Paula Mäki-Lohiluoma

Pasi Hellsten

Samuli Pekkola

IS Acquisition Characteristics in the Public Sector

Introduction

Public sector organizations aim to acquire the best possible information systems (IS) and, at the same time, comply with public procurement regulations [START_REF] Moe | Limits of public procurement: information systems acquisition[END_REF]. Evidently, this task is not easy [START_REF] Moe | Challenges in information systems procurement in the public sector[END_REF] as the success rate remains low [START_REF] Goldfinch | Pessimism, computer failure, and information systems development in the public sector[END_REF]. This lack of success has made the public procurement of IS, its challenges, and different features an increasingly popular research topic [START_REF] Alanne | Three Positives Make One Negative: Public Sector IS Procurement[END_REF][START_REF] Moe | Research on Public Procurement of Information Systems: The Need for a Process Approach[END_REF][START_REF] Pan | Information systems procurement process risk and control: Insights from a public sector organization[END_REF].

These failures are often associated with the project's size [START_REF] Goldfinch | Pessimism, computer failure, and information systems development in the public sector[END_REF], policies, and legislation [START_REF] Moe | Research on Public Procurement of Information Systems: The Need for a Process Approach[END_REF], in addition to common reasons for failed IS projects [START_REF] Gauld | Public sector information system project failures: Lessons from a New Zealand hospital organization[END_REF]. However, these reasons are usually reported as project specific. Therefore, their applicability or broader understanding is debatable. A generic list of IS acquisition characteristics would provide better understanding and, thus, explain why some acquisitions fail and others succeed. This need and potential motivate our research.

Moe [START_REF] Moe | Research on Public Procurement of Information Systems: The Need for a Process Approach[END_REF] argued that the lack of know-how in the acquisition process hinders to successful IS acquisition. This lack of expertise has several causes and consequences. For example, the vendor might not be aware of what the customer or user really wants and/or needs while the user may mistrust the vendor as the company is offering strange features and solutions [START_REF] Alanne | Three Positives Make One Negative: Public Sector IS Procurement[END_REF]. Incompetent, inexperienced, and careless preparation and construction of the requirements are likely to result inauspicious tendering and procurement [START_REF] Johansson | Requirement Specification in Government IT Procurement[END_REF].

However, studies on the different characteristics of public IS procurement and their influence on acquisition projects are rare. This lack of research emphasizes two research needs: acquisition characteristics and their impacts. In this paper, we focus on the former. We seek answers to the question, "What are the key characteristics of a public sector IS acquisition?" To construct a taxonomy for public sector IS acquisition, we explore four public sector IS acquisition cases and classify their characteristics.

The paper is organized as follows: Section 2 provides the theoretical background. The following section introduces the research settings and methods. Then we briefly present our findings. The discussion section summarizes the results, and the conclusion places the paper in a broader context. Public procurement refers to the process of acquiring goods or services for a government or public organization through buying or purchasing [START_REF] Hommen | Public procurement and innovation: towards a taxonomy[END_REF]. The procurement process can be divided into five phases: specifying the requirements, tendering, selecting the vendor, contracting, and implementing and completing the process [START_REF] Moe | Research on Public Procurement of Information Systems: The Need for a Process Approach[END_REF]. An important difference between public and private sector organizations is the question of ownership. Individuals in a society 'own' public organizations while private businesses are owned by a limited number of shareholders or entrepreneurs [START_REF] Boyne | Public and private management: what's the difference?[END_REF]. Furthermore, the funding for public acquisitions is based mainly on taxation. In addition, in the public sector there are fewer market-related disturbances than in the private sector [START_REF] Flak | Stakeholder governance: Adapting stakeholder theory to e-government[END_REF]. The control mechanisms for the public sector are imposed by political factors and specific legislation instead of only economic factors. However, public sector organizations rarely have direct competition offering the same services [START_REF] Boyne | Public and private management: what's the difference?[END_REF]. These factors lay the foundation for the characteristics of all public sector organizations, but the way the characteristics occur in IS acquisitions is rarely studied.

