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Abbas Zaidi, Syed Rehan, Bandara, Wasana, & French, Erica(2018)Effective leadership in Public Sector BPM: A case study of an e-Government initiative in a developing country.In Ram, S, Rosemann, M, & Pries-Heje, J (Eds.) Proceedings of the 39thInternational Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) 2018.Association for Information Systems (AIS), https://aisel.aisnet.org/, pp. 1-17.

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Effective Leadership in e-government BPM initiatives

Thirty ninth International Conference on Information Systems, San Francisco 2018 1

Effective leadership in Public Sector BPM: A case study of an e-Government initiative in a

developing country Completed Research Paper

Rehan Syed Queensland University of Technology

Brisbane, Australia [email protected]

Wasana Bandara Queensland University of Technology


Erica French Queensland University of Technology


Abstract

Leadership in complex business process transformations is crucial for effective process change. Yet, it is poorly understood and under-researched particularly within the public sector and in developing nations where Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the form of e-Government initiatives is increasing. This case study of a change process at The Consular Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Sri Lanka offering services for attestation and document authentication provided the means to explore effective leadership behaviours. Using Complexity Leadership Theory and Actor Network Theory, we examine the different leadership actions and interactions of the leadership team with the stakeholders. Our findings show the positive effects of the combined use of operational and enabling leadership behaviours resulting in the emergence of entrepreneurial leadership behaviours exhibited by staff during the latter stages of the transformation process. The top leader role was vital in creating an effective process-centric and citizen-centric culture for change. Keywords: Business Process Management; Complexity Leadership; Actor Network Theory; Information and Communication Technology.

Introduction

Public sector reform has gained increasing popularity, particularly since the 1980s, within developing countries seeking to transform administrative structures by reducing the cost and size of operations (Hague & Harrop, 2004; Hughes, 2003). In pursuing these transformations, many public-sector organizations around the globe have shown a keen interest in adopting the principles and practices of Business Process Management (BPM) (Alves et al. 2014; Kassahun and Molla 2011) as the key (Dubey and Bansal 2013) to effectively handle increasing demands for better government services and more efficient processes (Rajapakse 2013). BPM has been promoted as a logical and necessary method for achieving the full potential of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the form of e-Government as it can enhance innovative, redesigned processes (Martín & Montagna, 2006).

Conversely, the successful implementation of BPM initiatives has been a continuing challenge within the public sector (Weerakkody et al. 2006) of developing countries, with an approximate failure rate of 85% (Heeks 2003; Syed et al. 2018). Despite these high failure rates, the World Bank and other donor agencies continue to fund these types of projects in developing countries. Heeks and Stanforth (2007, p. 165) report



a staggering figure of “US$3 trillion spending on information technology (IT) projects by governments during the ten years between 2000 and 2010”.

Critical success factors for BPM in general (Buh et al. 2015), and more specifically in the public-sector of the developing country context (Syed et al. 2018), have pointed to top management support and leadership as crucial elements for success (Syed et al. 2017). Yet, there remains a dearth of research to explain the phenomenon of leadership in BPM initiatives (Syed et al. 2016).

Leadership in BPM is broadly understood to include all those who are capable of exerting influence in the organization (Holloway 2008), or, positively influencing the project goal (Cha et al. 2015). While leadership is a well-defined discipline, a clear, theoretically grounded definition of leadership in BPM is lacking (Syed et al. 2016; Syed et al. 2017). But, leadership is a complex phenomenon, with many internal and external aspects that interact to influence behaviours in BPM environments (Syed et al. 2016). Hyötyläinen and vom Brocke (2015) suggest that leadership styles and strategies need to fit both with the environment and the intended BPM strategies. The need to identify new forms of leadership that address the complex challenges faced by developing countries in designing and implementing process improvement initiatives, is strongly supported (UNDSA 2015).

In summary, the role of leadership in complex business process changes within the public sector, particularly in developing nations, is crucial for success; however, it is poorly understood and to date, an under-researched area. Bin Taher et al. (2015) argued that the models and experience of developed countries cannot be directly applied in developing countries due to various socio-economic and cultural differences. We therefore ask the question: “What are the leadership actions that contribute to the success of BPM initiatives within the public sector of developing countries?” and report on an in-depth single case study. This paper offers a perspective on leadership using Complexity Leadership Theory to ensure consistency in identifying and analysing leadership actions within a BPM context. Actor Network Theory is used to explore the leadership inter-actions in a complex environment and proposes a conceptual model for the analysis of leadership within the selected case organization.

Theoretical underpinnings and the Conceptual Framework

In this transdisciplinary study, the phenomena were explored and explained using two constructionist theories. Actor Network Theory (ANT)—a high-level theory (Gregor, 2006) is used as a lens to explore the actions and interactions between different actors in BPM initiatives; and Complexity Leadership Theory (CLT)—a mid-level theory (Hassan and Lowry, 2015) specific to the subject of leadership is used as the informing theory to explain the leadership actions and roles discovered through ANT’s translation process. The attributes of both theories were integrated in a sequential manner to design the case study protocol to achieve methodological alignment; where the outcomes of ANT were re-interpreted by using the CLT definitions of leadership roles and characteristics. Such use of multi-paradigmatic and theoretical pluralist approaches in Information Systems is advocated by Pozzebon et al. (2014, p. 243) to increase the “richness of the sense making process”. By applying a pluralist approach, this study was able to explain the intricate relationships between different leaders and the impact of complexities involved in the leaders’ actions in public sector BPM. The results of this study would have provided a limited explanation and perspective if limited to one theory or in the absence of two complementing theories.

Leadership actions within Business Process Improvement Initiatives

Designing and implementing new BPM initiatives in the public sector involves interaction with a diverse network of interrelated stakeholders with a variety of conflicting interests. Studies such as Eka and Abidin (2011) and Syed et al. (2017) describe the need for leaders to actively manage these networks to avoid delays and resistance to change. In this study, we used the Actor Network Theory (ANT) to explore the leadership actions within the complex social networks in a public-sector process improvement effort. Walsham and Sahay (2006) indicate that ANT is a popular theory in Information Systems research in developing countries for exploring the processes of interaction. ANT allows for the study of ‘the focal actor’ (in this context, staff who undertook leadership roles) within a social network; it also recognizes the power structures (a key property of public sector organizations (Fettke et al. 2014; Tregear and Jenkins 2007) and the global and local networks that exist between the Government and various other organizations, such as



international donor organizations, the beneficiary departments, systems implementers, and the external consultants, who play a crucial role in these initiatives, enabling an exploration of these interactions.

