will in fact prioritise certain projects. Interms of future e-developments, cost control and value formoney aspects will be important factors in determining whetherprojects will be undertaken or not. Shared services are a growingfeature on the scene. The prioritisation of certain e-projects inthe next roll-out phase may augur well for a real ‘transformationin the way government operates’. It has been found in othercountries that the ‘think big, start small, scale fast’ approach toe-government has been successful rather than a ‘big-bang’approach. The targeting of specific projects over the next fewyears rather than a blanket development nationwide will enablethe pioneering projects/organisations to provide benchmarks/good practice examples for other organisations to follow;innovative processes may be refined and improved upon andalso lessons may be learned through information and knowledgemanagement which will enable the adoption of a moresuccessful incremental approach to e-government.

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Organisation change underpinned byICT developments: lessons from

practice

4

4.1 IntroductionThe aim of this chapter is to review experiences in respect ofthe implementation of organisation change using ICTdevelopments across the public service. The terms ofreference for this study outline as one of its key objectivesthe provision of a detailed examination of instances of goodpractice and leading practices within the public sector, inrelation to the organisation change dimension of adoptinge-government solutions. The choice of organisationsrequired careful consideration. It was recognised by theCPMR that it was important when selecting the organisationsto bear in mind the lessons that may be learnt from thesuccessful, but, also unsuccessful aspects of change projects.Furthermore, it was regarded as important that theorganisations reviewed would be in the process of, or haverecently implemented, their own modernisation programme.

As outlined in Chapter 1, six public sector organisationswere selected as good practice examples: the CivilRegistration Service Modernisation Programme; DonegalCounty Council and the Integrated Services Centres Project(ISCs); Land Registry Change Programme; Department ofSocial and Family Affairs Modernisation Project; the CivilService and Local Appointments Commission (CSLAC)Modernisation Project; and the Collector General’s Office,Office of the Revenue Commissioners. Information from thecase studies is presented in a common format to facilitate theidentification and comparison of common factors. Details of

27

Lessons from practice

the individual case studies are outlined in Appendices 1 to 6.Particular emphasis has been put on outlining the purposeand impact of the change, identifying the main drivers of,and barriers to, change and highlighting lessons learned inthe change process.

4.2 Drivers of ICT-facilitated organisation changeA number of important drivers was evident in theorganisations reviewed and these are outlined under specificheadings in this section.

4.2.1 Internal/external crisesSeveral of the cases studied started their modernisationprogrammes due to external or internal crises brought aboutby increasing demand and inadequate infrastructure to copewith that demand. For example, in the case of the CivilRegistration Service, a modernisation programme wasintroduced due to an antiquated record system, developmentsin technology and in people’s expectations in their dealingwith public services (GRO, 2001). The Civil RegistrationService modernisation programme received particularimpetus from the Department of Health and Childrenfollowing the medical card crisis over payments given todoctors for patients who were dead for many years, arising inpart from the outdated record system. Similarly, the LandRegistry commenced its modernisation programme becausethe paper-based system could no longer meet the demandsand expectations of customers. The roll out of the changeprogramme coincided with a boom in the property area witha doubling of workload from 85,000 to 160,000 applicationsfor registration per annum. The Civil Service and LocalAppointments Commission (CSLAC), likewise, introduced amodernisation programme due to a crisis in terms of thepaper-based system; service was not being delivered due toan increase in demand for competitions; there was lowmorale in the organisation; and clients were disgruntled atthe backlogs in filling posts and providing panels fordepartments and agencies. In the Collector General’s Office,

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the decentralisation of the Office to Limerick was viewed asan opportunity to adopt a radically new approach todelivering the core activities of the Office.

4.2.2 The influence of the public service modernisation agenda

The influence of the public service modernisation agenda(Strategic Management Initiative (SMI), Delivering BetterGovernment (DBG), Better Local Government (BLG)), wasseen by the majority of organisations consulted as a veryimportant driver in terms of providing a context for theimplementation of their specific modernisationprogrammes/reforms. The Civil Registration Service changeproject was closely aligned to one of the main modernisationthemes − closer inter-agency co-operation, in this case usingthe Public Services Broker model. Given that the CivilRegistration Service is a key element underpinning this inter-agency collaborative model, it was important to modernisethe Civil Registration Service by decentralising anddevolving responsibility to the local level that was enabledby ICT developments. Similarly, in terms of Donegal CountyCouncil and the ISCs, in the early 1990s there was pressurecoming from local and national level to improve theorganisation and delivery of services. The local pressuresderived from both staff themselves and the elected members.At a national level, the public service change programme(DBG, 1996) and the Information Society strategies toexploit new technology, to both connect government servicestogether and to connect the services to the customer, weredriving the national change agenda. These were furtheraugmented by national wage agreements, the LocalGovernment Act 2001, the introduction of new financialmanagement systems, the establishment of countydevelopment boards, the national development plan(2000-6), and the national spatial strategy (Mc Loone, 2003).In relation to the Department of Social and Family Affairs(DSFA), the convergence of a number of factors promptedthe department to redevelop its service delivery strategy,including the need to prioritise better customer service given

29


its importance in the public service modernisationprogramme; the commitment to electronic access to publicservices in the government’s action plan for the informationsociety; the need to ensure value for money in the use ofresources through improved efficiency and integration ofservices; the need for an improved working environment forstaff in the service delivery area; and the fact that existingcomputer systems were not capable of being adapted to meetthe developing requirements of government policy.

4.2.3 Strategic leadership and management commitmentThe role of strategic leadership and commitment of seniormanagement in implementing and sustaining the momentumof change is another important element highlighted byorganisations in initiating and sustaining the implementationof modernisation programmes. The change at the LandRegistry was overseen by the chief executive. Under the newleadership, a new vision and plan were drawn up withspecific objectives and targets on how to achieve them. Thechief executive selected the programme change steeringcommittee to co-ordinate and drive the development of newprojects and changes affected by the use of ICT systems. Allfunctional areas in the organisation were represented on thesteering committee. In the Collector General’s Office, aproject board comprising senior managers from the businessside and senior managers from the IT development teamoversaw developments. The board is chaired by the assistantsecretary in charge of the Office. In the DSFA, a servicedelivery modernisation programme board was established tooversee both the IT and organisation change projectsassociated with the introduction of the service deliverymodernisation programme. The board met on averagemonthly. The board was chaired by an assistant secretary ofDSFA and membership comprised an assistant secretary incharge of personnel, directors of IT services and long-termschemes and a representative from the Department ofFinance (CMOD). Reporters from this board providedfeedback to both the organisation change project managerand the IT project manager. In tandem with the board, an

30


organisation change project steering committee was set up,which was made up of the IT project sponsor, child benefit,long-term scheme management and management servicesrepresentatives, as well as IT and organisation change projectmanagers. Organisation change consultants reported to thecommittee. The service delivery model project board and theorganisation change steering committee were critical indriving the project forward. The organisation change projectwas seen as an absolute requirement to ensure that thedepartment got the full benefits of the investment in new ICTsystems.

In the CSLAC, the new chief executive set abouttransforming the organisation by introducing a new businessethos, setting out a vision for change and communicating thevision to relevant stakeholders. A series of consultations withclients took place to explain the overall predicament of theorganisation and to explain where the CSLAC should be, andto re-engineer the service around the customer needs.

4.2.4 Set out a clear vision incorporating the business case and desired future organisation structure

As noted above, the majority of organisations consultedoutlined the importance of setting out a vision andunderpinning this vision in an organisation redesignframework based on a business process re-engineering plan,to ensure that the objectives of the modernisationprogramme are carried out effectively. For example, the newmodernisation project aimed at delivering a high quality,proactive service to customers of DSFA was underpinned bylessons learnt from a business process re-engineering studyundertaken in 1996. A new service delivery modernisation(SDM) programme was developed by the departmentfollowing an extensive examination of how best to deliverservices in the future. Implementing the SDM involves alarge-scale multi-year programme of change using moderntechnology and business models to achieve thetransformation.

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In May 2001, a consultation document, Bringing CivilRegistration into the 21st Century, was published by theCivil Registration Service, to let stakeholders know how itproposed to modernise itself and to enable stakeholders toprovide feedback. The production of the Bringing CivilRegistration into the 21st Century consultation documentprovided a coherent vision of the desired change. Inparticular, the document located the technological changes inthe context of the wider modernisation of GRO services.There was thus clarity of the role technology would play infacilitating organisation and customer service change. Astrong business case for the change was made.

In the Collector General’s Office, the early developmentof a change management plan was seen as central to success.A key component of this plan is the elaboration of thebusiness changes to be realised from the project, and howday-to-day business processes will be altered by the newarrangements.

4.2.5 Good project managementAn important factor identified by organisations consultedwas the necessity for good project management proceduresto drive organisation change and e-government. In terms ofthe Civil Registration Service good project managementprocedures were followed. Monthly meetings of the steeringcommittee monitored the development of the change project.Reviews at the end of each important phase in the modelensured effective rollout of the model. Much of the work wasprogressed through four mini-projects: an organisationproject, a legislative project, an historical project and atechnology project. Each of these mini-projects had adesignated team leader. The steering committee oversaw theentire modernisation process. As there was significantoverlap between the four mini-projects, this allowed for thedevelopment of teamwork between both departments and theregional offices. The four mini-project leaders had to reportto the steering committee every 4-6 weeks about their plans,difficulties and risks. Similarly, a regional contact reported ateach steering committee meeting. In every health board,

32


implementation team meetings were held every six weeks,with good representation by general manager/assistant CEOlevel (chair), IT personnel, head of maternity services,hospital staff, superintendent registrar, HR, and a localtrainer. Every second or third meeting was attended by thedirector of the modernisation project and the project teamfrom Dublin headquarters would attend to discuss fundingissues and provide support.

The Land Registry used the business plan as a workingdocument to get funding. The projects were matched into thestrategy statement and strategies were written up foreveryone in a corporate data model. The IT system steeringcommittee, which is representative of functional areas of theorganisation, decided which projects were to be prioritisedand consequent resourcing issues. It was seen as important togive the steering committee this role rather than leave it tothe information systems (IS) unit. The IT system steeringcommittee won the approval of all sections and the ISsteering committee brought on board both avowedtechnology people and disbelievers thus avoiding groupthink and ensuring representation of different ideas. A factoridentified by the Land Registry in the successfulimplementation of the change programme is to have peopledesigning systems who are involved in the area, as thisensures acceptability of the change project. A projectmanagement approach was adopted and driven by the ITsystems steering committee and a formalised approach wasan important component in addressing potential industrialrelations issues and in determining expenditureprioritisation. To engender further innovations, an ideascommittee was established representative of all grades andstreams in the organisation to analyse ideas and recommendsuggestions for implementation.

4.2.6 Consultation with stakeholdersA crucial driver identified by the organisations consulted inthis study is the importance of involving all stakeholdersfrom the outset in modernisation programmes. Theorganisations consulted, from the outset of their

33


modernisation programmes, mapped out their stakeholders;following on from this, they produced consultationdocuments in association with staff and customers, provideda consultation forum (seminars, presentations, workshops) toexplain the change process. In the case of the CSLAC, theyset up a customer relationship management (CRM) unit tointernalise the needs of the customer. CSLAC advocate thatthe implementation of the change programme is onlysustainable if you continuously improve the services byconsulting with the customers about what they need andunderpin the process with up-to-date ICT systems. The CRMunit has enabled a new relationship to be developed withclients and has highlighted new opportunities for businessimprovements. The ICT systems have improved theefficiency of the service and enabled a new professionalimage and service to be designed around the client. Theestablishment of the CRM unit provided a single point ofcontact for the customer. It is a useful tool to gauge theneeds of the customer and address the internal problems ofchange in service delivery practices and structures; and toagree delivery standards and a mechanism for decidingpriorities. In the case of the Land Registry, coupled withinternal meetings with staff, there were a series of externalmeetings with customers, e.g. meetings nationwide with thelocal Bar associations. It was crucially important to marketthe change project to solicitors and accountants, to ensurethat a critical mass would use the new system, and to providean opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of the new systemto their businesses.

4.2.7 Comparative models/systems assessedMost organisations consulted derived their modernisationprogrammes from a range of international best practices andtheories, rather than basing their change programmes on anyone particular model. The Land Registry assessedcomparative systems in England, Canada and Australia whendesigning the online service delivery and organisationchange components of the change programme. No singlemodel of change was used, but rather a cross-fertilisation of

34


ideas garnered from Internet websites from Australia,Canada and England. Also an informal network of people inother countries (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland) wasestablished to obtain useful information, much of which wasdone by phone and this informal networking was used toinform progress. The model employed by the Land Registrywas a distillation of best international practice (subsequentlythe UK looked to the Land Registry’s model fordevelopments on the technical side). In terms of the DSFA,no specific model of change was used. The project has builton the experience gained from a business process re-engineering study carried out in 1996 which recommended a‘breakthrough’ approach, to fundamentally challenge theway long-term social welfare schemes are delivered in orderto dramatically improve service delivery. This approachrecommended multi-skilling of staff and a ‘once and done’approach to handling claims. Modern technology systemswere recommended as a key component to supporting thebusiness systems. Alternatively, in Donegal County Counciland the ISCs’ case, the new organisation structureimplemented was based inter alia, on a set of designprinciples influenced by the work of Elliott Jacques (1996)in his book Requisite Organisation − A Total System forEffective Managerial Organisation and ManagerialLeadership.

4.2.8 PartnershipPartnership provided a useful forum for testing new ideas inthe modernisation process. For example, a partnershipapproach facilitated open discussion of options to tackle theproblems reported by staff in Donegal County Council.Similarly, the establishment of an inter-agency partnershipwas a key factor in developing the ISC agenda. Change wasintroduced on both a pilot/interim basis and incrementally.This facilitated the build up of confidence betweenmanagement and trade unions to test new ways ofdeveloping continuous improvement programmes. Thepartnership model of working and the recent nationalagreement Sustaining Progress (2003) are seen as useful

35


mechanisms to assist in creating the conditions for this tohappen.

4.2.9 Piloted/quick winsA number of organisations introduced change on anincremental basis using a pilot version of the modernisationprogramme on a smaller scale prior to full implementation.This provided an opportunity to refine the model and also toalleviate any staff or union fears about the proposed changes.A number of quick-wins was seen by a number oforganisations as an important factor in selling the changeprogramme both to stakeholders and sometimes seniormanagement at the start. The Land Registry undertook abusiness process re-engineering exercise and staff wereinvolved in major retraining on a region by region basis. Thechange from paper-based searches to computer-based searchsystems was implemented on an incremental basis to achievebuy-in and a comfort factor during the initial phases of thechange programme. There was no formal ‘pilot’ as such inthis case, but change was implemented on a phased basis.

