Implementing information technology in government: An empirical assessment of the role of local partnerships

As managers have turned to advanced technologies to promote service delivery, partnership arrangements have attracted great attention. Given the struggle between limited fiscal capacities and rising public expectations, the use of partnerships has emerged as a strategy of government leaders who wish to benefit from advanced technologies. Despite the importance and use of these arrangements, little empirical research has appeared on the characteristics of partnerships that may alternatively promote or impede their success. This research isolates several key characteristics from the implementation and interorganizational literatures and investigates empirically their impact on the cost and operational benefits of a geographical information system project. Our findings suggest that partnerships do provide a reasonable approach to service delivery; however, the effectiveness of these arrangements is tempered by the number of partners involved, the degree to which decision authority is shared among the partners, the amount of resources shared among the group, the formality of the arrangement, and the level of leadership commitment.