Institutionalising Decentralised Information Systems for Local Level Planning: Comparing Approaches Across Two States in India

Madon, Shirin; Bhatnagar, Subhash

doi:10.1080/1097198x.2000.10856289

Cited by 11 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The emphasis of reform programmes which deal with both urban and rural local government structures has thus been on the devolution of responsibilities for district planning to locally elected representatives (Madon & Bhatnagar, 2000), with the central goal of all these initiatives being to improve access to information leading to more informed, better-reasoned decision-making. As municipal or other urban governments in India derive their status and powers solely from state level legislation, laws and practice have varied substantially across states, and in some respects -as is the case with rural local government bodies -urban local government bodies are relatively restricted in the scope of their activities.…”

Section: Urban Public Administration Reform and Icts: The Indian Expe...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Wired for Change?

Virkar

2014

International Journal of Organizational and Collective Intelligence

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The recent global diffusion of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) has raised expectations for technological change to support socio-economic progress and political reform in the developing as well as the developed world. Much as been written about e-government within a growing stream of literature on ICT for development, generating countervailing perspectives where optimistic, technocratic approaches are countered by far more sceptical standpoints on technological innovation. In seeking to bridge existing gaps in the literature, this article critically examines the role of Information and Communication Technologies in governmental reform processes for development through the presentation of a case study based in the Indian State of Karnataka. The study focuses on a collaboration between the state government of Karnataka and the eGovernments Foundation (a non-profit private sector organisation) between 2002 and 2011, designed to reform existing methods of property tax collection through the establishment of a networked online tax collection system across the municipalities of 56 towns and cities within the state. Through a combination of both qualitative and quantitative data, this paper analyses the interactions between new technologies and changing information flows within the complexities of public administration reform of the given context and, in doing so, examines the interplay of local and external factors and relationships and their role in shaping the implementation of the project at hand.

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Section: Urban Public Administration Reform and Icts: The Indian Expe...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Wired for Change?

Virkar

2014

International Journal of Organizational and Collective Intelligence

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“…Recently, while Masiero and Arvidsson (2021) conceptualize the 'degenerative' aspects of digital identity platforms used in social protection schemes, they ignore the political dimensions or 'unintended outcomes' in digital subsidy design. Whilst the institutionalization of technology takes into some consideration of the political dimensions for IS development in the public sector (Madon and Bhatnagar, 2000;Bada, Aniebonam and Owei, 2004;Wahid and Sein, 2013), little knowledge exists on how different forces interact with each other and translate as change in social cash organizations. This drives the motivation of this paper.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digital innovation in social cash organizations – the effects of the institutional interactions for transforming organizational practices

Kemal

Shah

2023

ITP

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PurposeWhile the potential for digital innovation (DI) to transform organizational practices is widely acknowledged in the information systems (IS) literature, there is very limited understanding on the socio-political nature of institutional interactions that determine DI and affect organizational practices in social cash organizations. Drawing on the neo-institutionalist vision, the purpose of the study is to examine the unique set of institutional exchanges that influence the transition to digital social cash payments that give rise to new institutional arrangements in social cash organizations.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws on an in-depth case study of a government social cash organization in Pakistan. Qualitative data were collected using 30 semi-structured interviews from key organizational members and stakeholders.FindingsThe results suggest that DI is determined by the novel intersections between the coercive (techno-economic, regulatory), normative (socio-organizational), mimetic (international) and covert power (political) forces. Hence, DI is not a technologically deterministic output, but rather a complex socio-political process enacted through dialogue, negotiation and conflict between institutional actors. Technology is socially embedded through the process of institutionalization that is coupled by the deinstitutionalization of established organizational practices for progressive transformation.Research limitations/implicationsThe research has implications for government social cash organizations especially in the Global South. Empirically, the authors gained rare access to, and support from a government-backed social cash organization in Pakistan (an understudied country in the Global South), which made the data and the consequent analyses even invaluable. This made the empirical contribution within this geographical setting even more worthy, since this case study has received little attention from indigenous scholars in the past. The empirical findings showcased a unique set of contextual factors that were subject to BISP and interpreted through an account of socio-cultural sensitivities.Practical implicationsThe paper provides practical implications for policymakers and practitioners, emphasizing the need to address institutional challenges, including covert power, during the implementation of digitalization projects in the public sector. The paper has certain potential for inspiring future e-government related (or public sector focused) studies. The paper may guide both private and government policy-makers and practitioners in presenting how to overcome certain institutional challenges while planning and implementing large scale multi-stakeholder digitization projects in similar country contexts. So while there is scope of linking the digitization of public sector organizations to anti-corruption measures in other Global South countries, the paper may not be that straightforward with the private sector involvement.Social implicationsThe paper offers rich social insights on the institutional interchanges that occur between the social actors for the innovation of technology. Especially, the paper highlights the social-embeddedness nature of technology that underpins the institutionalization of new organizational practices. These have implications on how DI is viewed as a socio-political process of change.Originality/valueThis study contributes to neo-institutional theory by theorizing covert power as a political force that complements the neo-institutional framework. This force is subtle but also resistive for some political actors as the force shifts the equilibrium of power between different institutional actors. Furthermore, the paper presents the social and practical implications that guide policymakers and practitioners by taking into consideration the unique institutional challenges, such as covert power, while implementing large scale digital projects in the social cash sector.

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