Procuring IS differs significantly from more standardized goods or services [START_REF] Moe | Challenges in information systems procurement in the public sector[END_REF]. The actual need may sometimes be challenging to recognize or articulate. The alternative solutions for needs may not always be comparable without careful analysis and operationalization. This issue applies to assessing different options and their significances [START_REF] Alanne | Three Positives Make One Negative: Public Sector IS Procurement[END_REF].

A standardized, off-the-shelf information system seldom fulfills the needs of any organization without target-specific configurations. This also applies in the public sector. Therefore, fulfilling an organization's needs require customization. This often leads to outsourcing the development. As public sector organizations tend to decrease their IS departments, intensive cooperation and communication with external stakeholders are emphasized; outside vendors are seldom sufficiently familiar with the context and the operations [START_REF] Alanne | Riding for a fall in outsourced ISD: Knowledge transfer challenges between the onshore vendor and the offshored unit[END_REF]. This also applies to internal parties. An IT department in a public sector organization rarely knows or understands the use context of social services, for example. This means that when decisions about the requirement specifications and the scope must be made, the appropriate content may remain vague [START_REF] Saarinen | Procurement strategies for information systems[END_REF].

The procurement process itself, with its legislative restrictions and payment model and standard government contracts has several obstructions and limitations. If, for example, the call for tenders is poorly prepared, it will narrow the vendors' willingness to participate in the tendering process and to engage in the project. This will limit competition and provide fewer alternatives for the customer organization. To put it in other words, this will hinder the organization from getting the best solution or price [START_REF] Moe | Limits of public procurement: information systems acquisition[END_REF], [START_REF] Doshi | The new OGC guidance: The future roadmap for government IT procurement[END_REF].

Another relevant stream of literature is IT investments. Xue at al. [START_REF] Xue | Information technology governance in information technology investment decision processes: The impact of investment characteristics, external environment, and internal context[END_REF] argued that IT investments are influenced by the characteristics of the investment (scope, requirements), the external environment (competitive pressures, institutional forces, external resources), and the internal context (centralization, the IT unit's power). Premkumar and King [START_REF] Premkumar | Organizational characteristics and information systems planning: An empirical study[END_REF] similarly emphasized organizational size, industry, planning time horizon, resources, and organizational capabilities and resources. Jones and Hughes [START_REF] Jones | Understanding IS evaluation as a complex social process: a case study of a UK local authority[END_REF] stated that the size of the IS investment has an impact on the evaluation and success of the investment. The IT investment literature thus emphasizes the role of generic characteristics in investments. However, the literature does not accentuate or differentiate the characteristics in the public sector context.

All this indicates that several characteristics frame the acquisition. However, a comprehensive list is not available, and some characteristics may actually be derived from other features. In other words, the vagueness in the requirement specification phase may originate from the organizational structures, culture, and system characteristics. Consequently, the literature, even when combined, does not comprehensively describe IS acquisition characteristics, as the research premises are derived from various perspectives and approaches in individual studies.

Research Setting

Research Methods

This study follows a qualitative collective case study [START_REF] Stake | Multiple case study analysis[END_REF] approach in which the cases might "be similar or dissimilar, redundancy and variety [are] each important. They are chosen because it is believed that understanding them will lead to better understanding, perhaps better theorizing, about a still larger collection of cases" [19, p. 437]. Four cases were selected according to their type (public sector IS acquisition) and appropriate project phase (the acquisition activities had ended and the system implementation had either just been completed or was ongoing). Two cases appeared to be successful IS acquisitions while two cases faced major problems. The unit of analysis is a case.

The data was collected by interviewing every key person in each project in a semistructured interview. The list of cases and interviewees is presented in Table 1. The interviewees were chosen by snowball sampling [20, pp. 816-817]. The first interviewee was selected by our contact, after which we deliberately asked the interviewees about other stakeholders to interview later. The interviews, approximately an hour each, were conducted in spring 2014 face-to-face at the interviewees' premises. The interviews followed the thematic open interview approach in which a general frame was modified according to the interviewees' state and status. We wanted to gain an in-depth understanding of how the project proceeded and its details.

