Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-5888-2.ch316
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Actor Perceptions: Organisations and institutions both shape and are shaped by the use
of technology, which is in turn influenced by
changes in the perceptions of governmental
actors towards that technology. Understanding
actor preferences and opinions is thus key to
determining the disjoint between project design
and current ground realities, together with the
nature and direction of organisational reform
and institutional change.
Project Outcome: The design and implementation of a project must be carried out within
the constraints of the current organisational and
institutional set-up. In other words, the outcome
of a project depends on the interaction between
organisational and institutional realities and the
project design. In turn, project outcome has an
impact on the existing organisational and institutional frameworks.
Figure 1. The ITPOSMO dimensions of e-government project design-actuality gaps (Source: Heeks, 2003)
In recognising these drawbacks, this author maintains that Heeks model forms an integral part of any
evaluation of e-government success or failure, as any
initial evaluation made using the basic model may be
nuanced and expanded upon (as has been done) by
exploring in greater detail the factors resulting in the
eventual outcome. Further, it is important to remember
that placing different reasons for failure into the various categories is not as important as understanding the
issues and the underlying factors themselves, thereby
being able to anticipate and deal with such problems
if they were to arise.
The model is particularly useful given the large
investments made by developing country governments
in e-government systems and the large opportunity
costs associated with implementation, as it encourages
project planners to take a focused, holistic view of
problem solving; making them consider concurrently
the technology at hand, the current circumstances, the
impact of actors motivations and actions, and possible
vested interests. It may be used both as a predictive
tool anticipating potential failings and heading them
off at the initial stages, as well as being used to diagnose problems during the execution of the project.
The framework is thus a means of evaluating outcome
and problem solving strategies at all stages during the
development of a project, and not just to examine what
went wrong in hindsight.