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Challenges and opportunities in IT transformation of public service delivery: case of India Post

Shekhar Kumar Sinha (Institute of Management Technology Ghaziabad, Ghaziabad, India)
Sandip Mukhopadhyay (Institute of Management Technology Ghaziabad, Ghaziabad, India)
Parijat Upadhyay (Indian Institute of Management Shillong, Umsawli, India)
Yogesh K. Dwivedi (Digital Futures for Sustainable Business and Society Research Group, School of Management, Swansea University, Swansea, UK and Department of Management, Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune, India)
Subhajit Bhattacharyya (Institute of Management Technology Ghaziabad, Ghaziabad, India)
Manas Paul (Institute of Management Technology Ghaziabad, Ghaziabad, India)
Amrita K. Bhattacharyy (Institute of Management Technology Ghaziabad, Ghaziabad, India)

Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy

ISSN: 1750-6166

Article publication date: 3 January 2023

Issue publication date: 10 February 2023

387

Abstract

Purpose

Legacy organizations, particularly government departments, have always remained focused on technology acquisition at a low cost. However, they must balance their quest for better financial performance with a commitment to social obligations and inclusiveness. This study aims to analyze the issues faced by a public sector department, India Post, in its digitization process.

Design/methodology/approach

This study takes a case-based approach to analyze India Post’s digitization journey through the theoretical prism of the technology, organization and environment framework.

Findings

The organization’s ability to benefit from innovative technology is constrained by its outdated structure and business processes. The other constraints include the limited technological know-how within the organization and the lack of intricate organizational process knowledge of today’s vendors.

Practical implications

This study portends important implications for policymakers and provides a base for several inquiries for future research. This study attempted to identify the facilitators and inhibitors of digitization initiatives of a legacy government organization with extensive outreach in rural economy which policymakers can consider while rolling out digitization initiatives for public sector organizations.

Originality/value

There are very few studies available as published literature which examined the digitization journey of a legacy government organization in a developing economy. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there was no published literature available on India Post’s digital transformation process.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the anonymous reviewers whose valuable advice helped improve the quality of this article.

Citation

Sinha, S.K., Mukhopadhyay, S., Upadhyay, P., Dwivedi, Y.K., Bhattacharyya, S., Paul, M. and Bhattacharyy, A.K. (2023), "Challenges and opportunities in IT transformation of public service delivery: case of India Post", Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, Vol. 17 No. 1, pp. 134-146. https://doi.org/10.1108/TG-04-2022-0053

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited

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