4.2.10 The presence of secure multi-annual fundingIn Donegal County Council and the ISCs’ project the multi-agency funding was an important element in driving themodernisation programme. Guaranteed provision of fundingover a number of years is seen as critical by the LandRegistry in terms of planning ICT projects.

4.3 Barriers to organisation change using ICT developments

4.3.1 Industrial relationsIn a number of organisations, there were delays inimplementing the modernisation programmes due toindustrial action. In the Civil Registration Service, therewere delays in going live on the pilot of computerisation dueto negotiations with the unions on willingness to carry out

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new work practices, despite the management stance thatcomputerisation would make the processing of work easierand also lead to upgrades for staff involved in the process. Inpractice, computerisation has meant additional workpractices being implemented and management citeefficiencies generated as additional staff are not required. Ifthe project were to be re-run, with hindsight, managementwould sit down with the unions at the start and spend moretime outlining the intended changes and their impact. But atthe time they were not aware that industrial relations issueswere going to materialise when they commenced themodernisation programme. A positive element is that sincethe industrial relations difficulties have been resolved, thesolutions apply nationally.

In the DSFA, industrial relations issues arose from whatwas initially a local dispute, which escalated into promotiondemands during implementation of the new systems. Thetechnology being used was very new, so there was asignificant learning curve and this caused some delay whichresulted in motivational issues. The implementation of newstructures in Donegal County Council required detailednegotiations with the unions, in the context of a nationallyagreed framework for the implementation of Better LocalGovernment, which itself required lengthy negotiationsbetween management and staff representatives. Similarly,there were competing priorities involving six differentunions with differing interests in Land Registry. In the earlystages of the change programme, the management teambenefited from the expertise of an external consultant and got‘buy-in’ by the majority of unions and others gradually cameon board. More recently, management relied on believingthat agreements that were signed up at the central level, suchas Sustaining Progress, would enable flexibilities for changeat a local level. In practice, the co-operation provided bythese agreements to cater for technical change and change inwork practice was only slowly translated at a local level.This resulted in protracted discussions with local unionrepresentation, who were not ad idem with management.

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4.3.2 Inter-agency/cross-departmental mechanicsA few organisations found cross section/department/agencyprojects difficult to manage due to the existing political,legislative and accountability frameworks which demandthat departments and agencies continue to work within theirown boundaries. In the Civil Registration Service, the inter-agency aspects of the modernisation project led to significantdiscussion and debate. As noted by Collins et al (2003):

While e-government is meant to present an integrated,borderless view of government to the customer, theexisting political, legislative and accountabilityframeworks demand that departments and agenciescontinue to work within their own boundaries. Thequestion was at what point did transferred data becomethe responsibility of the receiving agency and how wouldsystem failures, errors and fallout be dealt with? Theseissues arose during the development stage and solutionshad to be negotiated and agreed … there is a well triedand tested mechanism for assigning responsibility forcustomer data already set down in national and EU dataprotection legislation. In relation to the DSFA, in general, the experience of the

management is that cross section/department/agencyprojects are difficult to manage.

4.3.3 High expectationsInitially, in the CSLAC when the IT system was developed,there was a high degree of expectation about what the systemcould do. When the system went ‘live’ there was some initialdisappointment in terms of the technical problemsexperienced and the lack of a detailed application formavailable online. But, despite these disappointments, 30,000people registered initially when the online job applicationsservice was set up and the volume has increased as morecompetitions have been placed online.

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4.3.4 Reducing bureaucracy/setting out design principlesOne of the major challenges in designing the neworganisation in Donegal County Council was to reduce so-called bureaucracy or red tape. A number of questions wereset out at the design stage. How many staff are needed? Howmany levels of management are required? How should thisbe determined? What is the optimal relationship betweenpoliticians and officials? Organisation design principles wereemployed to address these questions and challenges. Theorganisation was restructured into four levels ofmanagement. This needed to be done within the constraintsof a national grading structure, and in effect, the new gradingstructure was ‘bolted’ onto the national grading structure. McLoone (2003) suggests that:

Among the major constraints to change in public servicesare: the rigid national pay and grading structuresincluding permanent/pensionable tenure of employment;rigid systems of recruitment, promotion and careerprogression; the lack of competition; the absence offlexibility in rewarding performance; and the highlycentralised nature of central government controls(decision making, control of funding systems etc.) Aconsequence of these constraints is that making realchanges in the organisation of public services is highlycomplex and painstakingly slow by comparison with thecomplexities of an organisation of similar scale in theprivate sector.

4.3.5 Distance factorTo some degree the distance factor was an issue in the DSFAmodernisation project as child benefit was located inLetterkenny, IT staff were located in Dublin and somemanagement and other staff involved were located in bothDublin and Sligo.

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4.3.6 Uncertainty with regard to fundingThe lack of predictability in guaranteed funding washighlighted by the Land Registry as a barrier that curtails theopportunity for multi-annual advance planning. Guaranteedprovision of funding over a number of years is seen ascritical in terms of planning ICT projects.

4.3.7 Change programmes are time consumingDonegal County Council and the ISCs project found that theimplementation of the modernisation programme has been avery time consuming exercise. Work has been ongoing since1998, to develop the model of the integrated service centreand of the e-government model of delivery being developedby REACH. Mc Loone (2003) notes that: ‘We are at thepoint of being able to develop in test mode the creation of asingle public service record from multiple records and to useone application form as the gateway to a full range of publicservices’.

4.4 Key learning pointsIn reviewing these organisations, a number of key learningpoints emerge.

A clearly articulated vision outlining the business case forchange and the desired organisation reformIt is important to set out a clearly articulated vision of theorganisation change facilitated by ICT developments that isproposed, and to ensure that this is embedded in theorganisation business plan. The vision needs to beactionable, supported by a strong business case for theproposed change, and indicating the desired organisationreforms to be achieved.

LeadershipStrong leadership is a key ingredient in driving the changeprocess. In the cases studied, change would not havehappened without the drive and initiative of the top

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management. But also vitally important were the projectteam and steering groups set up to oversee and implementchange. These teams provided local leadership.

Set out roles and responsibilities at the outset It is important at the outset to set out the roles andresponsibilities in a formal structure, particularly for cross-department developments. When implementing amodernisation programme, the management of the changeprocess becomes a lot easier if the standards and structuresare in place at the outset. The key ingredients arecommunication with all stakeholders, involvement at alllevels, and in the case of joint projects commitment by seniormanagement and strong governance to drive the project.Preparing the ground for organisation change well inadvance is vital. It is important to take steps to counter thedifficulty in achieving the multi-skilling of staff while at thesame time maintaining the day-to-day work activity. There isa confidence issue around new ways of working and the useof a new system, even for experienced staff, that impact onproductivity.

Map out stakeholders/consultationIt is important to map out stakeholders and involve them inthe modernisation process from the outset and to developnetworks, committees and steering groups as effectivechannels of communications at various stages in the project.Relationship building and trust building is an importantelement. This involves engagement with stakeholders, byensuring good project management supported by networkedgovernance frameworks and communities of practice − orinvolving the partnership process. The partnership processprovides an important tool to consult and discuss ideas andproposed changes in the organisation.

Quantify and demonstrate the benefits of the investmentThe importance of ensuring value for money by quantifyingthe benefits achieved through investment is advocated by the

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majority of the organisations consulted in this study. Variousassessment tools are employed by organisations to assess theimproved performance of their organisation, e.g. cost-benefitanalysis, business case model and demand analysis.

Comparative examples/modelsOrganisations measure the performance of their organisationusing three main benchmarks: firstly, comparing theirorganisation’s performance before and after themodernisation process; secondly, comparing the currentsituation with projected targets (forecasts) in coming years;and finally, comparing against a desired model of change orcomparative administrations or practices.

Time and patienceTime and patience are vitally important steps in relation tolarge-scale organisation change using ICT. It is oftenimportant to adopt an incremental approach to a changeprogramme. It takes time to change an organisation from anintroverted ‘the process must be right’ organisation to acustomer-focused organisation. It takes time to effectconfidence and morale in staff by management developmentprogrammes and empowering people through training andselecting the right team.

4.5 ConclusionsThe purpose of this chapter has been to set out examples ofhow a range of public sector organisations have sought tomodernise their approach to organisation change by adoptingICT solutions. The key lessons learned from theseorganisation change programmes provide useful indicatorsfor the generic guidelines/framework presented in the finalchapter. However, as Bovaird (2003) notes, the changeseffected by the e-revolution are only just beginning tobecome evident; he also emphasises that

While it seems likely that existing organisationconfigurations in the public sector will not besustainable, the most appropriate ways forward will only

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be uncovered through much experimentation withine-government and e-governance programmes. In thenature of experimentation, many of these initiatives willturn out to be unproductive or cost-ineffective − but, thatis perhaps the necessary price to pay for the level ofpublic sector transformation which now appears to be inprospect.

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5.1 The views of key informantsIn this chapter we focus on the issues and challenges fore-government and organisation development in the futureand proffer some suggestions advocated by key informantsinterviewed which they believe may facilitate an easiertransition.

The key informants who were consulted were asked torank in terms of progress of e-government (on a scale of 1-10 where one is poor and ten is good) where they seee-government, and consequent organisation change(e-enablement) in the public sector. The majority ofrespondents placed e-government and organisation change at2 on the scale.

Whatever their perception of the current reality, thepotential of e-government to transform the structures ofgovernment was viewed positively by all the respondents.Opportunities are seen to exist to create new informationframeworks, to increase quality and value for money bychanges in the administrative and policy processes and thequality of service delivery. E-government has the potentialto create mutually beneficial partnerships, to improve qualityand effectiveness and to streamline structures.

While e-government has led to automation of processes,accounting and HR change, and increases in personalproductivity, some informants question if it has given rise toserious organisation change, and if benefits have yet been

5Issues and challenges for

e-government and organisationdevelopment in the future

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fully executed. There is a need for a more holistic view in thepublic service to delivery channels and which services thestate will deliver and by what means e.g. the services thatwill be outsourced or delivered through public-privatepartnership, the potential for self-service options withminimum staff intervention (online provision of forms etc).Outsourcing is seen by a number of informants to provideadditional opportunities in implementing e-developments infinancial management, HR systems and in terms ofalleviating skills limitations within the public service. Asadvocated by Fountain (2001) in Building the Virtual State,the implementation of e-government and organisationchange has the potential to create a more agile public servicewith a more fluid structure and greater degrees ofspecialisation, including mobile specialisation or virtualgroups. Bovaird (2003) reiterates this point when hesuggests that organisation changes which can be effectedthrough e-revolution are only just beginning to becomeevident.

Some informants expressed strongly the need for abusiness case model for e-government development andorganisation change in Ireland. They advocate that thereshould be an obligation on organisations to set out a businesscase model to ensure effective transformation.

A number of key informants are concerned by thecustomer take-up rates for e-government services and feelthere needs to be greater awareness by government todevelop the most beneficial services to the public. Onlineservices involve enormous effort in marketing to achieve acritical mass. The ISC report (2003) recommends that thetargets for online delivery of government services by 2005should be based on measurable benefits. The report suggeststhat consideration should be given to exploring thepossibility of using innovative delivery models, includingprivate sector involvement, in progressing e-government. Italso advocates that appropriate incentives should bedeveloped to support cross-cutting projects.

In the opinion of a number of key informants, havingthree areas responsible for e-government development at the

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Issues and challenges

centre (REACH, Department of Finance and the Departmentof the Taoiseach) has diluted the drive of the e-governmentagenda. They see a need for greater central coherence. Toachieve vital success in driving e-government in the future,it is advocated by several key informants that there needs tobe a centre of leadership to clearly and visibly drive thee-government agenda and to achieve buy-in by publicservice leaders. To this end, the ISC report (2003) advocatesthat:

... government should consider creating a centralgovernment agency that has the expertise andinstitutional authority to lead and implement change.Such a central body could facilitate the implementationof e-government … and provide a focal point fore-government innovation, planning and oversight shouldbe considered. This would involve appropriate alignmentof the SMI and e-government initiatives to support acoherent overall approach to government modernisationand delivery of citizen-centric services.The ISC report (2003) also emphasises that governments

must regularly evaluate the progress and effectiveness oftheir e-government investments to determine whether statedgoals and objectives are being met on schedule. This is apoint reiterated by many of the key informants. Benchmarkscan include such quantitative measures as the number ofagencies and functions online, reduction in the number ofcomplaints about the level and quality of governmentservices, increased voter registration and/or turnout,increased citizen participation in consultations and commentproceedings, lower costs to government. This latter point,lower costs to government, is particularly important in thecontext of this study, as a number of informants emphasisedthat it enables more efficient and effective processing of thebusiness of government. A central message from informantsis that it is crucial that this potential is translated into reality.

A number of respondents emphasised that funding fromthe Information Society Fund should provide clearerspecifications/information for projects at the beginning. The

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fact that funding diminishes as the project evolves, the needto examine viability issues, and the targets/indicators oforganisation change required in terms of measuring returnson the investment − these should be specified from theoutset.

5.2 Key action points highlighted by key informantsA number of key points emerge from the views expressed:• There is a critical need for top-level leadership and

fragmentation of power at the centre if e-development is tosucceed.

• Citizen/customer needs are a key driver and must be takenseriously when developing e-government and organisationchange.

• There is a need to take a serious look at service deliverychannels, and examine the opportunities for shared services,outsourcing, partnerships and the like to create empoweredcross-government and enterprise taskforces to drive futuree-developments. Also, this review revealed a need for anexamination of the economic value of these projects.

• It is important to set out a clear business case fore-developments both locally and nationally. At theorganisation level, there is a need to embed ICTdevelopments and organisation change into a strategicbusiness model (vision, strategy, assess barriers/benefits,business plans with specific organisation change targets).The full impact of ICT developments will not be accrued byorganisations if imposed on old administrative structures. Ifthe full benefits are to be reaped, a clear strategy is neededto implement both organisation transformation and ICTdevelopment.

• It is important that government give a commitment to be areliable custodian of people’s information as information isused when developing data-sharing facilities, whenintegrating services across departments and agencies andwhen outsourcing information/services to third parties.

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Summary and Conclusions6

6.1 IntroductionAs can be seen from earlier chapters, establishing aneffective linkage between the introduction of e-governmentand organisation change can present significant challenges.It is dependent upon organisation culture and structure,corporate leadership and commitment, and the actualapproach taken to implement and sustain the momentum ofchange. What the literature and practice emphasise is thatthe full benefits of e-government are only realised when theintroduction of ICTs is accompanied by organisation change.The Information Society Commission (2003) states thate-government ‘has the potential to radically transform thepublic service and the citizen’s experience of it’ and ‘requiresa major re-organisation of current administrative processes.In that sense e-government is more about government thanabout “e”’.

