In the following sub-chapters, the contributions to research and practical implications of this dissertation are considered. As this work has examined the phenomenon of digital transformation in the context of the public sector, the theoretical contributions in the context of digital government and IS research are discussed separately.
6.1.1 Contributions to digital government research
This dissertation contributes to digital government research (Janowski 2015; Tangi et al. 2021) by presenting an in-depth grassroots digital transformation case in the context of the public sector. First, the study indicates that multiple lessons learned from the private sector can be used in public sector digital transformation. This is especially the case with agility, which is often seen as a problematic value for the stability required in the public sector (Janssen and van der Voort 2016; Mergel et al.
2020). Consequently, the dissertation contributes to the digital government research by providing a much-needed practical example of how bottom-up agile experiments can increase governmental agility and adaptability and, in this way, improve an organization’s ability to advance organizational digital transformation.
Second, the study shows that IT departments can be the drivers of public sector digital transformation. While the potential of IT departments as enablers of change has been recognized before (Châlons and Dufft 2016; Matt et al. 2015), this dissertation has shown that the IT department’s potential in driving transformation is also relevant in the context of public sector digital transformation. Additionally, this case has shown that IT departments can benefit from taking the initiative here.
Third, the findings reveal that agile approaches in process management can help public sector organizations and especially IT departments to cope with changing organizational demands, such as an increase in demand for IT development services.
The potential of agile methods has been recognized before, but unlike the previous literature (Greve et al. 2020; Mergel et al. 2020), this case emphasizes the role of organizational culture in successful initiation, especially concerning agile implementations. While the current literature related to organizational agility implementation has emphasized issues related to introducing agility in stable and bureaucratic structures (Janssen and van der Voort 2016), this case has shown that when the agile practices are implemented in public sector organizations, the challenges are not necessarily the result of restrictive structures but cultural aspects and, especially, a lack of trust between different stakeholders.
Fourth, the findings show that when public sector organizations face challenges in implementing tools of digital transformation, organizational factors unrelated to the public sector context can actually be the cause of the difficulties. For example, when EA was initially introduced into the IT department, benefits were expected without careful consideration of how the prevailing situation in the organization influenced its utilization. The problem was not the public sector context but poor implementation of the tool. Consequently, when challenges related to the implementation of tools usually used in the private sector context are analyzed, more emphasis should be placed on the operational context.
Fifth, the findings highlight the need for sufficient management of consultants as a resource for public sector digital transformation. As the findings show, consultants can be a tempting solution when there is a need to obtain resources and competencies to support organizational digital transformation. The possible ramifications can be severe and should be managed in advance.
6.1.2 Contributions to IS research
This dissertation provides multiple contributions to IS research. The key contribution of this dissertation derives from the grassroots perspective of digital transformation, a perspective for which other areas of IS research have voiced a need (Karpovsky and Galliers 2015). The findings revealed that while digital transformation is often depicted as a transformational process guided by strategy (Bharadwaj et al. 2013; Mergel et al. 2019; Vial 2019; Wessel et al. 2021), in the lower levels of the organization, digital transformation appears as an organic transformation driven by tensions. The identified tensions, while case-specific, explain how tensions in organizational operations drive change initiatives, which, in turn, reveal new tensions demanding attention and, thus, result in a continuous transformation. Emergent transformation is not a new phenomenon in the field of IS. It has been discussed, for example, in the context of IS strategizing, where the need for both deliberate strategizing as well as emergent strategizing are recognized (cf. Galliers 2006). However, exploration (i.e., emergent strategizing) in the context of IS strategizing is considered to have a sense of direction and purpose (cf. Galliers 2011), which is not necessarily the case in situations driven by tensions.
Tensions and contradictions have long been connected to organizational transformations (cf. Cunha and Putnam 2017; Smith and Lewis 2011) and have been recently connected to digital transformation as well (Wimelius et al. 2021). This dissertation expands the role of tensions in digital transformation from by-products of change to the driving forces of this transformation. The present work expands our understanding of digital transformation by revealing that digital transformation cannot be viewed only as a strategic initiative but also as an organic, tension-driven continuum. Therefore, more attention in digital transformation research and management should be directed to managing the tensions of this transformation.
This realization leads to other contributions. First, the current simplification of technology as the main driver of digital transformation (cf. Verhoef et al. 2021; Vial 2019) is too simplistic a way to explain the initiation of digital transformation.
