Factors influencing e-government adoption in India: a qualitative approach
| Published date | 13 August 2018 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/DPRG-02-2018-0007 |
| Pages | 413-433 |
| Date | 13 August 2018 |
| Author | Rajiv Kumar,Amit Sachan,Arindam Mukherjee,Ritu Kumar |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information policy |
Factors influencing e-government
adoption in India: a qualitative approach
Rajiv Kumar, Amit Sachan, Arindam Mukherjee and Ritu Kumar
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this studyis to explore the factorsthat enable citizens to adopt e-government
servicesin India.
Design/methodology/approach –The study uses a qualitative approach by conducting semi-
structuredinterviews.
Findings –The studyreveals novel e-government adoptionfactors, namely, auxiliary facilities,corruption
avoidance, transparency and fairness in process, customer support, connectedness and forced
adoption, previouslyunexplored in e-government adoption literature.In addition, the results highlight 17
e-governmentadoption factors that strengthenthe findings from previous literature.
Research limitations/implications –This study was qualitative in nature, and rather than
generalization, the focus was explicitly on obtaining an in-depth understanding. The sample used was
sufficient for the purpose of this study and allowed reasonable conclusions to be drawn; however, it
cannot be consideredrepresentative of a vast country like India. Academicians and informationsystems
researcherscan use these findings for furtherresearch.
Practical implications –The findings of this study provide useful insights into the decision-making
process of e-governmentservices users in India andsimilar emerging economies. These findingscan be
importantfor government officials tasked withproviding e-government services.
Originality/value –Previous studies in the context of e-government adoption, so far, have tried to
integrate adoption factors from previous technology adoption models. Hence, these studies have not
been able to capturethe complete essence of e-government characteristics.In addition, there are limited
studiesin e-government adoption in the Indian context.
Keywords India, E-government, Adoption, Grounded theory, Qualitative study, Influencing factors
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Government is shifting to a new concept for the extensive access to government services
electronically from devices such as computer, laptop, smart-phones and other handheld
devices, which are more integrated into daily human life (Kumar et al., 2017). In fact, while
the traditional ways of accessing government services are limited to the office location,
spatial dimensions and official hours, the e-government services are not restricted to a
specific location but distributed, in terms of access, anytime and anywhere in an area
connected to the internet and computertechnologies.
Various studies and institutions have tried to define e-government in different ways, but all
headed toward a single notion encompassing a generic and unique mission –presenting
government systems using information and communication technology (ICT) to serve
citizens better (Evans and Yen, 2006;Muir and Oppenheim, 2002;Norris et al.,2001;
Reddick, 2006;Shareef et al.,2010). In India, most of the state governments have taken
initiatives in e-governance, which have met with varying degrees of success (Bhattacharya
et al.,2012
;Singh Kalsi and Kiran, 2013). Multiple levels of government in India have
undertaken a number of e-government initiatives over the years and have made efforts to
Rajiv Kumar is a Doctoral
Candidate at the Indian
Institute of Management
Ranchi, Ranchi, Jharkhand,
India. Amit Sachan and
Arindam Mukherjee are
both Assistant Professor at
the Indian Institute of
Management Ranchi,
Ranchi, Jharkhand, India.
Ritu Kumar is Deputy
Director at Mukhyamantri
Laghu Evam Kutir Udyam
Vikas Board, Government
of Jharkhand and a Post
Graduate student at Indian
Institute of Management
Ranchi, Ranchi, Jharkhand,
India.
Received 23 February 2018
Revised 4 April 2018
Accepted 11 April 2018
DOI 10.1108/DPRG-02-2018-0007 VOL. 20 NO. 5 2018, pp. 413-433, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2398-5038 jDIGITAL POLICY, REGULATION AND GOVERNANCE jPAGE 413
improve the delivery of public services and simplify the process to access e-government
services (PTI, 2013). In 2014, the central Government of India has approved the “Digital
India” program comprising various projects worth over INR (Indian Rupee) 1 lakh crore
(approximately US$15bn). This program includes projects to ensure availability of
government services to citizens digitally (Digital India week to bring investment worth
billions of dollars, 2015). Department of electronics and information technology and
Department of AdministrativeReforms and Public Grievances have formulated the “National
E-Governance Plan” (National E-Governance Plan, n.d.) on May 18, 2006, which takes a
holistic view of e-governanceinitiatives across the country (National Portal of India, n.d.).
Despite diffusion and substantial growth and development of e-government universally, it is
not clear whether citizens are ready to embrace these services in developing countries
(Carter and Belanger, 2005;Singh Kalsi and Kiran, 2013). A large number of e-government
projects, especially in developing countries, fail because of the non-acceptance by citizens
(Al-Sobhi et al.,2010;Danish, 2006;Kumar et al., 2018). E-government initiatives’ diffusion,
acceptance and success are contingent upon citizens’ willingness to adopt these services.
Although e-government systems have significant impacts on public administration,
organizations, individuals and society, so far, only a few thorough and systematic studies
have been undertaken on the subject to comprehensively integrate overall factors related to
their successful implementation. E-government theories and concepts are still in a nascent
stage (Dwivedi et al., 2017;Kumar et al.,2018;Shareef et al.,2011). Researchers from
different disciplines addressed this from their respective speculations and conceptualized
their insights in a scattered fashion (Dwivedi et al., 2017;Heeks and Bailur, 2007).
E-government discipline is an interesting area for scholars and practitioners. Still, there is a
gap in the literature concerning the factors influencing the adoption of e-government
services in a developing country like India. Several researchers, after reviewing the
literature on e-government adoption concluded that the proposed e-government models
are narrow in their scope (Alzahrani et al.,2017;Bhattacharya et al., 2012;Carter and
Belanger, 2004;Gilbert et al.,2004;Rana et al., 2016;Rehman et al.,2012;Shareef et al.,
2011). The proposed e-governmentadoption models have focused on partial issues and do
not provide a strong theoretical framework (Alzahrani et al.,2017;Dwivedi et al., 2017;
Heeks and Bailur, 2007). The e-government adoption studies, in an effort to integrate
adoption factors from previous technology adoption theories, could not capture the
complete essence of e-government characteristics. In addition, there is a limited
e-government adoption researchin the Indian context. Therefore, there is a need to explore
the factors that influence citizens in India to adopt e-government services. The objective of
this study is to identify critical factors influencing the adoption of e-government services. A
qualitative research approachwas chosen to fulfill the research gap.
2. Literature review
The literature on citizen adoption of e-government initiatives is somewhat fragmented.
Research in the e-government adoption-related area can be viewed as varying along a
continuum from applying existing theories in a technology context to the development of
specific technology adoption approaches (Gilbert et al., 2004). In recent years, researchers
have begun to integrate approaches into models to identify major factors and the
relationships among factors, influencing the adoption of online government services by
citizens. A major advantage of this technique is that the integration of approaches can
reduce the limitations of the individual approaches (Gilbert et al.,2004). Along with
e-government adoption theories, this section discusses key adoption theories integrated
into the e-government adoption theories. One of these theories is the diffusion of innovations
(DoI) theory developed by Rogers (1995), which highlights four key factors that influence
the diffusion process. These include the innovation itself, how information about the
innovation is communicated, thetiming of the innovation and the nature of the social system
PAGE 414 jDIGITAL POLICY, REGULATION AND GOVERNANCE jVOL. 20 NO. 5 2018
To continue reading
Request your trial