ANT has been used to explain the social processes associated with technology implementations, business process change, and information systems in developing countries in varied contexts (e.g. Díaz Andrade and Urquhart 2010; Eka and Abidin 2011; Sarker et al. 2006). The theory aims to identify and explain the process by which “successful networks of aligned interests are created through the enrolment of a sufficient body of allies and the translation of their interests so that they are willing to participate in particular ways of thinking and acting that maintain the network” (Callon 1984, p. 42). ANT is also valuable in scrutinising the reasons for the failure of networks to establish themselves (Walsham and Sahay 1999). With its emphasis on empirical enquiry, ANT facilitates the observation of key actors and the relationships between different actors through the phases of the translation process.

We focus on the ANT process of translation, which creates the ordering effects in a network. The translation process includes four chronological steps: problematisation, interessement, enrolment, and mobilization (see Table 1). It explains how a successful network aligns the actors’ interests in the network. Multiple actors interact in a BPM initiative with their individual goals and interests; thus, the translation process can suitably explain the actors’ interaction and alignment of interest. A key proposition of this study is that leadership behaviours of the focal actors will determine the success of the translation process in a BPM initiative.

Table 1. Core theoretical concepts applied in this case study [adopted from, (Walsham and Sahay 1999) and (Sarker et al. 2006)]

Concept Definition

Focal Actor Attempts to translate the interests of other actors to their own interests in a network. A focal actor is an actor who initiates the translation process.

Actor-network Heterogeneous network of aligned interests, including people, organizations and standards (Walsham and Sahay 1999)

Translation The process of the alignment of the interests of a diverse set of actors with the interests of the focal actor (Callon 1984)

Problematisation The first moment of translation, during which a focal actor defines identities and interests of other actors that are consistent with its own interests (Callon 1984). In the case of BPM initiatives, the problematisation will be related to control of resistance to change.

Interessement The second moment of translation, which involves negotiating with actors to accept the definition of the focal actor (Callon 1984). In the case of BPM initiatives, the interessement will involve use of financial and non-financial motivational strategies to gain acceptance of the initiative

Enrolment The third moment of translation, wherein other actors in the network accept (or get aligned to) interests defined for them by the focal actor (Callon 1984)

Mobilisation Mobilisation constitutes methods employed by the focal actor to the legitimacy of spokespersons. Achievement of complete elimination of resistance in a network

The Role of different leadership actions

Considering the dynamic nature of the environment in which modern organizations exist, it is argued that the traditional models of leadership are ineffective to explain the dynamic, nonlinear, and contextual nature of leadership in organizations (Hunt and Dodge 2001; Uhl-Bien and Marion 2006). Public-sector settings (particularly in developing-country contexts) are complex and leaders need to manage the challenges created by these complexities. Complexity Leadership Theory (CLT) predicts leadership behaviours in such contexts and recognizes the behavioural and situational influences and dynamic interactions between different elements to form self-organizing systems, change, and adaptation (Uhl-Bien et al. 2007). CLT is



reported as well oriented towards the knowledge economy and digital transformations (Uhl-Bien et al, 2007) which are the essence of e-government initiatives.. Complexity Leadership Theory (CLT) provides a ‘leadership lens’ to explain the nature of the leadership actions while ANT was used to explore the intricate relationships between key actors.

CLT is defined as “a framework for leadership that enables the learning, creative, and adaptive capacity of complex adaptive systems (CAS) in knowledge-producing organizations or organizational units” (Uhl-Bien et al. 2007, p. 304). It views an organization as a collection of complex adaptive systems (CAS) and presents leadership as emergent, interactive and dynamic (Uhl-Bien et al. 2007). CLT asserts that effective leadership will create an adaptive space, and it defines this space as the “context and conditions that enable networked interactions to foster the generation and linking of novel ideas, innovation, and learning in a system” (Uhl-Bien and Arena 2017, p. 12). CLT also describes three types of leadership behaviours: ‘operational leadership’ behaviour aims to uphold the traditional, bureaucratic hierarchies, alignment, and controls within an organization; the ‘enabling leadership’ behaviour fosters creating and maintaining conditions that enable CAS to actively engage in creative problem solving, adaptability, and learning activities; and the ‘entrepreneurial leadership’ behaviour is emergent, interactive, and dynamic, and produces adaptive outcomes (i.e. alliance of people, ideas, technologies, and cooperative efforts) in a social system (Uhl-Bien and Arena 2017; Uhl-Bien and Marion 2008). Entanglement is the dynamic relationship between these three types of leadership (Uhl-Bien and Marion 2009) and it supports the view for enabling leadership as the interface between the operational and entrepreneurial leadership behaviours. A key strength of CLT compared to other leadership theories is that it provides a holistic view of leadership implemented at different levels of the organizational hierarchy, as well as the relational interactions that are dynamic in nature and emergent in different situations (Drath et al. 2008; Uhl-Bien and Marion 2009).

The Conceptual Model

Figure 1 depicts the research model, which incorporates all the elements of the theoretical underpinnings. It provides the basis for investigating how leadership actions (pertaining to the three different leadership types) impact the four phases of the ANT translation process and, amongst diverse contextual influences contribute to successful BPM within e-Government initiatives in developing countries.

