Public e‐services from inside: A case study on technology's influence on work conditions in a government agency

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the consequences of citizens' increased use of public e‐services for agency employees' work situation.

Design/methodology/approach

In order to accomplish the purpose of the paper the authors focus on the way in which the increased use of public e‐services also implies internal process and routine changes in public administration. The authors analyze work conditions for case officers at a government agency in Sweden by applying occupational ideal types to identify the specific work conditions in the studied case. The case study is based on qualitative data collected with a back office perspective.

Findings

The findings indicate a new hybrid organization where the increased use of e‐services challenges earlier demands for competence. The transformation of e‐government has implications for job codification, rule observation, job specification, and interaction with the general public.

Originality/value

The paper extends the knowledge on how the increased use of public e‐services affects back‐office work conditions, with an increased high level of complexity in work content, but with low level of work autonomy. It argues that studying back‐office work conditions is an important management issue in public administration research as well as practice.

Citation

Giritli Nygren, K., Axelsson, K. and Melin, U. (2013), "Public e‐services from inside: A case study on technology's influence on work conditions in a government agency", International Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 26 No. 6, pp. 455-468. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPSM-09-2011-0120