Implementing successful e-government initiatives in Saudi Arabia: Exploring the adaptation strategies of middle managers in the public sector

Abstract

Over the last several decades, there has been considerable research conducted on the adoption and technology acceptance of new information systems by users. However, most of this research had focused mainly on the impact on citizens in a bid to measure improvements in the quality and speed of the services provided. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to develop an understanding of internal users' reactions to new information systems and, in particular, new e-government practices. Briefly, this research study draws on the Coping Model of User Adaption “CMUA” in order to make a qualitative examination of the adaptation strategies of middle managers in public bodies when new e-government initiatives are implemented in their workplace, and unlike previous studies, this work focuses particularly on Saudi Arabia. There were nine semi-structured interviews conducted with two public bodies with each interview analyzed separately (individual level), then within-case analysis for each case study (group level). The findings revealed a strong relationship between the adaptation strategies and the success (or otherwise) of the adoption of the new e-government systems in all of the cases. The study also contributes to theory as there were several new outcomes discovered that can be added to improve the original CMUA framework.