The literature reviewed in Chapter 2 emphasises thepotentially mutual beneficial relationship betweenorganisation change and ICT investments. This point isemphasised by United Nations Thessaloniki CentreOccasional Paper Series (2002), which outline the potentialbenefits of e-government in the public sector: flatterorganisations with less hierarchical levels; the enabling ofdecentralised operations based on revolutionarycommunication technologies; the transformation ofhierarchical structures based on networks; the creation ofnew horizontal and strategic autonomous agencies etc.

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Evolving technology can radically affect publicorganisations not only by re-engineering current processesand structures but by also inducing fundamental changes tothe state’s strategic role. The provision of shared services(providing like activities in a standard way for severalorganisations) is also high on the government’s priorities. Inthe context of the government’s decentralisation programmein the coming years, such changes are likely to be necessaryto support the transaction of the business of government in asefficient a manner as possible in the more decentralisedenvironment.

Many organisations are also realising the importance ofnetworked governance and of communities of practice toensure that the knowledge and expertise required withinregional or decentralised structures are maintained and neworganisation structures facilitated by ICT (Intranets, online,e-mail, teleconferencing). Bovaird (2003) informs us that theproponents of radical redesign in public services suggestmajor rethinking − e-enable the right processes rather thanthe existing processes. He suggests that if this tendency weredominant, significant convergence would be likely to occurin the organisation structures and processes of publicagencies and public services.

Significant changes in the way government conducts itsbusiness are on the agenda. E-government and organisationdevelopment can and should be intimately linked. But theyare not necessarily so in practice. Why is there a gapbetween the rhetoric of change and the reality in manyinstances? If the benefits of e-government are to feedthrough into significant organisation transformation, whatneeds to happen?

Learning from the literature, the cases studied and thekey informant interviews, a number of key points emergefrom this study. Figure 6.1 illustrates the basic elements thatneed to be addressed in any e-enabled organisation changeprocess. Starting with the identification of key facilitators,there are a number of factors to take into account. Strategicleadership is clearly needed to drive the process and secureongoing commitment. The identification of a change agent

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Summary and conclusions50

Figure 6.1 Basic Elements in E-EnabledOrganisation Change

Key Facilitators

Strategic leadership

• Providing long-term commitment

Change agent

• Project manager/team

Change drivers

• Opportunity or crisis

Key Perspectives

Technical

• ICT applications Participatory

• Partnership

• Consultation

Cultural

• Managing inter- and intra-agency agendas

Key Stages

Developing the business case

• Organisation change targets

• Assessment of costs, benefits and risks

Project management

• Benchmarking

• Capacity-building

Implementation

• Experimentation

• Review and

evaluation

Successful E-Enabled Organisation Change

Source: Adapted from Boyle and Joyce, 1988


− the person or group primarily responsible for planning andimplementing change − is a vital task which needs goodselection and a clear mandate. Also, it is important toidentify overarching drivers of change, such as opportunitiesor crises, they may act as a ‘push’ or impetus to overcomeresistance.

In examining key perspectives of the change process, itis obviously important to consider the technical perspective;the changes to the tasks or activities to be carried out throughthe application of ICTs. But it is important also to be awareof the management of the participatory and culturalperspectives. The participatory perspective brings toattention issues such as the need for ongoing consultationand the use of a partnership process to facilitate change. Thecultural perspective ensures that, in implementing change,the impact on people’s underlying beliefs, values and normsare taken into account. This is particularly important whenthe change process involves different organisations that mayhave different cultural and normative frames of reference.

Finally, the management of the key stages in the changeprocess is crucial to ensuring successful organisation change.At the start, in terms of analysis and planning, it is vital thatthe business case for the change is developed. This needs tobe followed by good project management practices,including the building of capacity and capability to see thechange through. Implementation then requires a willingnessto experiment and a commitment to monitoring, review andevaluation so that actual results are constantly trackedagainst planned targets.

In applying these basic elements of e-enabledorganisation change, a number of factors driving successfulchange are particularly relevant in facilitating organisationtransformation arising from the introduction of ICTs. Theseare discussed in more detail below.

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Summary and conclusions

6.2 Ensuring organisation transformation: key factorsin promoting change

6.2.1 Identifying and using an overarching driver of change: creative use of a crisis and/or the modernisation agenda

The case studies examined outline a number of factors thatdetermine why and how organisation changes happen. Onesignificant factor is the presence of an overarching driver ofchange that stimulates the desired changes. One such driveris the modernisation agenda in the public sector, whichadvocates greater efficiencies at both intra- and inter-organisation levels. Another pertinent driver is reaction to acrisis generated by such factors as outdated structures, or oldtechnology systems which cannot cope with increasingdemands on services or meet growing customerexpectations. In some cases studied, both of these factorswere catalysts of change. Change agents can use such driversto leverage change. In particular, the embryonic linkagebetween pay and performance as part of the modernisationagenda at the national partnership level under SustainingProgress (2003) provides the basis for a strong incentive topromote e-government facilitated organisation change.

Bovaird (2003) identifies a number of other overarchingdrivers of ICT-enabled organisation change, including: agrowth in the theory and practice of customer relationshipmarketing, building up and using a much more detailedknowledge base in relation to clients’ needs, wants and likelyreactions to services offered; the development of holisticneeds assessment, based around clients’ desire for a betterquality of life (rather than better services); changing publicexpectations with respect to service quality; and newmethods of staff working, such as part-time working, flexiblehours etc. The key point here is that in using e-governmentto leverage change, it is important to make creative use ofoverarching drivers of change, whether these come in theform of crises or opportunities.

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6.2.2 Building a business case that includes planned organisation change targets

Several of the case study organisations and recent literaturehighlight another pertinent factor of change: the need for astrong business case both to underpin and crucially to outlinethe benefits of the change process. The use of plannedorganisation change targets sustains the momentum ofchange and ensures an incremental approach to changewithin organisations. The use of a business case model,assignment of an organisation change specialist/projectmanager to instigate a plan and oversee its phaseddevelopments and the use of milestones/indicators asbenchmarks of progress can all ensure a smoother changeprocess. Several key informants for this study advocate thatthere should be an obligation on organisations to set out abusiness case model to ensure effective transformation.

In developing the business case, shared services andoutsourcing may provide additional opportunities inimplementing e-developments, and in terms of alleviatingskills limitations within the public service. As advocated byFountain (2001) in Building the Virtual State, theimplementation of e-government and organisation changehas the potential to create a more agile public service with amore fluid structure and greater degrees of specialisation,including mobile specialisation or virtual groups. Whererelevant, any business case model for e-governmentdevelopment and organisation change should includeconsideration of such options as the potential role of sharedservices and outsourcing.

In terms of assessing the business case, theIntergovernmental Advisory Board (IAB) Report (2003)suggests a number of methods for assessing the impact of e-government projects:

The United States government requires the developmentof convincing business cases for large E-Gov programs,and for all cross-cutting E-Gov initiatives. Thesebusiness cases require extensive analysis of the costs ofeach alternative (including ‘do nothing’) for satisfying a

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business need weighed against the total benefits. Costs,benefits and risks of each alternative are evaluated in thecontext of the current situation. Potential fundingsources, sponsors, partnerships and synergies areconsidered. Market demand and promotions are alsoconsidered in developing a business case.

6.2.3 Providing strategic leadership and management commitment

A very important element of the change process involves thebuy-in and commitment of senior management to thetransformation process. The instigation of jointe-government/organisation development initiatives is amedium to long-term process and requires ongoingcommitment by management over a significant number ofyears. The importance of strategic leadership to sustain themomentum of the process cannot be undervalued in terms ofa successful outcome for the organisations examined in thisreport.

Leadership commitment to the change process is one ofthe most pertinent factors in terms of sustaining the changeprocess over the long term. This requires strategic leadershipat the top to set out a vision and provide the drive to ensureeffective implementation. Where organisations experiencedifficulties, this is usually evident where the communicationbetween management, staff and customers is unclear inrelation to the change process, where stakeholders are notconsulted about the proposed changes and where there is alack of top management buy-in to the change process in thepublic sector.

6.2.4 Ensuring and delivering effective project management(including benchmarking)

The importance of a structured approach to change isadvocated by the organisations we examined in this study. Atthe outset of the change process many organisationsestablished a project steering group or employed a projectmanager supported by the senior management team to

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instigate the change process. A multi-phased projectmanagement plan was implemented by most organisationsand benchmarks were either instigated at the outset or duringthe change process. These benchmarks should be related tothe organisation change targets set out in the business case.

Risk management is an important aspect of projectmanagement. The IAB Report (2003) points out that manyjurisdictions are undertaking portfolio analysis and riskassessment to assess the risk inherent in their e-governmentprojects as a whole:

A risk analysis considers the impact and probability thatspecific factors will impede the organisation’s ability torealise the benefits of an E-Gov program. These includethe risks of cost overruns, of technical obsolescence, orof becoming misaligned with political priorities. Theyalso include the risks that program managers will notleverage the technology or that the target audience willreject a program. Risks of security and privacy violationsmust also be assessed.As Bellamy and Taylor (1994b) note, a further

significant issue is ‘whether the technological capabilitiesfor informatisation are outstripping the organisational,political and managerial capabilities of constructing,controlling and regulating new information systems and newinformation flows’. As part of the project managementprocess, it is important that the capabilities of participantsare taken into account and plans to address limitations put inplace, through training and development supports,contracting out and so on.

6.2.5 Building inter-agency relationshipsThe introduction of new technologies has enabled greatercommunication flows and knowledge management withinthe public sector. This has enabled co-operation between andwithin organisations at a greater pace and level thanheretofore. The management and exploitation of these newcommunication flows necessitates a re-examination ofadministrative structures and location and may lead to a

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re-examination of the purpose of a number of public serviceorganisations. The efficiencies provided by the newtechnologies will engender a re-examination ofadministrative structures and location. This is important interms of regionalisation/decentralisation of organisationstructures where communication links will becomeparamount.

But Bellamy and Taylor (1994b) accept that ‘the veryprocess of informatisation disturbs inter- and intra-organisation relationships in ways that are not easilycontrolled and reordered’. They thus stress that, ‘if we areright in arguing that the modernisation of publicadministration depends on the effective exploitation of newinformation flows in government, then those factors whichinhibit this exploitation will also inevitably compromise therealising of the new public management’. In managingorganisation change arising from e-government, it isimportant to recognise that managing the inter-organisationaspects of change is at least as crucial as managing theinternal organisation arrangements.

6.2.6 Involving the main stakeholders (partnership-internal,consultation-external)

Most of the cases studied involved both the internal andexternal customer in the change process from the outset.Internally, the partnership model enabled the difficult issuesof change to be monitored and resolved on a regular basis ina consensus approach. A number of means were used toinvolve customers: creating a customer relationshipmanagement unit within the organisation; liasing with thecustomer in terms of gauging what needed to be changed tomeet their expectations; suggestion boxes; surveys; andcustomer feedback.

Lack of attention to human and organisation aspects aresignificant factors which can undermine ICT investments.The case study organisations in this report underline theimportance of partnership and involving the stakeholders atall levels in the process. Where organisations found

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difficulties related to implementation of new technologies orstructures it was often because the change was notcommunicated with staff at the outset. In some organisationsdifficulties arose with unions in terms of implementing newtechnologies and work practices in which staff demandedhigher remuneration for these changes. The case studyorganisations in this report emphasise the importance ofcommunicating and consulting with stakeholders from theoutset and a good example of allying staff fears in terms ofchange is the partnership process which can provide a forumto negotiate terms and conditions of new work practices,structures and processes.

6.2.7 Providing long-term commitmentTo facilitate the successful transformation of organisationsthere is a need to ensure commitment over the long term. Inthis context, it is difficult to sustain the momentum andcommitment of management and staff over a number ofyears unless there is a clearly laid out vision, a business planwith directional indicators, a partnership process to involvestakeholders and a drive and ‘buy-in’ by leadership to thecomplete process over the long term.

6.2.8 Encouraging experimentationBovaird (2003) points out that the organisation changeseffected through the e-revolution are only just beginning tobecome evident and that ‘the most appropriate ways forwardwill only be uncovered through much experimentationwithin e-government and e-governance programmes’. Thereturns on e-government investment may not be clearlyevident in the short to medium term. A certain amount ofrisk may be needed to fully realise the potential fortransformation of public services and to exploit theefficiencies which are possible through innovative structuresand technologies, and most importantly to ensure real qualityservice to the customer. These risks can be minimised byexperimenting with different approaches and mainstreamingthose that show significant benefits.

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6.3 ConclusionsA central message coming out of this study is thatorganisation change arising from ICT developments is farfrom being simply a technical issue. Introducing ICTs andassuming that changes in organisation culture and practicewill follow is a recipe for inertia and inaction. Rather,organisation changes arising from the introduction of ICTsmust be explicitly planned for. In this context, it is necessarythat those involved in the change process be aware of thebroader issues that need to be managed above and beyondthe introduction of ICTs themselves.

Figure 6.2 sets out critical issues of concern that need tobe borne in mind when introducing organisation changefacilitated by ICT developments into the workplace.

The governance and values parameters that inform theway business is done set the context for the change. If thereis to be success in driving e-government in the future, severalkey informants suggested, there is a need for a centre ofleadership to clearly and visibly drive the e-governmentagenda and to achieve buy-in by public service leaders. Tothis end, the ISC Report (2003), as noted in Chapter 5,advocates the creation of a central government agency tolead and implement change. Also helpful from a broadgovernance perspective would be the continuance of theexplicit linkage between pay and performance establishedunder Sustaining Progress (2003). Such a linkage can act asan important anchor for securing organisation change, whenlinked with verification of change. Organisation changeshould, in this context, be an explicit goal of ICT-enabledchanges arising as part of the modernisation agenda.Similarly, it would be helpful if the Information SocietyFund were to require targets/indicators of organisationchange in terms of measuring returns on the investment.

The ‘people’ box in Figure 6.2 highlights the need to getthe right people in place to manage the projects and bringabout change. As noted earlier, the change agent role is acrucial one. The current supports for policy analysts beingco-ordinated by the Centre for Management and

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E-government and organisation development 59


Organisation Development (CMOD) is aimed at producingstaff with skills and competencies that are appropriate to thischange agent role. Drawing on this expertise could facilitatesuccessful change.