The cases were analyzed by utilizing grounded theory [START_REF] Corbin | Grounded theory research: Procedures, canons, and evaluative criteria[END_REF] as the coding method. This means that the data was coded several times. In this paper, we do not intend to develop a theory, as is often the case with grounded theory [START_REF] Urquhart | Grounded theory for qualitative research: A practical guide[END_REF]. Instead, we investigate a collection of open and axial codes as characteristics of IS acquisition. This means that two authors analyzed the data by first identifying distinct characteristics of each case (open coding) and then revised the codes several times until they were harmonized. Finally, similar codes were grouped into larger groups and labeled with

The Cases

The four public sector IS acquisition cases are briefly described in Table 1.

The Case A acquisition was initiated by one hospital district, but the acquisition was broadened to cover multiple hospital districts in the end. The interviewees were selected from the initial hospital district. The Case B acquisition had strong political supervision as the acquisition was initiated by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. The ministry stated that all public dental care systems had to be connected to the national database. This project was coordinated by the National Institute for Health and Welfare that launched a call for piloting projects. The case municipality applied for the pilot project and received guidance and funding from the institute. The Case C acquisition was complex with multiple components. The acquisition encountered severe challenges when the losing vendors sued the municipality in market court. The market court, to which disputed public sector case parties may appeal, ruled the tendering process had been unlawful, derived from the ambiguous terms used in the requirement specification. Case D was the least problematic acquisition, as the income support division had just purchased a complete IS. Cases A and C had to be tendered by legislation, while Cases B and D were not tendered.

Empirical Findings

The data analysis depicted 19 recurring characteristics in the public sector IS acquisitions. These characteristics were present in all cases, although, because of space limitations, only an example from one case illustrates each characteristic. Assuming Uniformity. In all cases, the stakeholders assumed that equivalent services, provided by public sector organizations, would have identical processes elsewhere. It was thus assumed that an IS utilized in one public sector organization could be easily copied and replicated elsewhere. For example, in Case A, the project manager stated, "As a whole, the processes are relatively similar." The chief information officer (CIO) stated, "In the beginning, we agreed on conducting a specification project, in which we describe the process, general requirements, and architecture to a maternity care system. We stated that there are ten hospital districts; it would be good to get them all involved in this." As the project included two isolated departments, with separate IS, inside the hospital districts, the chief medical officer stated, "The idea was to deliberately achieve non-institutional and specialized healthcare under the same model." These assumptions created challenges for the vendor, as the municipalities participating in the joint acquisition had diverse needs. "We cannot start always carrying out the requests. He says so. We do it. The next one says no, we want it in this way" (Case A, Product Manager). Creating a Consortium. In Case A, the CIO and the chief medical officer saw the opportunity to create a consortium with multiple hospital districts to leverage their bargaining power with the vendor. "Our aim was a joint acquisition with economies of scale. We wanted to get the vendor to bend for better conditions and thus gain work of better quality" (Case A, CIO). "The idea was that we would have had a national project, and we would have been big enough a counter-power to these companies in negotiation positions" (Case A, Chief Medical Officer). Thus, the acquisition was a joint acquisition for multiple hospital districts.