Study design and context

Case study design

In this paper a single in-depth case study from Sri Lanka is presented. Single case studies are known to provide rich insights and be well suited for exploring under-researched phenomena (Lee 1989; Yin 2009). There have been a number of ICT enabled business process improvement initiatives undertaken by the Information Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) of Sri Lanka to improve the economic and social livelihood of the citizens, funded by the World Bank and/or Government of Sri Lanka. The Consular Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), Sri Lanka was used as a rich source of evidence to identify leaders and their actions for successful BPM implementation. It was selected as a representative (following, Tellis 1997) of a large public sector organisation (700 plus staff) according to the following

Figure 1. Conceptual Model



criteria. The BPM initiative was jointly planned, designed and executed by ICTA (who is primarily responsible for BPM initiatives in public sector organisations in Sri Lanka) and the senior staff at the Consular Division. It followed a uniform approach to technology enabled BPM, and the initiative was deemed successful. In the absence of a clear definition of BPM success, the following criteria were used: 1) the organisation has completed the process redesign and implementation; 2) processes are well defined and continuously monitored and 3) BPM is generally considered a positive approach amongst the staff and citizens. This case also guaranteed access to key people involved and the support of the participating government department and ICTA for data collection.

Data was collected through ten interviews of key stakeholders. A range of official documents were also collected and analysed to augment and triangulate observations from the interviews. The data was analysed iteratively across three phases using the systematic combining approach (Dubois and Gadde 2014). NVivo Version 11 was the primary data management tool, and a comprehensive “coding rule book” (DeCuir-Gunby et al. 2011) was used as a guide to perform the data summarization and grouping; first, according to the ANT translation sub-processes and second, according to the three leadership functions of CLT. Details of the contextual factors were captured separately.

Introducing the case organization

The case study is of an ICT-enabled BPM initiative (Electronic Document Attestation System—eDAS) in a key government department in Sri Lanka—the Consular Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The BPM journey was initiated in the Consular Division and supported by the Information Communication Technology Agency (ICTA1) of Sri Lanka, to improve the efficiency of consular services in the country. Established in 1948, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) is an important arm of the Sri Lankan government. The ministry has 68 overseas missions. The services offered by the division are recognised globally under the Vienna Convention (UNTC 1963) and enjoy mandated authority under the Consular Functions Act no. 4 of 1981, and Consular Functions Act (Amended) no. 18 of 2006. MoFA is a large public-sector organisation; the Consular Division employs 700 staff to provide its services to the general public as well as to the foreign missions and embassies. The division provides a variety of services to both the citizens living in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan missions abroad. In Sri Lanka, the consular division operates from its head office in Colombo as well as a regional office located in Jaffna2 city. The Authentication Section is one of the key functions of the Consular Affairs Division. It is the sole authority in the country that authenticates birth, marriage and death Certificates (BMDCs), Primary and Secondary Educational Certificates that are issued by the Sri Lankan Examinations Department, Affidavits, Police Clearance Certificates, Copies of the National Identity Card, Passports, Driving Licenses and Certificates issued by Lanka Automobile Ltd, and Export/Commercial Documents.

The attestation and document authentication service is an important service providing required verification of documents to Sri Lankan citizens applying for foreign visas, to foreigners and to the Sri Lankan expatriate community. On average, the consular division handles between 500 to 600 citizens a day and verifies approximately 2000 documents daily. The documents certified by the Division are required by foreign embassies and missions in order to process visa applications from Sri Lankan citizens. Foreign employment continues to be the largest foreign exchange earning sector in Sri Lanka (contribution of LKR 1,054,4893 Million to the national economy) with a 5.5% growth reported in 2016 (SLBFE 2018). With a large number of Sri Lankans living and working abroad, the demand for services is always higher than the capacity of the division.

Prior to the eDAS-BPM initiative, the division followed a manual process approach. Multiple counter staff were responsible for collection of original and photocopies of documents from citizens. Once collected, the documents were verified by two senior staff (Assistant Director level). The manual processes required the counter staff to verify the signature issued by the competent authority against a master signature file. In

1 Information Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) is the apex national agency of Sri Lanka with the responsibility of public sector digital transformation.

2 Jaffna is the capital city of Northern Province of Sri Lanka.

3 Approximately 8.8 Billion AUD (1 AUD – 120 LKR).



cases where a signature from the document issuing authority was not available in the master file, the consular staff had to contact the relevant authority to verify the document. After the verification, the documents were then sent for final checking where photocopies of the verified documents were first date-stamped, then a security sticker was placed, and then the formal payment seal and official notes were added. In the next stage, a competent senior staff (Director Level) performed a final review and endorsed the formal seal with his signature. Figure 2 provides an overview of the pre-BPM manual processes for authentication of documents. Due to the manual verification processes, the staff was overloaded with work resulting in a very slow process throughput. Furthermore, the dilapidated physical resources and building structure made the service counters confusing to the clients, causing long unstructured service queues, which with manual processing tasks led to high levels of dissatisfaction amongst both staff and citizens. Furthermore, the inefficient manual processes were open to corruption and forgery.

Under the redesigned processes, the counter staff is empowered to verify and authenticate the documents. Instead of manual verification of the signature of document issuing authorities, the process is completely digitised using the eDAS system. A citizen can now visit the Consular Division by making an online appointment. Equipped with state-of-the-art scanning equipment, counter staff scan the original documents requiring authentication, store them in the eDAS database system and verify the signatures of the issuing authority using eDAS digital signature verification. In most cases, after a successful verification, the counter staff issue an especially designed printed copy with the digital image of the original document and a special code for the foreign authority for whom the document was certified. Only exceptional cases that require additional review and approval are referred to senior staff. The local document issuing authorities and foreign diplomatic missions/authorities can now access the verified document through a secure government internet facility—the Lanka Government Net (LGN). Once a citizen submits the special document issued by the Consular Division to the relevant foreign authority, the originally certified image can be accessed by using the special code printed on the document through a dedicated webpage. The overview of the new authentication process is illustrated in Figure 2 (Post-BPM Process).

Figure 2. Overview of Pre & Post BPM Attestation Process

The Consular Division today is a completely transformed organisation and is recognised for its excellent process efficiency and citizen service. By replacing the manual verification of the signature of document issuing authorities with the completely digitised eDAS system, the BPM initiative was able to reduce the attestation process duration from an average of 3 days (pre-BPM) to 15 minutes (post-BPM). Furthermore, the state-of-the-art physical and ICT infrastructure contributed towards building a positive image among the staff and citizens. The innovative process design was not only an efficient system but was also able to eliminate the prevailing corruption. The following sections discuss the journey of the Consular Division’s BPM transformation with the view of addressing the research question.



