Impacts of organizational assimilation of e-government systems on business value creation: A structuration theory approach

Governments worldwide are eagerly anticipating a digital future with the proliferation of information system applications, but assimilation of such enterprises could be a potentially formidable challenge. Assimilation of e-government systems by organizations is important for business value creation. Despite significant investments in e-government systems, the extent to which organizations have been able to assimilate and leverage these systems varies widely. We develop a theoretical model grounded upon structuration theory and the literature on organizational information systems assimilation to investigate the impact of organizational assimilation of e-government systems on business value creation by conceptualizing the notions of IS in organizations. Based on our model, we argue that the organizational meta-structures of signification, domination, and legitimization determine aspects of organizational e-government systems assimilation behavior that may affect its value creation potential. We experimentally validate our model using a total of 367 surveys collected from public organizations currently utilizing an e-governmental system. Our results largely support the proposed model and shed new light on the factors associated with organizational assimilation of e-government systems. Finally, we isolate the organizational, technological, and inter-organizational factors that shape the meta-structures for the assimilation of e-government system. Our findings indicate that assimilation of e-government systems has a substantial impact on business value creation. We conclude by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of our findings. (C) 2010 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.