The ‘process’ box is where the ICT developmentsthemselves are to the fore. ICTs can be used to promotefunctional integration within organisations and also acrossorganisations. The planning processes needed to supportICT-enabled change are also vital here, particularly the needfor the development of a sound business case and effectiveproject management, as outlined earlier. Projects should berequired to identify and enumerate the proposed benefitsarising from planned organisation changes arising from ICTdevelopment. Rationalisation of process and datamanagement is also required, with shared services beingused as appropriate to enhance efficiency.

Regarding policies and programmes, ICT-enabledchange will call for more administrative and programmeintegration: improving the design and co-ordination of arange of related administrative practices and operationalprogrammes to better meet service user needs. The fullimpact of ICT developments will not be gained byorganisations if they are imposed on old policy andprogramme structures and processes.

The ‘learning and accountability’ box highlights the needfor tangible measurement of ICT developments in terms oftheir value to society. The IAB report (2003) points out thatas the need for performance measurement and accountabilityhas increased, many jurisdictions are performing morecomplex and multifaceted analyses to determine the relativevalue of different e-government initiatives, includingbusiness case studies, portfolio analysis, risk managementand the balanced scorecard. Similarly, the ISC report (2003)suggested that governments must regularly evaluate theprogress and effectiveness of their e-governmentinvestments to determine whether stated goals and objectivesare being met on schedule. This includes organisationchange goals and objectives. This requires, for example,personnel or efficiency savings targets to be clearly

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enunciated at the business case development stage and cleartargets set for their achievement during implementation.

Finally, with regard to quality service delivery, there is aneed to take a serious look at service delivery channels andexamine the opportunities for outsourcing, partnerships andthe like to create empowered cross-organisation and inter-organisation relationships that more effectively addressservice user needs. The configuration and re-configurationof organisations will be affected by ICT-enabled change.Such issues are particularly important in the context ofdecentralisation.

To summarise, transforming the organisation landscapeis a strategic challenge that involves focusing on the wholebusiness change, not just the ICT aspects. In this light,McDonagh (2002) re-emphasises many of the points made inthis study. He underlines the importance of good leadershipand clear responsibility for ICT-enabled change and alsoadequate resourcing for the ‘soft’ aspects of change. Hestresses the need for excellence in programme and projectmanagement skills and also robust risk management, takinga business-wide, rather than a project, view. He emphasisesthe need for effective measurement and management ofbenefits and effective communication between stakeholders.Importantly, he affirms learning from experience and sharinglessons learned. What needs to happen now is that thelessons from these experiences are learned and that thepotential organisation transformation benefits of ICTs aremade a widespread reality.

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Appendices: case study organisations

As outlined in the terms of reference for this study, six publicsector organisations were selected as good practiceexamples. These case studies were used to identify: thecontext for their achievements to date; the constraintsexperienced in implementing change; and to provideguidelines for other organisations who may embark upon achange programme. The majority of organisations assessedimplemented their organisation change programmes utilisingICT developments against the background and impetusprovided by the overall public sector modernisation agenda.

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Appendix OneCivil Registration Service Modernisation

Programme

Description of the e-government/OD change and the impactit has hadThe Civil Registration Modernisation Programme is a jointproject between the General Register Office (GRO) and theDepartments of Social and Family Affairs (DSFA) andHealth and Children (DoHC). Civil registration involves therecording of life events − births, stillbirths, deaths,marriages, and adoptions − of people in the state. There areapproximately 104,000 events registered, 400,000certificates produced and 1.2 million searches/enquiriescarried out each year (GRO, 2001).

The civil registration system was first introduced inIreland in 1845 and while the registration procedureshave remained largely unchanged since then, there wasan acknowledgement that the civil registration servicerequired an overhaul of the registration system andlegislative framework to reflect the significant changesin society, developments in technology and in people’sexpectations in their dealings with public services (GRO,2001).Historically, there was a widespread perception of the

civil registration service as the ‘Cinderella’ of the healthservice, as it was not in the cut and thrust of acute medicalcare. But, following the controversy over the payments in themedical card system given to doctors for patients who weredead for many years, the importance of having a newcomputerised civil registration system was recognised. Acomputer search took a few minutes to distill a list ofmedical card holders in each area compared to the old systemof manual searching of ledgers where it would have takenmonths. The importance of the modernisation programmereceived greater impetus from the Department of Health andChildren following the medical card crisis. The new civilregistration computer system was linked to the hospital and

Appendix One

community care patient information management system(PIMS) as a result of the medical card controversy.

The modernisation of the civil registration service is alsoan important component underpinning the integration ofpublic service delivery and e-government objectives ofproviding more convenient access to information andservices:

... to facilitate the delivery of quality customer servicesby civil and public service organisations and to achievegreater efficiency in the use of resources, as required byGovernment, it is proposed to share registered life eventdata with Government Departments and Agencies whohave a proven requirement and legal authority for same,e.g. Passport Office, DSCFA, Health Boards etc. Thisshould significantly reduce the requirement forcertificates across the public service and reduce the needfor a person to provide the same information to severalGovernment Departments/Agencies. The new body ofcivil registration legislation will provide statutory coverfor the notification of life events to the relevantGovernment Departments/Agencies. (GRO,2001) A consultation document, Bringing Civil Registration

into the 21st Century, was published in May 2001, to letstakeholders know how it was proposed to modernise thecivil registration service (CRS) and to enable stakeholders toprovide feedback. Following on from this, the governmentapproved expenditure of some €8.9 million for themodernisation programme.

The new organisation structure aligns with and supportsthe framework for the CRS of the future, based on eightdesign principles (legal adequacy, customer friendly, stafffriendly, accuracy, privacy, standardisation, efficiency andpaper-free). The organisation structure for the new CRS isframed having regard to two fundamental roles: themanagement of the CRS is to be carried out at the CRSheadquarters and service provision is to be carried out by thehealth boards. The organisation design focused oncentralising common functions to GRO headquarters, to

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maximise economies of scale. The GRO headquarters willoperate in Dublin until such time as new premises areavailable in Roscommon. Job descriptions have beendeveloped aimed at clear understanding of roles and respon-sibilities at all levels of the organisation structure. Inaddition, clear reporting lines have been put in place toensure that the relationship between the health board staffand GRO headquarters are defined and agreed.Responsibility for certain decisions, e.g. late registration, re-registration and amendments, has been devolved tosuperintendent registrars (GRO, 2000).

The modernisation programme was piloted in the GROoffice in Cork. The new computerised GRO system wastested in the Cork office before roll-out to other regions. Allstaff were trained on the use of the electronic system. Of thethirty-one staff in the Cork office, twenty-one were upgradedas a result of new work practices. To register an event underthe new system, people are requested to volunteer theirpersonal public service number (PPSN) and to use digitalsignatures; this data activates other ancillary services(entitlements, services). An interface transmits the datacaptured by GRO in Cork to the Central Statistics Office(CSO) in Cork. This new electronic system takes papercertificates out of the system, with electronic data using thePPSN as an identifier coupled with digital signaturesreplacing the paper certificates. This will have an impact onmany services, e.g. benefit entitlements, applying forpassports etc. As a new departure, a registrar was placed inone of the Cork maternity hospitals to capture event dataautomatically on a computerised system, e.g. a baby born inthe middle of the night will have a PPSN automaticallyallocated electronically the following morning and this willalso trigger automatic benefit entitlements.

The next phase of the modernisation programmeinvolves the development of an online system where userswill be able to purchase certificates and conduct searchesover the Internet. This online service is intended to providea useful source of funding for further developments.

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Appendix One

The main organisation and customer service changesarising from the modernisation programme are:

• The use of modern technology is facilitating changes inthe way work is organised and managed, and in the rolesand responsibilities of management and staff.Procedures have been streamlined and authority anddecision-making functions delegated. For example, aclerical officer from headquarters who has volunteered todecentralise to Roscommon has been trained to deal withbusiness type enquiries on the helpdesk (businessenquiries, service provider and IT) in the Roscommonoffice.

• Electronic production of certificates will enablecustomers to obtain a certificate or register an eventlocally, anywhere in Ireland, compared to the currentrestriction of visiting the GRO district office orheadquarters. Associated with the change in practice isorganisation change, involving the devolution ofresponsibility to the local level in terms of amendment ofa record and recognition of certain divorces.

• The computerised system will ensure immediate captureof data electronically regarding births and deaths, byappointed registrars who will record data in localhospitals. Using electronic registration of births providesautomatic allocation of a PPSN and this triggers theallocation of ancillary entitlements such as child benefitto the family. When the first child is born a claim formmust be completed but, thereafter, each child born willreceive benefit payments automatically.

• The electronic recording of data enables data sharingbetween departments and agencies and will enableancillary services to automatically activate around a lifeevent, e.g. initiation of child services such asimmunisation, health services. REACH will provide theinter-agency messaging service based on life events data.The modernisation of the civil registration service willtake much paperwork out of the system, for example if a

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Appendix One

person is applying for a passport, the passport officeshould not have to check for a paper birth certificatebecause electronic data will be on the system.

• In terms of sustainability and viability of themodernisation project, the computerisation of the civilregistration service will enable the development offamily research facilities over the Internet, a fee-payingservice that will generate revenues from Irish peopleboth at home and abroad who are tracing genealogy.

• The computerisation process has enabled thedecentralisation of the GRO headquarters from Dublin toRoscommon and enables greater efficiency in terms ofresources and services.

Drivers of changeA director was appointed to manage the modernisationproject, with full support and commitment from the projectmanagement steering committee, the management teamsfrom both departments and the directors of the health boards.The GRO management was very supportive, enthusiastic andcommitted to the project. A number of drivers wereinfluential in enabling the modernisation project to workeffectively:

• At the most basic level, there was widespread and sharedrecognition that the old, largely paper-based and manualsystem of registration of life events and exchange ofinformation between the GRO and other agencies wasinadequate to meet current and future needs. Themedical card controversy was a prime example of theoutdated nature of the service. This was a significant‘push’ factor.

• The production of the Bringing Civil Registration intothe 21st Century consultation document provided acoherent vision of the desired change. In particular, thedocument located the technological changes in thecontext of the wider modernisation of GRO services.

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Appendix One

There was thus clarity of the role technology would playin facilitating organisation and customer service change.

• At the start of the change project, the stakeholders weremapped out and a consultation process was initiated withstaff at every level. Effective communication tools(consultations, briefings, reviews, staff newsletters) wereemployed, and underpinned by a strategy tocommunicate the changes to ensure the support andcommitment of staff and key stakeholders. Key successfactors were ownership of the change process andinvolvement of stakeholders from the start, coupled withan effective communications strategy that enabled thesuccessful implementation of the modernisation project.

• Good project management procedures were followed.Monthly meetings of the steering committee monitoredthe development of the change project. Reviews at theend of each important phase in the model ensuredeffective rollout of the model. The steering committeewas made up of members from DSFA, DoHC,Department of Finance, and the Local GovernmentComputer Services Board. Much of the work wasprogressed through four mini-projects: an organisationproject, a legislative project, a history project and atechnology project. Each of these mini-projects had adesignated team leader. The steering committee oversawthe entire modernisation process. As there wassignificant overlap between the four mini-projects, thisallowed for the development of teamwork between bothdepartments and the regional offices. The four mini-project leaders had to report to the steering committeeevery 4-6 weeks about their plans, difficulties and risks.Similarly, a regional contact reported at each steeringcommittee meeting. In every health board,implementation team meetings were held every sixweeks, with good representation by a generalmanager/assistant CEO level (chair), IT personnel, headof maternity services and hospital staff, thesuperintendent registrar, HR, and a local trainer. At every

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Appendix One

second or third meeting, the director of themodernisation project and the project team from Dublinheadquarters would attend to discuss funding issues andprovide support.

• Another key driver for change was the generale-government and public service modernisation agenda.In particular, the change project was closely aligned toone of the main modernisation themes − closer inter-agency co-operation, in this case using the PublicServices Broker model. Given that the civil registrationservice is a key element underpinning this integrative,inter-agency collaborative model, it was important tomodernise the civil registration service by decentralisingand devolving responsibility to the local level, enabledby ICT developments.

• Outlining the scope of change early on in the process toall stakeholders, nationally, enabled the management ofthe project. This involved defining the businessrequirements for the technology and organisationchanges coupled with a number of successful ‘quickwins’ using pilots to test the systems before going ‘live’.

• The tailored training programmes, the fast uptake bystaff of the new systems and the successful use of thenew systems using digital signatures by the public,ensured that the pilot trials of the computer system weresuccessful.

Barriers to change and how these were overcomeThere were a number of barriers at different stages of theproject:

• There were delays in going live on the computerisationpilot due to negotiations with the unions on willingnessto carry out new work practices, despite the managementstance that computerisation would make the processingof work easier and also lead to upgrades for staffinvolved in the process. In practice, computerisation has

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Appendix One

meant additional work practices being implemented andmanagement cite efficiencies generated as additionalstaff are not required. If the project were to be re-run,with hindsight, management would sit down with theunions at the start and spend more time outlining theintended changes and their impact. But at the time theywere not aware that industrial relations issues were goingto materialise when they commenced the modernisationprogramme. A positive element is that since the industrialrelations difficulties have been resolved they applynationally.

• There was a lack of basic computer skills among staffand a fear of change. This resulted in a tailored trainingprogramme being rolled out in each region.

• The inter-agency aspects of the modernisation project ledto significant discussion and debate. As noted by Collinset al (2003):

While egovernment is meant to present an integrated,borderless view of government to the customer, theexisting political, legislative and accountabilityframeworks demand that departments and agenciescontinue to work within their own boundaries. Thequestion was at what point did transferred databecome the responsibility of the receiving agencyand how would system failures, errors and fallout bedealt with? These issues arose during thedevelopment stage and solutions had to be negotiatedand agreed … there is a well tried and testedmechanism for assigning responsibility for customerdata already set down in national and EU dataprotection legislation.

• The delays in roll-out of the Public Services Broker andthe need for it to come on stream were emphasised interms of future development. Participants in themodernisation project felt REACH was very slow andthat they were a long time ‘reaching for REACH’.

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Appendix One

Main lessons learned in terms of using e-governmentinitiatives to bring about real organisation changeIn joint or multiple projects it is important to ensurecommitment from senior management at the start, coupledwith a strong governance structure to deal with the variouscomponents and myriad of multi-agency meetings (e.g.GRO, REACH, CSO and DSFA).

It is important to map-out stakeholders and involve themin the process from the outset and to ensure networks,committees and steering groups are effective channels ofcommunication at various stages in the project. In thiscontext, the need for a clear vision of the desired change, asarticulated in Bringing Civil Registration into the 21stCentury, provides the vehicle for stakeholder engagementand commitment.

