Effect of E-Government Based Service Delivery on Customers’ Satisfaction

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

LIST OF TABLES

LIST OF FIGURES

ACRONYMS

ABSTRACTS

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Introduction
1.2. Background of the study
1.3. Statement of the Problem
1.4. Objectives of the study
1.4.1. General objectives
1.4.2.Specific objectives
1.5. Research questions
1.6. Hypothesis of the study
1.7. Significances of the study
1.8.Scope of the study
1.9. Limitations of the study
1.10. Definitions of key terms
1.11. Organization of the study

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Introduction
2.2. Theoretical Review
2.2.1. Conceptualizing e-government and e-governance
2.2.2. Evolution of e-government
2.2.3. Development stages of e-government
2.2.4. Modalities of e-government initiatives
2.2.5. Benefit and Role of e-government
2.2.6. E- Government system
2.2.7. E-government in Vital Events Registration System
2.2.8. Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)
2.2.9. Quality Service delivery
2.2.10. SERVQUAL Model
2.2.11. Customers' satisfaction
2.3. Empirical Review
2.3.1. E-Government trends and experiences
2.3.1.1. E-Government in Global Trend
2.3.1.2. E-government experience in Africa
2.3.1.3. E-Government in Ethiopia
2.3.2. Empirical Studies on E-Government
2.4. Research Gaps
2.5. Conceptual Framework of the Study

CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1. Introduction
3.2. Research design
3.3. Description of Study Area
3.4. Target population
3.5. Sampling design
3.5.1. Sampling frame
3.5.2. Sampling unit
3.5.3. Sample size
3.5.4. Sampling methods/technique
3.6. Data collection
3.6.1. Data Sources
3.6.2. Data gathering technique
3.7. Data analysis
3.8. Data quality controls
3.8.1. Reliability
3.8.2. Validity

CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1. Introduction
4.2. Response rate
4.3. Demographic Data analysis and Discussion
4.3.1. Analysis and discussion of AAVERA Customers Profile
4.3.2. Analysis about AAVERA Employees Demographic Data
4.4. Research Question 1 - Analysis and discussion on E-government based Service Quality Gaps
4.4.1. Descriptive Analysis and Discussions
4.4.2. Qualitative Data Interpretations
4.5. Research Question 2 - Inferential Statistics and Qualitative Data Discussions & Analysis about Effects of E-governance on Customers' Perceived Service Delivery
4.5.1.Standard Multiple Regressions Result Analysis
4.5.2. Qualitative Data Interpretation
4.6. Research Question 3 - Inferential Statistics and Qualitative Data Discussion and Analysis about Perceived Service Delivery and Customers Satisfaction
4.6.1. Logistic regression analysis of the effect of perceived service Delivery on customers
4.6.2. Qualitative Data Interpretation
4.7. Research Question 4 - Major Challenges and Additional Measures to Improve the Service Delivery with E-Government

CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1. Introduction
5.2. Summary
5.3. Conclusion
5.4. Recommendations
5.4.1. Recommendations from the study
5.4.2. Recommendations for Further Study

REFERENCES

APPENDIXES

DEDICATION

I dedicated this work for my lovely daughter Amen Ashenafi, since; you are the luck and gift of your daddy. The true childhood love and smile you always shows me, gave me the strength to achieve my academic work successfully. You made me understand what life look likes when being a dad. You mean everything for me and I love you more than I can explain in words. May GOD bless you my child.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would begin by sincerely thanking my advisor, Mishra S.S (PhD) for the unyielding support he gave to me in order to produce this study. I appreciate his efforts because he offered me all the necessary guidelines I am in need in order to achieve this academic task.

I am extremely grateful to my wife, Wubit Endale, for her love, support, encouragement and patience during my study and always. Without your time, dedication and emotional support, this endeavor would not have come to an end.

My heartfelt thank goes to my friends, Adane Tesfaye (PhD), Mestawet Abebe, Dawit Duguma, Dereje Fenta and others for your help in giving me ideas, suggestions and comments which improves my work as well as for your encouragement.

Also, I deeply thank my class fellows and friends for all the encouragements they gave to me during this study.

Special thanks to all my respondents for giving me answers to my questionnaires and those who gave extra support in making my work have a better quality.

Above all, I thank the Almighty GOD for the blessing, strength and knowledge He gave me to carry out this academic work.

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1: E-Government vs. E-Governance

Table 2.2: E-government Status of Ethiopia

Table 3.1: Summary of Sample Size

Table 3.2: Reliability statistics for customers' questionnaire

Table 4.1: Gender, Age Category and educational qualification

Table 4.2: Employment sector, visit of AAVERA, computer and internet usage

Table 4.3: Gender, Age Group, Work Experience of AAVERA respondent employees

Table 4.4: Computer Skill and Internet usage of employees

Table 4.5: Customers & employees expectation, perception & gaps of service quality

Table 4.6: Customers and Employees SERVQUAL Gaps by dimensions

Table 4.7: Correlation among e-governance variables and CPSD

Table 4.8: Model Summary (b) for E-governance Variables on CPSD

Table 4.9: Coefficient a result of e-governance variables on CPSD

Table 4.10: Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)

Table 4.11: Correlation b/n Perceived Service delivery and customers' satisfaction

Table 4.12: classification a,b for e-governance customers satisfaction

Table 4.13: omnibus test of model coefficient and Hosmer & leneshow test

Table 4.14: Model Summary for e-governance and customers satisfaction

Table 4.15: classification table a for e-governance and customers satisfaction

Table 4.16: Variables in the Equation for PSD and Customers Satisfaction

Table 5.1: Summary of Research Question, Objectives and Hypotheses

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1: E-governance Maturity Model

Figure 2.2: Dimensions of the E-Government System

Figure 2.3: Original TAM model by Fred Davis

Figure 2.4: SERVQUAL's Gaps

Figure 2.5: Conceptual framework

Figure 3.1 Map of Addis Ababa City Administration

Figure 4.1: Service type of AAVERA

Figure 4.2: Work experience of AAVERA employees

Figure 4.3: Linearity of ICT Platform and CPSD

Figure 4.4: linearity of perceived Ease of Use and CPSD

Figure 4.5: linearity of perceived Usefulness and CPSD

ACRONYMS

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

Abstracts

The emergence of electronic government both in practice and in concept has been one of the important developments in public administration in the past ten years. It seems to be the next generation of the development in the public sectors. To greater extent governments around the world are introducing e-government as a means of reducing costs, improving services for citizens and increasing effectiveness and efficiency at national, regional and local levels of the public sector.