Study findings

This section describes the application of the ANT translation process and the leadership actions of the focal actors who created the network within which the diverse interests of the actors were aligned for the purposes of the BPM initiative. In this case there were three focal actors, namely the Director General (DG- who provided the overall leadership, and was the key decision maker and the main interface between the Consular Division, ICTA, and various external parties involved), the eDAS Program Manager of ICTA (ICTA-PgM- a senior program manager formally appointed by the ICTA to devise the strategy, design, and execution of the eDAS program), and the Chief Innovation Officer4 (CIO- a trained senior manager at the Consular Division who would liaise between the Division and ICTA). A total of 37 distinct leadership actions by the focal actors were identified from close examination of the data, and were categorised according to the three CLT leadership behaviours: Operational, Enabling and Entrepreneurial, across the four phases of the translation process. The names assigned to each of the 37 leadership actions and the brief discussion of each in the following sections are derived from the data, using distinctive and reoccurring in-vivo (open coding) phrases and words to represent the experience of each of the focal actors. Because of the large quantity of data, the findings are summarised in graphs (results of pattern analysis) to show the contribution of each actor and the pattern of leadership actions over the four phases.

Leadership actions observed within the ANT-Problematisation phase

The problematisation process in the Consular Division was initially triggered by the CIO through developing processes and procedure manuals for the division. As mentioned by the CIO, his efforts were further supported by the DG when he joined the Division in 2015. With the DG’s and the CIO’s combined efforts to improve inefficient processes and service delivery to the citizens, the duo embarked on the analysis of the underlying issues. Their combined efforts were also supported by the new government after a regime change that occurred in 2015. The request to bring efficiency and service improvement came from the new Minister and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs as a major part of their e-Government policy reforms. The formal process to reengineer the operational processes then commenced through initial contact with ICTA in late 2015. The eDAS initiative was planned and executed by the DG, the CIO, and the ICTA-PgM. Figure 3 depicts each focal-actor’s contribution to the identified leadership actions (capturing the number of instances that each leadership action (theme) was found in the data). All leadership actions are explained below, describing how they are related to or addressed diverse contextual contexts.

Figure 3. Leadership actions in the Problematisation Phase

The five Operational Leadership actions indicated in Figure 3 addressed several contextual issues. Assertion of formal authority was exercised by the DG, CIO, and ICTA-PgM to ensure effective

4 The term CIO used in this case refers to “Chief Innovation Officer” and should not be confused with the term Chief Information Officer (CIO). ICTA, as part of their nationwide e-government capacity building efforts trained senior managers in each department to increase their internal IT capabilities. These special trainees were called “Chief Innovation Officers” to act as a liaison between ICTA and departments. These CIOs support ICTA in gaining the internal support and buy-in for IT/ process-centric changes planned by ICTA.



management of external vendors. Furthermore, the DG effectively addressed the issue of political influence, getting the bureaucratic hierarchy ‘on his side’. Handling of bureaucracy was facilitated by the DG’s and the CIO’s experiences with the bureaucratic norms in the Sri Lankan public sector, which enabled them to manage regulatory and bureaucratic barriers. Focus on visible outcomes refers to the actions which the focal actors took to align their interests with the Sri Lankan government’s move to improve transparency in government projects. The DG set tough performance targets for the BPM team and these were used to align the diverse interests of the software vendors, process consultant, and the eDAS staff.

The eDAS initiative took into account local resource and infrastructure constraints and limitations in the area of process reengineering and ICT through effective resource identification and allocation. The DG developed a robust resource acquisition strategy and the ICTA-PgM effectively translated the process needs into technical details resulting in an innovative system design and clear understanding of the software and other technical service providers’ requirements. The DG addressed the lack of expertise and risk-averse culture by developing a 2nd layer of leadership. These leadership capacity development actions contrasted with the usual public-sector practice—that the head of the organisation makes all the key decisions. The DG mentored and empowered the staff to make important process improvement decisions.

Five Enabling Leadership Actions were also identified in the Problematisation phase. The ICTA-PgM’s effective identification and provision of technical support assisted the DG, the CIO, and staff at the Consular Division to drastically reduce the technical risks associated with the ICT solutions and helped the DG and the CIO to maintain their focus on the organisational and process improvement activities. In this phase effective identification of negative attitudes was also very important. The main resistance to the eDAS initiative came from foreign missions and embassies due to their unfamiliarity with the proposed digital attestation processes. Furthermore, these stakeholders were sometimes influenced by exporters and private foreign employment agencies who feared that their fraudulent activities and malpractices would have to cease once the new processes were implemented. The changes in responsibility for document verification and attestation from the senior staff to the clerical staff also created serious concerns amongst the internal staff. This is related to the deep understanding of organisational influencers. The DG, CIO, and the ICTA-PgM devised effective strategies to understand the organisational, cultural and social factors that were influencing poor acceptance, performance and lack of initiative to improve processes; especially the culture of risk-avoidance due to administrative changes resulting from politically motivated appointments, and the rigid rules and culture. Staff resisted the change by taking refuge behind formal rules and regulations. In contrast, the support from the political leadership was a key factor in driving the performance improvement initiatives.

Two further leadership actions identified during this phase were related to the need to build internal and external expertise and relationships. By means of effective composition of the BPM team, the DG identified staff whose interests were consistent with his, demonstrated by their already having taken concrete actions to improve the processes. A senior director was appointed as the CIO to spearhead the process improvement activities, supported by a new steering committee consisting of a cross-section of staff, a BPM consultant, and the DG. Although the BPM process optimisation and redesign work was carried out independent of the ICT system, the close collaboration between the DG, CIO, BPM consultant, and the ICTA-PgM enabled the seamless integration of the two phases, leading to a successful eDAS solution. The DG was also instrumental in maximising the support to achieve his vision to improve the processes by means of capitalization of external support networks. The idea to use BPM was suggested by the deputy minister to support the DG’s quest to improve the Consular Division’s efficiency. The support gained from the political leadership boosted the risk-taking attitude of the DG. With their direct support and active involvement of the political leadership, the focal actors were able to overcome various issues that would otherwise have impeded the progress of the eDAS initiative.

