Many information systems (IS) studies have found that information systems implementation sustainability is determined by internal organizational factors. In general these studies have been conducted in private organizations and these factors may not be applicable to IS implementations sustainability within public organizations. This study examines what internal organizational factors play a role in the sustainable implementation of e-government initiatives using a case study of local e-government in Indonesia. It also considers how these factors contribute to sustainable systems by strengthening stakeholders’ commitment through invoking feelings of involvement as responsibilities are assigned to them. The study concludes that the internal factors contribute to collective action that influences sustainable implementation of information systems. Limitations and future research are briefly discussed.

1. Internal organizational factors
influencing sustainable implementation
of information systems: Experiences
from a local government in Indonesia
By Nurdin Nurdin
Rosemary Stockdale
Helana Scheepers

2. Outline
• Introduction
• Literature review and research construct
• Methodology
• Results
• Discussion and Conclusion
Presented at Australia Conference on Information Systems (ACIS) 05
December 2012, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia
2

3. Definitions
• Internal Organizational Factors: “those
variables that affect the organizational structure
that the organization could adjust or change to
suit its changing environment” (Teo, Tan, &
Buk, 1997)
• Implementation: all of the events, actions, and
decisions involved in putting an innovation into use
(Roger, 1995)
Presented at Australia Conference on Information Systems (ACIS) 05
December 2012, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia
3

4. IS Sustainability
• the ability to preserve / maintenance a
technology over a long period (Preservation)
(Laws et al, 2002)
• an activity of making information systems work
over time within an organizational setting
(continuous operation ) (Braa, Monteiro, Sahay, 2004)
• activities such as evaluation, system
improvement, and human skills improvement
(Markus & Tanis, 2000)
Presented at Australia Conference on Information Systems (ACIS) 05
December 2012, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia 4

5. Internal Organizational Factors
• Coordination: “a process in which agents engage in order to
ensure their community acts in a coherent manner (Nwana, Lee, &
Jenning, 1996, p.79). differentiation in coordination mechanisms
including new vertical and horizontal coordination
mechanisms, through formal and informal means, to improve actors’
task performance.
• Cooperation: “the wilful contribution of personal efforts to the
completion of interdependent jobs” (Wagner, 1995, p. 152).
Cooperation between internal actors and inter-organizational
departments to perform work in a collaborative context, which might
reduce cost, spread risk, and improve access to complementary
resources.
Presented at Australia Conference on Information Systems (ACIS) 05 5
December 2012, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia

6. Internal Organizational Factors;
continued
• Responsibility distribution: organizational members and groups
should be assigned equal tasks and responsibility in managing
project implementation. This includes determining clear tasks and
responsibilities to ensure actors work on the right assigned tasks.
• Commitment: is a psychological state that holds people and
organizations to a line of behaviour toward IS implementation.
Organizational participants’ commitment is established by involving
them in the implementation process through assigning tasks, flexible
coordination and cooperation
Presented at Australia Conference on Information Systems (ACIS) 05 6
December 2012, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia

7. Methodology
- We use single case study
- data collection from early March to end of June 2011, March
2012, and September 2012.
- 12 Participants
- Interviews (Indonesian language) length between 45 minutes to 1
hour
- coding broadly followed Strauss and Corbin (1990) in which the
data analysis was carried out with three iterations; open
coding, axial coding and selective coding
Presented at Australia Conference on Information Systems (ACIS) 05 7
December 2012, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia

8. Case Description
• 2000 - The central government enacted President Decree No. 50
in 2000 concerning Indonesia Telematic Coordination Team (TKTI)
to coordinate the development of information and communication
technology (ICT) in government and private sectors
• 2001- The central government issued President Instruction No.
6/2001 concerning Indonesia’s five-year National Information
Communication and Technology Action Plan to encourage the use
of ICT to empower citizens, increase their welfare, reduce
poverty, and eliminate the digital divide.
Presented at Australia Conference on Information Systems (ACIS) 05 8
December 2012, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia

9. Case Description
• 2003 – The central government launched Presidential
Instruction No.3/2003 to officially adopt and implement of
e-government within government institutions
• 2004 – Ministry of Information and Communication
provides E-Government implementation Blue Print
• Jembrana is a Local government (regency) in Bali
- 300 thousand population
- lack natural resources
- 90% government budget transferred by central
government
- twice awarded e-government best practices
Presented at Australia Conference on Information Systems (ACIS) 05 9
December 2012, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia

10. Findings
• Synergizing Through Coordination and Cooperation
- Department of Internal State Affairs takes care of the server and coordinate
directly to the central office in Jakarta (Ministry of Internal State Affairs), not
from the IT division. But if something happens, they do coordinate with us to
discuss what exactly happens to the server then report to Jakarta (Participant E)
- Cooperation with BPPT includes training of human resources, program design
and application building….. Now we have got about 78 staff who have formal
education background in IT. Those human resources have supported the
implementation of e-government systems within our local government
(Participant A)
- Each month we hold a regular meeting where we discuss our problems
encountered during tasks completion. We also discuss what applications should
be implemented and how to improve current applications …… in the meeting we
also get input from our friends who work at district level because they are
directly confronted with the villagers and they know what should be improved
(Participant I)
Presented at Australia Conference on Information Systems (ACIS) 05 10
December 2012, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia

11. Findings; continued
• Sharing Responsibility to Reduce the Burden
- The J-Net was funded by local government and supported by
districts, villages and schools. They took responsibility for the J-Net
budget implementation voluntarily. For example each district donated 60
million, villages 40 million, and schools 30 million ( 1 million rupiah is
equal to US $1100) (participant A)
- If the maintenance is carried out within the SKPDs (the local government
department), the cost is the responsibility of each SKPD. If the
maintenance is in districts, schools and villages, they will be responsible
for the cost too. We do not have a budget for that (Participant J)
Presented at Australia Conference on Information Systems (ACIS) 05 11
December 2012, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia

12. Findings; continued
• Commitment is strengthened and rewarded
- My IT colleagues sometimes also feel exhausted during the
day, especially when they do the job outside of this office such as in
districts. Of course they have got salary but that is not enough, for that
we give more rewards. They often work from morning until late evening
and they are exhausted, so we give them extra money for lunch and
provide them with extra incentives (Participant A)
- We also threaten staff who work in the districts if they forget their duties to
update the existing information such as on poor birth and death
population data. If they fail to do their job, their salaries will be stopped
until they update the information or send us the data via the network
(Participant B)
Presented at Australia Conference on Information Systems (ACIS) 05 12
December 2012, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia

13. Discussion
• coordination and cooperation is the opportunity to share
responsibilities and burdens among institutions within the
local government
• promoting collaboration and partnership
• Reduce burdens
- Cost (e.g.: maintenances)
- Human resources
• stakeholders’ commitment is strengthened through
invoking feelings of involvement as responsibilities are
assigned to them
Presented at Australia Conference on Information Systems (ACIS) 05 13
December 2012, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia

14. Conclusions
• Practice diversity of coordination, cooperation
mechanisms, and sharing responsibility among
internal institutions helps the local government to
maintain their IS
• Improve participants’ commitment to sustain their IS
• Relying on the top leader may be reduced.
Presented at Australia Conference on Information Systems (ACIS) 05 14
December 2012, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia

15. Questions
or
Comments?