This research mainly examined the effect of e-government based service delivery on customers' satisfaction in Addis Ababa Vital Events Registration Agency by using TAM and SERVQUAL Models. Convergent parallel mixed research design was adopted to guide the study with both quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data was analyzed by using Standardized multiple regressions Model (ANOVA and correlation coefficient) and Binary Logistic regression model was used to test the hypotheses. Qualitative data were analyzed using five steps (Compiling, disassembling, reassembling, interpreting and concluding) of data. All data were gained from questionnaire, key informants interview, focus group discussion and secondary data to achieve its objective.

The study revealed among other things that e-government has strong positive effect on service delivery by enhancing the customers' perception on the service delivery and customers' satisfaction. This is because the use of ICT in work-related activities reduces waste of time, delays and mistakes on the part of workers in the discharge of their duties. Based on this, recommendations were made major among them is that the organization should improve on the current ICT infrastructure (speed of internet, UPS, licensed computers, e-service and mobile services), office layout and sufficient equipments, IT experts, awareness creation to the public about the new electronics service, and so on.

Key words: E-Government (ICT), SERVQUAL, Customers' Satisfaction, Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Vital Events Registration, Expected service and Perceived service

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1. Introduction

This chapter provides a general introduction to electronic government (commonly referred to as e-government) and illustrates the role of quality service delivery and consequently leading to customers' satisfaction in government organizations. It also describes the concept of e­government and general introduction to the use of ICT in public organizations. Moreover, this chapter describes the Statement of the Problem, Objectives of the Study, Research Questions and hypotheses, Significance of the study, the Scope of the study, Limitations of the Study, and Definitions of the key terms and finally, organization of the study.

1.2. Background of the study

Over the last decade, the Internet has become one of the most important means of communication in all social areas. The success of Web technology adoption in the private sector has put pressures on the public sector to adopt the Internet to present information and service resources. The concept of creating more efficient and convenient interaction between government and the interacting parties using Internet technology is referred to as electronic government (Yining, Chen, Ching, and Huang , 2009 ). Even though E-government was being practiced by the private sectors in some time ago to enhance the service delivery, but now it is realized as an important tool for public sector too in transforming the bureaucratic internal process to deliver effective services for citizens. For this reason, e-government has progressed to the point where it is now a force for effective governance and citizen participation, both at national and local levels (United Nations E-Government Survey, 2010).

In general, E-government refers to the intensive use of information and communication technologies in providing the citizens an improved access to information related to public administrations as well as in providing them outstanding service quality (Spremic and Brzica, 2008). The use of ICT is becoming a key for governments to enhance and fit their service delivery with the dynamic demands of citizens, (Pani & Mishra, 2009). Even the technology must be flexible enough so as to be adjusted easily with the growing needs of the people and the required service delivery. So, the traditional government service delivery is not fitting, due to its time consuming, and transparency deficiency, and leads to citizen and business dissatisfaction. By putting government services online, e-government reduces bureaucracy and enhances the quality of services in terms of time, content and accessibility (The World Bank, 2015).

As a result, a tremendous Progress in the field of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) helps in forcing governments to create and apply policies governing the role of ICT in governmental activities. These policies aim at advancing the level of service provision in the public sector by using the support available from electronic and digital equipment such as websites, online services like bill payments and other citizen service applications. ICT facilities make both the public and private sector work more effectively by giving attention to the needs of citizens/customers while, at the same time, reducing costs, time and improving the quality of services (Makene, 2009). Fountain (2001), also agrees on the contribution of e-government in earning efficiencies by generating less paperwork, decreasing the cost of processing routine transactions and lowering the error rate in which correction requires additional work.

While the advanced countries like USA, UK, Canada and Australia have already achieved a remarkable success in their drives for e-Government and improved service delivery, in developing countries such attempts have produced only modest results (Siddiquee, 2008). The Government of Malaysia started with the establishment of the Multimedia Super Corridor in 1996 by which the governmental initiatives have already resulted in significant progress towards ICT application in the public sector at national, state and local levels. As part of its public-sector reform, Malaysia has embarked upon a massive e-government program seeking to introduce innovations in service delivery and enhance the quality and performance of public services (Siddiquee, 2008).

While almost all African countries have had some system of registering its vital events, few meet the United Nations standard of the continuous, permanent, compulsory, and universal recording of the occurrence and characteristics of vital events such as live births, deaths, fetal deaths, marriages, and divorces (United Nations Department of economic and Social Affairs Statistics Division , 2001). Ethiopia is one of those not meeting the standard. Therefore, Ethiopia as a country, in order to meet the standard set by United Nations, it is crucial to enhance the vital events registration service delivery through using modern technologies. A Well-functioning ICT infrastructure, including a reliable power source, internet, and cell phone coverage, provides the enabling environment for developing modern CRVS systems, which in turn provides the platform for interoperable CRVS information systems and databases. While ICT is not a silver bullet, it can provide a means to collect, store and retrieve data in a fast, cost-efficient and user­friendly way (WHO, 2014).

In 2010, the government of Ethiopia, recognizing the critical role of ICT in enhancing, strengthening and facilitating governmental services, has also established an organization named as Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT) which is mainly responsible to work on ICT development in the country. Under this ministry, various ICT initiatives, policies, and strategies are being produced, among these, e-government strategy and implementation plan is the one, which identifies services to transform into electronics with their possible strategies and ways of implementation. In this document, the vital events registration service system development is also one of the focus areas of the e- government strategy of the ministry (FDRE Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, 2017).

