Abstract:

In this paper, we aim to understand how e-government development leads to a growing complexity and to portray sources of this complexity. Researchers have agreed on explaining e-government as a transformation of public organizations. This transformation however increases internal and external complexity. Dealing with complexity is one of the most important issues of public organization that may lead to e-government failure if it isn't appropriately managed.

We study e-government development projects in two different public organizations of a Canadian province. Using grounded theory case studies analysis, we identify and discuss, firstly, four main sources of complexity related to e-government development before suggesting ways to better deal with them (technological aspects, organizational aspects, customer-user requirements, and interorganizational integration complexities). Secondly, we stress that continuous change is a critical factor of e-government development success. Finally, we define e-government as complex adaptive systems. These results contribute to managers’ better understanding of e-government as a complex system that need more effective and continuous adaptation in a context of changing environment.