The Emperor with No Clothes – Inter-Organizational ICT Cooperation within Municipal Regions
Tomi Dahlberg, Ari Helin
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2021042716236
Tiivistelmä
ICT has a significant
role in the development and production of municipal services, and in the daily
work of municipal civil servants. Yet, municipalities typically develop and
operate their ICT activities independently with limited ICT resources, both money
and people. Limited resources are the key incentive for inter-municipal ICT
cooperation. This article investigates how ICT cooperation is carried out
within 20 municipal regions. As the theoretical basis we review transaction
cost economics (TCE), resource based view (RBV) and the constructs of
Granovetter’s social network theory. They are used to outline potential economic
and social benefits emerging from ICT cooperation and to describe social mechanisms
that influence the realization of such benefits. Our empirical data reveals that
there are distinct differences in the effectiveness of ICT activities, in the
amount of ICT cooperation and in the governance of ICT cooperation. Our
analysis reveals that the emperor will not have clothes – ICT cooperation
benefits – unless the cooperation is properly organized and governed.
Kokoelmat
- Rinnakkaistallenteet [19207]