DOCTORAL DISSERTATION

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DOCTORAL DISSERTATION

Local e-government development:

The case study of Vietnamese provincial governments

NGUYEN NGOC ANH – 4013S308 - 6 SEPTEMBER 2016

GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ASIA PACIFIC STUDIES – WASEDA UNIVERSITY

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Local e-government development:

The case study of Vietnamese provincial governments

電子地方政府の発展

:

ベトナムの地方政府を事例にー

SEPTEMBER 2016

Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies Waseda University

NGUYEN, Ngoc Anh

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Toshio Obi, Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University for the continuous support of my Ph.D. study and related research, for his patience, motivation, and immense knowledge. He inspired me in all aspects of academic study and helped me to hurdle all the obstacles in the completion of this dissertation. This dissertation would not have been possible without his guidance and advice.

I am especially grateful to my deputy advisor, Professor Nabeshima Kaoru, Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University not only for serving as one of my faculty committee members, but also for his insightful comments and suggestions which help me to reach academic requirements.

I would like to express my deep gratitude to the rest of my faculty committee: Professor Naoko Iwasaki and Professor Masaya Shiraishi for their kind concern and consideration, but also for the interesting question which incented me to widen my research from various perspectives.

My sincere thanks also goes to my international colleagues, Dr. Nguyen Manh Hien, Mr Pingky Dezar Zulkarnain, Mr Bandaxay Lovanxay, Mr Jim Giguere, and Ms Yang Yao, who provided me an opportunity to work with them in a team, who show the strong cooperation and willing to share the knowledge. Without they precious support it would not be possible to conduct this research.

Finally, I would like to thank my parents and especially my wife who endlessly support and believe in my chosen journey. This dissertation is a present for my lovely son Nguyen Vu Lam for being such a smart boy and always cheering me up.

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ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

CIO Chief Information Officer DOIs Diffusion of innovations EA Enterprise architecture

G2B Government-to-Business

G2C Government-to-Citizen

G2E Government-to-Employee

G2G Government-to-Government

GCIO Government Chief Information Officer IAC International Academy of CIO

ICT Information and Communication Technology

IS Information System

ISO International Organization for Standardization

IT Information Technology

MIC Ministry of Information and Communication

OECD Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development PAR Public Administration Reform

SEM Structural Equation Modeling

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TAM Technology Acceptance Model

TPB Theory of Planned Behavior TRA Theory of Reasoned Action

UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UTAUT The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 2-1: Major factors influencing e-government service acceptance, adapted from Susanto

and Goodwin (2013) ... 36

Table 2-2: Typology of Consumer Value (Holbrook, 1999) ... 49

Table 3-1: Vietnam e-government’s development path ... 61

Table 3-2: List of constructs ... 77

Table 3-3: Descriptive analysis ... 80

Table 3-4: Correlation matrix of variables ... 81

Table 3-5: The estimation result of the fixed-effects model ... 82

Table 3-6: The estimation result of random-effects model ... 84

Table 3-7:The comparision between fixed effects, between effects and random effects ... 85

Table 3-8: Hypothesis testing results ... 88

Table 4-1: Hai Phong information technology (IT) utilization in public sectors statistics ... 94

Table 4-2: The current situation of information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure in Hai Phong ... 99

Table 4-3: Major information and communication technology (ICT) policies and regulations ... 104

Table 4-4: The targets of the information technology (IT) utilization in state agencies, 2016– 2020 plan ... 105

Table 4-5: The ranking of Hai Phong in public administration reform progress ... 107

Table 4-6: Members of Hai Phong information technology (IT) steering committee ... 113

Table 5-1: Results of expert survey ... 122

Table 5-2: Sample of interview questions ... 124

Table 5-3: Sample demographic ... 126

Table 5-4: Questionnaire Items ... 131

Table 5-5: User-value dimensions identified by principle factor analysis ... 134

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Table 5-6: CFA result for the three first-order value dimensions ... 137

Table 5-7: The CFA results for the quality dimension's measurement model ... 140

Table 5-8: The CFA results for the final measurement model ... 143

Table 5-9: Hai Phong online services common workflow ... 147

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1-1: The structure of Chapter 1 ... 1

Figure 2-1: E-government major areas ... 12

Figure 2-2: Example of G2G applications ... 13

Figure 2-3: Layne and Lee's four-stage e-government model... 19

Figure 2-4: Hiller and Bélanger’s (2001) five-stage model ... 20

Figure 2-5:Deloitte & Touche's six-stage model... 22

Figure 2-6: E-government service development levels ... 24

Figure 2-7: Different levels of e-government ... 25

Figure 2-8: The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) ... 31

Figure 2-9: Technology acceptance model (TAM) 2 ... 32

Figure 2-10: Five stages in the innovation decision process ... 33

Figure 2-11: The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) ... 34

Figure 2-12: The local e-government system in South Korea ... 38

Figure 3-1: Vietnam administrative levels ... 63

Figure 3-2: Provincial online services sophistication level 2015 ... 65

Figure 3-3: Document management and administration application in provincial governments 2011–2014 ... 66

Figure 3-4: One-stop application in provincial governments 2011–2014 ... 67

Figure 3-5: The drivers of e-government development at provincial level ... 69

Figure 4-1: Single-window unit workflow ... 93

Figure 4-2: The correlation between information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure and information technology (IT) application in state agencies ... 100

