Influence of E-Government Strategies on Public Service Delivery of State Agencies in Kenya: The Moderating Effect of Strategy Execution

Abstract

Although studies have shown that E-Government has the potential to accelerate reforms in the public sector and improve public service delivery, it is not clear to what extent the Kenyan E-Government Strategy that was launched in 2003 has had an impact on public service delivery if at all as the success of this initiative is more verbalized than quantified. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of E-Government strategy on the public service delivery of state agencies in Kenya. The study reviewed E-Commerce, E-Services, E-Administration and E-Participation as independent variables, strategy execution as a moderating variable and public service delivery as the dependent variable. The study performed a theoretical review of New Public Management (NPM), Technology Diffusion Theory, Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), Actor Network Theory (ANT), Dynamic Capability Theory as well as Contingency Theory. This was followed by an empirical review in tandem with the subject influence of E-Government strategy in relation to the public service delivery of state agencies. It provided a review of scholarly works done in the past identifying the studies, authors, areas of investigation and the findings reported. The study adopted a descriptive research design to collect data from the target population comprising of 4230 employees within the management cadre at 132 specific government state agencies incorporated entities outside the mainstream civil service established for purposes of public service delivery in Kenya; 62 Executive Agencies, 25 Independent Regulatory Bodies as well as 45 Research Institutions, Public Universities and Tertiary Education Institutions. Documentary review was also used to compliment the data collected. Convenient sampling technique was used by the study to sample the respondents within the 132 specific government state agencies. Taro Yamani formula was applied to calculate the sample size of 365 employees and self-developed questionnaires were used to collect data from the sample. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study findings revealed that implementation of E-Commerce, E-Services, E-Administration and E-Participation leads to a significant improvement in the public service delivery of state agencies in Kenya. The study further concluded that implementation of E-Commerce practices such as having a high level of understanding of internal strengths, weaknesses, external opportunities and threats can lead to a significant improvement in the performance of public service delivery in Kenya. In addition, implementation of e-government strategy formulation, implementation and evaluation and audit practices can lead to a significant improvement in the performance of public service delivery in Kenya. Further, it can be concluded that strategy execution moderates the role played by E-Government strategies on public service delivery. Through proper analysis of the situation, execution and implementation of the strategy as well as strategy audits, the process of executing E-Government strategies is enhanced. The study recommends that the state agencies through the management ought to uphold E-Government strategies (E-Commerce, E-services, E-Administration and E-Participation) so as to enhance effective achievement of their mandate which is public service delivery.