Ethiopia has made a progressive growth in the ICT development and utilization by giving a due attention to eradicate poverty as primary by achieving the Growth and Transformational Plan with the critical role of e-government in accessing government services to the citizens, business and government other arms. Ethiopia has established an integrated utility service fee charge system in coordination with Kifya Financial Technology. Through Kifya, every citizen can pay water, electricity and telephone service charges in one stop window with a reduced time and costs. The numbers of free call center (888 and 8181) are also increasing to serve the public accessing different information about government organizations. In addition, the Ethiopian government has realized the potential of IT industry and has taken the initiative to establish Ethio ICT-Village which is under construction to strengthening the local ICT industry and business sector in Ethiopia through attracting direct foreign investment, stimulating growth of the domestic ICT industry, creating an enabling environment for private sector initiatives, and promoting exports of ICT products and services (MCIT, 2017).

Vital events (or civil) registration has important uses for individuals, societies and the Government. For individual citizens, copies of registration records can be used as legal documents for evidentiary purposes. Information compiled from registration records are needed for administrative applications as well such as public health programs and the electoral roll. It also serves as the starting point for a number of operational programs, particularly in family planning, medical research, maternal and child care programs, historical demography, genetic studies and so forth. In Ethiopia, the Provisions for the vital events registration were included in the Ethiopian Civil Code enacted in 1960 which made it compulsory to register births, deaths and marriages. But, the system was very weak to be supportive for the required purposes according to the international conventions. Now Ethiopia is started to improve and build civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems in line with the Growth and Transformation Plan by anchoring it in an enabling, comprehensive and compulsory legislation published in August 2012 (FDRE Vital Events Registration Agency, 2017). Following the three years massive operational and technical preparation, Ethiopia has kicked off the conventional registration of vital events on August 6, 2016 (ECA 2014). Services that are rendered by Vital Events Registration Agency (VERA) are registration and certification of Birth, Marriage, Death, Divorce, and Adoption.

From all Regional States and City Administration, Addis Ababa city administration Vital Events Registration Agency is the foremost in working on extensive organizational change, applying an integrated Woreda Net System at all Woreda, Sub-City and City level with Central database. This is the primary reason why the researcher selected and got motivated to examine the effect of e-government based service delivery on customers' satisfaction in the case of Addis Ababa vital events registration Agency. It will describe e-government and its impact on the governmental service deliveries in vital events registration services in terms of dimensions of reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy, and responsivenes as well as in dimensions on perception of usfulness and ease of use e-government(ICT) based services.

1.3. Statement of the Problem

In developing countries, mostly e-government development and deployment remained concentrated at the central government level with a primary focus on government-to-government (G2G) interactions, instead of government-to citizen (G2C) interactions which did not derive any benefits. Until now, there has been no concrete impact on the daily lives of ordinary citizens in these countries, as evidenced by the almost complete absence of e-government systems at the central and local government level. Most citizen-oriented services, such as medical care, justice, education, safety and municipal services are still processed and delivered manually without the use of ICT. Citizens need to physically interact with government employees to obtain requested information or services. Government offices still keep data in a paper-based manner, process the data to serve citizens in manual ways, and have one unique delivery channel: face-to-face interactions (Kettani and Moulin, 2014).

Ethiopia is one of the fastest developing countries in which striving to develop its governmental organizations for better service delivery. Assessments and researches have been conducted on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of public organizations in providing public services and advancing satisfaction of customers (GTP, Annual Progress Report, 2014). Even though different public service reform tools which are important for improving service delivery are being practiced in the public sectors, still, the service delivery is under problem and challenges. Under its great strategic plan (Growth and Transformation Plan Report, 2014), Ethiopia has given emphasis on the development of information and communication infrastructure and utilize of ICT in public organizations in increasing the access of timely information to the public. With this motive the country has made progress in adopting ICT and further indicated the importance of ICT in its second strategic plan (for the year 2015/16-2019/20 (GTP II, 2016), as wider application of e-government, e-commerce, e-learning, e-library, mobile banking and others have enabled to improve the quality and efficiency of public and private services.

However, according to United Nations E-Government Survey 2016, Ethiopia is ranking 157th out of 193-member countries in e-government development index in which the survey has focused on evaluating countries based on their online presence, human capacity development, and telecommunication infrastructure. Even though, there is better progress from 2014 UN survey, Ethiopia is still behind in using e-government to get rid of (Pani and Mishra, 2009) the traditional service delivery which the procedures are long, time consuming and lack transparency and this could produce lack of communication and coordination and delayed exchange of information between the government organizations, citizens, and stakeholders which would badly affect the decision-making process and execution of various governmental tasks which includes delivering effective service to the public.

In 2016, Vital Events Registration Agency of Addis Ababa city administration has made fundamental change in its organizational structure as well as way of delivering services from totally traditional to digital system by introducing e-government platform through Vital Events Registration and service issuance system (VERSIS) which is an integrated intranet web base system connecting all offices in one.

However, e-government is more beyond this including the use of internet to address the citizens/customers in online services. Vital Events Registration services are the backbone for individual citizens and government from the legal, social and economic aspect, in Ethiopia, still there are so many shortfalls in addressing a timely, quality, transparent and accountable services. Specifically, Addis Ababa is the capital city of the country, host city of AU Headquarter as well as different international organizations. And also, highly populated and leading city in the country in terms of access to understand and use ICT Facilities for effective service delivery. But still the city does not have a well-organized and integrated ICT initiative which helps to connect all the public sectors under the city administration in one for efficient and effective service delivery as well as timely decision making.

Based on the FDRE Proclamation 760/2012, the registration of vital events required to be done manually in four copies. One copy left at the registration centers, one copy at regional level and the remaining two copies to be sent to the federal vital events registration agency and the central statistical agency. The cost of printing and the time and cost required to transfer the filled copies of registers at all hierarchies is a serious challenge requiring the automation of the system. For the most part, the slow flow of information on vital events greatly reduces its value. For example, if birth certificate data lag by a year or more, they cannot be effectively used to track at-risk infants, guide immunization efforts, or provide quick feedback on institutions or regions with high rates of birth defects.