One Entrepreneurial leadership Action was identified during this phase. Robust process and system design refers to the DG’s actions with an emphasis on improving the processes before actual system development paved the way to effective and innovative design of digital attestation processes. The CIO initiated the formalisation and uniformity of the processes to improve service delivery. The ICTA-PgM convinced the DG, and the BPM team to opt for an enterprise system to adequately support the newly designed processes, resulting in a sophisticated and globally accessible electronic document attestation system (eDAS). The design of the new processes and eDAS addressed staff requirements as well as the



formal rules and regulations for the verification and attestation of documents. With the improved processes, the use of paper-based forms was completely eliminated in the Consular Division.

Leadership actions observed within the ANT-Interessement phase

The focal actors used a variety of interessement strategies in this phase to motivate the actors to align their interests. Figure 4 illustrates how each focal-actor contributed to the identified leadership actions (depicting the number of supporting codes). Each leadership action is explained below.

Figure 4. Leadership actions in the Interessement Phase

Six Operational leadership actions were identified as shown above. These actions addressed some similar issues to those mentioned above – for example, lack of BPM expertise. The lack of skills and fear of new technology were handled through training & development, using a training team with diverse experience and providing access to workshops by the software vendor. A strong emphasis was given on training and development activities to develop ICT skills in the staff. Negative behaviour was overcome through the use of effective enforcement of authority and regulations. The organisational grapevine and appointment of young and tech-savvy staff blocked the negative influences of the senior staff. The use of rewards and recognition addressed the problem that low salary scales in the public sector are a primary reason for bribery and corruption. Furthermore, the provision of state-of-the-art and comfortable facilities reduced the stress and pressure on staff and a dress-code allowance was also introduced to support staff in improving their professional appearance.

The DG and CIO frequently met the staff to inculcate the development of a shared vision - of dedication, moral responsibility, and service for the citizens. This was acknowledged as a prime factor for developing and sustaining a citizen-centric, service-oriented culture, positive staff attitudes, and prestige in working for the Consular Division. The DG’s knowledge of staff work attitude derived from his close working relationship with his staff, built strong rapport. This leadership action is very rare in the Sri Lankan public sector where the top authorities do not associate closely with their staff and prefer to execute their decisions using formal means of communication. The DG’s approach resulted not only in acceptance of his position as the mandated authority, but also a source of inspiration that motivated the staff to accept the eDAS initiative.

Gradual implementation avoided the major citizen outcry which may have resulted from any disruption in the operations of the Consular Division. Furthermore, fear of increased workload on the staff would have caused resistance to change. Considering the critical importance of the attestation process for citizens, the implementation was designed in a manner so that citizen services were not interrupted even for a day. As the department was also physically shifted to a new purpose-built location, the services were offered at two locations in parallel for approximately six weeks, to avoid any inconvenience to citizens.

Nine Enabling leadership actions were identified in the interessement phase which focussed on staff communication and support, providing a positive influence on staff motivation and acceptance of change. Effective communication was achieved via frequent meetings with staff at all levels of the organisation to disseminate information about the eDAS initiative. An open culture was encouraged in the division, so



that all staff received equal attention and were able to express their concerns and generate and cross-fertilise ideas, even to challenge ideas from senior staff including the DG himself. In addition to staff acceptance, formal approvals and support from authorities were required because of the enormous size and complexity of the eDAS initiative. The DG ensured political support from the minister and deputy minister by getting them closely involved. The direct engagement and interest shown by the minister and the deputy minister benefitted the eDAS initiative immensely in terms of staff acceptance as well as drastically reducing the administrative delays and bureaucratic barriers.

To familiarise staff with the new processes and the DAS system, the focal actors ensured active staff engagement in process and system usage. The active consultation with the technical services provider such as the process consultant and the software vendor resulted in better staff feedback and improved process design and usability of the eDAS system. The DG worked closely with his staff to help them understand the potential benefits of the reengineered processes and the eDAS. The DG also used his ‘walk the talk’ approach and acted as a resource for his staff, spending maximum time in the operational areas and service counters as a means of providing active staff support. This active support also helped staff recognise the critical nature of eDAS. The ICTA-PgM ensured that staff received required technical support without any delays. The technical support teams consisting of ICTA process experts and the software developers were permanently based at the Consular Division to provide immediate technical and process assistance to the staff.

Moreover, the DG and CIO demonstrated their understanding that the new processes and system could not be successful unless staff at all levels were trusted and supported each other, by exhibiting trust in staff abilities. This especially applied to the counter staff who with the process reengineering had been delegated the authority of attestation. This leadership action improved motivation and radically reduced the requirement for close supervision, monitoring, and control of the counter staff (except as mentioned under the leadership actions of the Enrolment phase described below). This mutual support and trust was further reinforced by team building. The focal actors identified the importance of a team-based approach to the introduction of the new processes and the ICT system, in order to achieve long lasting results for effective use and acceptance of the eDAS initiative. The DG emphasised these positive outcomes and that the inculcation of team values was necessary to eliminate hierarchical barriers in the division. The CIO empowered the BPM team and intervened only when required. Staff who were positive about the reengineering and the eDAS system were invited to join the implementation activities, and to act as exemplars for staff who were reluctant or who had any concerns about the initiative. The above activities were reinforced by effective follow-up, to ensure timely achievement of the eDAS objectives, but without creating an impression of staff being watched. The DG’s approach of walking around the division and observing the service delivery to the citizens was mentioned by the staff as a good tactic to ensure that staff follow the new processes and do not revert to old practices. Likewise, the leadership action of creating a ‘feeling of ownership’ helped motivate staff. The DG created a sense of process ownership and decision making amongst the staff by effective delegation of authority and empowerment. The DG also gained trust by showing his full support for his staff to take risks, and this approach was followed by the CIO. The actions undertaken by the DG and the CIO to build staff confidence inspired the staff and led to an energetic, process-focused, and positive-minded workforce in the Consular Division. Finally, effective inter-departmental coordination was deemed necessary, as the efficiency of the attestation process was also dependent on information and access to other departments. The DG effectively built inter-departmental coordination to support the staff at the Consular Division for seamless access to the required details by negotiating with the relevant parties. Both the DG and the CIO took the lead in communicating with the external stakeholders for various requirements. The direct interventions used by these two focal actors were effective in expediting the eDAS implementation.