It is also important at the outset to set out in a formalstructure the roles and responsibilities for cross-departmentaldevelopments. As part of the whole change process it isvitally important to consult with staff and customers, to getbuy-in to the change model and to have effective projectmanagement of the process. It is important to define thescope of change early on in the process, so that you can‘manage the beast’ and this involves defining the businessrequirements for the technology and organisation changes,coupled with a number of successful ‘quick wins’ usingpilots to test the systems before going ‘live’

When implementing a modernisation programme, if thestandards and structures are in place at the outset then themanagement of the change process becomes a lot easier. Thekey ingredients are communication with all stakeholders,involvement at all levels and, in the case of joint projects,commitment by senior management and strong governanceto drive the project. The integration, connectivity andre-organisation are underpinned by the ICT changes.

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Appendix TwoDonegal County Council and the Integrated

Services Project

Description of the e-government/OD change and the impactit has hadIn the early 1990s there was pressure coming from local andnational level to improve the organisation and delivery ofservices. The local pressures derived from both staffthemselves and the elected members. Two local reports(Reference: Engineers’ Working Party Report and IPAReport) were prepared which outlined the problemsidentified by staff and elected members and how they shouldbe resolved. Administration was viewed as verybureaucratic. Cthe administrative structure was viewed asvery bureaucratic due to lack of communication across theorganisation which was reflected in less effective customerservice provision. At a national level, the public servicechange programme (Delivering Better Government, 1996)and the Information Society strategies to exploit newtechnology to connect government services together and toconnect the services to the customer were driving thenational change agenda. These were further augmented bynational wage agreements, the Local Government Act 2001,the introduction of new financial management systems, theestablishment of county development boards, the nationaldevelopment plan (2000-6), and the national spatial strategy(Mc Loone, 2003).

In 1995, the Donegal county manager established aproject team to assess the possibilities for organisationchange prior to the rollout of a service decentralisationprogramme. In 1996, the government published Better LocalGovernment: A Programme for Change (BLG) outlining theagenda for the modernisation of the local governmentsystem. BLG advocated the development of one-stop-shopcentres to serve as focal points for the delivery of customer-oriented public services. Also, in April 1996, the countymanager outlined a proposed programme for change. This

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Appendix Two

organisation change programme was underpinned by thefollowing crucial objectives:

• to create a new organisation designed around a clearstructure of accountability for getting work done;

• to decentralise the delivery of the front line services tothe electoral areas and to devolve authority for decisionmaking in relation to individual customers or situationsto front line managers;

• to establish electoral area committees with politicalaccountability for delivering council work programmesand services in each electoral area;

• to establish the local authority as lead partner forintegrating the delivery of other public services aroundthe needs of citizens and for co-ordinating the work oflocal development;

• to create and sustain modern systems of financial,operational and service planning to achieve value formoney in pursuit of agreed standards of service. (McLoone, 2003)The county manager proposed to drive this programme

of change with the assistance of a dedicated project team andchange management budget over a period of 5-7 years. Itwas decided to decentralise council services to districtoffices based in the six electoral areas in the county.Subsequently, in July 2001 a partnership was formedbetween Donegal County Council, the North Western HealthBoard, the then Department of Social Community andFamily Affairs, and FÁS to appoint a project manager toexplore the possibilities of utilising the framework of thePublic Services Broker (PSB) to develop integrated inter-agency services to citizens. The intention was that integratedservice centres (ISCs) be established to enable the customerto access information, advice and services across multiplechannels and multiple agencies at a single point (DonegalCounty Council, 2002(a), 2002(b), 2001).

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Appendix Two

The majority of the key objectives outlined in 1996 havebeen achieved. As of April 2004, services have beendecentralised to five new electoral area offices, with oneaddition to be provided. Donegal has been selected as thenational pilot site to model and test how integrated publicservices can be delivered to customers. Much progress hasbeen made in creating the conditions for pilot testing. A newmanagement and accountability structure has been put inplace in which managers are fully accountable for all aspectsof delivering the service (financial, human resource, qualityof customer service etc) (Mc Loone, 2003).

As well as these overall inter-agency developments, thework of Donegal County Council has been divided intoseven different directorates and into four levels ofmanagement. The four levels of management representdifferent levels of decision making and responsibility.Another fundamental aspect of the design is that ofmanagerial roles and accountability. In the old structureaccountability was divided between professional andtechnical work, administrative work, finance work, humanresource work etc. In the new structure, each managerial rolehas accountability for all aspects of the work of the staff forwhom the manager is accountable. As a result, the newstructure distinguishes the managerial roles from other rolesin the grading structure. The council employs over 1,000people. Around fifty now have managerial accountability forthe work of others, i.e. on average one manager isaccountable for the work of twenty persons (Mc Loone,2003).

Mc Loone(2003) also notes other perceived beneficialimpacts from the change:

• The systems of decentralised service delivery anddevolved decision making are making services and staffmore accessible and are achieving other improvementssuch as clear accountability for getting work done,enhanced cross-service collaboration, greateraccessibility to managers and staff for customers andmembers, sharper focus on costs and improvements in

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Appendix Two

the quality of services. A broad range of local authorityservices is delivered from local offices and the decisionmakers (area managers) are located in these area offices.Communication between service managers around theneeds of particular towns, villages or rural areas is muchspeedier with face to face contact reducing the need forpaperwork or long vertical lines of communication.

• The local authority has taken a lead role in partnering theprovision of a wide range of public services from thesenew public service centres. This is helping to connectgovernment to people through connecting the publicagencies together. The data collected to date on the usageof these services demonstrates a high level of take up andsatisfaction with the services. From January 2003 toDecember 2003, the public services centres recorded30,000 customers visiting the offices and 120,000telephone calls.

• There is seen to be potential to have increasedproductivity and to reduce unit costs, as accountablemanagers begin to use the new financial managementtools to target cost reductions, productivity and improvedquality. Donegal County Council and the Integrated Services

Project are in the process of setting out a business case modelfor the next phase in their development. Managementemphasises that the project has to date achieved a co-ordination of agencies under the public services centres butthat the next phase will involve a move towards greaterintegration through a business process re-engineering andmapping exercise. Now that the structure, agencies andcentres are in place, the next phase is intended to fullydevelop the business case model for the integration ofservices.

Drivers of change

• Clear strategic leadership: The county manager selecteda project team to co-ordinate the development of new

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Appendix Two

management structures to more effectively support thedelivery of decentralised services and to developintegrated service centres in close partnership with theagencies. An inter-agency project board was establishedin 2000 and a project manager appointed. Project leaderswere assigned in the principal participating agencies.

• Well planned and soundly based structural re-organisation: An international organisation specialistwas employed to assist with the design of the frameworkfor the new organisation structure within the council,based on the levels of complexity of work cross-referenced by the capabilities of employees. Thestructure implemented was based on the principlesoutlined by Elliott Jacques (1996) in his book RequisiteOrganisation − a system for effective managerialorganisation and managerial leadership. ICTdevelopments enabled an electoral area model ofdecentralisation to underpin the new managementstructures (Donegal County Council, 2001).

• Corporate commitment: An important element of thenew decentralised structures is the strong corporatecommitment from the senior management team in thecouncil, together with the elected members. Activesupport has also been forthcoming from most seniormanagers in the partner agencies.

• Fast delivery at a local level: Using the ‘start small,think big, scale fast, approach the majority of ISCs havebeen set up. The process started with a small number ofservices provided by the partner agencies and DonegalCitizens Information Service, gradually addingparticipating agencies and services.

• Stakeholder involvement: From the outset staff wereinvolved in the process, and ongoing use of thepartnership model as a vehicle for planning andconsultation was another important factor (DonegalLocal Authorities, 2001). The involvement of staff at theproject initiation stage is seen as an effective way of

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Appendix Two

eliminating the conception-reality gap betweeninstigation of reform projects and final deliverables.

• Funding: Funding sources for the ISCs include DonegalCounty Council, the ERNACT project between Donegaland County Derry local authorities, Department of theEnvironment, Heritage and Local Government,Comhairle and the Department of Social and FamilyAffairs in relation to piloting REACH and thepartnership agencies.

Barriers to change and how these were overcome

• One of the major challenges in designing the new councilorganisation was to reduce so called bureaucracy or redtape. A number of questions were set out at the designstage: How many staff are needed? How many levels ofmanagement are required? How should this bedetermined? What is the optimal relationship betweenpoliticians and officials? Organisation design principleswere employed to address these questions andchallenges, but it is still a time-consuming and difficultexercise.

• The council was restructured into four levels ofmanagement. This needed to be done within theconstraints of a national grading structure, and in effectthe new grading structure was ‘bolted’ onto the nationalgrading structure. This presented significant challengesand affected the pace of change.

• ICT enables the possibility of introducing longer openinghours and weekend openings but these are issues thatrequire negotiations with the trade unions. Theimplementation of new structures in Donegal CountyCouncil required detailed negotiations with the unions, inthe context of a nationally agreed framework for theimplementation of BLG, which itself required lengthynegotiations between management and staffrepresentatives. This facilitated the build up ofconfidence between management and trade unions to test

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Appendix Two

new ways of developing continuous improvementprogrammes. The partnership model of working and therecent national agreement Sustaining Progress (2003)are seen as useful mechanisms to assist in creating theconditions for this to happen.

• It has been a very time consuming exercise to developthe model of the integrated service centre and of thee-government model of delivery being developed byREACH. The amount of time such large-scale changeprogrammes take should not be underestimated.

Main lessons learned in terms of using e-governmentinitiatives to bring about real organisation change

• Strong leadership is a key ingredient in driving thechange process. In Donegal, change would not havehappened without the drive and initiative of the countymanager and other key leaders. The project manager andinter-agency project board have initiated core workprogrammes such as service re-engineering studies,analysis of means tested services, contact centrefeasibility studies and data analysis of common clientinformation (Sheridan, 2003).

• A clearly articulated vision of the organisation changerequired is a key driver. In this case, the use of theorganisation change model advocated by Jacques (1996)in Requisite Organisation provided a sound theoreticaland practical basis for re-thinking the councilorganisation structure in the light of ICT-enabled servicedecentralisation.

• There is a need for buy-in locally and by other agencies,to provide a critical mass to further develop theintegration of services. The engagement of additionalagencies in the process is also important, in terms ofdeveloping co-ordinated shared services and commonmeans-tested services across agencies. The developmentof integrated services offers the customer a singe point ofcontact for a variety of services.

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Appendix Two

• Communication and consultation with all stakeholders isimportant. Relationship building and trust building isimportant. This involves engagement and involvementwith stakeholders, not just consultation. It is cruciallyimportant to provide strong leadership coupled withpartnership building so as to minimise the chances ofstaff feeling threatened by the change. It is also importantto be adept at gauging the pace of change and thisinvolves having a vision but also having a realisticapproach towards achievement. Gradual implementationof a plan enables people to feel comfortable with changebecause things are being taken in steps.

• It is important to quantify and demonstrate the benefits ofthe €40 million investment in the provision of newbuildings, ICT and the organisation change project. Thiswas done by undertaking a cost-benefit analysis, demandanalysis and qualitative analysis to assess improvedefficiency, and to test access and convenience to publicservices for the customer on the ground. Analysis of thesavings should include an assessment of a more effectivehuman and financial resources structure, designed toapportion responsibility at the appropriate level.Analysis is also needed of the benefits of integratedservices in terms of providing a choice of accesschannels and the efficiencies generated by reduction ofduplication of activities between agencies.

• Time and patience are vitally important steps in relationto large-scale organisation change using ICT: ‘One clearlesson from our work is that these changes take time. Ithas taken seven years of sustained effort to get this far −it may take another seven to realise our vision ofintegrated public service provision to citizens’ (McLoone, 2003).

ReferencesMatiral provided by management in Donegal County Counciland Donegal Integrated Services Project.

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Appendix ThreeLand Registry

Description of the e-government/OD change and the impactit has hadThe Land Registry provides a system of registration of titleto land, carrying a state guarantee. The main customers ofthe land registry are lawyers, professional law searchingfirms, financial institutions, public corporations, localauthorities and private firms.

The organisation change programme assessed hereinvolved revising the organisation structure and changingfront-office and back office services. Business processredesign (BPR) was used to help structure the changeprocess. As a result, senior management numbers remainedstatic, there was an increase in middle management/executive grades due to increased work, and routine dulltasks for clerical staff were reduced. Clerical staff were giventhe opportunity to retrain to executive officer/higherexecutive officer level. The re-skilling of staff was enabledby the implementation of new technology systems.

The change programme was initiated at a senior level. Itwas to some extent crisis driven as the paper-based systemcould no longer meet the demands and expectations ofcustomers. The fee paying customers expected more fromthe service than it was delivering. There was low morale inthe organisation and management had to look for a morestrategic way of delivering services. Roll out of the changeprogramme coincided with a boom in the property area witha doubling of workload from 85,000 to 160,000 applicationsfor registration per annum. With the increase in volume ofwork, the old paper-based system would have been unable tocope with demand. In the past, staff numbers would havebeen increased to cope with the problem and, in thissituation, senior management estimate that staff numberswould have doubled to deal with volumes based on the oldsystem of work. But, the introduction of ICT-based access,imaging and information systems enabled only a 20-25 per

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cent increase in staff accompanied by 100 per cent increasein work volume.

The change programme was overseen by the chiefexecutive. Under her leadership a new vision and plan weredrawn up with specific objectives and targets on how toachieve them. Because there was limited technologicalexpertise in-house, at the outset, consultants were brought into advise on and assist in drawing up a plan. A changeprogramme steering committee was established, comprisingthe chief executive as chairperson, a Department of Financerepresentative and representatives from te Land Registry’smain stakeholders (lawyers, professional law searchingcompanies, local authorities and private firms).

The change programme provides a blueprint for project-based change. Since 1990 thirty three projects have beenintroduced. The change programme took place in the contextof a review of the overall business strategy for theorganisation, as developed through the strategy statementand business planning process. The business plan is aworking document and was used to help get funding. Theinternal stakeholders, after some initial concerns, bought intothe change programme once they had obtained clarity fromthe consultants and were assured that the vision or plan thatwas to be implemented was aligned to the organisationstrategy statement and business plans. To allay union fears,management held communication consultation sessions withthe unions and all internal stakeholders.