In other cases, the acquisitions were not jointly conducted, but they had features of similar consortium acquisitions. For example, in Case D, the IS was developed by the customer group with members from multiple municipalities using the same system. "They had a working group, which met every now and then. Municipalities presented requests to the vendor and disclosed in what direction they are moving" (Case D, Division Director). IS Acquisition Complexity. Single IS acquisitions are connected to multiple divisions or even municipalities. In Case A, the new IS covered two maternity wards' departments in multiple hospital districts. The bases, needs, and processes differed in the municipalities. "Every hospital district could, in their own time, in their own schedule, take the tendered system into use" (the CIO). The diversity between the clients increases the complexity of the IS. Divided Decision Making. In Case A, in which the acquisition was carried out by a consortium, decision making was divided among multiple hospital districts. "It actually ended so that because every district had an equal decision-maker, we did not achieve a common mindset" (Case A, CIO). Steering and Working Groups. Every case had multiple stakeholder groups: steering and planning groups and project groups. In addition, Case C had working groups for different specialties, e.g., security and telecommunication. In Case B, there were isolated user, steering, project, and testing groups. This created problems although the groups made decisions, gave statements, and provided information. The project manager (Case B) stated, "I do not know who makes the final decision about the acquisition; there has to be probably a kind of steering group which has made the decision." Initial Idea Derived from Operations. In three cases, the acquisition idea was initiated by a non-IT employee. "The need arises always from the substance, I mean from the labor and delivery room, child health center, and hospital wards" (Case A, Product Manager). Idea Is Carried Out by IT Department. In all cases, IT departments conveyed the idea forward. "Business units usually tell their own IT departments their needs because budgeting is their responsibility. They always have the budget" (Case A, Product Manager). The IT department is then assumed to gain approval for the acquisitions. "A proposal was written to IT department […], and then [they] launched the acquisition as they should" (Case C, Project Manager). Political Forces. In Case B, the initial idea was not launched by the business unit but by a ministry. The acquisition topic was going to be mandatory sooner or later. "This IS acquisition has been like 'implement it or else..'" (Case B, Project Coordinator). Political forces thus strongly influenced the case. Similarly, in Case D, legislation and the municipality's council directed the acquisition. In the public sector, political aspects and agendas affect decision making as the voices of various task forces and teams must be heard before decisions about specific points are made. Political forces were thus evident. Detailed Requirement Specification. In Cases B and D, the requirements were not specified by the organizations doing the acquisition. Instead, the requirements were either steered by national requirements (Case B) or set by a superficially configured product (Case D). Legislation required no tendering. In Case A, the hospital district employed a commonly and publicly owned ICT provider to lead and coordinate the IS acquisition. In addition, the provider employed a consultant to help specify the requirements: "We actually had multiple user groups: doctors, midwives, noninstitutional side, nurses, secretaries, everyone defining how this system should be used. All of this was written down, and then we negotiated multiple times and refined the specification" (Case A, Chief Medical Officer). The time-consuming phase resulted in the requirement specification being partly indefinite and partly a detailed tradeoff of diverse needs. Case C was similar as legislation necessitated formal tendering. Detailed and thorough requirement specification steered the tendering process and vendor selection. Specifying the requirements was equally time-consuming. Burden of Existing Systems. In all cases, the organizational IS had a long history. In Cases A, B, and D, the acquisition was an update or an add-on to existing systems. In Case C, the system was meant to be built from the scratch, although the organization had a similar system. In all cases, the interfaces with existing systems caused significant problems. "We don't practically have any other options than [vendor's name], because we use their systems" (Case D, Division's Director). Consequently, existing legacy systems were burdens. Only a Few Potential Vendors in the Market. Existing systems and closed interfaces led to situations in which the organization had only a few potential vendors or only one in Cases B and D. In addition, the size of the acquisitions in Cases A and C reduced the number of potential vendors. In contrast, the smaller acquisitions in Cases B and D were updates and add-ons, which made the current vendor an obvious candidate. Although the interfaces did not bind the client to the vendor, the customers relied on a well-known vendor if tendering was not required, as in Case B. "Our experts have been strongly participating in [existing patient system] with [vendor's name], and we know it inside out, its pros and cons. We know how to use it, and we have stated that it is workable. It is possible that we didn't want to take the risk to end up in something worse" (Case B, Project Coordinator). Seeking Preliminary Information. All acquisition organizations sought information before the acquisition. In Case D, a business unit representative was assigned to explore customer needs. "His task was to carry out a customer survey and explore customers' willingness patronize electronically and their technical premises, possible support needs" (Case D, Division's Director). In Case C, the "IT department purchased a preliminary report, and in the report, they collected the current situation of home care. They had various workshops and interviews for different user groups" (Project Manager). The acquisition organization also requested information from possible vendors about technical solutions to specify the requirements. Mapping Processes. In all cases, the processes that would be connected to the upcoming IS were mapped and described. The mindset was to get a system to support the processes, not vice versa. "I understand that we have to change the age-old healthcare processes and bend them to certain limit according to the IS, but we have some core processes, which we won't bend; the IS has to bend" (Case A, Chief Medical Officer). This task was executed internally, although different parties participated.

Lack of Resources in the IT Department.