Figure 4-3: The correlation between human resource and information technologuy (IT) application in state agencies ... 108

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Figure 4-4: The correlation between provincial budget and information technology (IT)

application levels in state agencies ... 109

Figure 4-5: Hai Phong public sector performance ... 111

Figure 4-6: Hai Phong public sector’s performance changes, 2011–2018 ... 111

Figure 5-1: EGSERVAL scale development process. ... 121

Figure 5-2: The measurement model for the three first-order dimensions ... 135

Figure 5-3: The measurement model for quality value dimension ... 138

Figure 5-4: The final measurement model for EGSERVAL scale ... 145

Figure 5-5: Online services user interface (front page) ... 146

Figure 5-6: Registration form ... 147

Figure 5-7: Online service and agency selection user interface ... 148

Figure 5-8: Service specific details ... 149

Figure 5-9: Online service application form (business registration) ... 150

Figure 5-10: Tracking application progress user interface ... 151

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ABSTRACT

Embracing e-government initiatives has been expected to enhance efficiency and transparency in government administrations and, at the same time, reduce time and expenses for citizens and businesses in public services. Considering e-government development to be one of the top priorities on their agendas, governments at all levels have continuously allocated sufficient resources to utilize information technology in government agencies and deliver public services digitally to citizens and businesses. Among the different levels of government, local government plays an important role in interacting with citizens. As suggested by international research, 80% of transactions between citizens and governments take place at the level of local government, not that of central government. Regardless of this important positioning, many researchers have also found that the implementation of local e-government has remained problematic and constrained in many countries.

There is the lack of information regarding e-government implementation at the local level, since most of the current e-government research and models have focused on national and state- level e-government practices. Furthermore, a substantial portion of the previous attempts to investigate e-government service acceptance employ the technology acceptance model (Davis, 1989) and its extended versions. Although these studies must be acknowledged for their contributions to understanding different influences on users’ acceptance of online services, they focus mostly on user behavior as the final goal, without considering other fundamental end- state objectives, such as the purposes and benefits of using technology.

Objectives: This dissertation addresses the solutions for the two major issues with local e- government development: first, the stagnation in the use of IT applications in local public government agencies, and second, the low rate of e-government services uptake from citizens and businesses.

The first objective of the thesis is to construct a model to investigate the impacts of various technological, organizational and environmental factors on the development of local e- government. The second objective of this dissertation is to explore user perception in e- government service by building a multi-dimensional scale to evaluate user value in e- government service: the EGSERVAL.

Methods: This research focuses on e-government development in the context of Vietnamese provincial governments. The selected case study centers on the city of Hai Phong,

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the third biggest city in Vietnam. An econometric model was constructed and validated with panel data covering 63 provinces in Vietnam from 2011 to 2015. Datasets were collected from reliable sources: the Vietnam ICT Index (Ministry of Information and Communication); the Vietnam Provincial Administration Performance Index (UNDP in Vietnam & CECODES); and the Vietnam Provincial Competitiveness Index (US-Aid & VCCI). A mixed-effects model was employed to identify the different impacts of the explanatory variables concerning local e- government growth.

The construction of the EGSERVAL scale was processed based on the procedures recommended by Churchil Jr. (1979) with a number of stages, from identifying construct domain to validating the sustainability of the scale. Interviews and focus groups with government officers were the methods used to collect information and generate questionnaire items. A survey was then administered to citizens at different organizations. The collected data was screened, refined, and examined to eliminate invalid data. Exploratory factor analysis was employed to investigate the multi-dimensional structure of the data and extract the underlying constructs. Subsequently, confirmatory factor analysis was performed to validate the reliability of the findings and investigate the predictive power of the scale relative to user behavior.

The case analysis on Hai Phong’s e-government development was conducted with the findings of the above empirical analyses.

Findings: Overall the results of the first empirical analysis were aligned with what was found in the literature, which indicated that the development of e-government is subject to differences in technological, organizational and environmental factors. The second empirical study evaluated whether user perceptions of e-government services can be measured through four types of value, namely convenience, quality, social and transparency. The measurement model validated the stability and reliability of this factor structure, and the structural model confirmed its ability to predict user behavior of e-government service. In addition, through the construction of a multi-dimensional scale to evaluate user value in e-government service, this research provides broader insights into citizens’ perceptions of e-government services. The EGSERVAL scale draws a distinction between the different aspects of user value: extrinsic and intrinsic; active and reactive; and self-oriented versus other-oriented, thus registering the complexity of the concept.

Practical implications: First, the conceptual model of local e-government development provides suggestions for policy makers at the level of local government to take into

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consideration different factors from technological, organizational and environmental contexts to maximize the success rate of e-government projects. Second, by constructing an EGSERVAL scale, this thesis provides a tool to empirically measure user value in e- government service. It is believed that by prioritizing user value in service design, policy makers can come one step closer to so-called “citizen-centric” e-government implementation.

Originality and value: The thesis is the first study to employ consumer value concepts from the marketing literature into the e-government context. With this new application, the research has introduced a new approach to measuring user perception in e-government services, which helps to capture different sources of user value, and thus it provides deeper and broader insight to explain the willingness and reluctance of end users engaging with online services.

This empirical study of local e-government development takes into consideration various internal and external factors that have been ignored in previous studies, enriching the literature of e-government adoption at the local level. This case analysis on Hai Phong reveals valuable insights into local e-government issues in the provinces of developing countries, thus presenting another unique facet of this research.