Consequently, Ethiopia as a country and Addis Ababa specifically, face frequent challenges from the public with inefficient service delivery, high amount of operational cost, work overload on employees, delayed time of service delivery which then results long queues and crowds of customers at office. All these driven problems lead to mal-administration and poor good governance in the country as well as in the citywhich lead to customers' dissatisfaction.

1.4. Objectives of the study

1.4.1. General objectives

The general objective of this study is mainly to examine the effect of e-government based service delivery on customers' satisfaction in the case of Addis Ababa city Administration vital events registration agency.

1.4.2. Specific objectives

The specific objectives of this study are:

- To measure the qualitygaps of e-government based service delivery in AAVERA.
- To examine the effect of E-Government on Customers' Perceived Service Delivery provided by Addis Ababa Vital Events Registration Agency (AAVERA).
- To predict the effect of E-Government based service delivery on customer satisfaction of in Addis Ababa Vital Events Registration Agency.
- To identify challenges and additional measures to improve e-government based service delivery in Addis Ababa Vital Events Registration Agency.

1.5. Research questions

This research study has addressed the following questions:

- What is the level of quality of e-government based services delivery in AAVERA?
- Do E-Government factors affect customers' perception of service quality in Addis Ababa Vital Events Registration Agency?
- Is the perceived service delivery a significant predictor of customers'/citizens' satisfaction?
- What challenges and additional measures can be taken to improve the E-Government service delivery in Addis Ababa vital events registration agency?

1.6. Hypothesis of the study

The following are the hypotheses of this thesis study:

H1: E-Government has positive impact onCustomers' Perceived Service Delivery.

H2: The predictive model of Perceived Service Delivery and Customers'/Citizens' Satisfaction in statistically significant.

1.7. Significances of the study

This study could be helpful for academicians as a major source of literature for those who want to study in the area of E-government in Ethiopia and also it would be very vibrant for Addis Ababa vital events registration Agency in providing important information to enhance their service delivery through advanced use of technology. This study is also very helpful for policy makers in providing important information about e-government and its relevance in improving the service delivery. In addition to this, if the study is applied, it would improve the service delivery, as a result, the customers' satisfaction and service quality would also be getting better.

1.8. Scope of the study

The scope of this study is limited to address the effect of E-Government on service delivery in the case of Addis Ababa City Administration Vital Events Registration Agency and the study was bounded to address only the case of the non-technical aspects, the technical design aspect of the E-Government system is not covered by this study.

E-Government is comprehensive ICT solution constituting varying modalities. According to the National ICT Policy and Strategy of Ethiopia (2009), the E - Government strategy of the country is expected to target Government to Government (G2G), Government to Business (G2B), Government to citizen (G2C) and Government to Employee (G2E) programs. The scope of this study is focused on the modality of government to Government (G2G) where different level government organizations/agencies/offices exchange information and Government to citizens (G2C) where e-interaction is made between government and citizens.

1.9. Limitations of the study

The limitation of this study was first on the subject matter of e-government which is broad with a technical and non-technical aspect, even though the technical part is not covered by this study. There have been challenges of non-correspondence from respondents during data collection. And, since the survey was made in few number of the respondent, there may be a negative impact on the conclusion. More importantly, due to time and cost factors, the study could not be conducted in detail.

1.10. Definitions of key terms

The terms e-Government, digital government, e-governance, SERVQUAL and Service delivery are discussed in the literature of this study and with no comprehensive definition but under the broad domain of e-Government. E-Government and e-governance which are accorded interlocked and close similarity concept, principle, and practice. Therefore, for common understanding and avoiding confusion by readers from its broad concept and technicality, the terms e-Service, e-governance and e-Government are used interchangeably to primarily mean the ability to obtain government services through nontraditional means, enabling access to government information and to completion of government transaction between government arms, government and citizens on anywhere, any time basis and in conformance with equal access requirement. Therefore, this research study uses the following definitions.

- E-government: refers to the use by government agencies of information technologies (such as Wide Area Networks, the Internet and mobile computing) that have the ability to transform relations with citizens, businesses and other arms of government (World Bank, 2009).
- E-governance: It is the use of information and communication technologies with the aim of improving information and service delivery, encouraging citizen participation in the decision-making process and making government more accountable, transparent and effective (UNESCO,2005).
- Digital government: is a government that is organized increasingly in terms of virtual agencies, cross-agency and public-private networks whose structure and capacity depend on the Internet and Web (fountain, 2001).
- SERVQUAL Model: a model which compares expectations and perceptions of customers regarding a particular service to measure service quality in terms of reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibles. (Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry, 1988).
- Service delivery: It is a continuous, cyclic process for developing and delivering user focused services.
- Service quality is a measure of how well the service level delivered matches customer expectations. Delivering quality service means conforming to customer expectations on a consistent basis (Lewis and Booms 1983, Cited in Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry, 1988).
- Vital events: birth, marriage, divorce and death are the top priority of vital events the needed to be recorded.
- Vital Events Registrations: is the continuous, permanent, compulsory and universal recording of the occurrence and characteristics of vital events pertaining to the population as provided through decree or regulation in accordance with the legal requirements in each country (VERA, 2017).
- Civil registration and vital statistics systems (CRVS) or Vital Events Registration System (VERS): refers to the administrative, legal, institutional framework, technical settings required to perform the registration functions throughout the country, taking into account cultural and social circumstances, particular to the country (VERA, 2017).
- Vital Events Registration and Service Issuance System (VERSIS): refers an internet based system in which AAVERA is using to register vital events.
- Customers satisfaction: referred as individual's feeling of pleasure (or disappointment) resulting from comparing the perceived service delivery in relation to the expected service delivery.

