Information Technology and Bureaucratic Reform: A Case Study from India

Most governments see the use of information systems as part of a reform strategy to reconfigure relations both among various government departments as well as between governments and other stakeholders. However, there is little empirical evidence to support whether these systems achieve this intended outcome. Therefore, the overarching question that guides this study can be articulated as follows: given that the information systems used by governments are proposed to institute new relational patterns within governments and between governments and other stakeholders, has this happened, if it so how and if not why not. I suggest that e-governance systems are designed and implemented with the context of existing institutionalized social structures, which constrain actors who come together to build and implement a new system. However, this does not mean that these actors are mere puppets. They are capable of strategic action and can choose whether to reinforce the existing institutionalized set up or to change it. In either case, these constrained actors build coalitions by using strategic and assumptive frames in their attempt to move from interpretive flexibility towards institutionalization. This study uses the extended case study approach with in-depth interviews and participant observation as the data elicitation techniques. My data analytic approach stems from the notion of a hermeneutic circle that sees the process of social construction and institutionalization as a series of constructed dialogues

The Impacts of International Volunteering: Summary of the Findings

Copyright © Flinders University 2016. This report is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Results From The research Building partnerships through IDV. Volunteerism works through relationships. AVID volunteers spend significant amounts of time and effort to establish good and productive relationships with host organisation staff. Most host organisations value relationship building highly. Relationships are the conduit for capacity development and the ‘stuff’ of the people-to-people links that are IDV’s principal objectives. Both volunteers and host organisations describe the relationships they build as equal and mutually beneficial – qualities that characterise a true partnership. IDV programs such as AVID are therefore part of the global push for a shift from donor-recipient relationships to equitable and mutually accountable partnerships. They contribute to Sustainable Development Goal 17: ‘a global partnership’. Capacity development and reciprocal learning. Capacity development through IDV is mutual rather than one-sided. Host organisations gain specific skill and ideas that help them innovate and work effectively in a global environment, and these capacities are more sustainable if they are aquired through collaborative work rather than formal training. The research found that volunteers also develop their capabilities by gaining valuable soft skills, international professional experience and specific country knowledge that are useful for living and working in a global world. This outcome, and the contribution of host organisations to it, should be acknowledged as a positive impact of IDV .Developing cosmopolitan orientations. The research confirms previous findings that IDV assists in promoting a positive image of Australia overseas. But it also found more far-reaching impacts on the orientations of volunteers and host organisation staff towards development, volunteerism, and engaging with other cultures. IDV offers volunteers opportunities to practice and gain a reality check on their openness towards othercultures, as well as developing their intercultural competencies. Host organisations enhance their ability to engage effectively with foreign development actors by developing and practicing different cultural repertoires and opening up to new ideas and knowledge

Volunteer Perspectives on the Impacts of International Development Volunteering

Copyright © Flinders University 2016. This report is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Summary of results The impacts of international development volunteering are multidimensional. They touch host organisations and volunteers, range from skills building and organisational change to employability and life experience, and can change participants’ world views, their understanding of development and aid, and their attitude to volunteering. In this report we focus on the volunteer perspectives on volunteering as a form of development assistance, and on three important areas of impact: capacity development, relationship building, and cosmopolitan orientations. Development volunteering. According to research participants, volunteering can be distinguished from other forms of development work by a stronger focus on the host organisation’s priorities and on developing collaborative relationships. Less pressure to produce outputs creates more opportunity for sharing knowledge and experience with local colleagues. This can make the impacts of volunteering more sustainable, but also less predictable. Capacity development. All volunteers hope to contribute positively to the capacity of their host organisation. They learn that capacity cannot be developed unilaterally through their own efforts but with the active engagement of their host organisation colleagues. When volunteers understand this and have succeeded in establishing a solid collaborative learning space, they find that they are able to work towards significant changes in the host organisation’s ability to mobilise and attract resources, plan and operate strategically, improve the quality of service and performance, and broaden its network of partnerships. In working with host organisations, volunteers also develop their own capacity to translate their skills to a different context, work with cultural difference and diverse knowledges, and understand their host country’s economic and political systems, development challenges, and cultural norms and values. Relationship building impacts. Most volunteers see relationship building as an important means of capacity development and as a valued outcome of volunteering. As a means, building relationships with host organisation staff is a pre-requisite to achieving the above-mentioned capacity development outcomes. Volunteers achieve much more if they work as a member of a team in their host organisation, rather than as a lone capacity builder working to a pre-established program. The host organisation, too, must invest in the relationship and find how and where the volunteer’s skills and knowledge can be most effectively used. Time, a shared language, cultural confidence, experience with managing volunteers in the organisation and clarity about where the volunteer’s accountability lies, are all necessary ingredients for building productive and equitable relationships. Public diplomacy impacts. Volunteers see the people-to-people relationships they build in host organisations and beyond as a significant outcome of volunteering. The personal friendships and bonds with people from their host country facilitated information exchange which increased the knowledge stock on both sides and laid the foundations for a better, deeper, mutual understanding. Many volunteers found that host organisations and communities made them feel welcome, but they also encountered stereotypes of Westerners (both positive and negative), and questioned some of their own taken-for-granted assumptions about their host country and Australia. Volunteering gives participants the opportunity to act on their sense of solidarity and shared humanity with others, while at the same time gaining a deeper understanding of cultural difference and the importance of contex