Research limitations: The unavailability of secondary data constrains the explanatory power of other province-specific characteristics, such as culture. More comprehensive panel data should be employed in the future to overcome this limitation. The second limitation resides in the fact that the EGSERVAL was developed within the context of a certain local government;

thus it is hard to generalize the result. The scale needs to be tested in other contexts to assess its potential value and validate its sustainability. It is also suggested that future studies take into consideration the influence of various demographic and contextual factors (age, gender, education, usage frequency, service type) to better comprehend the users’ values. Finally, further investigations into user behaviors apart from intention to use, such as actual usage and satisfaction, is needed to confirm the predictive power of the scale.

Key word: EGSERVAL, e-government service, consumer value, e-service quality, local e-government.

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Chapter 1 : Introduction

1. Introduction

This chapter plays as the introductory section of this dissertation. The structure of this chapter is denoted by Figure 1-1 below.

The chapter begins with a brief summary of the background of the study. This section describes the current situation of e-government development at the local governments and the users’ take-up of e-government services. Next, the research gaps in the literature are examined

Figure 1-1: The structure of Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Introduction

Introduction Research background

Research problems

Research questions

Research objectives

Research methodology

Contributions

& limitations

The structure of the dissertation

Vietnam e- government Local e-government

development

Online public services uptake

Mixed-methodology includes qualitative, quantitative, mixed- effects analysis, factor analysis and case study

Secondary datasets about ICT development

of 65 provinces from 2011–2015

Primary survey of Hai Phong citizens’

perspectives on using e- government services Government officers interviewing, experts’

opinions survey Identify e-government

development determinants model at

Vietnam local government

Develop a scale to measure user values in e-government services

Evaluate the level of e- government development and online service usage in

Hai Phong city

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2:

Literature review

Chapter 3:

E-government development at Vietnamese provincial

government level

Chapter 4: Evaluate the role of user values in e-

government services

Chapter 5: The case study of Hai Phong city

Chapter 6: Conclusion

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which then establishes the motivation and the approach for the present research in section 3.

The objectives to be accomplished by the dissertation are presented in this section and section 4 proposes the methodology to achieve research’s objectives. Then the significance and the limitations of the doctoral thesis are outlined in section 5. Finally, the structure of the dissertation is given at the end of the chapter.

2. Research background

In recent decades, there has been a growing number of electronic government (e- government) initiatives embraced by governments around the world. E-government’s promises of benefits, such as an increase in government efficiency and transparency and a reduction of time and expense for citizens in administration procedures, make the implementation of e- government one of the priorities on the national agendas of many countries. Sufficient resources have been invested by governments worldwide to intensify information technology (IT) systems in government administration units and to effectively deliver online public services to citizens and businesses. E-government applications have been found in all four basic areas:

government-to-government (G2G), government-to-employee (G2E), government-to-business (G2B), and government-to-citizen (G2C), mostly in advanced economies such as the United States, United Kingdom, South Korea, Singapore, Japan, and so on.

E-government is being implemented at different levels, from national and regional to local government. Among these different levels of government, local government plays an important role in interacting with citizens. As suggested by international research, 80% of transactions between citizens and governments take place at the level of local government rather than at the national or provincial levels (Socitm & IDeA, 2002). Following this line of argument, Heeks (2008) argues that e-government has the biggest influence at the level of local government, where between 50% and 80% of citizens’ interactions with public bodies occur. Thus, all city governments and administrations are under pressure to transition from the old model of local public organization to the new paradigm of electronically facilitated administration, which is claimed to be both more efficient and more transparent (Norris & Moon, 2005). Most local governments worldwide find themselves striving for a local e-government model that will help them to provide effective e-government services and improve performance in management (Shackleton, Fisher, & Dawson, 2004). The major target of e-government development at the local level is understood to strengthen local competition, lower the cost of service delivery at the local level, and facilitate better operation of the governmental system (Rahman, 2010).

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Regardless of its importance, many researchers have found that the implementation of local e-government to face both continual problems and constraints in many countries (Nabafu &

Maiga, 2012; Norris & Moon, 2005; Shackleton & Dawson, 2007). As suggested from the literature, local government in most of countries usually lacks proper motivation, adequate resource capacity, suitable management, and especially a standardized framework. For example, the lack of independent decision-making powers in a local government area and a strong reliance on central government resources (Shackleton et al., 2006) make local governments passive in their e-government strategy. Many local governments do not have the organizational capacity to take the next steps in creating a transaction-enabled citizen-centered e-government (Klievink & Janssen, 2009). According to the 2000 E-Government Survey conducted by the International City/County Management Association, the lack of IT human resources is rated the top barrier to e-government (Holden et al., 2003). Another major challenge is the shortage of financial capacity (Norris & Moon, 2005). Other considerable barriers include the incompatible platforms, outdated business processes and fragmented and unrelated data structure, some of the challenges that every government organization has to take into consideration in establishing a successful e-government framework.

A low level of public acceptance of e-government services is acknowledged as another issue with local government. Defined as “the delivery of digital information (data or content) and transactional services (e.g., online forms, benefits applications) across a variety of platforms, devices, and delivery mechanisms (e.g., websites, mobile applications, and social media)” (Whitehouse), e-government service is claimed to expand and extend the ability of government to serve its people. Although many local governments have made efforts to improve service delivery through initiatives such as online portals or “one-stop shops,” they have found themselves unable to meet the expectations of the public. More importantly, the popularity of e-government and a consciousness of the benefits of e-government services do not always guarantee that citizens will use the services. This lack of use presents a serious issue, since governments may not obtain the potential benefits of e-government services and cannot justify the investment in e-government systems unless citizens actually use the services.