1.11.Organization of the study

This thesis is organized in to five major chapters. Chapter one deals with Introduction. In this chapter, the basic framework of the study including Background, Statement of the Problem, Objectives, and Research Questions are discussed. Different important Literatures are reviewed in Chapter Two. The literatures comprised with both theoretical and empirical studies. Chapter Three discussed concerning Research Methodology. In this chapter, the basic guides that to be followed as a road map in the study is outlined. Results and Discussions of the study are presented in Chapter Four. In this chapter, both primary and secondary data are analyzed. Finally, chapter five deals with Conclusion and Recommendations.

CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1. Introduction

This research study mainly anchored on two models such as Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and SERVQUAL Model in which both models are important to examine the effect of e­government on service delivery and consequently customers' satisfaction with respect to perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use as well as service quality expectation and perceptions of customers. The SERVQUAL model is the most often used approach for measuring service quality has been to compare customers' expectations before a service delivery and their perceptions of the actual service delivered. The SERVQUAL instrument has been the predominant method used to measure consumers' perceptions of service quality (Zarei & Safdari, 2007).

This chapter with respect to effects of e-government on the service delivery, firstly discussed the theoretical aspects of e-government and service delivery such as conceptualizing e-governance and e-government, evolution of e-government, development stages of e-government, forms/modalities of e-government, benefit and role of e-government, e-government system, TAM Model, SERVQUAL Model, service delivery and customer/citizen satisfaction, and, secondly, a practical or empirical experience of e-government globally, in Africa and in Ethiopia assessed, then thirdly, the research gaps was discussed and finally, the conceptual framework of the study is shown.

2.2. Theoretical Review

2.2.1. Conceptualizing e-government and e-governance

The term E-government is being defined by different authors or organizations differently since it encompasses of multi-disciplinary in nature. Therefore, there is no commonly agreed definition for the term e-government although it was important to define it at its inception (Yildiz, 2007). Sharma, (2004) define e-government as the use by government agencies of information technologies (such as Wide Area Networks, the internet, and mobile computing) that have the ability to transform relation with citizens, business and other arms of government. E-Governance is beyond the scope of e-government. While e-government is defined as delivery of government services and information to the public using electronics means, e-governance allows citizens direct participation in political activities going beyond government (Pani and Mishra, 2009). The main differences between e-governance and e-government are mentioned below in the table 2.1.

According to Al-Tawil and Said (2002), electronic government (e-government) is the transformation of public sector's internal and external relationship through Internet enabled operations, thereby strategically deploying ICT to optimize government service delivery and governance. E-governance is the development, deployment and enforcement of the policies, laws and regulations necessary to support the functioning of an e-government (cited in Savic, 2006).

Table 2.1 E-Government vs. E-Governance

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Source: E-Government vs E-Governance; (Pani and Mishra, 2009)

Anttiroik (2007) also describes e-government and e-governance as two completely different concepts. E-governance is a broader term comprising a range of relationships and networks in the government, related to the use and application of ICT. E-government is a more restricted area associated with the development of direct (online) services to citizens, paying greater attention to such government services as e-taxes, e-education or e-health.

E-governance is a concept that defines the impact of technology on governance practices, the relationship between the government and the public, NGOs and private sector entities. E­governance covers the entire range of government steps to develop and administrate, and to ensure successful implementation of e-government services offered to the public. The original idea of e-government has been attributed to the public's need for access to the government decisions and documents via electronic means, later appeared the need of public electronic services, and finally, a search of opportunities to participate in the decision-making process, to consult with the government institutions (Anttiroik, 2007).

For more conceptualization of E-government, it is important to understand the administrative development and reform of the government in general. During two decades, Administrative reform and development have experienced Total Quality Management (TQM) in the 1980s, and Reengineering and Reinventing Government in 1990s. Government reinvention makes us realized that government is actually a dynamic mixture of goals, structures, and functions. E­government initiatives are complex change efforts intended to use new and emerging technologies to support a transformation in the operation and effectiveness of government derived from government reinvention. The new challenge of public administration in the 2000s or 21st century is to create an E-government (Zhiyuan Fang, 2002).

2.2.2. Evolution of e-government

The use of ICTs in government structures is not new, but the concept of e-government became widely used in the 1990s when it began to be seen as a policy strategy to improve service delivery and to cut costs, also aiming at simplifying administrative procedures, transparency and accountability of government activities (Bhatnagar 2003, Cited in Guerrini, 2008). In recent years, the study of technology and management in public organizations has involved the examination of how government agencies present themselves to citizens and other stakeholders on the Internet. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is one of the most significant distinctiveness of our age and every new development changes our lives to some extent. Its evolution has dramatically changed how citizens intermingle with their government, creating an important development in their expectations (Dodd, 2000).

Electronic government (e-government) seems to be the next generation of the development in the public sector following e-commerce's evolution in the private sector. To greater extent governments around the world are introducing e-government as a means of reducing costs, improving services for citizens and increasing effectiveness and efficiency at national, regional and local levels of the public sector. According to UN report, 179 out of 192 UN members, reported that they developed strategies to implement e-government systems and therefore e- government has been identified as one of the top priorities for governments across the world (UN, 2008).

As Brown stated in his article, e-government has only been in general use in the past five years, even though, the phenomenon has been developing since the mid-1980s. E-government can be described as arising from the interactions between three separate sets of forces, each of which has gone through its own evolution: ICTs, management concepts and government itself. A notable feature is that most of the technological innovation and new thinking in management practices has occurred outside government especially in the private sector while government has been significantly influenced by external forces, notably the needs and capacities of the public. In this sense, e-government is still an evolving concept; as governments increasingly come to terms with its characteristics and tools, it is likely to undergo significant further evolution (Brown, 2005).

2.2.3. Development stages of e-government

In the literature, there are different models of e-government development level/phases; they show levels of the development or maturity of e-government and e-government services. There are requirements and expectations to move from one level to another (Keco, 2014).

The development Stage of E-Government refers to the maturity levels of websites development in providing services. In this regard, literature found to vary in using the stages terminology and contents that should be included in each stage. According to E-Government survey of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), (2016), there are four stages of E-Government Development. These are Emerging Presence, Enhanced Presence, Transactional, and Connected.

