Exploring Tensions in Collaboration Among Public Sector Organisations on Shared IT Infrastructure Projects
Author(s)
Fatema Zaghloul
Date Issued
2023
Type
conferenceObject
Start Page
1
End Page
11
Abstract
This research-in-progress paper examines the dialectical tensions in inter-organisational collaboration on shared information technology (IT) resources in the public sector. Collaborating public sector organisations are encouraged to explore shared IT resources to align and harmonise multiple IT assets, human resources, and processes. However, the bureaucratic nature of public sector organisations can lead to tensions between individual organisational needs, policymakers' objectives, and joint efforts. This paper presents a preliminary exploration of the problem. The study focuses on the context of UK police services collaborating with other police services and emergency services to create and manage large-scale shared IT infrastructures. The research fills a gap in the literature by exploring dialectical tensions in inter-organisational collaboration of public sector organisations seeking to collaborate for policy implementation. The analysis revealed four tensions arising from disagreements on motivations, objectives, norms, and interpretations, which affect different aspects of the enactment process. The paper concludes by presenting governance mechanisms emerging from the cases to manage the dialectical tensions.
Keywords:
Conference(s)
European Conference on Information Systems