COBRA framework to evaluate e-government services: A citizen-centric perspective

E-government services involve many stakeholders who have different objectives that can have an impact on success. Among these stakeholders, citizens are the primary stakeholders of government activities. Accordingly, their satisfaction plays an important role in e-government success. Although several models have been proposed to assess the success of e-government services through measuring users' satisfaction levels, they fail to provide a comprehensive evaluation model. This study provides an insight and critical analysis of the extant literature to identify the most critical factors and their manifested variables for user satisfaction in the provision of e-government services. The various manifested variables are then grouped into a new quantitative analysis framework consisting of four main constructs: cost; benefit; risk and opportunity (COBRA) by analogy to the well-known SWOT qualitative analysis framework. The COBRA measurement scale is developed, tested, refined and validated on a sample group of e-government service users in Turkey. A structured equation model is used to establish relationships among the identified constructs, associated variables and users' satisfaction. The results confirm that COBRA framework is a useful approach for evaluating the success of e-government services from citizens' perspective and it can be generalised to other perspectives and measurement contexts. Crown Copyright © 2014.PIAP-GA-2008-230658) from the European Union Framework Program and another grant (NPRP 09-1023-5-158) from the Qatar National Research Fund (amember of Qatar Foundation

Kamu örgütlerinde toplam kalite yönetimi uygulanması: Türkiye'ye yönelik ampirik bir çalışma

This thesis examines the issues of Total Quality Management (TQM) implementation in a public sector context. After presenting the background, the thesis analyzes special reasons, possible benefits, problems and prospects of TQM related to public sector. Next, quality practices of the Turkish public organizations are reviewed as well. Also, the case study, conducted in the Ministry of Industry and Trade, identifies the degree of TQM adoption and discusses the results through the framework presented.Bu tez Toplam Kalite Yönetimi (TKY) uygulamasını kamu sektörü bağlamında incelemektedir. TKY'nin teorik çerçevesini sunduktan sonra tez, TKY uygulamasının özel gerekçelerini, olası yararlarını, sorunlarını ve içeriğini kamu sektörüne ilişkin olarak değerlendirmektedir. Daha sonra, Türk kamu örgütlerinin kaliteyle ilgili çalışmaları gözden geçirilmektedir. Sanayi ve Ticaret Bakanlığı'nda yapılan alan çalışması TKY kurumsallaşmasını ölçmekte ve sonuçları çizilen çerçeve içerisinde tartışmaktadır.Ph.D. - Doctoral Progra

How to be Approached Public Policies Strategically?

Bu çalışmanın amacı, kamu politikalarına stratejik perspektiften nasıl yaklaşılabi­leceğini tartışmaktır. Kamu yönetimine stratejik perspektiften yaklaşmanın, mikro ve makro kamu politikalarına zaman içerisinde bu açıdan şekil vermenin önemi giderek artmaktadır. Çalışma, stratejik yönetim alanındaki gelişmeler ışığında, kamu yönetimi­ne stratejik yaklaşımın birbirini tamamlayan üç boyutunun olması gerektiği argümanını geliştirmektedir: (i) örgütsel amacın uzun dönemli hedefler, aksiyon programları ve kaynak tahsisi öncelikleri bakımından belirlenmesi aracı olarak strateji; (ii) örgütün rekabet alanının tanımlanması olarak strateji; ve (iii) örgütsel kararlar arasındaki uyum, bütünsellik ve entegre hiyerarşik birimler arasındaki yönetsel görev tanımları yolu ile örgüte bütüncül bakma olarak strateji. Stratejik yönetimin bu boyutlarının kamu po­litikalarına nasıl uygulanacağı Türkiye 'nin AB 'ye tam üyelik mücadelesi örneği ile açıklanmaya çalışılmıştır.The aim of this article is to discuss how to be approached public policies from a strategic perspective. Approaching public management from a strategic perspective has gained more and more importance over time in shaping micro and macro public policies. The article has an argument that, under the light of advancements in the strategic management issues, there are three complementary dimensions of strategic approach to public management: (i) strategy as a means of defining the organisational purpose in long-term objectives, action programs, and resource allocation priorities; (ii) strategy as a definition of the competitive domain of the organisation; and (iii) strategy as a coherent, unifying, and integrative pattern of organisational decisions. How these dimensions of strategic approach can be applied to public policies are elaborated through considering Turkey's struggle to achieve full membership statutes in EU

2011b), “COBRA Framework to Evaluate E-Government Services: A Citizen-Centric Perspective”, Working paper to be published in Government Information Quarterly journal

E-government services involve many stakeholders who have different objectives that can have an impact on success. Among these stakeholders, citizens are the primary stakeholders of government activities. Accordingly, their satisfaction plays an important role in e-government success. Although several models have been proposed to assess the success of e-government services through measuring users' satisfaction levels, they fail to provide a comprehensive evaluation model. This study provides an insight and critical analysis of the extant literature to identify the most critical factors and their manifested variables for user satisfaction in the provision of e-government services. The various manifested variables are then grouped into a new quantitative analysis framework consisting of four main constructs: cost; benefit; risk and opportunity (COBRA) by analogy to the well-known SWOT qualitative analysis framework. The COBRA measurement scale is developed, tested, refined and validated on a sample group of e-government service users in Turkey. A structured equation model is used to establish relationships among the identified constructs, associated variables and users' satisfaction. The results confirm that COBRA framework is a useful approach for evaluating the success of e-government services from citizens' perspective and it can be generalised to other perspectives and measurement contexts. Crow