Leading the Implementation of ICT Innovations

• Author: Morten Balle Hansen,Iben Nørup
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12807
• Published date: 01 November 2017
• Date: 01 November 2017

Leading the Implementation of ICT Innovations 851

Public Administration Review,

Vol. 77, Iss. 6, pp. 851–860. © 2017 by

The American Society for Public Administration.

DOI: 10.1111/puar.12807.

Leading the Implementation of ICT Innovations

Iben Nørup is a postdoctoral researcher

in the field of social policy and social

work in the Department of Sociology and

Social Work, Aalborg University, Denmark.

She is a member of the Center for Social

Work Practice and Organizational Capacity

Building. Her research interests focus

on implementation of social and health

policies in the public sector, particularly

implementation in and organization of

frontline work.

E-mail: ibenn@socsci.aau.dk

Morten Balle Hansen is professor

of public administration in the Center

for Organization, Management and

Administration and director of the PhD

program in the Department of Political

Science, Aalborg University, Denmark.

His research interests focus on public

leadership, evaluation and performance

management, administrative reform,

innovation, and digitalization in the public

sector.

E-mail: mbh@dps.aau.dk

Abstract : This article analyzes the associations between leadership, the implementation of information and

communication technology ( ICT ) innovations, and performance. After reviewing theories and empirical evidence

from the literature on leading change, ICT innovations, and performance, the authors elaborate hypotheses and

test them in an analysis of the implementation of an ICT innovation in a Danish multisite hospital. In a quasi-

experimental research design using panel data, survey responses from more than 2,000 employees before and after the

implementation were generated, in addition to qualitative interviews with change agents. Findings indicate how

differences in leadership during the ICT implementation process have an important impact on performance after the

implementation. Mobilization of initial support, directive leadership through information and technical assistance,

participative leadership through employee involvement, and locally adapted implementation processes are important

leadership factors associated with performance. The article concludes by discussing broader perspectives of the study and

implications for practice, theory, and future research.

Practitioner Points

• Mobilizing initial support for a new information and communication technology (ICT) system among

employees tends to enhance perceived performance even in the case of severe technical problems; however,

managers should strike a careful balance between mobilizing support for the ICT innovation and preparing

employees for difficulties in the implementation process.

• Participative leadership that involves employees in decisions concerning the practical implementation and

adaptation of the ICT system enhances the perceived performance of the ICT innovation.

• Directive leadership, providing adequate information and timely technical support during the

implementation of the ICT system, increases the likelihood of higher perceived performance.

• Adapting the implementation process to the circumstances of specific departments enhances the likelihood of

higher perceived performance.

Morten Balle Hansen

Iben Nørup

Aalborg University, Denmark

T his article analyzes the associations between

leadership and perceived performance in the

process of implementing information and

communication technology (ICT) innovations in the

public sector. Keeping in mind the huge investments

and high percentage of failure in ICT innovation

projects in public service organizations in recent

decades (Dwivedi et al. 2015 ; Goldfinch 2007 ), there

is a need for research that explores the antecedents

of how the implementation of ICT innovations can

contribute to higher public sector performance.

Research in ICT innovation has been on the public

administration agenda for decades (Kraemer and Perry

1979 , 1989 ; Moon, Lee, and Roh 2014 ; Perry and

Kraemer 1979 , 1980 ). However, even though ICT

innovations today are deeply embedded in the practice

of public administration, influential accounts indicate

that the topic is still somewhat theoretically detached

from mainstream theories of public administration

(Dunleavy et al. 2008 ; Moon et al. 2014 ).

This article examines how approaches from the

general and public sector leadership literature (Van

Wart 2013; Yukl 2013 ) may be related to performance

in the implementation of ICT innovations. The

purpose is to test the extent to which general theories

of leadership style and strategy hold in the context

of implementing ICT innovations. This replication

in the context of ICT innovation fills an important

gap in the literature and adds important new

insights to our understanding of how to lead ICT

innovation processes. Perhaps most importantly, the

analysis shows how ICT innovation implementation

processes constitute a context in which a paradoxical

combination of directive and participative leadership

styles tends to be most productive. This finding

resonates with earlier theories of tight and loose