Enterprise Systems in the Public Sector: Driving Forces and a Conceptual Framework

Figures & data

Figure 1. Research Phases.

Table 1. Relationships between Driving Forces.

Relationship	Description
Political Leadership → ES Implementation	Political leadership has vast decisive power: it may bring about or simply terminate an ES implementation
Employee Motivation → ES Implementation	Employee motivation has a huge effect on ES implementation as employees that are not motivated may wreck any large project
Governmental Regulations → ES Implementation	Governmental regulations have an enormous effect on ES implementations as changes in regulations may necessitate new systems and render existing systems obsolete
Vendor Quality → ES Implementation	A dedicated vendor may be extremely helpful by committing appropriate resources and efforts
Financial Resources → ES Implementation	The size of the budget determines the range of options
Political Leadership → Employee Motivation	Political leadership can offer incentives to employees and maintain a positive work environment
Political Leadership → Commercial Base	Political leadership can encourage or hinder local business activities by providing incentives or enacting restrictions
Commercial Base → Financial Resources	The economic power of the local commercial base determines the level of tax revenues
Financial Resources → Vendor Quality	A stronger budgetary position allows for higher limits on tenders, resulting in more proposals, and permits a greater degree of selectivity in choosing a vendor

Figure 2. Conceptual Framework.

~TC~

Data Sources
Total Interviews, N = 39
Profiles of employees interviewed	Interviewee Codes	City Hall Codes (Date)	Duration
Head of the Delegation of the Administration and Civic Affairs Office (City District A)	P1	A (May 2019)	55 min
Deputy Director of the IT and Information Processing Office	P2	A (May 2019)	63 min
Deputy Director in the Accounting and Countersignature Office	P3	A (May 2019)	45 min
Senior Specialist in the Exploitation Department in the Debt and Debt Restructuring Office	P4	A (May 2019)	32 min
Director of the IT and Information Processing Office	P5	A (May 2019)	42 min
Senior Specialist in the Risk Department in City President Office	P6	A (May 2019)	62 min
President’s Proxy for Risk Management, Deputy Head of the Risk Department in City President Office	P7	A (May 2019)	68 min
Senior Specialist in the Exploitation Department in the Debt and Debt Restructuring Office	P8	A (May 2019)	16 min
Senior Specialist in the Risk Department in City President Office	P9	A (May 2019)	53 min
Secretary of the City Hall in City President Office	P10	A (May 2019)	29 min
Head of the Delegation of the Administration and Civic Affairs Office (City District B)	P11	A (May 2019)	16 min
Deputy President of the City	P12	B (June 2019)	33 min
Director of the IT and Telecommunications Service Office	P13	B (June 2019)	66 min
Deputy Director of the IT and Telecommunications Service Office	P14	B (June 2019)	41 min
Senior Specialist in the and Telecommunications Service Office	P15	B (June 2019)	38 min
IT Specialist in the and Telecommunications Service Office	P16	B (June 2019)	23 min
Inspector in the and Telecommunications Service Office	P17	B (June 2019)	15 min
Director of the Organizational and Administrative Department	P18	B (June 2019)	20 min
Head of the City Road Administration/Traffic Control Department	P19	B (June 2019)	43 min
Head of the Finance Department	P20	B (June 2019)	20 min
Head of the Intelligent Transport Systems Department	P21	B (June 2019)	20 min
Director of Internal Audit Team	P22	C (June 2019)	53 min
Senior Inspector in the Department of Strategy, Planning and Monitoring of Investment	P23	C (June 2019)	27 min
Inspector in the Department of Strategy, Planning and Monitoring of Investment	P24
Deputy Director of the Department of Strategy, Planning and Monitoring of Investment	P25	C (June 2019)	81 min
Senior Specialist in the Department of Organization and Supervision	P26	C (June 2019)	32 min
President’s proxy for the Development of the IT System, Department for Development of the GMK IT System	P27	C (June 2019)	51 min
Director of the IT Department	P28	C (June 2019)	57 min
Head of the Information Society Division in the Department of Organization and Supervision	P29	C (June 2019)	61 min
Senior Specialist in the Department of Organization and Supervision	P30	C (June 2019)	55 min
Head of the Application Management Division in the IT Department	P31	C (June 2019)	39 min
Director of IT Department	P32	D (July 2019)	70 min
President’s proxy for Smart City, Head of Digitalization and Cybersecurity Office	P33	D (July 2019)	17 min
Head of the Financial Department	P34	D (July 2019)	26 min
Director of the Budget and Controlling Department, Deputy City Treasurer	P35	D (July 2019)	59 min
Head of the Procurement Division of the City Hall Service Department	P36	D (July 2019)	48 min
Senior Inspector in the City Hall Service Department	P37	D (July 2019)	38 min
The Acting Director of IT Department	P38	E (August 2019)	90 min
Senior Specialist in the IT Department	P39	E (August 2019)	36 min
Total written responses, N = 11
Deputy Director of KSAT Department, Service and Administration Department	P40	F (August 2019)	NA
Director of SAP Department, Service and Administration Department	P41	F (August 2019)	NA
Senior Specialist in Public Finance Division in Accounting Department	P42	F (August 2019)	NA
Senior Specialist in Public Finance Division in Accounting Department	P43	F (August 2019)	NA
Head of Public Finance Division in Accounting Department	P44	F (August 2019)	NA
Head of IT Department at the IT Services Centera	P45	F (August 2019)	NA
IT Administrator at the IT Services Center	P46	F (August 2019)	NA
Senior IT Administrator at the IT Services Center	P47	F (August 2019)	NA
Senior IT Administrator at the IT Services Center	P48	F (August 2019)	NA
Senior IT Administrator at the IT Services Center	P49	F (August 2019)	NA
Deputy Head of IT Department at the IT Services Center	P50	F (August 2019)	NA