Two Entrepreneurial leadership actions identified in the interessement phase were first, the development of conducive physical environment, and second, active problem solving. The deteriorating conditions of the Consular Division’s old building negatively affected the staff morale as well as the professional image of the division. A new purpose-built facility was constructed to improve the staff morale and the public image of the Consular Division. Active problem solving was used by the focal actors, to ensure limited disruption and delays in the implementation of the eDAS system. Problems were actively solved, and risky decisions were taken to support the BPM team for the eDAS initiative. The ICTA-PgM ensured that staff were not stressed by technical problems and issues were adequately addressed without any undue delays.



Leadership actions observed within the ANT-Enrolment phase

An effective interessement strategy leads to enrolment from the actors to form an irreversible network (Callon, 1990). The focal actors used a number of strategies in this phase to stabilize the network. Figure 5 illustrates the leadership actions and the number of supporting codes. Each leadership action is explained below.

Figure 5. Leadership actions in the Enrolment Phase

Two Operational leadership actions were observed in the Enrolment phase. First, as mentioned above, the new processes shifted the authority to attest a document from the assistant directors to the counter staff. The senior staff were concerned about the lack of a formal mechanism to ensure effective control of the prevailing corruption, accuracy of attestation, and elimination of forgeries. Close monitoring was achieved by the DG’s introduction of a random audit, and a new auditing role was assigned to the assistant directors for both staff groups; the assistant directors felt confident about the accuracy of the process, and counter staff were also comfortable as they were able to get advice from the assistant directors where required. Second, effective use of mandated authority, which has already been mentioned as a factor to ensure the enforcement of rules and regulations. However, instead of the traditional command and control approach, the DG used his mandated authority to counter bureaucratic rules and regulations in a positive manner towards the eDAS initiative. Incentive schemes were designed with checks and balances by introducing error limits and thresholds to avoid abuse of the financial incentives. Newly introduced processes were formally ratified by the DG to ensure adherence to rules and regulations by all staff at the Consular Division.

The two Enabling leadership actions observed in this phase both address staff attitudes towards the reengineered processes and the eDAS system. Continuous feedback and alignment strategies were used to monitor staff feelings and attitudes. The DG organised formal and informal information discussion sessions with the staff to collect their feedback regarding their requirements, and this was used by the CIO and the ICTA-PgM to identify relevant new requirements and improvements of the eDAS technical functions. ‘Inspirational & target orientation’ refers to the way the focal actors exhibited sincerity, commitment, confidence, and inspirational and target oriented skills to sustain the momentum created for the eDAS initiative.

The two Entrepreneurial leadership actions identified in the enrolment phase were firstly team work, extending the team building actions mentioned above. The teams were empowered to make independent decisions resulting in further performance improvements, and strong bonding. Secondly, the ICTA-PgM ensured that staff suggestions for Process Innovations were taken into consideration by the development team. The suggestions indicate the increased degree of process awareness amongst staff, as use of the processes and eDAS system become popular. The suggestions were collected and discussed with the relevant stakeholder and implemented once a consensus was reached.

As mentioned earlier, the CLT perspective on leadership enables the adaptive capacity of complex situations to be identified (Uhl-Bien et al. 2007, p. 304). The effective operational, enabling, and entrepreneurial leadership actions taken by the focal actors produced the following Adaptive outcomes. (i) Positive attitude towards processes and the ICT System. The value of reengineering and the eDAS system to



improve the performance was well received by the staff. The visible improvements in reduced process-cycle time, elimination of paperwork, and ability to retrieve the required details in a matter of seconds contributed positively to reverse the staff negative attitudes and created a positive impact as staff was able to serve the citizens in a dramatically improved manner. (ii) Improved system usage. The direct involvement and encouragement exhibited by the DG and the CIO, together with on-the-job training and support strategies executed by the ICTA-PgM has helped the staff develop confidence in their technical skills leading to a positive impact on their use of the new system in a very short period.

Leadership actions observed within the ANT-Mobilization phase

A network reaches the mobilizing phase when the actors reflect the extensive acceptance of a devised strategy or solution, exhibit the spokesperson behaviour in representing the network, and the focal actor cements the alliance by using appropriate methods to ensure irreversibility (Callon 1990; Díaz Andrade and Urquhart 2010; Mähring et al. 2004). The DG, the CIO, and the ICTA-PgM’s main objectives were to improve the efficiency of the attestation processes, citizen-centric service delivery, and to eliminate corruption by reengineering the processes and implementation of the electronic document attestation system (eDAS) in the Consular Division.

Figure 6. Leadership actions in the Mobilization Phase

As shown in Figure 6, there were no operational actions observed in the mobilization phase of this case study. The one Enabling leadership action identified in this stage was the support for self-organising attitude. The exhibition of trust in staff, the delegation of authority to empower the counter staff to carry out the major part of the attestation processes, the active support from focal actors as well as political leadership, and effective training led to reductions in staff dependency on their superiors, and thus also in the interventions in day-to-day operations by the senior manager. This is related to the Entrepreneurial Leadership action of self-organizing attitude, where staff members at the Consular Division today no longer require interventions or ‘push’ from the senior management. Instead, they help each other and make decisions for their areas of responsibilities. Likewise, the experience of leading the eDAS initiative has transformed the DG himself into a tech-savvy person who carries out emergent innovative actions. The DG has realised the potential of BPM and ICT as invaluable tools to achieve his vision of excellence in service to the citizens and is in the process of the next level of innovation to open consular services using eDAS for rural areas island-wide. Staff at different levels actively contribute towards further improvements by providing their ideas to the decision makers.