Stage 1: Emerging information services; in this stage, Government websites provide information on public policy, governance, laws, regulations, relevant documentation, and types of government services provided. They have links to ministries, departments and other branches of government. Citizens are able to obtain updated information about government offices (UN, 2016).

Stage 2: Enhanced information services; at this stage e-government development, Government websites deliver enhanced one-way or simple two-way e-communication between government and citizen in multi-lingual, such as downloadable forms for government services and applications. The websites may have audio and video capabilities. Some limited e-services enable citizens to submit requests for non-electronic forms or personal information (UN, 2016). Stage 3: Transactional services; at this stage, Government websites engage in two-way communication with their citizens, including requesting and receiving inputs on government policies, programmes, regulations, etc. Some form of electronic authentication of the citizen's identity is required to successfully complete the exchange. Government websites process non­financial transactions, e.g. filing taxes online or applying for certificates, licenses and permits. They also handle financial transactions, i.e. where money is transferred on a secure network (UN Survey, 2016).

Stage 4: Connected services; in this level, Government websites change the way governments communicate with their citizens. E-services intersect the departments and ministries in a seamless manner. Also information, data, and knowledge are transferred from government agencies through integrated applications. Governments moves from a government-centric to a citizen-centric approach, where e-services are targeted to citizens through life cycle events and segmented groups to provide tailor-made services. Governments create an environment that empowers citizens to be more involved with government activities to have a voice in decision­making (UN, 2016).

There is also other model that describes the stages or phases of e-government development, both externally (G2B and G2C) and internally (G2G and G2E). As it is illustrated in figure 2.1, the model has four phases of e-government. This model does not mean that all institutions have to go through all phases and all at the same time. It all depends on where the advantages are high (Pani & Mishra, 2009).

Phase 1: Information

In the first phase e-governance means providing the external public (G2C and G2B) with relevant information through web. As discussed by Pani and Mishra (2009), the first format of government website is similar to that of a brochure or leaflet where government information is publicly accessible; processes are described and thus become more transparent which improves democracy and service. Internally (G2G) the government can also disseminate information with static electronic means. This phase is all about information i.e. from single page presence website to a site with all relevant government information available to the public (Pani and Mishra, 2009).

Phase 2: Interaction

In the second phase, the interaction between government and citizens (G2C and G2B) is stimulated with various applications. People can ask questions via e-mail use search engine for information and are able to download all sorts of forms and documents. Internally, (G2G) government organizations use Local Area Network (LAN), Intranets and e-mail to communicate and exchange data. The bottom line is that more efficiency and effectiveness is achieved because a large part of the intake process is done online. However, it is still necessary to goto office to finalize the transaction, by paying a fee, handling over evidence or signing papers. The use of electronic communications tools speed up the internal government processes (Pani and Mishra, 2009).

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Figure 2.1 E-governance Maturity Model, Gartner (2000).

Phase 3: Transaction

With phase three, the complexity of the technology is increasing, but customer (G2C and G2B) value will also be higher. Complete transaction can be done without going to an office. Examples of online service are filling income tax, filling property tax, extending/renewal of license, visa and passports and online voting. Phase three is mainly complex because of security and personalization issue. Example, digital electronic signatures are necessary to enable legal transfer of services. On the business side the government is starting with e-procurement application. In this phase, internal G2G processes have to be redesigned to provide good services. Government needs to create new laws and legislation that will enable paperless transactions with legal certification. The bottom line is that now the complete process is online including payments, digital signatures etc. this saves time, paper and money (Pani and Mishra, 2009).

Phase 4: Transformation:

In this phase, all information systems are integrated and the public can get G2C and G2B services at one (virtual) counter. One single contact for all services is the ultimate goal. The complex aspect in reaching this goal is mainly on the internal side, e.g. the necessity to drastically change culture, processes and responsibilities within the government institution (G2G). Government employees in different departments have to work together in a smooth and seamless way. In this phase cost savings, efficiency and customers' satisfaction are reaching highest possible levels ((Pani and Mishra, 2009).

In most of public organizations of Ethiopia, websites gives information and some have downloadable forms. The services are still carrying out with paper, customers expected to go office for processing the service including fees. Therefore, Based on the above phases of e­government, Ethiopia is located under interaction phases of e-government. AAVERA is also in the interaction phase, since it has an intranet system to exchange data among all its office at different level.

2.2.4. Modalities of e-government initiatives

E-government is broadly defined by Gartner (2000) as it is the continuous optimization of service delivery, constituency participation, and governance by transforming internal and external relationships through technology, the Internet, and new media. Although e-government encompasses a wide range of activities and actors, three distinct sectors can be identified. This includes Government to Citizen (G2C), Government to Employee (G2E), Government to Business G2B), and Government to Government (G2G). Some other observers also identified Government to employees (G2E) as a fourth sector (Sharma, 2004).

Government to Government (G2G): this modality is considered as the backbone of e­government. Government at all level must first enhance and update their own internal system and procedures before electronics transaction with citizens and businesses to be successful (Sharma, 2004). The use of information technologies by different governmental agencies to share or centralize information, or to automate and streamline intergovernmental business processes such as regulatory compliance, has produced numerous instances of time and cost savings and service enhancements (Gregory, 2007).

Government to Business (G2B): this type of e-government initiatives receives a significant amount of attention, in part, because of the high enthusiasms of the business sector and the potential for reducing costs through improved procurement practice and increased competition. The G2B sector includes both the sale of surplus government goods to the public as well as the procurement of goods and services such as Tendering, auction, and information and administrative management tools (Sharma, 2004).

Government to citizen (G2C): the third e-government sector is government to citizen initiatives which are designed to facilitate citizens' interaction with government. These initiatives attempt to make transactions, such as renewing, licenses, and certifications, paying taxes, and applying for benefits. And it is less time consuming and easier to carry out (Sharma, 2004).

