THE EFFECT OF INTERNET CULTURE ON ADMINISTRATIVE EFFICIENCY
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
- Background of the study
The analysis of administrative efficiency is about the
relationships between inputs, outputs and outcomes. In 1957, Farrell
already investigated the question how to measure efficiency and
highlighted its relevance for economic policy makers. "It is important
to know how far a given industry can be expected to increase its output
by simply increasing its efficiency, without absorbing further
resources". Since that time techniques to measure efficiency have
improved and investigations of efficiency have become more frequent,
particularly in industry. Nevertheless, the measurement of efficiency
of public administrative efficiency remains a conceptual challenge.
Problems arise because public administration has multiple objectives
and because public sector outputs are often not sold on the market
which implies that price data is not available and that the output
cannot be quantified.
e-Government programs remain at the top of most countries policy
agendas (UN, 2002). The emphasis on e-Government may be due to the
potential of information and communication technologies (ICT) to
transform public administration (PA) to an efficient system, enhance
public services quality, establish trust between public administration
and citizens and realize economic objectives (OECD, 2003; UN, 2004). In
fact, e-Government aims at providing an efficient government
management, better service delivery, and empowerment of citizens through
access to information and participation in public policy decision
making (UN, 2005). For these benefits, the PA in most countries
develops Web sites, portals and electronic services delivery (UN, 2002;
2003; 2004; 2005). However, differences in worldwide adoption of
e-Government are considerable. The e-Government readiness index
estimated for each of UN countries varies between 0, 9062 in the United
States of America and 0, 0011 in Liberia (UN, 2005). The Web Measure
Index varies between 0 (no presence for countries like Haiti, Zambia,
Liberia, etc.) and 1 in the United States of America.
Certainly, the diffusion of the Web in PA leans on a political
will that mobilizes the necessary human, material and financial
resources. But, this diffusion depends also on social and economic
variables (UN, 2002). UN (2005) affirm that e-Government readiness is a
function of a country’s situation of technological and
telecommunication infrastructure and of the level of its human resource
development. Nevertheless, “the number of variables - social, legal and
institutional as well as economic and technological - which might
retard the diffusion process is virtually limitless’’ (Rosenberg, 1972,
cited by Erumban and de Jong, 2006, p.303). Recently, several
researchers show the importance of culture in IT adoption and justify
the divergences between countries in the adoption of ICT, in general
(Erumban and de Jong, 2006) and of specific technologies, such as
Internet, PC, fax machines, cellular phone, telephone and pagers (Bagchi
and al., 2004; Gong and al., 2007) on the base of the cultural
variables. According to Zghal (2001), cultures include both favorable
factors to ICT exploitation and unfavorable ones that may hinder an
efficient implementation of these technologies. So, this research tries
to answer this question: what is the impact of the national culture on
the adoption of the e-Government by the PA? The analysis starts with
the definition of e-Government and the presentation of its stages of
evolution. Then, an explanation of the differences between the
countries use of the e-Government is advanced on the base of a cultural
perspective and the hypotheses are formulated. After the precision of
the methodology, the results and their interpretations are presented.
- Statement of the problem
The objective of assessing the effect of internet culture on
administrative efficiency is to enhance the effective use of the
various forms of online communication in contributing to the overall
economic development of the country through effective administration.
But the objective cannot be achieved in a situation where the would-be
beneficiaries are not even aware of the existence of such platforms.
Moreover, the few who are aware of these platforms do not even bother to
apply them at their place of work due to stringent work style,
therefore, there is the need to proffer solutions to these problems to
ensure the growth and development of our economy.
1.3 Significance of the study
The research will be of benefit to the government – Federal
ministry of communication technology. It will provide a framework for
the critical evaluation of the various forms of internet culture and
how it affects the efficiency of an administration. It will provide a
basis for the modification of the use of internet for communication in
the ministry and identify loopholes where necessary.
It will also benefit other researchers, forming a basis for
further research on the subject in future. The study also gives a clear
insight into the various forms of internet culture and how they can be
executed efficiently to favor ministries and organizations that use
the internet as a means of communication.
1.4 Objectives of the study
The main objective of this study is to examine the effect of
internet culture on administrative efficiency in Federal Ministry of
Communication Technology, Nigeria.
Specific objectives of the study are:
- To identify the various forms of the internet culture and how they affect administrative efficiency.
- To determine the relationship between internet culture and administrative efficiency in Nigeria.
1.5 Research questions
The following research questions will be considered in this study:
- What are effects does internet culture have on administrative efficiency of organizations?
- Is there any relationship between internet culture and administrative efficiency?
1.6 Research hypotheses
In order to ascertain the effect of internet culture on the
efficiency of the administration of Federal Ministry of Communication
Technology, the following hypotheses have been formulated:
Ho: Internet culture does not have any significant
effect on the efficiency of the administration of Federal Ministry of
Communication Technology.
Hi: Internet culture affects the efficiency of the administration of Federal Ministry of Communication Technology significantly.
Ho: There is no significant relationship between internet culture and administrative efficiency.
Hi: There is significant relationship between internet culture and administrative efficiency.
1.7 Limitations of the study
The only limitation faced by the researcher in the course of
carrying out this study was the delay in getting data from the various
respondents. Most respondents were reluctant in filling questionnaires
administered to them due to their busy schedules and nature of their
work. The researcher found it difficult to collect responses from the
various respondents, and this almost hampered the success of this
study.
1.8 Scope of the study
The study covers various forms of the internet culture such as
online communities, online multi-player gaming, wearable computing,
social gaming, social media, mobile apps, augmented reality, and
texting and how they affect the administrative efficiency using Federal
Ministry of Communication Technology as a case study.
1.9 Definition of terms
Internet: Is a global computer network providing a
variety of information and communication facilities, consisting of
interconnected networks using standardized communication protocols.
Internet culture: Is the study of various social phenomena associated with the internet and other new forms of the network communication.
Efficiency: A the state of being efficient. It means achieving maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or expense.
Administrative Efficiency: The capacity of an
organization, institution, or business to produce desired results with a
minimum expenditure of energy, time, money, personnel, materiel, etc.
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