Six Adaptive Outcomes were observed in this phase. First, irreversible change where the reengineered processes at the Consular Division were effectively embedded and formalised within a short period of time. Furthermore, the productive and efficient nature of the processes effectively supported by a stable and innovative ICT system has gained the confidence and trust of the staff and the citizens. Staff today at the Consular Division are very passionate about their achievements and view the re-emergence of old practices as unthinkable. Second, within a very short time period, the eDAS produced a positive impact on performance in staff efficiency across all areas of operation. Staff acknowledged the positive impact of the reengineered processes with regard to high citizen satisfaction and building a reputable public



image. Today, the division is completely paperless; records are maintained in a digital format in the cloud database. Easy and efficient processes to retrieve the records has eliminated forgeries, corrupt practices, and delays. The third adaptive outcome is termed ‘prestige’, as walking into the division today feels like walking into a multi-national bank. The speed of services, the professionally attired staff, the modern infrastructure and conducive environment is quite different compared to other Sri Lankan government offices. The impressive performance of the Consular Division has also been recognised by the political leadership. The division is frequently visited by foreign dignitaries invited by the Foreign Ministry and ICTA to showcase the Consular Division as a role model for successful e-Government.

The outcome of process acceptance is multifaceted. The availability of the documented processes has reduced the staff orientation time and the effort required by the senior staff members. New staff joining the division can now refer to the process manuals and comprehend their responsibilities without further interventions from their supervisors. The reengineered processes are efficient and easy to follow with reduced workload, and despite a few limitations, staff have shown their full support and acceptance of the processes. This is related to the significant outcome of spokesperson’s legitimacy. This results from the effective alignment of actors’ interests in which the focal actor gains the status as the legitimate spokesperson for the network. Through reengineering of processes and the introduction of eDAS, the focal actors were able to successfully gain the legitimate status to translate and represent the interest of other actors in the Consular Division’s actor-network. Staff at the Consular Division mimicked the DG’s vision of dedication, moral responsibility, and service for the citizens. Staff have shown genuine concern for citizens and their aspirations to provide efficient and reliable services to support citizens applying for various services in the Consular Division. Lastly, the ‘ripple effect’, one of the interesting outcomes of the eDAS initiative was the chain reaction within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. By observing the benefits and successful outcomes of the eDAS initiative, other divisions that were initially hesitant or negative towards reengineering and the use of ICT are now joining the bandwagon to apply BPM practices and ICT systems.

Contextual factors influencing leadership action across the translation process

The above analysis explicitly applies elements of the Actor Network Theory and the Complexity Leadership Theory (as shown in Figure 1) to identify how types of leadership behaviours occur at the different phases of translation. The analysis also indicates how the behaviours related to or addressed various contextual factors. Through most of the phases, concern for lack of local skills appeared to motivate the focal actors to develop, train and empower staff to enable them to operate more independently. This needed to be moderated by the need to maintain close control over operations which were subject to corruption and malpractice. These actions occurred within both the move by the Sri Lankan government towards greater transparency in public sector operations and the contrasting traditional rigid bureaucratic structures. The wide public-sector experience of focal actors facilitated changes in decision-making and leadership behaviours which transformed the attestation function.

Some contextual factors influenced leadership actions as the focal actors were motivated by or were aware of factors such as the following. In the Problematisation phase, ‘Concern for Citizen Well-being’, ‘Political Pressure’, ‘Administrative Changes’, and ‘Corruption’ factors influenced the strategies designed and executed by the focal actors. The DG’s personal background (experience and upbringing) was a catalyst for the strong ‘concern for citizen well-being’ he demonstrated. The ‘political pressures’ created by the minister also acted as a positive driving force. As part of the government’s political agenda to gain a positive public image, the political leadership was keen to solve the inefficiencies within the consular services, hence they not only supported the eDAS initiative, but even gave direct advice and suggestions for process improvement. Constant ‘administrative changes’, caused by the policy where senior staff in the Sri Lankan public sector are transferred every five years was a negative influencer. It immobilised senior staff’s risk-taking attitudes and over-cautioned them from making firm decisions to bring process changes to the department. The DG and the CIO made an agreement with the Deputy Minister to not be replaced and to remain in the division until the eDAS system was effectively implemented. The ‘corruption’ issue was one of the main reasons behind both the DG and the CIO’s quest to embark on the eDAS initiative. The CIO in his capacity as the director of consular division was struggling to overcome corrupt practices that existed prior to the new DG joining the ministry. The corruption also created a toxic culture where staff members did not trust each other.



‘Concern for Citizen Well-being’ and ‘Corruption’ were also key influencing contextual factors in the Interessement phase. Furthermore, the ‘Political Support’ from the political leadership of the country was a positive external factor that helped to overcome resistance to change during the interessement stage; the support provided by the minister and deputy minister helped the focal actors to accept the eDAS initiative.

‘Political Pressure’, especially the pressure from the minister, was a key factor that influenced the leadership actions in the Enrolment phase. In the Mobilisation phase, ‘External recognition’ and ‘Government’s e-Government Policy’ were the main contextual factors that positively contributed and supported the leadership actions. The achievements of the eDAS initiative had received considerable external recognition from within Sri Lanka and other countries (the Division is frequently visited by foreign dignitaries to observe the eDAS initiative as the role model e-Government solution for service excellence). This external recognition boosted staff confidence and the desire to be ‘a part of it all’ helped stabilise the network. The Government’s e-Government Policy towards digitisation of public-sector processes was an important external factor for the success of the eDAS initiative. The eDAS initiative is now used as an example of public sector efficiency in the country.

It is difficult to assess without further investigation whether some of these factors, such as ‘Concern for Citizen Well-being’ are specific to the locality or cultural group, or specific to an individual focal actor. Some factors such as corruption are more easily identified. For example, according to Transparency International (2018) Sri Lanka is ranked 91/180 on the corruption index. What is interesting in this study is how the focal actors explicitly refer to the contextual factors which influence their behaviour, and are prepared to take transformative actions despite the potential risks to their own reputations and careers.