According to the most recent survey about citizens’ attitude towards e-government, published by the European Commission in 2014, nearly 50% of European citizens were categorized under the heading “Potential Drop-Out” (users who are more likely to give up on using online service) and “Non-Believer” (users who never use online services) (European

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Commission, 2014). A comparative study in (Accenture, 2014) concerning digital government performance across 10 countries demonstrated that, on average, less than 40% of surveyed citizens are satisfied with the quality of public services in their country. The surprising cases are South Korea and the United States, who have been considered the leaders in information and communication technology (ICT) development, ranked above all others in terms of online- service maturity, but who nevertheless experience low levels of citizen satisfaction.

Local governments in Vietnam and other developing countries shared the above described problems with implementing e-government. The year of 2015 was considered an important milestone, though, marking by the officially announcement of the first legal document on e- government from the Vietnamese Government through the Resolution 36a/NQ-CP in October of 2015. The resolution places priority on ensuring the effective operations of state agencies, better serving people and businesses, and improving the nation’s competitiveness. Sixty-three provinces in Vietnam have put considerable effort into deploying IT applications in state agencies and into serving businesses and citizens. However, many provinces find themselves lagging behind the national average due to the shortage of technical infrastructure, a limited budget for IT investments, a lack of fulltime IT staff and the weak support they receive from elected politicians. In addition, there has been a large discrepancy between provinces in how IT applications perform. Many big provinces with advanced IT infrastructure and sufficient financial resources are struggling to take those advantages into e-government development and the online public service delivery. Most of provinces have not had much experience in developing large scale projects in e-government. Considering all of the above, it is critical for the Vietnamese provincial government to identify factors influencing IT applications in local state agencies and to evaluate users’ perspectives on the use of online public services.

3. Research motivations and objectives

First, as suggested by the literature, in order to successfully establish transactional-level e- government frameworks with citizens, several important conditions should first be taken into consideration, such as advanced ICT infrastructure, a comprehensive e-government strategy, robust security mechanisms and well-trained staff. Although e-government adoption has received immense attention in recent years, there is a lack of research regarding e-government implementation at the local level, since most of the current e-government research and the designed models have concentrated on national- and state-level e-government practices (Nabafu & Maiga, 2012). Most studies about the evolution of e-government have been tailored

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to the national level, and little information could be found on local e-government. The shortage of literature on e-government development at the local government levels leaves developing and transitional economies no other option than to try to mirror an established e-government model in other country, to simply operate on their own without sufficient knowledge in this area, or try to popularize a vision without looking into its complexity (Rahman, 2010). In addition, different regions and municipalities within a country may encounter different experiences in e-government development, due to there is no a one-size-fits-all model which can be applied to all provinces (Shackleton et al. 2004). Most of previous researchers conducted studies in a single municipal of a country and a few scholars tried to perform cross-province comparison.

Second, the explanation for the low level of e-government service uptake is “broader and more diversified” than arguments that differences in technical infrastructure are key determinants (OECD, 2009). For many years, e-government services were built based on the assumptions and perspectives of the supplier without concern for the role and characteristics end users (Holgersson & Karlsson 2014). As a result, the lack of data-driven insights on how users evaluate online services make it difficult for leaders to meet citizens’ requirements. It is suggested that digital service provision will create more public values if end users are engaged in designing, developing, and producing the service. Therefore, to deliver superior e- government services to citizens and businesses, services need to be developed and evaluated based on user needs, beliefs, experiences, desires, goals, conditions, preferences, requirements, and any other factors that shape the value they perceive in digital public services.

The importance of understanding user behavior in online public services usage has drawn a great deal of attention from research in the fields of public policy and information systems (IS). The dominant research stream in this field is accredited to studies employing the technology acceptance model (TAM) (Davis, 1989). TAM and its extended versions have been acknowledged for their valuable contributions in understanding individuals’ attitudes and adoption behaviors concerning specific technologies, however, in the context of e-government, TAM ignores other fundamental end-state objectives such as the purpose and benefit of using a technology such as online services.

Given the aforementioned research gaps, the objectives of this dissertation are drawn from the aspiration to address two research questions: “what factors determining the level of information technology utilization in public agencies “, and “what are the underlying

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motivations, perceptions and purposes behind the use of local e-government services of citizens?”

This research focuses on the development of e-government in the context of Vietnamese provincial governments. The selected case study is the city of Hai Phong, one of the cities with the largest foreign direct investment in Vietnam.

The first objective of the thesis is to identify a set of determinants of local e-government development based on the technology-organization-environment (TOE) model, and then construct a framework to examine the impacts of various technological, organizational and environmental factors to the development of local e-government.

The second objective of this dissertation is to construct a value framework to fully explore the user perceptions in e-government service context. Then the user value is measured and evaluated by the construction of a multi-dimensional scale, the EGSERVAL.

4. Overview of research methodology

An econometric model is constructed and validated with panel data consisting of 63 provinces in Vietnam from 2011 to 2015. Datasets were collected from reliable sources: the Vietnam ICT Index (Ministry of Information and Communication); the Vietnam Provincial Administration Performance Index (UNDP in Vietnam & CECODES); and the Vietnam Provincial Competitiveness Index (US-Aid & VCCI). Different econometric models are constructed and analyzed to identify the different impacts of explaining variables on the growth of local e-government.