A person from the IT department acted as the project manager or coordinator in every acquisition. However, the role was taken on in addition to other projects and tasks. "I acted as the project manager in addition to my own job" (Case D, Project Manager). The IT department and project sizes and competencies varied. "We have, in the IT department, one technical person, who is me, and then I have four people, nurses and social workers, on a team" (Case A, CIO). The lack of resources became visible to other parties. Innovation Is Derived from Individuals. The initial ideas were launched or highlighted by individuals. For example, in Case A: "As we know, all good ideas derive from a bar encounter. So did this, so we had many years ago, a hospital's chief medical officer's meeting, and later in the evening, we sat with the boys and a couple of ladies at the bar. We stated that we had a common factor, and it is this IS. We noted that it was reaching its end, and we needed a new one" (Chief Medical Officer). Individuals' personal formal and informal contributions seem to be remarkable factors in hatching and launching ideas. Only in Case B was the idea launched and driven by political bodies. However, there was an individual at the function who took the idea forward. Competency. Acquisition competence was distributed to multiple organizations and departments. This is displayed vividly in Case C: "Home care people do the practical specifications. Then the specifications go to the IT department, because the users know only how to say 'I don't want the hatch to open,' so the IT department knows how to define it in requirement form-and then we have dialogue about all the requirements. We have a work distribution so that we [the procurement department] provide after that all the economic conditions for the tendering" (Case C, Procurement Specialist). Dedicated Procurement Organization. Cases A and C had a dedicated procurement organization for the tendering phase. In Case A, the organization was an external information and communications technology (ICT) provider and in Case C an internal procurement organization. Sometimes, this style caused problems as the business units did not understand tendering, and the procurement organization did not understand the business: "It was outside my expertise. I did the requirements. The tendering part did not interest me" (Case A, Chief Medical Officer). The procurement specialist (Case C) stated, "We do not know diddly-squat about home care." IT Department Owns the Contract. The IT department always owned the contracts. It even seemed obvious. Other units did not seem to be interested in the contracts or were not allowed to participate in the contract phase. "Of course, the responsibility for the contracts is in the IT department" (Case C, Project Manager). Distant Funding. Funding the acquisitions was not a question in the cases. Interviewees mentioned that the acquisition was budgeted for and approved by different steering groups. The main actors did not seem to worry about the funding, especially in the business units. "The costs were never actually a problem; I think they were no driver here. We're talking about tens of thousands of euros. When I think about the hospital's expenses, it equals a few hip surgeries" (Case A, Chief Medical Officer). The IT departments negotiated the prices although the funding was not discussed.

Our findings indicate that all public sector organizations sought to collaborate as bigger units in the beginning of the IS acquisition [START_REF] Johnson | A comparison of purchasing's organizational roles and responsibilities in the public and private sector[END_REF]. However, the cases demonstrate that the advantages of volume did not materialize; instead, the opposite occurred as the complexity of the acquisition increased [START_REF] Zollo | Deliberate learning in corporate acquisitions: postacquisition strategies and integration capability in U.S. bank mergers[END_REF]. Volume created problems in Case A. For example, they received only three bids from the major actors in the national ICT field. This reduced the number of potential solutions significantly. In addition, although the municipalities provided seemingly similar services, the organizations and processes differed. Here, joint acquisition increased complexity as diverse needs, processes, and actors had to be considered. This complexity increased the number of non-decision-making groups whose opinions and statements were still valued, which caused time delays and overlap in conferring with the various parties. Then, as decision making was distributed among multiple equal parties, no one was in charge. Therefore, larger consortia seem to create more problems instead of providing the advantages of volume.

The IS acquisitions were initiated by business units and their senior managers. Then the idea was presented to the internal IT department. This is a bottom-up approach. Although in Case B the idea originated from political parties (the top-down approach), it was opportunistically adopted by the business unit and the IT department. Together, they presented the proposal to several steering groups for support and funding. The cases indicate that no matter where the idea for the acquisition originated, the role of individuals is emphasized.

Planning the acquisition depends on the need for tendering. In the cases in which tendering was required, the requirement specifications were done carefully: The processes were mapped and described in detail. In addition, different actors participated in specifying the requirements. However, although the requirements were accurate from the individual actors' viewpoints, no one considered the big picture (c.f. [START_REF] Alanne | Three Positives Make One Negative: Public Sector IS Procurement[END_REF]). In cases where tendering was not required, the planning phase was not clear. The customer did not explore alternative vendors but simply acquired the system from a wellknown vendor with which the customer had an existing relationship. Thus, the need to tender forced the acquisition organization to explore different solutions, map their processes, and commit the business personnel to create accurate requirement specifications.

