The emperor with no clothes – inter-organizational ICT cooperation within municipal regions

Abstract

ICT has a significant role in the development and production of municipal services, and in the daily work of municipal civil servants. Yet, municipalities typically develop and operate their ICT activities independently with limited ICT resources, both money and people. Limited resources are the key incentive for inter-municipal ICT cooperation. This article investigates how ICT cooperation is carried out within 20 municipal regions. As the theoretical basis we review transaction cost economics (TCE), resource based view (RBV) and the constructs of Granovetter’s social network theory. They are used to outline potential economic and social benefits emerging from ICT cooperation and to describe social mechanisms that influence the realization of such benefits. Our empirical data reveals that there are distinct differences in the effectiveness of ICT activities, in the amount of ICT cooperation and in the governance of ICT cooperation. Our analysis reveals that the emperor will not have clothes – ICT cooperation benefits – unless the cooperation is properly organized and governed.