The construction of the EGSERVAL scale is a process based on the procedures recommended by Churchil Jr. (1979). First, to specify the domain of the construct, literature on e-government service acceptance and consumer value are reviewed. Then to confirm the relevance of Holbrook’s typology to these user-value types, an exploratory survey is carried out with e-government experts. Second, candidate questionnaire items are generated in different ways, deriving from the literature review, interviews and focus groups. At the end of the focus groups, feedback on items are collected, and items are then revised accordingly. In the next step, the intial scale is refined with pilot data. Measures are then refined through an iterative process:

the coefficient alpha of items is examinied to reduce unsuitable items, and exploratory analysis is then carried out to identify the dimensionality of the scale and rearrange items. Afterward,

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the scale’s structure is verified via confirmatory factor analysis, and necessary reliability assessments are carried out.

5. The originality of the research

The originality of the present research lies within the recognition that this is the first study bringing into e-government context the concept of user value, usually used in the marketing literature. While most of the previous studies employed the TAM and other modified versions and focused on the relationship between intention and behavior, with user behavior as the final goal, this research considers the fundamental end-state objectives: the goals, benefits and motivations behind the use of technology. In addition, the research has introduced a new approach to measuring user perception in e-government services, which helps to capture different sources of user value, thus providing deeper and broader insight into what users perceive in online public services.

Furthermore, previous attempts to investigate the determinants of local e-government development have often focused on a specific case study, which restricted the generalizability of their resulting explanations. This research overcomes this limitation with the use of comprehensive datasets collected from unique and reliable sources, maximizing its ability to explain different factors effecting e-government development in provincial governments nationwide. In addition, the empirical study of local e-government development takes into consideration various internal and external factors that have been ignored in previous studies, enriching the literature of e-government adoption at the local level. The case analysis on Hai Phong city reveals valuable insights into e-government adoption issues in the provinces of developing countries, thus constituting another unique feature of this research.

6. The structure of the dissertation

The rest of the dissertation is organized as below:

Chapter 2 reviews the concepts and previous studies that are relevant to the current dissertation. The chapter begins with the explanation of several terms and definitions. First, an overview of e-government, including the definitions, applications (government-to-business [G2B], government-to-citizen [G2C], government-to-government [G2G], and government-to- employee [G2E]), maturity models and e-government services. Section 3 reviews local e- government development and adoption, highlighting the current issues with local governments in applying e-government initiatives. Different factors from technical, organizational and

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environmental contexts that influence the establishment of a successful e-government framework at the local level are discussed. User acceptance of online public services is another topic that is examined in section 3.3. The contributions and limitations of various classical models such as the technology acceptance model (TAM), the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT), and diffusion of innovations (DOI) that were employed by previous researchers in predicting users’ attitude and behavior toward a particular technology, are analyzed, followed by a summary of previous studies on the successful determinants of online services usage. Section 4 portrays several worldwide case studies on local e-government development in selected countries such as South Korea, Japan, the United Kingdom, Australia and Sweden. Section 5 provides a discussion of the major concepts and theories of user value, derived from marketing and consumer behavior literature, and the role of user value in predicting consumer behavior. A brief review of the different methods of evaluating e-service quality is given at the Section 6. The chapter concludes with the analysis of the main findings from such past studies, examining the research gaps and drawing out the rationale behind the present research.

The aims of Chapter 3 are to represent the current status of e-government development in Vietnamese provincial governments and to investigate the different determinants influencing the growth of local e-government. The subsequent section portrays an overview of e- government development history in Vietnam over 15 years, from 2000 to 2015, alongside the latest achievements and present challenges. After that, Section 3 details the progress of e- government adoption in Vietnamese provinces, starting with a brief description of local government structure and administration hierarchy in Vietnam, and then it demonstrates the different aspects of IT application in provincial government bodies. Section 4 conducts an empirical study to identify different factors effecting the success of ICT utilization progress. A determinants model for local e-government development adapted from the technology- organization-environment (TOE) framework is constructed. Then the model is tested with the secondary dataset employing the Vietnam ICT Index and Vietnam Provincial Competitiveness Index. The section is continued with the decryption of the collected dataset and ends with analysis of the estimation results. The final section summarizes several findings of this chapter.

Chapter 4 analyzes the case study of Hai Phong in developing local e-government. The chapter begins with a brief introduction to the city, in terms of demographics and the vision of current socio-economic development. The next section refers to the current progress of

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administration reform in the city government, describing several aspects related to institutional and administrative procedures, civil servant quality and public finance. Then, the issues effecting the city’s public sectors performances are analyzed through data collected from the Vietnam PAPI Index. Section 4 presents the existing status of e-government development in the city with regard to ICT infrastructure, the IT regulation environment, human resources, and several major e-government initiatives. The present online public services use in the city is demonstrated in Section 5. The final section offers some conclusions on the chapter’s analysis.

Chapter 5 aims to develop a tool, an e-government service value scale (referred to as EGSERVAL), which can be used to measure experiences with e-government services and the perspectives of citizens. The theoretical background section reviews eight different value types introduced by Holbrook and justifies the choice of Holbrook’s (1999) typology as a theoretical framework. The methodology section introduces the research method and shows the relevance of Holbrook’s conception of consumer value to user value in the context of an e-government service. In the data analysis section, the EGSERVAL scale is developed and validated with primary data collected from online public services users in Hai Phong. Through data analysis, various types of values in e-government services are identified. The case analysis in Hai Phong city on e-service delivery will be highlighted. Finally, the chapter is summarized with a discussion of the findings of the empirical study.

