The continuity of underperforming ICT projects in the public sector

There is a growing body of research on the successes and failures of information and communications technology (ICT) projects in the public sector. However, this literature has rarely addressed the question of why some projects persist and continue despite functioning poorly in several areas. In this paper, we suggest that the notions of institutional logics and status differences provide useful insights into the structure and trajectory of this type of continuity. We build our arguments through an in-depth qualitative case study of a public information and communications technology (PICT) project in India. From our findings, we develop a process model of PICT project continuity. We explain how the employment of bureaucratic posturing – a manifestation of bureaucratic logic – as a tactic by high status groups could lead to poor performance on several fronts. The paper elaborates on two levels of continuity: policy-level continuity, which in our case was enabled by the logics of decentralization and technocracy, and operational-level continuity, which was achieved when groups with contrasting status-related motivations supported the project

Evaluation of the ICT Test Bed project: final report, June 2007

The report describes three strands of evaluation used in the review of the 2006 outcomes from ICT Test Bed and the findings from each strand. a) Quantitative data: Benchmarking of changes in performance on national tests against matched comparator schools and national averages; b) Qualitative data: Site visits including classroom observations, interviews with local authority managers, head teachers, teachers, administrative staff, technicians and students; and c) Document analysis

2016 Annual Impact Investor Survey

The sixth edition of the Annual Impact Investor Survey is based on an analysis of the activities of 158 of the world's leading impact investing organizations, including fund managers, foundations, banks, development finance institutions, family offices, pension funds, and insurance companies. The survey provides detailed insight into investor perceptions and a number of key market variables such as types of investors, the number and size of investments made, target returns, attitudes towards liquidity and responsible exits, and impact measurement practices. This "State of the Market" analysis explores how investments continue to be made across different geographies, a range of sectors, and multiple asset classes, signaling continued market growth and an increasing interest in impact investing opportunities. J.P. Morgan is an anchor sponsor of the 2016 survey. The study was also produced with support from the U.K. Government through the Department for International Development's Impact Programme

Owner challenges on major projects: The case of UK government

Many studies agree that owner organisations are important for successful project organising, but they tend to focus on particular aspects of project organising rather than providing a holistic analysis of owners as organisations. Our objective is to collect evidence of the full range of challenges public sector owners face in managing their major projects. After reviewing the literature on owner organisations, we carry out a case survey of 26 major projects to identify the principal challenges using a content analysis of UK National Audit Office Value for Money reports. Our original contribution is that the findings provide the first comprehensive picture of the full range of challenges of project organising faced by owner organisations. These findings push us theoretically to extend the scope of research in project organising to identify an extended core set of dynamic capabilities for project owner organisations to address these challenges

Digital Transformation of the Italian Public Administration: A Case Study

This case study looks at the Italian Public Administration’s digital transformation. With 60 million people, 8,000 municipalities, and 23,000 local administrations, this digital transformation case highlights how a digital renaissance prefaces innovative disruption challenges. The digital transformation case uses Italy as the backdrop and Team Digitale, a team of talented individuals embarked on building public administration efficiencies and rebooting Italy’s digital innovation footprint, as the protagonist. Digital transformation is rarely, if ever, a technical solution. Instead, digital transformation is a socio-technical and socio-political solution, especially in large and complex democracies or companies with diverse, contending stakeholders. In the process, the case surfaces best practices and challenges faced when trying to tackle a mega-project across an entire economy. The case offers digital transformation recommendations that one can generalize across any global democracy. This case surfaces best practices and challenges faced when trying to tackle a mega-project across an entire economy

Owner Dynamic Capabilities and Benefits Management in Public Information Systems Projects: A Qualitative Content Analysis

In many IS change circumstances the importance of project management capabilities has been emphasised in classic analyses. However, most studies focus only on the project supplier\u27s viewpoint, and there has still been a lack of research on how the project owner’s management capabilities can lead to effective benefits management for IS projects. The aim of paper is to examine the concept of owner dynamic capability, and how their post-implementation benefits can be realised within the context of IS project and its continuously changeable transformation. Qualitative content analysis was adopted to investigate 15 government reports covering 31 IS projects in the UK public sector. Based on the empirical data, the findings demonstrate the significance of project back-end capabilities as one type of owner dynamic capability in managing post-implementation benefits from IS

State-Owned Enterprises' Reforms and their Implications for the Resilience and Vulnerability of the Chinese Economy: Evidence from the Banking, Energy and Telecom Sectors

This paper explores how policies of market liberalization and partial privatization of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) involved in the production and provision of key inputs – banking, energy and telecom – affect the vulnerability and resilience of an economy. SOEs’ response to such policy changes and their ability to operate under the new market conditions are crucial for maintaining quality and continuity in the supply of intermediate goods and services that underlie the functioning of the economy and society. The paper analyses this issue in the context of Chinese SOEs’ reforms. It finds that privatization and liberalization in China have been designed (i) to strengthen the economy’s resilience, as access to private capital and foreign markets has contributed to companies’ growth and to increase the stock and quality of critical infrastructure for the country; but also (ii) to minimize the vulnerabilities that arise from such policies, by envisaging measures against volatility in capital markets and the destabilizing effect of market competition through ad hoc regulation. The paper may prove relevant for the next steps of Chinese SOEs’ reforms and its findings might find applicability in other geographical contexts as well