a IT Services Center is a publicly owned organization established by City F to outsource the IT services for the City Hall and other communal units. IT Services Center was created to build a highly professional IT organization, bringing together high-class specialists to support City Hall and all linked public units, which was difficult to implement in the City Hall with limited budget for staff salaries.

Table

Categories	Codes	Illustrative Quotations (Examples with Interviewee Identifiers)
Political leadership	Directives	P1: When the idea to implement the system arose, there was a presidential agreement to do so (…) [the president] appointed people responsible for this implementation.
	Commitment and support	P5: Support and commitment from the top were always [present], yes. Well, we cannot imagine the implementation of a system that people would want to use if they do not see any sense in it.
	Tenure and continuity of political party	P32: … support from top management is important for ES implementation, and I would like to make that clear here, even if [management] changes after an election. (…) on the one hand this just sounds like a slogan, but until a situation arises in which the new political leaders, to put it gently, do not support the decisions of the previous authorities, it is not obvious that this is an element that may be so critical for a successful implementation process.
Employee motivation	Financial incentives	P3: We also provided some financial incentives and some kind of acknowledgments. P30: But financial resources were also a motivation.
	Financing for training	P2: … I can tell you what works. Monetary rewards are not the best; motivation in the form of paying for training is much more effective.
	Self-motivation	P10: … we were motivated by the fact that we are doing something new. (…) we felt internally on the project team that it would simply lead to good changes inside the organization …
	Regular meetings with leaders	P1: The meetings organized by the director of the Organization Department were aimed at familiarizing us with this project (…), informing us about the benefits to us and also about the value added (…)
Commercial base	Size of the city	P31: Often, we said that we (…) needed something in a specific way. But that had to be agreed on by all of City Hall. (…) On the other hand, if the finance department said that something should be (…) in the contract, it was forced on all departments. It does not change the fact that (…) [the vendor] did not always want to do what we wanted because other cities wanted it different. (…) often because (…) [city C] is big, they [the vendor] did what they asked them to do. Because we always have specific issues.
	Customer pressure	P31: I think that now there are also greater demands from our clients. And that is why there is an attempt to meet these requirements somewhere (…)
Financial resources	Availability of financial resources	P8: Funds, if available in the budget [allow implementation of the needed system]. I think that with their [the funds] proper commitment, creating and implementing any system will bring the effects anticipated by everyone.
	Budget flexibility	P5: … the possibilities of the project budget are not that flexible, after all it results from the city budget. A certain amount is allocated for this, and [depending on] this amount, we must complete this task with a cheaper or more expensive system. Often the type of system you get depends on how much money you have. It’s not like we want the best system because we have unlimited budget options.
Government regulations	Chsanges in regulations	P11: First and foremost, the [implementation of ES] was imposed by an act of law.
	Primacy of country regulations	P7: … those were requirements from acts of law. It was a bit of an ordeal imposed on local governments in Poland that this management control was introduced here.
Vendor quality	Contractual flexibility	P6: … if we create something new, and we do not buy an already complete product (…) there is always a risk of [inferior] integrity, performance, [and less] contractual flexibility …
	Vendor support	P9: [for support after ES implementation] the technical route is the company which signed a contract for the maintenance of this application with us. If the errors are really technical, that something does not work, the person can report directly to the company via their website.