Chapter 6 serves as the conclusion of this doctoral dissertation. The chapter first focuses on assessing the practical contribution of the thesis. This contribution includes policy implications relating to the development of e-government and how to promote the use of online public services in Vietnamese local governments. The lessons for the Hai Phong government with respect to the current e-government development progress will be also discussed. The academic implications are then discussed in Section 3. In this section, the contributions of the dissertation to the current literature of e-government and IS are analyzed. Section 4 describes some limitations of the study. Finally, further research directions are proposed and recommended.

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Chapter 2 : Literature review

1. Introduction

The purpose of this chapter is to review relevant topics and previous researches in the literature, and to analyze their advantages and limitations, thus provide a foundation for further studies in the subsequent chapters.

The chapter begins with the explanation of several terms and definitions. First, an overview of e-government, including the definitions, applications (government-to-business [G2B], government-to-citizen [G2C], government-to-government [G2G], and government-to- employee [G2E]), maturity models and e-government services. Section 3 reviews local e- government development and adoption, highlighting the current issues with local governments in applying e-government intiatives. Different factors from technical, organizational and environmental contexts that influence the establishment of a successful e-government framework at the local level are discussed. User acceptance of online public services is another topic that is examined in section 3.3. The contributions and limitations of various classical models such as the technology acceptance model (TAM), the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT), and diffusion of innovations (DOI) that were employed by previous researchers in predicting users’ attitude and behavior toward a particular technology, are analyzed, followed by a summary of previous studies on the successful determinants of online services usage. Section 4 portrays several worldwide case studies on local e-government development in selected countries such as South Korea, Japan, the United Kingdom, Australia and Sweden. Section 5 provides a discussion of the major concepts and theories of user value, derived from marketing and consumer behavior literature, and the role of user value in predicting consumer behavior. A brief review of the different methods of evaluating e-service quality is given at the Section 6. The chapter concludes with the analysis of the main findings from such past studies, examining the research gaps and drawing out the rationale behind the present research.

2. Overview of e-government 2.1. E-government definitions

Electronic government, or e-government, has emerged as a notable concept related to governance since 1990, and it has attracted a great deal of attention from researchers and

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professionals in the field of public administration. Organizations and scholars have introduced many definitions of e-government, some of which are highlighted below.

The Gartner Group focuses on the transformation of governance using technologies by defining e-government as “The continuous optimization of service delivery, constituency participation, and governance by transforming internal and external relationships through technology, the Internet and new media” (Baum & Di Maio, 2000).

Meanwhile, the most simplest definition belongs to the United Nations by referring to e- government as the “utilizing the internet and the world-wide-web for delivering government information and services to citizens” (UNDPEPA & ASPA, 2001).

The European Commission (2014) has adopted a broader definition of the term e- government and describes it as “The use of information and communication technologies in public administration combined with organizational change and new skills in order to improve public services and democratic processes and strengthen support to public policies” (European Commission 2014). This classification covers not only the technical utilization but also the organizational changes in public administration.

According to the World Bank (2012), “E-government refers to the use by government agencies of information technologies (such as Wide Area Networks, the Internet, and mobile computing) that have the ability to transform relations with citizens, businesses, and other arms of government” (World Bank, 2012). The World Bank’s perspective also emphasizes on different goals for government to achieve in implementing e-government such as: “better delivery of government services to citizens, improved interactions with business and industry, citizen empowerment through access to information, or more efficient government management”

(World Bank 2012). Benefits of e-government was also mentioned as “less corruption, increased transparency, greater convenience, revenue growth, and/or cost reductions” (World Bank 2012).

Similarly, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) states that e-government refers to “the use by the governments of information and communication technologies (ICTs), and particularly the Internet, as a tool to achieve better government”

(OECD 2009). The organization more recently introduced an “upgraded” term, the “digital government,” which refers to “the use of digital technologies, as an integrated part of governments’ modernisation strategies, to create public value. It relies on a digital government ecosystem comprised of government actors, non-governmental organizations, businesses,

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citizens’ associations and individuals which supports the production of and access to data, services and content through interactions with the government” (OECD, 2014).

Although a universally accepted definition has not been introduced, these above definitions converge with respect to their use of information technologies (e.g. Internet, website, mobile computing) as a means by the government to achieve some ends, such as improving government efficiency, thus enhancing public service delivery and strengthening democratic processes.

2.2. Applications of e-government

E-government is implemented in four major applications, namely G2C, G2B, G2G, and G2E. Each of these types has specific objectives and targets for different stakeholders. Figure 2-1 shows the objectives, activities and the scope for each of the four categories.

As pointed out by Siau and Long (2009), G2G and G2E reflect the internal cooperation across government agencies at different levels, as well as the interaction between the government and its employees. Meanwhile, G2C and G2B represent the external relationship between government and citizens and businesses. In addition, G2C and G2E refer to the communication between government with individual, while G2G and G2B refer to communication between government and organizations.

Figure 2-1: E-government major areas (Siau & Long, 2009)

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Governments at different levels need to communicate with each other in order to deliver public service effectively and enhance government efficiency and transparency. Therefore, it is compulsory to have a mechanism to facilitate collaboration across government departments and agencies.

