Can Information Systems facilitate the integration of New Public Management and Public Governance? Evidence from an Italian public organization

Abstract

The paper aims to provide new insights concerning the role of Information Systems (IS) in the theoretical and practical debate on New Public Management (NPM) and Public Governance (PG) reforms. If NPM aims to increase efficiency in order to reduce costs and to improve performance, PG suggests to rebuild the relationship with society and to increase public participation. In order to be implemented, NPM and PG reforms require the introduction of new work practices with fundamental changes in public organizations. The paper argues that IS can be regarded as enablers of the two streams of reforms: on the one hand IS are used for in-house government applications, on the other hand they assist in the push toward providing more user-oriented services. To explore this theoretical argument, the 'life-stories' of 44 bureaucrats, operating in four different regional branches of an Italian public agency, have been collected and analyzed. The results show that: a) IS support the planning, control and evolution of activities related with to the achievement of goals; b) IS sustain an increase in administrative responsibility and citizen participation. Empirically, the paper demonstrates that IS support everyday work, putting in practice and combining NPM and PG reforms.