Emphasis on the role of technology not only hides the organizational factors driving the transformation but can also simplify the actual transformation occurring in the organization, especially at multiple organizational levels that can have very different relationships with technology. Consequently, this dissertation contributes to the digital transformation discussion by revealing the importance of change and tensions as the drivers of digital transformation. While technology and the desire to benefit from it can act as one of the initial motivators for transformation, the transformation
itself advances through tensions the change within organizations, and that their operational environment creates. Technology and its evolution are only one factor driving digital transformation forward.
Second, this dissertation provides an exemplary case of a digital transformation process that does not evolve due to the strategic initiative of the organization but rather through organic evolution inside the organization. By means of its example case, this dissertation extends the findings of Lanamäki et al. (2020) by revealing that the emergent nature of digital transformation can be identified within organizations as well as within industries. The findings show that what makes digital transformation different from other IT-related changes is not a new type of strategic approach (Teubner and Stockhinger, 2020; Wessel et al., 2021). For this reason, strategy alone should not be considered a sufficient tool for managing organizational digital transformation. Especially at the lower levels of the organization, the transformation can be organic and, therefore, constantly accumulating and difficult to manage through long-term views such as organizational digital transformation strategy.
Third, by viewing digital transformation through the paradox perspective, this dissertation has revealed the importance of underlying tensions in understanding the evolution of organizational digital transformation. The activity theory perspective then extended this view by revealing tensions persisting in different factors, emphasizing that digital transformation is not a straightforward process but instead an attempt to balance the contradictions persisting in and between different factors of the activity, sometimes successively and sometimes concurrently. This view also underlines the need to consider digital transformation as a fundamental transformation in which the mere alteration of tools while ignoring the organizational culture and norms is problematic. By viewing digital transformation through the lens of activity theory, the findings increase our understanding of why digital transformation is defined as holistic and fundamental transformation.
Fourth, through a better understanding of the nature of digital transformation, this dissertation also contributes to IS literature by suggesting approaches to manage organizational digital transformation. Consequently, this dissertation further contributes to IS research by showing that it is critical to pay attention to the underlying tensions, as continuously evolving digital transformation creates tensions that need to be properly managed for organizations to avoid potential vicious cycles of digital transformation.
Finally, by revealing the organic nature of the digital transformation, the findings indicate that such transformation is not merely a solution that organizations can
utilize to improve their ability to survive in changing operational environments but also a new type of change that they need to manage.
6.1.3 Contributions to practice
This dissertation also makes practical contributions. The study provides a practical grassroots example of how public sector organizations can start to advance their digital transformation. While the IT development process described is case-specific, it shows relevant aspects that should be considered, such as the need to build trust with different stakeholders and the need to solve issues by simultaneously considering the short- and long-term effects of the selected solution. For example, the findings of the study show that when public sector organizations utilize consultants to support long-term transformations, the role of consultants and their utilization needs to be considered in a longer time frame than when consultants are used as resources bound to specific projects.
For public sector organizations considering how to begin their digital transformation, this dissertation also shows that a centralized IT department is a potential place to start. The findings also show that small-scale experiments can be a useful approach when it comes to implementing values such as agility. Additionally, the findings indicate that approaches suggested as necessary for private sector organizations can also be beneficial to public sector organizations, such as the incorporation of agile values. In this, there needs to be a will to try out approaches that are not necessarily in line with the bureaucratic structures, as long as they do not challenge the core values of public sector organizations.
While the findings indicate that practitioners in public sector organizations can benefit from digital transformation approaches conducted in the private sector, they also emphasize that this transformation needs to be carefully managed. In particular, the tensions driving digital transformation merit careful consideration as the way these tensions are managed can define the direction of the transformation. When conducting digital transformation activities, practitioners must dedicate enough attention to the tensions arising from the transformation and simultaneously iterate between the solution for the particular tensions and the objective of the transformation as a whole. In this management process, it is not enough for public sector organizations to rely on IT-led transformation efforts; the top management must also, eventually, be involved in the process to ensure organizational legitimization of the transformation. After all, IT-led transformation does not
provide a long-term strategic perspective for the organization, which could be necessary to enable iteration between the short-term tension perspective and the long-term transformation overview.