Human resource change management for e-government implementations in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Change Management is an essential factor for e-government implementations. Therefore the aim of this research is to explore human resource change management in e-government implementations. The writer first studied the existing HR change management models. This research expects to identify the relationship between HR change management and e-government implementation and effectiveness of HR change management approaches for e-government implementation. Five e-government implementations were selected for this study. In the Sri Lankan scenario, change management can be seen as a new concept for the government sector. The experiences of other countries have established the importance of suitable change management approach for e-government implementations. Therefore to identify a suitable HR change management approach, the writer reviewed HR CM models, HR change management practices internationally and change management experiences of e-government implementations in Sri Lanka. Through this method it is expected to arrive at a suitable HR change management approach for e-government implementation in Sri Lanka. The literature review revealed some factors related to the change management in several organizations. Based on factors and strategies identified through the literature review as well as experiences of the author a change management approach was adopted for this study. Bases on this approach, the author drew up questionnaires for interviewing respective change management consultants/teams, project management committee members. Data was also collected by interviewing system users/ project implementation team members based on the questionnaire and observing documents. After analyzing the data and information collected and evaluating the results, it was revealed that the activities of proposed change management approach was used in e-government implementations in Sri Lanka but not to same extent in all projects. The success factors identified in the literature review can be observed in e-government implementations and some new success factors also can be observed. They also were recommended. According to the observations and results of this study, some suggestions have been given for further studies.