Summary Overview

Figure 7 illustrates a summary view of the number of leadership actions undertaken by each focal actor in each stage of the translation process, as reported in the interviews. The data reflects the combined effect of operational and enabling leadership actions taken by the DG, the CIO, and the ICTA-PgM resulting in the emergence of staff entrepreneurial leadership in the latter stages of the translation process. These results also confirm that an effective combination of enabling and operational leadership was able to develop the adaptive space in the Consular Division that resulted in staff self-organisation, local creativity, innovation, and effective acceptance of reengineered processes and the ICT system (eDAS). Overall, the DG actively contributed to all three functions (operational, enabling, and entrepreneurial) in all four stages of the translation process, but to a different extent across the phases; highly involved at the beginning (i.e. problematisation and interessement) and (far) less towards the latter phases (i.e. enrolment and mobilisation). The DG’s role was vital in this case. The DG’s presence, and his balanced use of enabling and operational leadership actions were able to drive the eDAS initiative and build a citizen-centric and process-centric culture. The CIO contributed to the operational and enabling leadership across the four phases and at times to the entrepreneurial leadership, but again at different levels of intensity across the phases- more at the start and much less later. Similarly, the ICT-PgM’s major contributions were high in all three leadership functions in the problematisation and interessement stages, and very low in the mobilisation and enrolment stages. The ICTA-PgM’s active involvement resulted in the effective handling of technical, logistical, and bureaucracy issues in the problematisation stage. Overall the focal leaders’ actions were much more numerous in the early stages and diminished significantly in the latter phases.



Figure 7. Overview of leadership actions across the stages of the Translation Process

The emergence of entrepreneurial leadership (innovative outcomes), and signs of adaptive outcomes (positive attitude towards processes and ICT System, and improved system usage) for the eDAS initiative by staff emerged in the enrolment stage, reflecting the stability of the network, improved alignment of the actor-network, and reduced resistance to change. Staff actively contributed to continuous improvements and innovation and suggested new processes and services for citizen well-being. The effectiveness of leadership actions was identifiable from the emergence of adaptive outcomes (irreversible change, ripple effect etc.) of the eDAS initiative in the mobilisation stage; the staffs’ innovative suggestions and BPM-enabled changes were suitably supported, discussed, and integrated where appropriate with the formal bureaucratic processes. The actor-network at the Consular Division has now stabilised and the BPM-enabled organisational change has become irreversible leading to a sustainable process-centric culture. These results further confirmed the importance of the direct engagement of focal actors in ICT-enabled BPM activities for effective identification of actors’ interests, and the identification of a diverse set of influencing factors that lead to a well-designed process and system strategy. The scope of the achievement is illustrated in the two figures (see Figure 2) showing the radical changes to the attestation process.

Conclusion

This paper makes several contributions to theory in the area of BPM leadership. Firstly, it shows how the Actor Network Theory and the Complexity Leadership Theory may be used together and it elaborates the Complexity Leadership Theory with a rich set of constructs applicable to BPM and digital transformations in the public sector of a developing country. As discussed earlier, previous studies have highlighted leadership as one of the critical success factors for BPM (Grover et al. 1995; Syed et al. 2018). However, the current research on BPM provides very limited understanding of the nature of leadership in Business Process Management initiatives, especially in the public sector, and in developing countries (Bin Taher et al. 2015; Syed et al. 2017).

This study addresses this gap by detailing a series of leadership actions by different leaders (focal actors) according to the core phases of the ANT translation process, and how the contextual factors may influence them. A total of 37 leadership actions across the phases of Problematisation (11), Interessement (17), Enrolment (6), and Mobilization (3) were identified with (10) contextual factors. It is not clear to what extent these behaviours and factors may be relevant to other public-sector cases in other national contexts, in either developed or developing countries. However, the study does provide a set of behaviours clearly identified through the application of the conceptual model, which may be tested in other contexts.

The selection and analysis of a real-life situation where BPM is used to achieve a national agenda of citizen well-being contributes to the understanding of the public-sector BPM domain by defining the nature and role of leadership in effective handling of the complexity dynamics associated with BPM initiatives; in this case the radical transformation of manual to digital processes across a very large and critical organisation. Despite the specific and narrow scope of the study, we argue that the definition and explanation of the leadership actions can provide the basis for the study of leadership in process change in any socio-technical



phenomenon. This study is the first comprehensive study to explore and explain the nature of leadership in public sector BPM initiatives in developing countries. The outcomes are able to clearly conceptualise the notion of leadership using evidence-based mechanisms resulting in measurable constructs. According to Wacker (2004), correct conceptualization and definitions of constructs is the first step towards building a good theory before statistical verification. The leadership constructs and contextual influences presented in this paper can be operationalized and tested in future research. The empirically supported framework of leadership presented in this paper provides the basis for mid-range theory construction (Gregor 2006) of BPM leadership.

This study contributes to ANT research by confirming the suitability and usefulness of the Translation Process to explain network interactions and leadership in socio-technical process improvement approaches. This study also shows that Complexity Leadership Theory may be used effectively with ANT to investigate more specific aspects of leadership and is the first to use CLT in a public sector organisation in a developing country. The study shows how CLT can explain the leadership actions in a socio-technical phenomenon and how a balanced use of operational, enabling, and entrepreneurial leadership creates the adaptive space leading to irreversible change and self-organization. The results also confirmed that a high degree of entanglement (Uhl-Bien and Marion 2009) exists between operational and enabling leadership and shows it can have a positive impact on adaptive outcomes.

Acknowledging the argument that traditional models of leadership are ineffective to explain leadership in technology driven organizations (Hunt and Dodge 2001; Uhl-Bien and Marion 2006), this study therefore contributes to the theory of leadership in digital transformation initiatives. It also provides a basis for understanding how leaders can manage the complex network of stakeholders (Eka and Abidin 2011; Syed et al. 2017) to avoid the resistance to change which frequently occurs with radical systems transformations, such as the one described in this paper.

The findings of this paper also have considerable practical significance. The detailed identification of leadership actions in a highly successful transformation will assist national ICT agencies in developing countries to address the critical need to develop robust leadership capabilities to overcome chronic BPM failure rates. The outcomes of the study can act as a normative guide for the senior management of BPM initiatives in the public sector to lead successful BPM implementations and as a useful framework for designing leadership capacity building for BPM initiatives. The net results can assist developing countries to achieve the socio-technical and financial benefits expected of the ICT-enabled BPM initiatives to provide government services to the citizens in an efficient and effective manner.

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