E-Government Policy and Implementation in Croatia
Vesna Bosilj Vuksic, Zeljka Pozgaj, Ljubica Milanovic
Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb
Trg J.F. Kennedya 6,10000 Zagreb, Croatia
e-mail: vboslj@efzg.hr; zpozgaj@efzg.hr; ljmilanovic@efzg.hr
Abstract. This paper discusses the adoption of
e-government in Croatia. The paper stresses the
importance of the relationship between the goals
and objectives of e-government projects and the
context in which these initiatives are undertaken.
The study first presents a theoretical framework
to examine the multiple factors influencing e-
government initiatives. Case studies describing
e-government implementation projects in two
Croatian institutions (one Ministry and one local
administration body) are analyzed and compared
using this framework. As the results support the
theoretical framework, these findings could be
applied by researchers, public managers and
practitioners in Croatia to reduce the risks in the
implementation of e-government initiatives.
Keywords. e-government, Croatia, case study,
policy, business processes, information
technology
1. Introduction
A brief review of the literature on e-
government shows that this is an exhaustive and
growing field of research. Recent years have
witnessed a rush in the implementation of e-
government aimed at restructuring and
improving public services using IT [18]. There is
no universally accepted definition of the e-
government concept, however, the term ‘e-
government’ focuses on the use of new
information and communication technologies
(ICTs) by governments as applied to the full
range of government functions [20]; [5].
However, some authors have stated that e-
government research suffers from definitional
vagueness of the e-government concept,
oversimplification of the e-government
development process within complex political
and institutional environments, unclear goals and
responsibilities and various methodological
limitations [26]; [14].
In many OECD countries, increased attention
has been given to issues of regulatory
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governance in a multi-level context [23].
Expanding a framework for high quality
regulation at all levels of government can only be
achieved if countries consider the diversity of
local needs and the particularities of lower levels
of government. Furthermore, both political
support and technical expertise are essential to
make regulatory governance credible across
levels of government, and to serve citizens and
enterprises. The research conducted by Huerta
Melchor [16] states that OECD countries
underestimate the importance of managing
change while designing and implementing policy
reforms. This is because the instruments used to
manage change are more a casuistic
characteristic of policy formulation than a
conscious strategy to deal with the effects
produced by the implementation of a reform
proposal.
Growing interest has been seen in recent years
in the implementation of e-government, aimed at
restructuring and improving public services
using IT [18]. The data offered by CapGemini
[3], drawn from a report on the availability and
sophistication of online public services presented
to the European Union, show considerable
progress in many countries such as Austria and
in several of the new EU Member States,
especially Malta and Estonia. According to
Gonzalez et al. [12], the sophistication and
availability of online public services shows that
efforts are being made to develop e-government
by countries in this part of the world. The
analysis conducted by Spremic at al. [24] reveals
that progress is present in transition economies
(including Croatia), though there is still room for
significant improvements in demanding future
period.
The aim of this paper is to address the
importance of the relationship between the goals
and objectives of e-government projects and the
context in which these initiatives are undertaken.
Thus, this paper examines the theoretical
perspective of e-government projects and
examines e-government adoption in Croatia in an
effort to understand practical particularities of
the field. The rest of the paper is organized as
follows: Section 2 provides an overview of
related literature and research findings. Section 3
describes Croatian e-government implementation
case studies and discusses the results of the
empirical research. Section 4 provides
concluding remarks and gives some future
directions.
2. Background framework
Authors researching e-government and
business process change initiatives have
identified several issues dealing with this field.
The discussion of these issues in the literature is
systemized and presented as follows.
2.1 E-government policy perspective
Multiple factors have proven to be crucial in
managing e-government projects to ensure
success. In addition to the traditional approach,
which seeks to meet internal operation needs and
solve problems associated with efficiency and
costs, e-government focuses on the potential of
external interactions and emphasises the
importance that citizens assign to customer
service, convenience and user-friendliness [12].