The IT system steering committee, which isrepresentative of functional areas of the organisation,decides which projects are to be prioritised and theconsequent resourcing issues. It was seen as important togive the steering committee this role rather than leave it tothe Information Systems (IS) Unit. The steering committeewon approval of all sections and brought on board bothavowed technology people and disbelievers, this latter toavoid group think and to be representative of different ideas.A factor in the successful implementation of the changeprogramme is to have people designing systems who areinvolved in the area, as this ensures acceptability of the

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change project. A project management approach was adoptedby the IT systems steering committee and a formalisedapproach was important to prevent a ‘dog fight’ over issuesand expenditure prioritisation. To engender furtherinnovations, an ideas committee was established comprisingpeople at all levels in the organisation, to process ideas andto give credit to the relevant people. This broke downbarriers and provided feedback to relevant areas, becausestaff saw that ideas were developed through their own peersand in their own areas.

Comparative systems in England, Canada and Australiawere assessed when designing the online service deliveryand organisation change components. No single model ofchange was used but a cross-section of ideas was garneredfrom, Internet websites in Australia, Canada and England.Also, an informal network of people in other countries(England, Northern Ireland, Scotland) was established toobtain useful information by phone call. The modelemployed by the Land Registry was a distillation of bestinternational practice. Subsequently the UK looked to theLand Registry’s model for developments on the technicalside.

Business process re-engineering took place and staffwere involved in a major retraining on a region by regionbasis. The change from paper-based searches to computer-based search systems was implemented on an incrementalbasis to achieve buy-in and a comfort factor during theinitial phases of the change programme. There was no‘pilot’, but change was implemented on a phased basis.Coupled with internal meetings with staff, a series ofexternal meetings with customers was held, e.g. meetingsnationwide with the Bar Council. It was crucially importantto market the change project to solicitors and accountants toensure a critical mass would use the new system and toprovide an opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of thenew system to their businesses. The positive benefits of thenew ICT systems was the productivity gains that enabled adoubling of outputs, and improved service delivery in termsof both quality and time. By end 2004, all folios for the

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twenty-six counties will be available online, including casetracking, and access to information on every folio, eachhaving an imaged map available on the main database.

The benefits to customers of the new ICT systemsinclude improved turnaround times and speed of service,greater convenience through extended hours of availabilityand the flexibility and utility of electronic data. The benefitsto the organisation of the new systems include meeting thedemand in terms of customer services; enhanced jobsatisfaction and working environment for staff by cuttingdown laborious tasks and the processing end of things; moreorganisation flexibility and improved work processes;improved perception of the organisation among customersand a better understanding of customer expectations due tosuccessful consultation sessions nationwide and the use ofcustomer focus groups.

Drivers of change

• Crisis caused by paper-based system: With an increasein volume of work due to a property boom, the old paper-based system would have been unable to cope withdemand. In the past, staff numbers would have beenincreased to cope with the problem and in this situationsenior management estimate that staff numbers wouldhave doubled to deal with volumes based on the oldsystem of work. But, the introduction of ICT-basedaccess, imaging and information systems enabled only a20-25 per cent increase in staff accompanied by 100 percent increase in work volume. The electronic accesssystem (EAS) increased in usage levels from 700subscribers in December 1999 to 6,120 subscribers inDecember 2003 and the volume of business transactionsper annum conducted through the electronic accesssystem (EAS) rose from 36,496 in December 1999 to497,560 in December 2003.

• Strategic leadership: The chief executive selected theprogramme change steering committee to co-ordinateand drive the development of new projects and changes

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effected by the use of ICT systems. All functional areasin the organisation were represented on the steeringcommittee. To allay union fears, management heldcommunication consultation sessions with the unionsand all internal stakeholders. The change programmetook place in the context of a review of the overallbusiness strategy for the organisation, as developedthrough the organisation strategy statement and businessplanning process. The change programme provides ablueprint for project-based change.

• Partnership process: The partnership process provides auseful forum for progressing ideas in terms of the changeprogramme.

• Stakeholder involvement: Having a specific plan orapproach brings all stakeholders on board. A businessplan and an operational ICT plan were put in place. Aftersome initial concerns, the internal stakeholders boughtinto the change programme having obtained clarity fromthe consultants and being assured that the vision or planthat was to be implemented was aligned with theorganisation strategy and business plans.

• Planning and project management: The business planwas a working document and was used to get funding.The projects were matched into the organisation strategystatement and strategies were written up for everyone ina corporate data model.

• Customer consultation: There were extensiveconsultation sessions with customers. For example,promotion of the new system of electronic access forclients involved over thirty presentations countrywide tolocal Bar associations, law society and company andlocal representative bodies, in conjunction withseminars, information sessions, and live demonstrations.It was felt that it was important to communicate with thecustomer prior to going to the market, by explaining thenew operating systems, and talking to solicitors at thedesign stage to see what type of system they wanted. The

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change programme was a flagship programme and theInformation Society Fund (ISF) came on board, andpeople became excited with the possibilities of e-servicedelivery.

Barriers to change and how these were overcomeThere was considerable resistance to change at the startbecause of the lack of guaranteed funding from fundingsources, coupled with a lack of co-operation from someunions because of competing interests. The managementteam benefited from the expertise of an external consultantand got ‘buy-in’ by the majority of unions and othersgradually came on board. Management relied on agreementsthat were signed up at the central level, such as SustainingProgress, enabling flexibilities for change at a local level. Inpractice, the co-operation provided by these agreements tocater for technical change and change in work practice wasonly slowly translated at a local level. This resulted inprotracted negotiations with local union representation, whowere not ad idem with management.

• Stakeholders’ concerns: Many of the client groups of theLand Registry would have been wary of significantchange in the way business was done, especially in termsof using computerised systems. To encourage buy-in byall the main stakeholders, considerable consultationbetween the Land Registry and its customers took placein advance of the implementation programme.

• Funding: The lack of predictability in guaranteedfunding curtails the opportunity to plan in advance for amulti-annual project. Guaranteed provision of fundingover a number of years is seen as critical in terms ofplanning ICT projects.

Main lessons learned in terms of using e-governmentinitiatives to bring about real organisation changeA clear vision was set out and clearly spelt out to allstakeholders. The Land Registry recognised realistically the

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capacities in-house and as a result brought in externalconsultants with expertise in ICT and the organisationchange field to help with the design, development andimplementation of the change programme. There was hugeinput by staff in the organisation and a huge investment indeveloping internal ICT expertise.

It is important to adopt an incremental approach to achange programme. To ensure successful implementation ofthe e-service, it is vitally important to promote and marketthe new service to all stakeholders. It is important to ensurethat the organisation can provide technical andadministrative support to customers of the new ICT systems.Existing and new means of communication with staff andcustomers need to be fully utilised when designing andimplementing the change programme, e.g. partnership,consultation sessions, seminars, workshops, user groups,committees.

The determination and commitment of management ispivotal to drive the project. The chief executive personallyoversaw the change programme. The role of the InformationSystems (IS) Manager was vital in terms of projectmanagement. The director of operations, the corporateservices manager and the information system manager hadall worked in operational areas and therefore had a goodunderstanding of the internal operations in the organisationand had a full understanding of the legal inhibitors to change.This understanding of internal dynamics is particularlyimportant in an organisation like the Land Registry whichinvolves a mix of legal, technical and administrative staff.The oversight provided by the steering committee, and thedeliberate involvement of representatives of different partsof the organisation and a mix of ICT ‘believers’ and‘sceptics’ on the committee was important in facilitatingwidespread acceptance of the change.

The business process redesign (BPR) involved alteringthe organisation structure and changing front-office and back-office services. Productivity gains and processimprovements resulted in a revised organisation structure;new skills for staff; and an improved focus on line managers

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making the most efficient use of staff resources. Using otheradministrations systems, to ‘benchmark’ the organisation(England, Canada and Australia) provided a useful contextand drive for this approach.

87

Appendix FourDSFA - Introduction of the Service Delivery

Model

Description of the e-government/OD change and the impactit has hadIn 2000, the department embarked on a new modernisationproject aimed at delivering a high quality, proactive serviceto customers. The project was underpinned by lessons learntfrom a business process re-engineering study undertaken in1996. A service delivery modernisation project board wasestablished to oversee both the IT and organisation changeprojects associated with the introduction of the servicedelivery modernisation programme. The board met onaverage monthly. The board was chaired by an assistantsecretary of DSFA, and membership comprised an assistantsecretary in charge of personnel, directors of the IT servicesand long-term schemes and a representative from theDepartment of Finance (CMOD). Reporters from this boardprovided feedback to both the organisation change projectmanager and the IT project manager. In tandem with theboard, an organisation change project steering committeewas set up which was made up of representatives from childbenefit, long-term scheme management and managementservices as well as IT and organisation change projectmanagers. Organisational change consultants reported to thecommittee.

The convergence of a number of factors prompted thedepartment to redevelop its service delivery strategy: theneed to prioritise better customer service given itsimportance in the public service modernisation programme;the commitment to electronic access to public services in thegovernment’s action plan for the information society; theneed to ensure value for money in the use of resourcesthrough improved efficiency and integration of services; theneed for an improved working environment for staff in theservice delivery area; and the fact that existing computersystems were not capable of being adapted to meet thedeveloping requirements of government policy.

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A new service delivery modernisation programme(SDM) was developed by the department following anextensive examination of how best to deliver services in thefuture. Implementing the SDM involves a large-scale multi-year programme of change using modern technology andbusiness models to achieve the transformation. The mainobjectives of the service delivery modernisation programmeare:

• to allow the department to provide customers with anintegrated service that is easy to access (in terms of time,place, mode of access, payment methods and language);

• to provide customers with a more proactive service thattakes account of related services available across thepublic service;

• to respond faster to demands for change;

• to ensure effective systems for control of fraud and abusein order to achieve better value for money in the use ofresources;

• to maximise the benefits of information andcommunications technologies; and

• to develop progressive management and work practicesand appropriate organisation structures, and to provide abetter working environment for staff trained andmotivated to use the new technology and systems.The first phase of the service delivery modernisation

programme involved the implementation of a new system forthe child benefit scheme and a parallel programme oforganisation change in November 2002 (see below forfurther details). A very significant factor influencing futureservice delivery strategy is the emergence of the InformationSociety as a concept. The Information Society Action Planenvisages the department playing a key role in thedevelopment of public service interfaces for sharing ofinformation and access to integrated services.

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The government is committed to delivering the fullbenefits of the information society to citizens and to ensuringthat modern technologies are used to improve the wayservices are organised and delivered to customers. In thisregard, a number of public service agencies under thesponsorship of the Department of Social and Family Affairs(DSFA) recently engaged in an initiative to integrateapplications for the purpose of delivering significantimprovements both in customer service and in theadministration of these services. The projects which play apart in the initiative include:

• The Civil Registration Modernisation programme

• The development of the REACH inter-agency messagingservice

• The automatic establishment of Public Service Identityin respect of children born in Ireland

• The development of an internal DSFA messaging hub −DISC

• The DSFA’s Service Delivery Modernisation programmeThe five projects combine to ensure that the registration

of the birth of a child enables the seamless establishment ofthe child’s public service identity and the subsequentpayment of child benefit in respect of the child. Morespecifically, the child benefit system was enhanced in 2003,to integrate with the new civil registration system. Theelectronic notification of a birth registration to the DSFA is atrigger for the allocation of a PPS number for the child andinitiation of the child benefit claim process for the first bornchild and also payments for all other children. In addition,changes in life events are the catalyst for the changes in thePublic Service Identity.

The e-enabling of life event data (birth, marriage anddeath) and the sharing of this data with DSFA and otherpublic service agencies is fundamental to the delivery ofintegrated services for customers. This initiative has resulted

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in considerable improvements in the quality of service to thecustomer. A single interaction between the customer andone public service agency triggers the delivery of severalseparate services in another agency. There are significantadvantages to the customer both in terms of thesimplification of the application process and the speed ofdelivery of the services. There are noteworthy advantagesfor the public service agencies also. The streamlining andintegration of a number of different services has resulted in alarge reduction in the number of separate manualapplications for service received and processed. Theimplementation of this initiative in September 2003 markeda major milestone in the government’s commitment toimprove the way services are organised and delivered tocustomers and is a key step forward in the implementation ofthe e-government agenda.

As noted above, the service delivery modernisationprogramme and facilitation of integrated e-governmentinitiatives, such as the e-enabling of life event data, requiredchanges to organisation structures and work processes withinthe department, both at management and operational level. Itwas identified in developing the service deliverymodernisation programme that the greatest obstacle to theachievement of improvements in customer service, coupledwith administrative efficiencies, was the inability of thedepartment’s systems to be agile enough to respond quicklyto change, particularly changes affecting administration oflarge payment schemes. New structures, processes, roles andresponsibilities have been developed initially in the childbenefit area, to take advantage of the flexibilities afforded bythe new system and to facilitate new ways of working. Thiswork will progress over a number of years and will buildupon best practice and lessons learned from the initialimplementation in the child benefit scheme.

Service Delivery Model Phase 1 − Re-Design of the ChildBenefit SystemChild benefit is a universal scheme for the payment of childincome support for almost one million children and over

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500,000 customers. The redesign of the child benefit systemencompassed the first implementation of the new servicedelivery framework and lays down the foundation for allsocial welfare schemes in the future. The project involvedthe building of a new ICT system for child benefit and aparallel programme of organisation change. This is the firstphase of the multi-year service delivery modernisationprogramme. The project was initiated in February 2001 andimplemented in November 2002.

The organisation change project team (a core staff ofapproximately 5-6 people) recognised that it would becritical to involve staff working in child benefit inLetterkenny from the outset. The staff faced a huge amountof change and it was important that they were involved.Issue and opportunity identification workshops wereconducted with all staff to identify the key challenges andissues of concern. This quickly highlighted some key issues,in particular, unstructured communication processes, little orno variety in work and dissatisfaction with the rotaarrangement to cover telephone duties. There was difficultyin winning staff approval initially due to industrial relationsaction on the part of the Civil and Public Service Union(CPSU) (representing clerical staff). IR action was relatedinitially to the use of temporary staff in the child benefit areaand escalated to demands for promotional posts inrecognition of co-operation with the service delivery modelproject. Communication with staff on an ongoing basis wasalso considered to be critical to the success of the project. Toensure that all staff heard the same message and got theopportunity to voice concerns, a face-to-face communicationstrategy was adopted for the project.

The degree of change is very radical for the child benefitarea and for the department − as a fundamental change ofeverything has taken place (e.g. the ICT system, structures,roles, responsibilities, claim processes, work processes, andaccommodation). A significant level of training was requiredin terms of computer skills, work processes, supervision andmanagement training. Support was made available in termsof online and paper-based training material and process

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maps. Organisation change of this magnitude would not havebeen possible without the ICT systems to support it. As itwas a radically new ICT system, there was no experience indeveloping the technology, and therefore it was difficultgaining some of the understanding necessary in the design ofthe new business processes, which resulted in a lot of re-work for the team.