The acquisition parties included the business unit, the IT department, and, in some cases, a separate procurement organization. An external procurement consultant is an ICT acquisition specialist while an internal consultant is in charge of all kinds of acquisitions. Thus, the parties' competences vary. In some cases, the acquisition was carried out by only the business unit and the IT department which had appropriate experience and competence. Then no tendering was required. The IT department took an active role, usually with an assigned technical project manager or coordinator. However, the employee often had multiple concurrent projects, lessening his or her commitment and participation. Sometimes, a business unit representative was also assigned to the project to provide an operational perspective. Although the participants might have the necessary knowledge and competence, they were divided into multiple units and working groups, and each group represented its own field. This makes information sharing difficult as understanding others and their specialties is not supported [START_REF] Alanne | Three Positives Make One Negative: Public Sector IS Procurement[END_REF]. No one understands the big picture. Table 3 groups the characteristics of public sector IS acquisitions into six groups.

Although tendering was often carried out by a separate procurement organization, the business unit and the IT department evaluated the bids and selected the vendor. After the vendor was selected, the procurement organization withdrew from contracting and transferred the responsibility to the IT department. The lengthy contracting phase, including the negotiation of prices and conditions as the most challenging aspects, was carried out by the IT department. Surprisingly, no one worried about funding.

Conclusion

We have provided a list of public sector IS acquisition characteristics. Our analysis indicated 18 common characteristics: assuming the uniformity of municipalities and divisions, creating a consortium, IS acquisition complexity, divided decision making, steering and working groups, initial idea derived from operations, idea is carried out by the IT department, political forces, detailed requirement specification, locking in a vendor, seeking preliminary information, mapping processes, lack of resources in the IT department, innovation is derived from individuals, competency, isolated procurement organization, the IT department owns the contract, and distant funding. These Only a few possible vendors in the market The burden of existing systems characteristics were categorized into six groups: size, dispersed groups, comprehensive preparation, IT unit's central role, driving forces, and market/locking in a vendor. Size seemed especially challenging. Joint tendered acquisitions seem to displace smaller vendors. This contradicts Moe's [START_REF] Moe | Research on Public Procurement of Information Systems: The Need for a Process Approach[END_REF] need for the technologically best solutions. As tendering is costly and time-consuming, the public sector pays a higher price for the acquisition and then tenders it again. This is not necessarily in line with the need for the most economical alternative. All this reduces the public sector's bargaining power and even their know-how, allowing the major vendors to dominate the tendering and contracting phases. As non-tendered acquisitions are often made with a well-known vendor, the public sector organizations get locked in to vendors, increasing their monopoly.

Our findings provide an explanation of the IS acquisition characteristics in the public sector. This list helps researchers and practitioners understand the context and challenges. These characteristics also help organizations anticipate different emerging features in IS acquisitions. However, these characteristics should be further studied as we did not focus on influences and impacts.

One limitation is that the country in which the study took place is largely dominated by two to four vendors. Therefore, smaller, sometimes more innovative, vendors are often excluded from tendering. This exclusion may have implications for various characteristics. In addition, the selection of the cases may have caused limitations. The number of cases was small (4), and they are mainly in the health and social security sector. Whether the findings are generalizable to other areas of societal infrastructure, such as building and housing, or other acquisitions, remains debatable, and necessitates further research.

Table 1 .