Furthermore, the close relationship between
managerialism and e-government projects
stresses the role of e-government as an
instrument to achieve governmental objectives
and goals [6]. The effectiveness of e-government
initiatives achieving their economic or political
goals may crucially hinge on the congruence
between the goals these initiatives seek to
achieve and the underlying contextual
environment within which these initiatives are
undertaken [21]. The main results of the analysis
carried out by della Roca [8] reveal the weak
institutionalisation of public administration.
Limited mobility and poor wage dynamics are
factors most strongly affecting the public
administration labour market.
In addition, e-government is not a static
concept. According to Gil-Garcia and Martinez-
Moyano [11], e-government initiatives are
evolving from the national to the local level. A
study conducted by Hardy and Williams [15]
showed that the idea of public e-procurement has
shifted from a single concept arising from policy
initiatives, such as e-government or modernizing
public administration, to local level
implementations. Their results revealed that the
e-procurement concept was reinterpreted locally
424
and translated into heterogeneous networks of
public agencies, consultants, suppliers, policies
and practices. Moreover, when multiple
organizations are involved, project success or
failure is influenced by many technical,
organizational and political factors and depends
on the extent to which the project fulfils the
disparate goals of each partner organization [10].
Accordingly, it could be concluded that e-
government initiatives consist of multiple
stakeholders and representations that manifest
differently in varying situations and contexts.
2.2 Business Process Change Perspective
The main reason behind the growing interest
in improving governmental business processes is
to enhance performance. In recent years, many
authors have examined the IT-enabled
transformation of business processes in
government initiatives [2]; [7]; [9]; [13]; [17];
[19] by reporting on the results of government
efforts implemented through tiers of the public
sector and diffused to other countries.
However, practical experience has yielded
varying results of process-oriented initiatives in
the government sector. The public sector has
certain specificities, making business process
change projects considerably different [17]. As a
result, radical changes in the execution of
processes and the organizational structure are not
suitable. According to Groznik and Trkman [14],
radical process-focused change in public sector
organizations cannot be achieved without a
change in the law, as very deep changes in their
business procedures and practices are needed.
Moreover, when multiple organizations are
involved, each partner aims to align their internal
processes with the inter-organizational processes.
This approach requires significant change in
organizational processes and has “ripple effects”
on various stakeholders [10].
Business process and IT transformation
projects bring together the strengths of modern
technologies and management disciplines. Both
technical and business expertise are required,
which is very rare in public organisations [19].
Moreover, public sector organisations usually
have scarce competing objectives and ill-defined
measurement criteria to measure the achievement
of goals [22]. Therefore, public organisation
managers and employees have little motivation
to conduct business process change projects and
they are less innovative when it comes to change;
moreover, a resistance to change spreads. Issues
concerning team member selection and a lack of
dedicated team members are very common.
3. Case studies
To illustrate the characteristics of business
process oriented e-government projects in
Croatia, two case studies are described and
analyzed. Different research methods were
applied for the described cases.
Due to reasons of confidentiality, no
proprietary or confidential information relating
to the first project (City Treasury) may be
disclosed. Therefore, the general term ‘City
Administration’ will be used instead of the title
or name of the Croatian local public
organization. Some of the authors of this paper
were members of the project consultant team and
actively participated in all phases of
implementation of the City Treasury project. The
internal project records of the consultant are
therefore used as a source of information for this
case study.
The research methodology for the e-Charter
project is based on a series of interviews
conducted by managers and IT experts of the e-
Charter solution provider InfoDom (Zagreb,
Croatia) in December 2007. InfoDom is a
company dealing with Business Process Re-
engineering (BPR), system integration and
software development.
3.1 City Treasury
This project was conducted by the City
Administration (CA) which is composed of 12
City Offices, 1 City Bureau and 3 City Services.