As part of the organisation change project, criteria for anew organisation design structure were developed asfollows:

• it should be customer centred

• capable of dealing with any customer query - ‘once anddone’

• where possible, be team based

• maximise and facilitate full use of the functionality of thenew environment object architecture system

• empower staff to become decision makers rather thanprocess followers

• facilitate greater variety of work for staff, opportunity forpersonal and career development

• have a clearly defined and effective managementstructure

• facilitate training and development of staff

• provide support to all levels in the organisation

• monitor and manage performance effectively

• be flexible and capable of adapting to change, e.g.GRO/REACH

• and be practical and implementable taking into account arange of factors, particularly the capability of the existingskills base to adapt to any new requirements in the shortto medium term.

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A new phase of the service delivery modernisationprogrammeIn September 2003, a further phase of the service deliverymodernisation programme was commenced which allowedfor the proactive initiation of claims for child benefit by thedepartment. This approach relies on the electronic transferof birth registration data to the department from the civilregistration system via the REACH IAMS (inter-agencymessaging service). These three inter-linked developmentssupport automatic and proactive triggering of the initiationof the child benefit claim after the birth of a child. Thiseliminates the need for customers to furnish a birthcertificate to authenticate their claim and, for many,eliminates entirely the need to complete an application formas well. These developments are seen as being of significantbenefit to customers. The department also achievedsignificant benefits in terms of a more efficient operationwith a reduced number of staff.

Among the main benefits from an organisation changeperspective as seen by management are:• A new team-based organisation structure, with relevant

roles, responsibilities, work processes etc, is in place.• Staff are now multi-skilled and a child benefit claim can

be processed by one person in one transaction.• There is more efficient processing of claims and a more

proactive improved quality service to customers.• There is potential for significantly improved service for

customers with the commencement of electronicregistration of births from September 2003.

• The ‘once and done’ concept in relation to telephones iseffective in 90 per cent of cases, provided by a dedicatedcontact centre team.

• Ultimately, there will be a reduction of up to twenty corechild benefit staff on the full roll-out of the electronicregistration of births.

• A reallocation has been achieved of the maternity benefit

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scheme from the department’s Longford office to theLetterkenny office due to staff efficiencies in the childbenefit area.

• The child benefit section now has two distinct workunits: a customer services unit delivering the day-to-dayservice to customers and a support services unitsupporting the delivery of the services and managingcontrol and HR activity and includes a dedicated trainingunit.

• There is more variety of work for staff and less manualwork as the electronic system performs these tasks, e.g.personalised forms to customers are held on the systemand the information is re-issued automatically, resultingin less paper in sections

• Deciding officer’s decisions are certified using a digitalsignature.

• Correspondence templates are held on the system −resulting in better paper management and improvedquality of correspondence.

• Access to certain activities on the system can berestricted to nominated officers for security reasons.

• There is proactive customer service − automatic issuingof claim forms to customers with children aged between0-16 years (two months before their sixteenth birthdayand end of certification).

• There are enhanced control procedures and systemgenerated reports.Work processes, organisation structures, roles and

responsibilities were changed to allow for a more customer-centred working environment and to maximise the fullfunctionality of the new IT system. The child benefitorganisation is now seen as more flexible and agile, i.e.multi-functional teams working on the basis of ‘once anddone’ processing of claims, allowing for faster claim

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processing, better potential to respond to peaks and troughsin workload, improved standard and consistency ofcorrespondence to the public (generated by the IT system),greater variety of work for staff, greater facility to monitorteam and individual performance; potential reduction of upto twenty core child benefit staff and overall a better qualityservice for the customer.

In addition, the new systems in place (ICT andorganisation) allow for interface with the General RegisterOffice electronic data and in particular electronic birthregistration which should lead to more proactive andefficient child benefit claim processing.

Development of the child benefit system and the relatedprogramme of organisation change was the first phase of amulti-year programme of change. Phase 2 has commencedand is concentrated on retirement and old age contributorypensions as well as related free schemes and the bereavementgrant. This phase is due for implementation in late 2005.The service delivery model will be further rolled out to otherschemes over the coming years.

No specific model of change was used. The project hasbuilt on the experience gained from a business process re-engineering study carried out in 1996, which recommendeda ‘breakthrough’ approach to fundamentally challenge theway long-term social welfare schemes are delivered, in orderto dramatically improve service delivery. This approachrecommended multi-skilling of staff and a ‘once and done’approach to handling claims. Modern technology systemswere recommended as a key component to support thebusiness systems.

Drivers of change

• Vision provided by new thinking on service deliveryinspired by the 1996 BPR study: The new modernisationproject aimed at delivering a high quality, proactiveservice to customers was underpinned by lessons learntfrom a business process re-engineering study undertakenin 1996.

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• Vision linked in with broader e-government strategy andpublic service modernisation agenda: The servicedelivery model and organisation change project wereimplemented against the backdrop of the overall publicservice modernisation agenda as outlined in DeliveringBetter Government.

• Support provided by service delivery model projectboard and organisation steering committee: Verysignificant support by the service delivery model projectboard and the organisation change steering committeewas provided in terms of driving the project forward.Support was available at all times and there wasopenness to new ideas and proposals for radical change.The organisation change project was seen as an absoluterequirement to ensure that the department got the fullbenefits of the investment in new ICT systems. Theorganisation change and IT projects when implementedwould allow the department increased flexibility inimplementing future policy and other changes proposedby government, provide much improved service for thepublic, and advance the e-government agenda

• Structures and project plans were put in place toimplement organisation and service delivery change:The project plans assisted the team in being focussed ondeadlines and deliverables and to break down what hadto be achieved for each milestone. It was, however,important that these plans be seen as flexible, particularlygiven ongoing change due to IR difficulties and delayson the IT system development side. The service delivery model project board was put in

place to manage both the IT and organisation changeprojects; this proved to be very influential. The board metmonthly but reporting arrangements were in place to checkon progress between meetings.

A steering committee was also in place to oversee theorganisation change project and met at regular intervals withthe consultants, reporting on progress and issues forresolution. Review meetings were held with representatives

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from both the service delivery model project board and theorganisation change committee to review progress and adjustobjectives and targets as necessary. Within the organisationchange project, review meetings were regularly held andmore frequently as ‘go-live’ day approached.

Barriers to change and how these were overcome

• There was scepticism among some of the staff on theground that the project would not be implemented. Theywere of the opinion that in other initiatives they hadcontributed to workshops but nothing appeared to havechanged on the ground. This was overcome byassurances from the consultants and the project managersand by involving staff in each stage of the process. Therewas also a number of visits by the top management teamin the Department of Social and Family Affairs to thechild benefit office to give support and assurances and toencourage staff by acknowledging co-operation with theproject.

• Industrial relations issues arose from what was initially alocal dispute and which escalated into promotiondemands in terms of implementing the new systems.

• Initially, there was some resistance to change fromcertain sections of staff who were familiar with the oldsystem and locations. There was some fear around theprogramme of change. This was overcome by a strongcommunication strategy, involving staff from the outset.

• The technology being developed was very new for ITand business staff, so there was a significant learningcurve and this caused some delay which resulted inmotivational issues. This was overcome when staffbecame more familiar with the system.

• To some degree the distance factor was an issue − childbenefit was located in Letterkenny, IT staff were locatedin Dublin and some management and other staff involvedwere located in both Dublin and Sligo. This factor was

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overcome by timely structured meetings.

• In general, the experience of the management is thatcross section/department/agency projects are difficult tomanage.

Main lessons learned in terms of using e-governmentinitiatives to bring about real organisation changeManagement have identified a number of key lessons:

• Prepare the ground for organisation change well inadvance.

• Put a communications process in place to advise staff ofprogress and future developments.

• Adopt a partnership approach.

• Take time to listen to staff and allay fears; this paysdividends.

• Push for radical solutions.

• Be clear on expectations from IT and organisationchange projects.

• Ensure there are no backlogs of work going intoimplementation of a new IT system and new organisationstructures etc.

• Take steps to counter the difficulty in achieving themulti-skilling of staff while at the same time maintainingthe day-to-day work activity.

• Provide skill training for the project team.

• There is a role for continued project management after‘go-live’, during the bedding down period, to ensure andassist staff and management to adapt to new roles.

• There is a confidence issue around new ways of workingand the use of a new system even for experienced staff −these impact on productivity.

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• Identify management training and development needs at‘go-live’ or immediately after ‘go-live’ to adapt to newroles.

ReferencesThe material for this case study is based on departmentalreports.

100

Appendix FiveCivil Service and Local Appointments

Commission (CSLAC)

The Civil Service and Local Appointments Commission(CSLAC) has responsibility for recruitment and assessment,for promotions and top level appointments in public sectororganisations; and for broader human resources advisoryservices and labour market research/job analysis projects.(Andrews, 2003)

Description of the e-government/OD change and the impactit has hadA modernisation programme was introduced due to a crisiswith the paper-based system and structures that existedhistorically. The service was not able to respond effectivelyto an increase in demand for competitions, there was lowmorale in the organisation and clients were disgruntled at thebacklogs in filling posts and providing panels fordepartments and agencies. A high-level steering group wasset up in 1999, which was representative of all client groups,to oversee the change programme. This steering group metmonthly and comprised secretaries general from theDepartments of Finance and Enterprise, Trade andEmployment, an assistant secretary from the Department ofthe Taoiseach, and a Civil Service Commissioner. Themodernisation programme which the steering group oversawwas based on a consultancy report commissioned by thesteering group, which suggested 123 recommendations to theway the two commissions (Civil Service Commission andLocal Appointments Commission) operated. Following onfrom the recommendations the Civil Service and LocalAppointments Commission (CSLAC) was established. Anew chief executive was appointed who set abouttransforming the organisation with a new business ethos bysetting out a vision for change and communicating the visionto relevant stakeholders. A series of consultations withclients took place to explain the overall predicament of theorganisation and to explain where the CSLAC should be andto re-engineer the service around the customer needs.

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The primary driver for the organisation change is thecustomer focus: customer relationship management (CRM).A new CRM unit was established to interface directly withclients, to discuss issues and problems, to set up customerpanels, develop a newsletter for clients and to providefeedback to the delivery end of things in the organisation,thereby creating internal awareness of the problem andeffecting change. ICT developments enabled the changeprogramme to be implemented within twelve months ofinitial consultations, as the system changed from paper-based applications to e-recruitment through an updatedwebsite using online applications. A careers store was set upbased on a smart centre approach, which enables people towalk in or phone in or apply online, browse vacancies onCD-rom or online, view job profiles, apply for a job inperson or over the phone or online, book an appointment fora test, and the result is given on the afternoon of the test. Thedevelopments in ICT systems enabled the streamlining of therecruitment. A database was created by adapting applicationforms to include an expression by candidates of an interest infuture competitions in the area.

A team representative of all sections of the organisationwas formed to design the career store, to ensure staff at alllevels were involved in the transformation of theorganisation. Partnership provided a useful vehicle to discussproposed changes and to ensure ‘buy-in’ by staff. As notedearlier, the creation of the customer relationshipmanagement (CRM) unit has led to a greater awareness ofclients’ needs. Management numbers have been reduced atprincipal level and assistant principal level. However, it isincreasingly important to capture information electronicallyby exchanging information between managers and sections.

Drivers of change

• The modernisation programme is linked in with thebroader public service modernisation agenda. Themodernisation programme was implemented and drivenby the modernisation process happening in the publicservice (Strategic Management Initiative) and market

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forces (labour market changes, economic growth).

• Clear strategic leadership. The chief executive informedand endorsed a new vision which would create a newbusiness ethos in the organisation, to enable it to developfrom a position of low delivery, high probity, inflexiblesystems to one where it was customer focused,competitive, flexible and retained high probity.

• Corporate commitment and stakeholder involvement.The chief executive and steering group sustained themomentum of change by providing leadership andcommitment to the modernisation programme. Thepartnership process was used as a good communicationtool to consult and involve all staff in the changeprogramme and provided a coalition in driving changeby empowering people to act on the vision set out.Management development programmes were put inplace to develop the ‘right team’ to develop newapproaches and to drive the change programme.

• A number of short-term wins at the outset. A number ofshort-term wins were crucial in driving further roll-out ofthe modernisation programme. Management believe thatthe implementation of the change programme is onlysustainable if services are continuously improved byconsulting with the customers about what they need andunderpinning the process with up-to-date ICT systems.The CRM unit has enabled a new relationship to bedeveloped with clients and has highlighted newopportunities for business improvements. The ICTsystems have improved the efficiency of the service andenabled a new professional image and service to bedesigned around the client.

• Good project management. If the modernisation processhad not been effectively managed through good projectmanagement, the process would have broken up intodisparate groups working independently of each other(e.g. service delivery (front-end) side, process (back-office) side, customer relationship management unit). As

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it was, they operated effectively together.

• High degree of involvement by all business units. Thereis a need for a high degree of involvement by all businessunits to ensure capacity to do the job, otherwise the ITside end up with having to deliver it all, so there is a needfor a high degree of business unit involvement to engagein the specification, design and implementation stages ofthe transformation agenda. An interactive e-businessstrategy was developed to cope with the modernisationagenda and to keep the momentum going.

Barriers to change and how these were overcomeThe consultation process with the client under the CRM unitwas a slow process. It was difficult to find a comparativemodel in terms of CRM to use other than IT packagesadvertised by IT companies. Therefore, the CRM model usedby the CSLAC was developed through practice andexperience rather than any definitive model.

Internalising customer relationship management issuesin the organisation can lead to friction between the processside and service delivery demands and these need to bemanaged sensitively. It takes time to change an organisationfrom an introverted ‘the process must be right’ organisationto a customer-focused organisation. It takes time for the newservice delivery model to change the perceived image of theorganisation and close the stark customer ‘gap’. It took timeto effect confidence and morale in staff, through the targeteduse of management development programmes byempowering people through training and by selecting theright team.

The movement to a new corporate headquarters involveddelays and setbacks which impacted on the changeprogramme.

There was slow progress on legislative reform whichaffected the pace of change.

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There was continual resistance from people whopreferred their old comfort zones; therefore, quick winsunder the new service delivery model was important.

Initially, when the IT system was developed, there was ahigh degree of expectation about what the system could doand when the system went ‘live’ there was disappointment interms of the technical problems experienced and the lack ofdetailed application forms available online. But, despitethese disappointments, 30,000 people registered initiallywhen the online job application service was set up and thevolume has increased as more competitions have beenplaced online.