Government to Employees (G2E): It is a combination of information and services offered by government institutions to their employees to interact with each other and their management. G2E is a successful way to provide e-learning, bring employees together and to encourage knowledge sharing among them. It gives employees the possibility of accessing relevant information regarding compensation and benefit policies, training and learning opportunities, and allowing them access to manage their benefits online with an easy and fast communication model. G2E also includes strategic and tactical mechanisms for encouraging the implementation of government goals and programs as well as human resource management, budgeting and dealing with citizens (Ndou, 2004).

2.2.5. Benefit and Role of e-government

E-government may enable governments to improve their processes of service delivery. This can happen when governments agree to utilize e-government initiatives in their day to day activities. It is, therefore, the role of the government to furnish its citizens with ICT knowledge, facilitate their access to digital equipment such as computers, and advocate their usage in simplifying service delivery. However, certain goals, such as making internet access to all citizens may be the duty of both the public and private sectors (Mekane, 2009). Ndou also discussed that the adoption and use of the e-government strategy can provide significant benefits for government in the delivery of more effective and efficient information and services to all e-government sectors. It enables government agencies to align their efforts as needed to improve service and reduce operating costs (Ndou, 2004).

According to United Nations Division for Public Economics and Public Administration survey, E-government has potential for stronger institutional capacity building, for better service delivery to citizens and business, for reducing corruption by increasing transparency and social control (UN, 2001). Therefore, in order to make a change in governmental organization and government services, it is expected that governments as any other business would introduce and start using information and communication technology. ICT not only brought organizational change, but also aimed to change and modernize public administration and governmental services.

As the Commission of European Communities (2003) stated, e-government enables governments to become conscious of better and more efficient administration. E-government helps the public sector to deal with the conflicting demands of delivering more and better services to citizens with fewer resources. In addition, e-government is used as an opportunity to improve and develop public policies (Cited in Keco, 2014).

Nowadays, e-government presents transparency, clarity, efficiency and accountability. Marche & McNiven (2003) and Davison, Wagner, & Ma (2005) believe that the process of transition from one system to the other (traditional government to e-government) gave governments the opportunity to improve their responsiveness, clarity of purpose and operational transparency, internal efficiency and effectiveness to their citizen. Having a website that offers information in several languages gives more credibility and confidence to citizens, and allows foreign citizens to find the information they need, meaning that they can easily integrate both socially and economically. Through e-government the public sector can foster and maintain good governance in a knowledge society (Keco, 2014).

This creates a more transparent government that is understandable and accountable to citizens and that will be at the service of all, a system that does not exclude anyone and can provide personalized services. E-government should provide its customers maximum value, which means that citizens will spend less time standing in queues, errors will be reduced, and more time will be given to professional face-to-face service. In general, e-government tries to establish a more open, illusive and productive government in line with good governance (Keco, 2014).

2.2.6. E- Government system

According to Kettani and Moulin (2014), e-government systems require the adoption of proven Information System (IS) project management and operations management methodologies to reap the expected benefits. The former helps frame all aspects related to people, cost, scope, time and technology throughout the phases of the lifecycle of the implementation of the e-government system including social engineering aspects, while the latter frames and streamlines all aspects related to the operations and support services associated with the e-government system during the production/operation phase. At the heart of these management methodologies is the tetrahedron: technology, people, process and data. Indeed, these four elements are put together to collect, manipulate store and process data into information and provide an electronic e­government service, as follows:

- Process: Series of steps necessary to complete the delivery of the service. It also incorporates activities for administering the system,
- People: The needs of those involved with the e-government system (end users, managers, etc.) are critical,
- Technology: Hardware, software, database and network components of thee-government system,
- Data: The information elements processed by the e-government systems such as citizens' records,

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Figure 2.2 Dimensions of the IS (E-Government) System, Kettani and Moulin (2014)

Since information is computerized and stored in digital records, and since this information needs to be exchanged with other government systems in standard computerized formats for public administration (for instance, birth data from the birth registration office must be passed onto passport delivery services or national ID delivery systems), the issue of the standardization of data exchanges has become critical (Kettani and Moulin, 2014).

2.2.7. E-government in Vital Events Registration System

The United Nations defines vital registrations the continuous, permanent compulsory recording of the occurrence and characteristics of vital events, and as provided through decree of regulation in accordance with the lega1 requirement of each country. Vital registration is carried out primarily for the value of the legal documents as provided by law. However, the usefulness of these records as source of statistics is becoming increasingly recognized. There is no consensus among policy makers and demographers as to what specifically constitute vital events. The UN Definitions of Vital Events include ten possibilities these include live births, Deaths, fetal deaths, marriages, divorces, adoption, annulment of marriage, judicial separations, adoptions, legitimizations and recognitions. However, in most cases, five major vital events are codified in vital registration: birth, death, fetal death, marriage, and divorce (Wang, 2003).

According to United Nation handbook on civil registration and vital statistics systems, introducing an ICT based civil registration and vital statistics is for most countries a task of considerable complexity. To overcome the hurdle without losing focus, overview and enthusiasm, it is very significant to introduce the systems in steps or phases. A phase-by-phase implementation benefits the project by providing clear, comprehensive, achievable goals, and thus increases the quality of the systems (UN, 1998).

Among many of the e-government services, e-vital event registration application which is the main e-government application for the provision of e-government related services and information to the public at large. Currently many countries have implemented e-vital registration system which is the recording of life events such as birth, marriage, divorce and death is one of the main applications of e-government by giving various names like civil registration system, electronic death registration system, vital statistics system, electronic birth registration information system etc (Ayalew, 2007).

As it is stated in the article of Wang (2003), almost all developed countries have a centralized vital events registration system of managing certificates and documents related to vital events. This makes data collection, analysis, and distribution of vital statistical information in these countries more effective, prompt, and accurate. However, it is becoming more evident that most African countries is suffering from the effects and consequences of a lack of reliable and routine population and health statistics due to the absence of complete civil registration systems. Absence of routine population dynamics information has affected the preparation of current population estimates and the updating of population projections (Wang, 2003).