The project was initiated by the top management
of the Finance Office and was strongly supported
by the Mayor. The primary goal was to
reorganize and improve the processes of the City
Treasury and to develop a conceptual model of
an integrated and inter-organizational
information system and IT infrastructure needed
to increase process efficiency and to enable
workflow control and monitoring. The
implementation was not within the scope of this
project. The project began in 2008 and lasted
almost one year.
To achieve the project goals, consultants
modelled and analyzed AS-IS processes and
developed a prototype of the City Treasury (TO-
BE processes). Since business process execution
depends on the size of the City Office and its
domain, three different types of City Offices
425
were analyzed: a small office, a large office and
the Finance Office. The latter was selected due to
its dual role: as owner of the City Treasury
processes, and also a user of these processes.
AS-IS models and TO-BE models were
discussed, evaluated and validated by consultants
and business users through a set of workshops.
The analysis of the current situation showed that
City Treasury processes were cross-functional,
while the organizational structure was strongly
hierarchical, with the City Offices operating as
functional silos. Business processes usually start
and finish beyond the City Offices since they are
triggered by City Administration end-users (e.g.
educational institutions, schools, and other
budget users). Therefore numerous process gaps
existed: IT and “paper” flows switched several
times, causing process breaks and delays.
Meanwhile, process gaps resulted in a lack of
control, and thus can be considered points of
risk.
The proposed solution was based on
theoretical findings and the best business practice
recognized in the CA, but was also aligned with
the legislative framework and accounting
standards. Time and cost analysis was not
conducted as it was not within the scope of the
project, and thus improvements were proposed
on the basis of the descriptive business process
analysis.
In addition to the model of process
organizational structure, the IS conceptual model
and conceptual model of IT infrastructure were
developed to create a guideline for future
integrated information system selection and
implementation. Future IS functions and the
main directions for government-to-business
(G2B) and government-to-government (G2G)
adoption were defined. A conceptual framework
for the implementation of document
management, content management and the
workflow management system was developed.
Process roles (e.g. process sponsors and process
owners) and IS roles (e.g. data owners,
authorization and responsibility) were assigned,
stressing the organizational and informational
changes needed to implement the solutions
proposed by the consultants.
3.2. e-Charter
The e-Charter project was financed by the
Croatian government and the main goal was to
establish the first fully functional e-service in
Croatia. This project was inspired by the
Croatian Government's initiative to make
business processes more efficient for businesses
and reduce the underground economy. According
to the e-Croatia programme [4], the Ministry of
the Sea, Tourism, Transport, and Development
has adopted a number of new regulations for
tourism navigation safety.
Since its launch in March 2005, the system
has processed over 500,000 transactions. About
763 charter companies and 3,200 vessels are
registered, and the system is in use at 80
locations. Using this system, charter companies
can execute their business with governmental
institutions and bodies electronically, from one
place. The entire end-to-end process is now
performed much easier as it can be completed
from the office, marina or yacht, at once from
any place and at any time. Direct benefits of the
e-Charter system were visible immediately upon
implementation, including: more efficient
processes and lower operating costs;
consolidated traffic data, an electronic register of
charter companies, vessels and concessions;
electronic support for all Ministry processes
related to registration and monitoring of foreign
yachts and charter boats; electronic data
exchange with other ministries and governmental
bodies.
3.3. Research findings analysis and
discussion
This paper presents two Croatian projects
having the same basic goal: to improve business
process performance by adopting IT and e-
government. However, the projects differ
strongly in how they were carried out and the
results achieved. While the e-Charter project was
very successful, the City Treasury project was
only somewhat successful and gained only minor
positive results.
3.3.1. City Treasury project analysis
The Project was initiated by the Finance
Office management as a project stakeholder.