The term of G2G, as its name suggested, commonly refers to “the digitally-enabled collaboration and cooperation perspective among different government agencies” (Joia, 2004), or to “activities carried out by government for enhancing the internal management process of government agencies” (Waseda Institute of E-Government, 2014). G2G reflects the government’s efforts in information system (IS) integration, information sharing, business re- engineering, and cross-section cooperation across government agencies at different levels, such as national, regional and local governmental organizations, or with other external government agencies, to facilitate public-service delivery and government efficiency. G2G focuses on a variety of intra-municipal transactions such as inter-agency payments, procurement, standardized forms, and permits. Figure 2-2 demonstrated several examples of G2G applications.

Figure 2-2: Example of G2G applications (Realini, 2004)

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Considering G2G adoption as one of the top priorities on the national agenda, accounting for greater transparency, efficiency and accountability, governments over the world have been implementing G2G initiatives at various levels of administration. The Australian government has adapted the established and proven Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework, developed by the United States Government, to develop the Australian Government Architecture which aims to provide a common language across agencies, as well as to identify reusable and shareable services (AGIMO, 2011). The On-nara BPS is a new business-process management system implemented within Korean governmental organizations that has improved the efficiency and transparency of administration process by handling, recording and managing in a standardized way all the business procedures of the government online. Furthermore, since 2008, the Korean government has implemented the Government-Wide Enterprise Architecture to deal with difficulties in service-sharing and management integration among government agencies. Singapore’s G2G initiative, namely the Whole-of-Government Enterprise Architecture¹) is a program that originated in 2002 with the goal of enhancing inter-agency systems interoperability by establishing sets of technical and data standards, shared systems and services, and guidance and methodologies in building enterprise architecture (EA) for each agency.

2.2.2. Government-to-business (G2B)

G2B contains digital communications between government organizations and private sectors. Electronic transaction initiatives such as e-procurement, e-customs or e-tax are some examples of G2B applications. Interacting with government via G2B initiatives helps enterprises around the world to lower their costs and improve competitiveness by reducing red tape and simplifying regulatory processes. Furthermore, G2B applications enable the business community to participate in government activities such as policy formulation and decision- making consultation.

One of the most useful applications of G2B is the e-procurement or e-tendering system.

This system operates as an online auction where government procurement information is made publicly available to suppliers, allowing them to make their bids and to potentially gain contracts as a result. In Australia, AusTender is a centralized gateway for publishing information on Australian Government business opportunities, annual procurement plans, and

1 http://www.egov.gov.sg/egov-programmes/programmes-by-government/whole-of-government-enterprise- architecture-wog-ea

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awarded contracts.² SouthKorea’s Online E-procurement System - KONEPS³ - won the United Nations Public Service Award and was selected by the OECD as one of the best cases for improving transparency, and won the Global IT Excellence Award from the World Congress on Information Technology in 2006. All of the procurement procedures are processed via KONEPS’s subsystems: e-bidding, e-contracting, e-ordering from online shopping malls, and e-payment. In Singapore, in order to facilitate and enhance the transparency of public procurement, a one-stop e-procurement portal called GeBIZ was implemented, which allows suppliers to search for government procurement opportunities and to make online bids, as well as to enable public sectors to post quotations and tender invitations.

Another G2B application is EnterpriseOne, the portal serving the Singapore business community by employing the Online Business Licensing System. Benefitting from this service, enterprises could save up to 90% of processing time and 50% of data entry efforts by filling in a single integrated form to get access to 77 business licenses from 18 agencies.⁴ The Hong Kong government also provides some good examples of G2B services. The major G2B projects launched by the Hong Kong government include the Electronic Service Delivery Scheme, which provides 38 different public services through 11 agencies; the Interactive Government Service Directory, the Electronic Tendering System, and the HK Post e-Cert issues digital certificates to individuals and organizations (Palvia & Sharma, 2007).

2.2.3. Government-to-citizen (G2C)

The majority of government services lie within the scope of G2C applications. G2C deals with the interaction between the government and citizens by providing multiple channels, such as electronic portals, one-stop shopping, mobile phone services, or kiosks. The main purpose of G2C is to enable individuals to access government information and online services anytime, anywhere and to facilitate the engagement of citizens in government decision-making activities.

A broad range of G2C activities include online tax declaration, driver’s licenses renewal, change of residential addresses, birth certificate requests, online voting, and many other governmental services related to citizens’ lives.

Several best practices on G2C can be found worldwide. For example, the Singaporean Government launched the eCitizen portal in 2012 with the goal of providing a one-stop portal

2 www.tenders.gov.au

3 http://www.g2b.go.kr

4 http://www.enterpriseone.gov.sg

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for government information and online government services. Citizens are provided with quick access to all the necessary information and e-services that they need without knowing which individual government agency to go to. In addition, the progress of mobile technology and the high rate of mobile and smartphone penetration in Singapore allows the government to explore a new channel to deliver public service: mobile services. The first mobile government programme (mGov⁵) was launched under the iGov2010 masterplan to extend the reach of e- services and deliver them over mobile phones via SMSes. As the result, 300 mobile government services were implemented.⁶ A one-stop mobile site, mGov@SG, was launched with the purpose of allowing individuals and businesses to search and access the mobile services provided by the Singaporean Government.