Main lessons learned in terms of using e-governmentinitiatives to bring about real organisation changeIt is important to put forward a clear vision backed up bycommitment and leadership from the chief executive and themanagement team. Momentum is gained by quick andvisible wins in terms of the modernisation programme.Putting in place the right team of dedicated staff to respondto the change process is important, as is supporting themthrough training and management development programs.

ICT developments enable the transformation of theorganisation but it must be aligned to the business agendaand therefore the business unit staff must be involved in theprocess of change to develop new approaches. It is importantthat it is not just left to the IT unit to implement ICT change.The modernisation programme involved a strategic shift inbusiness ethos from a process/probity, low delivery,inflexible system to a customer focused, competitive,flexible, high probity business ethos.

The primary driver in the organisation is the customerfocus; facilitated by the establishment of a CRM unit.Internalising customer relationship management issues in theorganisation provided an opportunity to re-engineer thebusiness processes and service delivery to cater for customerneeds. The first phase provides lessons for the next phasewhich will involve the dissolution of the CRM unit and

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integrating its functions into the work of all areas across theorganisation.

The change process must involve all staff and thepartnership process provides an important tool to consult anddiscuss ideas and proposed changes in the organisation.According to management, change will only be successful ifthe people in the organisation buy in to the changes and feelinvolved in the change process. The modernisation involvesall the organisation, but equally, when it is successful allshould share the credit and celebrate the success.

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Appendix SixCollector General’s Office, Office of the

Revenue Commissioners

Description of the e-government/OD change and the impactit has hadThe modernisation of the Collector General’s Office throughcarefully planned decentralisation and the implementation ofa regionalised structure in Revenue as a whole underpinnedby the latest ICT developments was in line with theRevenue’s mission statement: ‘to serve the community byfairly and efficiently collecting taxes and duties andimplementing import and export controls’ (p.1, RevenueStatement of Strategy 2003-5).

The core functions of the Collector General’s Office aredebt management and payment accounting. The CollectorGeneral’s Office decentralised to Nenagh and Limerick inthe early 1990s. There was phased decentralisation of 550staff to Limerick between 1993 and 1995. There was also adecentralisation to Ennis of the Accountant General’s Office,involving payroll, accounting functions, some repaymentsand such like. The Nenagh decentralisation involved about60 per cent of the Collector General’s staff and it alsoinvolved some customs functions. The decentralisation ofthe Collector-General’s Office to Limerick was the singlebiggest movement of any government department sincedecentralisation began and was viewed as an opportunity toadopt a radically new approach to debt management andpayment accounting, the two core activities of the Office. Toenable the new approach, a major revamp of the main taxcollection systems was also planned, with a view tointegrating the systems into one consolidated system. Thefirst phase of the Common Registration System (CRS),involving the integration of the basic registration details forall business taxes, took place in 1993.

The Integrated Taxation Processing (ITP) systemintegrated the business taxes under the consolidatedregistration system (CRS). This was the single largest ITproject undertaken by Revenue and was planned and

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developed in partnership with external consultants. Thisproject delivered the first business taxes into ITP over theperiod 2000-2003. The project is continuing anddevelopment work has commenced with a view to includingPAYE by 2005. The ITP system aims to provide up-to-dateinformation on the tax status all taxpayers and businesses toall Revenue offices around the country.

With the CRS system in place, a new pro-active approachto debt management was initiated and supported by acustomer-focused case management system referred to asAIM (Active Intervention Management). This enablescaseworkers to identify cases posing a risk to Revenue andinitiate compliance activity such as enforcement, levying ofinterest charges etc. This was a radically different approachto that adopted in the past, which was largely process drivenand a ‘reactive’ approach. Supporting the AIM system is amanagement information system that allowed managementmonitor performance against targets. In addition, themanagement information system allows interrogation of theraw data for statistical forecasting and budgetary projections.

The AIM system allowed the Collector General’s Officeto move from being a ‘reactive’ Office to a ‘proactive’Office, driven by risk-based criteria in terms of debtmanagement. Defaulters were identified at an early stageand appropriate compliance activity initiated. As statedearlier, the management information systems allowedperformance to be measured against targets and theimproved efficiency and performance is reflected in theoverall reduction in debt as a percentage of net tax collection(37 per cent in 1988 to 3 per cent in 2002). This achievementwas not realised overnight, a major change in business/taxpayer behaviour was also necessary. This change inbehaviour was achieved by a combination of improvedcustomer services and a targeted approach to the non-compliant individuals, all of which were supported by majorIT developments.

On the payment accounting side, the introduction of newbanking technology to process cheque payments has helpedestablish the Office as a ‘virtual’ branch of one of the major

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banks with electronic exchange of payment data. This hasled to efficiencies over the years in the area of paymentprocessing.

The IT changes introduced in the Collector General’sOffice in recent years have led to efficiencies and a morecost-effective operation. This is in contrast to the late 1980swhere there was ‘sick-building syndrome’. This situationwas reversed with the developments in ICT, decentralisation,deliberate redesign of the work and workflow, morespecialised task-based teams and up-grading of staff as moremundane work was automated and staff moved to higherquality work.

Drivers of change

• A strategic vision. The importance of having a long-termvision to manage major change on an ongoing basis inthe Collector General’s Office is acknowledged bymanagement as a main driver of change. The strategiclong-term vision was influenced by a number of factorsincluding the general economic conditions, the publicperception of Revenue services and how the organisationshould develop. This ‘vision’ laid the groundwork forthe advances in IT and e-business. The move toLimerick allowed senior management to consider howbest to review the business of tax collection and tointroduce best practice from other Revenueorganisations. These included:• re-engineering the business of tax collection and

moving to a customer focus rather than process focus• integrating the computer systems into a single major

system to support the customer view• eliminating the old and outstanding debt• introducing banking technology to manage the

payments• introducing new payment options to commence the

move away from cheque payments to electronicmethods of payment

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• providing the groundwork for the introduction ofweb technology and developing the flexibility toimplement new and challenging work functions.

• Leadership. All major IT projects in the CollectorGeneral’s Office are managed by a project board. TheIntegrated Taxation Processing (ITP) project boardcomprises senior managers from the business side andsenior managers from the IT development team. Theboard is chaired by an assistant secretary in the CollectorGeneral’s Office.

• Customer focused approach. The main business driverbehind the introduction of CRS was the need to adopt a‘customer focused’ approach to tax collection rather thanthe single tax approach, which had been the position up tothen. A major drive by Revenue in recent years was todeliver a high level of customer services. It isacknowledged that the single most important change wasthe move to take a comprehensive view of customerportfolios across all taxes. The ICT developments overthe last ten years provided an opportunity to restructureall tax compliance output in a more customer friendlyfashion and provide more ‘self service’ options throughthe Revenue website, for example the introduction of on-line applications for tax clearance through the website. Inaddition, it was evident that a new debt managementapproach that focussed on rapid reaction on emergingdebt was also necessary.

• Changes to work practice. The new AIM systemsupported by the management information systembrought major changes to work practice and was seen asone of the early changes that helped to moderniseRevenue and convey an image of an organisation at theforefront of new technology, embracing change.

• Change management and training plan implementedprior to new IT systems roll-out. All major IT releases arepreceded by a change management and training plan,which is approved by the project board. The changemanagement plan:

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• sets out the business changes to be realised from theproject and the proposed alterations to the day-to-daybusiness process in the new system

• organises focus groups comprising staff from allgrades to review the business requirements at anearly stage and to ensure ‘buy in’ by the staff to thenew system.

A full training plan is also drawn up and implemented asclose as possible to the ‘live’ release date.

Barriers to changeThe industrial relations element must not be underestimatedin relation to the change process. Consultation with staff andinvolvement in the process from the outset is important toensure that management are seen to engage all thestakeholders and to address their fears throughout theproject.

Also in terms of staff issues, the structure of the staff inLimerick has generally been of a young motivated and ITliterate workforce. Having a young workforce means a highturnover of staff, with a turnover rate of up to 20 per cent insome of the earlier years. The high turnover was a result ofpromotions, transfers and career breaks which can beexpected from a young and mobile workforce. While thiscaused a disruption, it should be noted that the constantintroduction of new blood is seen by management in theOffice as in the longer run more than compensating.

Senior management must be open to the concept ofinnovative ICT projects in order to drive the process. Afterthe initial innovative IT development projects worked, therewas greater ‘buy-in’ generally by senior management in theOffice to the whole change process.

Main lessons learned in terms of using e-governmentinitiatives to bring about organisation changeManagement acknowledge that decentralisation has been avery positive factor in the evolution of the Collector

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Appendix Six

General’s Office. They feel that this is due to a number offactors including:

• The early identification of business opportunities. In thecontext of the planned move, efforts were made at anearly date to identify what business opportunities mightbe facilitated by the move. An identification of potentialopportunities enables a vision to be developed of thedesired change.

• Careful planning. In particular, a detailed plan is neededwhich sets out the context and business case for theproposed changes. ICT development is put in the widercontext of business improvement and justified in thismanner.

• Staff ‘buy-in’. Engaging staff in the process, particularlythrough the use of focus groups of staff from all grades,helps to take on board their concerns and needs in astructured way.

ReferencesMaterial provided by management in the Collector General’sOffice, Limerick.Revenue Statement of Strategy 2003-5, Dublin: Revenue.Revenue (2003) Annual Report, 2002, Dublin: StationeryOffice.Revenue (2003), Collector General’s Division, Charting OurSuccess 2002, Revenue.

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Appendix SevenRoles and responsibilities for e-government

development

In May 2002, the government appointed Mary Hanafin TDas Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach withspecial responsibility for the Information Society. Theminister is responsible for co-ordinating the InformationSociety agenda across all government departments. She isassisted in her role through the following structures: theCabinet Committee on the Information Society; the StrategyGroup of Secretaries General; the Assistant SecretarieseGovernment Implementation Group and the InformationSociety Commission. The secretariat to these committees isprovided by the Information Society Policy Unit (ISPU) inthe Department of the Taoiseach. The main e-governmentpolicy-shaping government units in Ireland are theInformation Society Policy Unit (ISPU) in the Department ofthe Taoiseach and the Technology Policy Division (TPD) inthe Department of Finance. The former deals primarily withthe policy side of e-government, and the latter with thetechnical side. These two units have adopted a partnershipapproach, and together form almost a virtual unit fore-government. In June 2002, the Taoiseach established aCabinet Committee on the Information Society and thisdrives forward the implementation of the InformationSociety agenda. The eStrategy Group of Secretaries Generalcomplement the work of the Cabinet Committee on theInformation Society and address national strategy issues.The Assistant Secretaries eGovernment ImplementationGroup ensures that the Information Society policy isimplemented in a coordinated manner across all governmentdepartments and agencies. The Information SocietyCommission, an independent advisory body to government,provides advice to the government and monitors progresstowards the Information Society.

The Department of Finance is responsible for theInformation Society Fund in partnership with theDepartment of the Taoiseach. There is a committee chairedby the Department of Finance with representatives from the

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Appendix Seven

Department of the Taoiseach that administers this fund. Upto the end of 2002, over €154 million was made available tosupport projects across or through a wide range ofdepartments and agencies. This fund has been an importantvehicle in furthering successful realisation of InformationSociety and e-government objectives.

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Discussion Paper Series

Discussion Paper 1, Evaluating Public ExpenditureProgrammes: Determining A Role For Programme Review,Richard Boyle, 1997Discussion Paper 2, The Fifth Irish Presidency of the EuropeanUnion: Some Management Lessons, Peter C. Humphreys, 1997Discussion Paper 3, Developing An Integrated PerformanceMeasurement Framework For the Irish Civil Service, RichardBoyle, 1997Discussion Paper 4, Team-Based Working, Richard Boyle, 1997Discussion Paper 5, The Use of Rewards in Civil ServiceManagement, Richard Boyle, 1997Discussion Paper 6, Governance and Accountability in the CivilService, Richard Boyle, 1998Discussion Paper 7, Improving Public Service Delivery, PeterC. Humphreys, 1998Discussion Paper 8, The Management of Cross-Cutting Issuesin the Public Service, Richard Boyle, 1999Discussion Paper 9, Multi-Stream Structures in the PublicService, Richard Boyle and Michelle Worth-Butler, 1999Discussion Paper 10, Key Human Resource Management Issuesin the Irish Public Service, Peter C. Humphreys and MichelleWorth-Butler, 1999Discussion Paper 11, Improving Public Services in Ireland: ACase-Study Approach, Peter C. Humphreys, Síle Fleming andOrla O’Donnell, 1999Discussion Paper 12, Regulatory Reform: Lessons fromInternational Experience, Richard Boyle, 1999Discussion Paper 13, Service Planning in the Health Sector ,Michelle Butler and Richard Boyle, 2000Discussion Paper 14, Performance Measurement in the HealthSector, Michelle Butler, 2000Discussion Paper 15, Performance Measurement in LocalGovernment, Richard Boyle, 2000Discussion Paper 16, From Personnel Management to HRM:Key Issues and Challenges, Síle Fleming, 2000

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Discussion Paper 17, A New Change Agenda for the IrishPublic Service, Richard Boyle and Peter C. Humphreys, 2001Discussion Paper 18, A Review of Annual Progress Reports,Richard Boyle 2001Discussion Paper 19, The Use of Competencies in the IrishCivil Service, Michelle Butler and Síle Fleming, 2002Discussion Paper 20, Career Progression in the Irish CivilService, Joanna O’Riordan and Peter C. Humphreys, 2002Discussion Paper 21, Evaluation in the Irish Health Service,Michelle Butler, 2002Discussion Paper 22, Promoting Longer-Term Policy Thinking,Richard Boyle, Joanna O’Riordan and Orla O’Donnell, 2002Discussion Paper 23, Effective Consultation with the ExternalCustomer, Peter C. Humphreys, 2002Discussion Paper 24, Developing an Effective InternalCustomer Service Ethos, Joanna O’Riordan and Peter C.Humphreys, 2003Discussion Paper 25, E-Government and the Decentralisationof Service Delivery, Virpi Timonen, Orla O’Donnell and PeterC. Humphreys, 2003Discussion Paper 26, Developing a Strategic Approach to HRin the Irish Civil Service, Joanna O’Riordan, 2004Discussion Paper 27, The Role of the Centre in Civil ServiceModernisation, Richard Boyle, 2004

Copies of the above discussion papers are available from:

Publications DivisionInstitute of Public AdministrationVergemount HallClonskeaghDublin 6.

Phone: 01 240 3600 Fax: 01 269 8644email: [email protected]

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