About thirty business users involved in this
project were highly motivated to participate and
collaborate with the consultants in order to solve
existing problems. However, the project goals
were not communicated with other stakeholders
involved in the processes of the City Treasury –
inside and outside of CA, such as the top
management of City Offices and end-users. This
resulted in numerous objections to project
426
results, oriented toward the lack of independency
and flexibility in decision-making caused by
rigid controls and process flow monitoring.
Following completion of the project, it
became evident that there was no intent to
implement the integrated information system in
the near future. Furthermore, top management
became aware that IT implementation could not
be achieved without organizational and process
restructuring, but that these changes required a
higher level of organizational culture and
continuous change management efforts. It was
necessary to establish organizational and
infrastructural conditions for business process
operability at an inter-organizational level.
3.3.2. e-Charter project analysis
Development and implementation of this
service system encompassed legislation,
organizational changes, IT infrastructure,
interactions among governmental bodies,
security issues and Smart Card technology. The
project was completed within four months,
putting considerable pressure on the project
team. Nevertheless, the entire project was
completed on time, to specifications, and on
budget.
After implementation, the system has
continued to be monitored and its performance
measured and optimized for web transactions,
with a view to improving quality and speed. An
important component that arose following
system implementation was that charter
companies required at least one employee
educated in the area of ICT.
3.3.3. Discussion
The success of e-government projects
implies that processes and organizational
structure modifications are incorporated into
routine operations, procedures and business rules
of the public sector. This means that e-
government practices must be institutionalized
during the implementation of an e-government
project [1]. The lack of such an approach is
obvious in the case of the City Treasury project,
while e-government practices were very
efficiently institutionalized in the e-Charter case.
Projects goals and objectives must also be
aligned with governmental policy. Therefore,
Trkman and Turk [25] proposed a strategic
framework enabling classification policy actions
along with a more structured approach for
governmental planners. Implementation of the e-
Charter project had a great impact on the
Croatian economy and the key factors of success
were: changes to laws, new regulations and
strong alignment to Croatian government policy
and strategy.
The research conducted by Gil-Garcia and
Martinez-Moyano [11] identified a trend in the
evolution of e-government initiatives that seems
to go from national to local governments. The
research findings show that government
organizations at a higher level (e.g. government
agencies) have both the financial resources and
technical expertise to be able to continuously
move toward more sophisticated e-government,
while this is not the case at the local level (e.g.
local administration). These conclusions fit well
to the results (success or failure) obtained in the
City Treasury and e-Charter projects.
The diversity of the users and organizations
involved and the existence of multiple,
sometimes conflicting goals in the inter-
organizational environment were two of the main
challenges to the City Treasury project. This
project shows that public administration
organizations often act as autonomous units
without taking into account what other public
organizations are doing. On the other hand, the e-
Charter project is an example how IT can be
used to integrate and share information across
multiple agencies.
4. Conclusions
This paper has provided valuable findings on
the adoption of e-government in Croatia and new
insights into the interconnection between the
success of e-government projects and the
numerous factors influencing them. The above
discussion highlights the range of highly
complex and diverse issues that public managers
face as they carry out e-government projects. A
set of critical success factors, drawn from the
literature and analyzed in this paper, can serve
both consultants and management in the public
sector for more successful implementation of
projects. The empirical findings can help in
understanding and reducing risk in e-government
initiatives, which is a high priority for public
managers and practitioners in Croatia.
This study has limitations that must be
recognized and addressed in future work. The
main limitation of the study is that the
conclusions are drawn on the basis of two case
studies. Further case studies of e-government
427
initiatives in various EU Member States are
needed, as creating a benchmark of e-
government projects would be beneficial. The
objective of future research would be to conduct
in-depth interviews with participants in e-
government implementation projects in Croatia
and other countries in the region in order to
analyse the existing practices, environment and
conditions in place in the project
implementation, and also to identify the risks,
limitations and critical success factors. The
research results can be used to develop a
framework for the effective integration of
strategy and policy of e-government in public
sector organisations at all levels, from the top
state administration bodies to local government
units.
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