Host Organisation Perspectives on the Impacts of International Volunteering

Copyright © Flinders University 2016. This report is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Summary of results. The impacts of international development volunteering are multidimensional. They touch host organisations and volunteers, range from skills building and organisational change to employability and life experience, and can change participants’ world views, their understanding of development and aid, and their attitude to volunteering. In this report we focus on the volunteer perspectives on volunteering as a form of development assistance, and on three important areas of impact: capacity development, relationship building, and cosmopolitan orientations. Development volunteering. According to research participants, volunteering can be distinguished from other forms of development work by a stronger focus on the host organisation’s priorities and on developing collaborative relationships. Less pressure to produce outputs creates more opportunity for sharing knowledge and experience with local colleagues. This can make the impacts of volunteering more sustainable, but also less predictable. Capacity development. All volunteers hope to contribute positively to the capacity of their host organisation. They learn that capacity cannot be developed unilaterally through their own efforts but with the active engagement of their host organisation colleagues. When volunteers understand this and have succeeded in establishing a solid collaborative learning space, they find that they are able to work towards significant changes in the host organisation’s ability to mobilise and attract resources, plan and operate strategically, improve the quality of service and performance, and broaden its network of partnerships. In working with host organisations, volunteers also develop their own capacity to translate their skills to a different context, work with cultural difference and diverse knowledges, and understand their host country’s economic and political systems, development challenges, and cultural norms and values. Relationship building impacts Most volunteers see relationship building as an important means of capacity development and as a valued outcome of volunteering. As a means, building relationships with host organisation staff is a pre-requisite to achieving the above-mentioned capacity development outcomes. Volunteers achieve much more if they work as a member of a team in their host organisation, rather than as a lone capacity builder working to a pre-established program. The host organisation, too, must invest in the relationship and find how and where the volunteer’s skills and knowledge can be most effectively used. Time, a shared language, cultural confidence, experience with managing volunteers in the organisation and clarity about where the volunteer’s accountability lies, are all necessary ingredients for building productive and equitable relationships. Public diplomacy impacts. Volunteers see the people-to-people relationships they build in host organisations and beyond as a significant outcome of volunteering. The personal friendships and bonds with people from their host country facilitated information exchange which increased the knowledge stock on both sides and laid the foundations for a better, deeper, mutual understanding. Many volunteers found that host organisations and communities made them feel welcome, but they also encountered stereotypes of Westerners (both positive and negative), and questioned some of their own taken-for-granted assumptions about their host country and Australia. Volunteering gives participants the opportunity to act on their sense of solidarity and shared humanity with others, while at the same time gaining a deeper understanding of cultural difference and the importance of contex

Expectations & Realities of International Development Volunteering

Copyright © Flinders University 2016. This report is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/The research sought to capture the distinctive contributions of international development volunteerism (IDV) to development assistance and people-to-people links. It asked: 1. How does IDV enable the building of development partnerships? 2. To what extent does IDV produce or consolidate cosmopolitan orientations in volunteers and host organisations? This report presents a preliminary analysis of data collected in two surveys of volunteers – one conducted a week or so before the volunteers’ departure from Australia, and the other conducted within 6 months of their return to Australia. The response rate for the Pre-Placement Survey was 66 percent while the response rate for the Returned Volunteer Survey was an estimated 20%. Comparisons between the surveys should therefore be drawn with caution

Let\u27s fix the plumbing. Information technology and bureaucratic reform: A case from India

This case study investigates the development, implementation and institutionalization of the Fund Based Accounting System (FBAS) by the Bangalore City Corporation, an urban local administrative body. FBAS is part of the Bangalore City Corporation\u27s effort to use information technology for good governance. The use of information technology to enable governance, or e-governance, is premised on the notion that information technology can be used to reconfigure relations among various government departments as well as between governments and other stakeholders such as the private sector and civil society. The overarching research question can be articulated as: given that FBAS was proposed to institute new relational patterns across organizations and sectors, has this actually happened, if so, how and if not, why not. The case study uses Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) and Institutional Theory as the theoretical lenses to focus on how groups involved in the project developed a shared understanding of the problem, the consequent solution and the process by which the system sought to bring about a change in way the Bangalore City Corporation functions, both internally and with other stakeholders. In depth interviews with key informants was the primary data elicitation technique. Secondary data in the form of media reports, manuals, legislation, strategy documents and project review documents supplemented the data collected via the interviews. Data analysis followed the hermeneutic-interpretive method. The findings reveal that the groups involved in the project tapped into exiting notions of good governance which translated into the need for timely, accurate and structured information for decision making. This problem definition led to the recognition that fundamental to transforming the way the Bangalore City Corporation works is a reform in its financial management systems. Importantly, the results highlight the pivotal role played by institutional entrepreneurs in bringing about change. These institutional entrepreneurs create paths by temporally sequencing events. They ensure the institutionalization of these paths by creating social entanglements (Selznick, 1996) which embeds the practice in the routine day-to-day functioning of the organization

The role of institutional logics in the design of e-governance systems

Philadelphia, PA, US

A "fair go" in the lucky country? : gender equality and the Australian case

This chapter will discuss Australia's progress towards achieving gender equality. A brief recounting of Australia's engagement with CEDAW is followed by a critical review of a few significant legal and policy frameworks and formal institutional mechanisms established to advance gender equality. We then focus on the unique challenges of intersectional inequality faces by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and conclude with a summary of where Australia stands in terms of CEDAW's definition of gender equality and what is required to achieve substantive equality