2.2.8. Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)

Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) deals with the prediction of the acceptability of an information system. TAM is an adaptation of the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) to the field of information systems (Brown and Venkatesh, 2005). The purpose of this model is to predict the acceptability of a tool and to identify the modifications which must be brought to the system in order to make it acceptable to users. This model suggests that the acceptability of an information system is determined by two main factors: perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use (Venkatesh, Morris, Davis and Davis, 2003). TAM posits that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use determine an individual's intention to use a system with intention to use serving as a mediator of actual system use.

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Figure 2.3; Original TAM proposed by Fred Davis (Davis, 1986)

Perceived usefulness is the perception that a given technology will help a user achieve his or her work goals. In other words, perceived usefulness is the degree to which an individual believes that using a particular system would enhance his or her job performance (Davis, 1986). Ease of use refers to the subjective belief that the use of the new technology does not demand considerable time and effort. Davis (1986) defined perceived ease of use as “the degree to which an individual believes that using a particular system would be free of physical and mental effort”. Davis again state that an application perceived to be easier to use is more likely to be accepted by the users. And Perceived usefulness is also seen as being directly impacted by perceived ease of use (Venkatesh, Morris, Davis and Davis, 2003).

2.2.9. Quality Service delivery

Service is defined as a product or activity that meets the needs of a user or can be applied by a user. To be effective, services should possess these attributes like: available and timely at time and space scales that the user needs; Dependable and reliable in that they need to be delivered on time to the required user specification; Usable meaning that they need to be presented in user specific formats so that the clients can fully understand; Useful meaning that they need to respond appropriately to user needs; Credible for the user to confidently apply to decision­making and responsive and flexible to the evolving user needs.

Mutali (2008) while quoting Parasuraman, Zeithmal and Berry (1991) listed five determinants of service quality by order of importance to include reliability, responsiveness (willingness to help customers and prompt service assurance), and the ability to convey trust, empathy and individualized attention to customers. Other service quality measurement tools studies have found that well managed service companies have the following practices: strategic concept and top management support, high standards of service delivery, service monitoring systems, satisfying customer complaints and emphasis on employee satisfaction (Mugambi, 2013).

Service delivery is a continuous, cyclic process for developing and delivering user focused services. Quality service delivery involves a comparison of expectations with performance. According to Lewis and Booms (1983) service quality is a measure of how well a delivered service matches the customer's expectations. The main reason to focus on quality is to meet customer needs while remaining economically competitive at the same time. This means satisfying customer needs is very important for the enterprises survival and it requires understanding and improving of operational processes, identifying problems quickly and systematically, establishing valid and reliable service performance measures and measuring customer satisfaction and other performance outcomes. According to Kundenbindun (2008) service quality is a business administration's term and describes the degree of achievement of an ordered service (Cited in Mugambi, 2013).

2.2.10. SERVQUAL Model

Parasuraman, Berry, & Zeithaml (1985) developed one of the most dominant and well-known models of assessing service quality, and which is known as SERVQUAL. At first the authors identified ten dimensions of service quality, which were later in 1988 cut down to five. According to Parasuraman et al. (1988) the model is based on a service quality framework that measures service quality through several attributes. The main idea is actually to measure the gap between customer expectations and experience. SERVQUAL as the most often used approach for measuring service quality has been to compare customers' expectations before a service encounter and their perceptions of the actual service delivered (Parasuraman et al., 1985). The original model was developed in a traditional marketing services environment and has five aspects or dimensions known as RATER: reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy and responsiveness (Parasuraman et al., 1988).

- Tangibles: - physical facilities, equipment, and appearance of personnel. Also known as physical evidence; since services have the characteristic of being intangible this is the attribute that “tangibilizes” the intangible for customers. Because of the intangibility of services, customers often evaluate services based on limited tangible elements;
- Reliability: - the ability to perform the promised service dependably and in an accurate manner. Making sure that the service is performed right the first time;
- Assurance: - the knowledge, skills and credibility of employees and their ability to use their expertise to inspire trust and confidence;
- Empathy:-caring, individualized attention the company provides its customers. Having an understanding of customer specific needs, providing individualized attention and when informing customers to make sure that they speak a language that the customers can easily understand;
- Responsiveness: - dealing with customers ‘complaints, giving solutions to problems, giving prompt attention to questions and requests. Responsiveness refers to the willingness to help customers and to deliver prompt service to them.

According to Parasuramanetal (1988) discussion, Assurance and empathy contain items that representing the first seven original dimensions: communication, credibility, security, competence, courtesy, understanding/knowing customers, and access. Although, the SERVQUAL model later has only five dimensions, they implicitly capture all of the ten original conceptualized dimensions.

The SERVQUAL model suggests that the expected service is influenced by several different factors: people's personal needs, word-of-mouth, past experiences and external communication with customers. The model tries to evaluate and measure how close the expected service to the perceived service. There can be a big difference between expected service and perceived service quality. The difference between them is known as the perception gap and is called the service quality gap. Perceived service quality depends on external communication to the customers and how the service is delivered. The communication gap appears when promises to do not match the delivery and appears between external communication with customer and service delivery.

As a generic and universally-applicable instrument, SERVQUAL can also be administered on a repeated, regular basis and used for comparative benchmarking purposes. To appreciate more fully the benefits of using SERVQUAL, surveys should be conducted every year, for the following reasons: to allow yearly comparisons; to determine how service improvements have affected customers' perceptions and expectations of the service over time; and to determine the effectiveness of service development and improvement initiatives in targeted dimensions (Parasuraman et al, 1988).

The GAPS model is as well-known as the service quality model and goes hand in hand with the SERVQUAL model; it was also developed by Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry in 1985. The authors proposed a conceptual model which highlights the requirements for high service quality. The model suggests that customer's perception of service quality depends on four gaps that can exist in the organization. Zeithaml, Bitner, & Gremler (2009) claim that the GAPS model is a model that gives an integrated view of the customer-organization relationship. Customers tend to compare their service experience with what they expected from the service. When the experience and expectations do not match there appears a gap. In the center of the GAPS model is the customer gap. The customer gap is defined as the difference between the customer expectations of the service and the perceived service.

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