In a similar manner, social network services and blogs are being used by the South Korean Government as a medium to reach out citizens. Apart from the main national portal itself, the government runs a single Web portal for online petitions and discussions, namely the e-People.⁷ This portal is a single window application that enables citizens to participate in the policy- making process by receiving and handling their suggestions and complaints.

Farther north, since the Digital Service Standard came into force, United Kingdom has obtained a very high level of G2C digital service, reflected by the fact that most of services are provided at the highest level (transactional). All services are integrated into a single gateway with a clear layout and a simple explanation that facilitate the engagement of citizens⁸ .All information related to government structure, legislation, policy and budget is open to citizens.

The United Kingdom’s governmental agencies also use the strength of social media to reach their citizens instantly, allowing the citizens to contribute their voices and ideas to the government’s policies. Statistics show that in 2014, there have been 636 completed consultations where the government has taken into consideration the responses and opinions of citizens in their decision-making process.

2.2.4. Government-to-employee (G2E)

G2E reflects the relationship between a government and its employees. G2E aims to provide an effective way to develop employees’ skills for their profession by gathering them

5 http://www.egov.gov.sg/egov-programmes/programmes-by-citizens/mgov-sg

6 http://www.ida.gov.sg/Collaboration-and-Initiatives/Initiatives/Store/M-Government

7 www.epeople.go.kr

8 https://www.gov.uk

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together on a collaborative platform and encouraging knowledge-sharing among them. This category of e-government enables government officers to access relevant information regarding compensation and welfare policies, education and learning opportunities, labor rules and regulations, and so on. G2E also indicates the strategic and tactical mechanisms of government in human resource management, budgeting and accounting (Riley, 2000)

Recognizing the strength of social media in promoting e-government, the Singaporean government has launched a program called Cube,⁹ which was announced as “a new social intranet for the Public Service” and was launched in its official version on May 2013. The objective of this platform is to build a public service community to share knowledge, to exchange ideas, to spur collaboration and to discuss any issues relevant to public officers. To date, around 3,000 officers from 99 agencies have participated in this environment, and Cube is under ongoing promotion efforts to extend the number of participants to 130,000.

The Hong Kong Government has established two administrative systems: one is the e- Payroll & Benefits System launched by the HK Treasury, where users can make online enquiries concerning their general payroll, personal, appointment, payment-related and housing-benefit information. The second system is the e-Leave System provided by the Civil Service Bureau, which is to support leave applications and the associated processing, recording and monitoring of leave taken by civil servants.

2.3. E-government maturity

E-government development is characterized in the literature as an evolutionary process, with governments moving through a number of stages to arrive at the final objective. Below are several popular maturity models.

2.3.1. The UN’s five-stage model

The maturity model of United Nations represents the progress of a country in e-government development based on the content and deliverable services available through official websites (UNDPEPA & ASPA, 2001). The model consists of five stages: emerging, enhanced, interactive, transactional, and fully integrated or seamless.

9 http://www.egov.gov.sg/egov-programmes/programmes-by-government/cube

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Emerging presence: This stage describes the situation in which a country plans to enter the arena of e-government. Official websites of government can be found in this stage; however, only static organizational and political information is provided.

Enhanced presence: A country’s online capacity starts to expand as its number of official websites increases. Content will be frequently updated with more dynamic and specialized information; there are links to other official pages provided on websites. Functionalities such as search, email addresses, and newsletters are available. Government publications, legislation, and newsletters are provided, along with the links to ministries and departments.

Interactive presence: A country’s online presence grows intensely with a wide range of government bodies and services. A more sophisticated level of formal communication between citizens and service providers is present, such as online discussion or e-mail. Citizens can now search for a specialized service information and download a specific form or submit an application online.

Transactional presence: Users can conduct transactions like obtaining visas, passports, birth certificates, and driver’s licenses totally online. These transactions include several payment methods that enable users to actually pay online for services, such as parking fines, automobile registration, utility bills and taxes. Digital signatures may be employed to authorize business with the government. Secure sites and user passwords are also present.

Seamless or fully integrated: Capacity to instantly access any service in a "unified package.”

Ministerial, departmental, and agency demarcations are removed in cyberspace. Services are clustered along common needs.

2.3.2. Layne and Lee’s (2001) four-stage model

Layne & Lee (2001) introduces the four-stage maturity model for e-government development in terms of “complexity involved and different levels of integration,” as shown in Figure 2-3. The stages are named as follows: catalogue, transaction, vertical integration, and horizontal integration.

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Figure 2-3: Layne and Lee's four-stage e-government model

In the first stage, catalogue, the government’s efforts are limited to initializing the online presence: cataloguing information and presenting it to citizens. Developing the government’s website and providing basic information are activities belonging to this stage. At the end of this phase, there may be some electronic documents or forms available for citizens to download.

The second stage is called transaction, implying the capability of governments to transact with citizens electronically. In order to establish this capability, a connection between internal databases and the online user-interface should be in place, allowing citizens to conduct dynamic, interactive business online, such as renewing their licenses and paying fines. In the optimized scenario, the data flow moves directly from the online user interface to the internal system of the agency, minimizing the efforts necessary for staff.

The final two stages reflect the increasing demands of citizens to interact with governments via the one-stop-shop, an integrated gateway through which transactions are derived from “the integration of underlying processes not only across different levels of government but also different functions of government” (Layne & Lee, 2001). By implementing such integration,

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