e-GOVERNMENT IN FINLAND - ePractice.eu

staff involvement are made at director level rather than being part of a widely held cultural belief within
the organisation that staff will automatically be fully involved in the change management process.” 54
285. In light of these considerations, the OECD survey focused on the link between e-government
implementation and its impact on the organisational culture of Finnish ministries and agencies. More than
half of respondents felt that e-government activities have had significant or some impact on aspects of the
organisational culture.
286. Of the four cultural variables included in the OECD survey – impact on openness and
transparency, accountability, incentives and motivation, and values and norms – respondents felt that egovernment
had the greatest impact on openness and transparency, with more than 80% reporting a
significant or some impact. While they also reported a positive impact on motivation and incentives and on
accountability, they were more circumspect about the impact on the administration’s underlying values and
norms. This seems to indicate that e-government has simply provided the tools for ministries and agencies
to better carry out a transparency mandate which preceded the introduction of ICT. As a TUKES official
noted, “Planning the future using IT helps to promote basic values of transparency and accountability that
were already part of the organisation.”
:
54 Bradshaw, p. 27.
Figure 4.15. The impact of e-government activities on culture of good governance
Impact on openess and
transparency
Impact on accountability
Impact on incentives and
motivation
Impact on values and norms
Source: OECD
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Significant Some Little/no
103