E-Government Business Models for Public Service Networks

Abstract

Whilst the concept of business model has become popular in the networked economy, unexplored is whether it is equally applicable to e-government, which emphasizes cross-agency collaboration in form of public service networks. Drawing upon the literature on resource-based views, dynamic capability, and coordination theory, we develop a framework comprising of six elements: (1) organizations in the public service network, (2) service offerings, (3) network coordination, (4) business processes, (5) shared resources and (6) network capabilities. We use this framework to analyze three case studies in detail. The model is useful for understanding the relation between service offering and the challenges of coordinating public service networks. Overcoming these challenges results in better leveraging the advantages of business models. Our findings indicate business models that facilitate knowledge transfer and understanding of shared resources and network capabilities can further enhance better resource mix in migrating toward citizen-oriented business models.