 1 Descriptions of the cases

		Case A	Case B	Case C	Case D
	Acquisition	Maternity Ward	Municipal	Municipal	Municipal
	organization	in a Hospital	Dental Care	Social Welfare	Social Services,
		District		Sector, Home	Income Support
				Care Unit	Division
	Participating	10 Hospital	Ministry, Na-	Municipal IT	Municipal IT
	parties	districts' materni-	tional Institute	department,	department,
		ty wards and IT	for Health and	Procurement	Income Support
		departments,	Welfare, IT	department	Division
		Commonly	department,
		owned ICT Pro-	Dental Care
		vider, third-party
		Consultant
	Acquisition	New maternity	New dental	Two systems:	Vendor's of-
	object	care IS to cover	patient system	one including	fered electronic
		non-institutional	including con-	door opening	application
		and specialized	nection to a	application and	handling com-
		healthcare	national data-	mobile devices	ponent of an
			base as a na-	and the other	existing system
			tional pilot	for organizing
			project	and optimizing
				work
	Number of	5	5	10	4
	interviews
	Interviewees	Hospital dis-	Dental Care:	Home Care	Income sup-
	according to	trict: CIO, Chief	Chief Dental	Unit: Project	port division:
	organization	Medical Officer	Officer	Manager, Su-	Division's
		ICT provider:	IT department:	pervisor, Super-	Director, Supe-
		Project Manager	Project Coordi-	visor, Care	rior
		Vendor: Product	nator	person, Labor	IT department:
		Manager	The National	Organizer	Project Manag-
		Salesperson	Institute for	IT department:	er
			Health and	Agreement	ICT Provider:
			Welfare: Su-	Specialist,	Person in
			pervisor	Project Coordi-	Charge
			Vendor: Prod-	nator
			uct Manager,	Social Welfare
			Salesperson	Sector: Process
				Manager
				Vendor: Project
				Manager

Table 3 .

 3 Grouping of characteristics

	Grouping	Characteristics
	Size	Assuming uniformity
		Creating a consortium
		IS acquisition complexity
		Divided decision making
		Steering and working groups
	Dispersed groups
		Isolated procurement organization
		Competency
		Distant funding
	Comprehensive preparation	Detailed requirement specification
		Seeking preliminary information
		Mapping processes
	IT department's central role	Idea is promoted by the IT department
		Lack of resources in the IT department
		IT department owns the contract
	Driving forces	Political forces
		Project is carried out by individuals
		Initial idea is derived from operations
	Market/Locking in a vendor


Juha Lemmetti
email: juha.lemmetti@iki.fi

Construction of Enterprise Architecture in Discourses Within the Public Sector

Keywords: Enterprise Architecture, public sector, efficiency, discourse analysis, CDA

Enterprise Architecture (EA) has been employed in the public sector to improve efficiency and interoperability of information systems. Despite their daily use in the public sector, the concepts of Enterprise Architecture and efficiency are ambiguous and lack commonly accepted definitions. The benefits and outcomes of using EA in the public sector have been studied with mixed results. This study examined the use of EA in the Finnish basic education system using critical discourse analysis (CDA). The research revealed how the role and rationale of EA is constructed in the speech of public sector officials. Three orders of discourse, each having its own views on EA, were found. While there were commonly accepted functions for EA, there were also areas where the concepts were not mutually understood or accepted.

Introduction

Improving public sector efficiency has attracted an enormous amount of management attention in western economies [START_REF] Pollitt | A Comparative Analysis-New Public Management, Governance, and the Neo-Weberian State[END_REF], especially since the introduction of New Public Management (NPM) [START_REF] Hood | The "New Public Management" in the 1980s: Variations on a Theme[END_REF]. NPM demands the public sector to operate in a more 'business-like' manner, stressing performance, reduction of costs, efficiency and audits [START_REF] Diefenbach | New Public Management in Public Sector Organizations: The Dark Sides of Managerialistic 'Enlightenment[END_REF]. While the term efficiency is widely used, it is often unclear what it means in the context of the public sector [START_REF] Pollitt | A Comparative Analysis-New Public Management, Governance, and the Neo-Weberian State[END_REF].

Regardless of whether a public sector official advocates NPM [START_REF] Diefenbach | New Public Management in Public Sector Organizations: The Dark Sides of Managerialistic 'Enlightenment[END_REF], the digitalization of services and the use of interoperable information systems reduces the need for workforce by automating tasks and creating new, easier means of service delivery [START_REF] West | E-Government and the Transformation of Service Delivery and Citizen Attitudes[END_REF]. However, public sector information systems have experienced problems with issues such as interoperability, information silos and systems that are not user friendly.

Enterprise Architecture (EA) has been seen as a promising tool for improving information systems interoperability, standardization and business-IT alignment in the rapidly changing world of public administration [START_REF] Gregor | Enterprise Architectures: Enablers of Business Strategy and IS/IT Alignment in Government[END_REF], [START_REF] Peristera | Towards an Enterprise Architecture for Public Administration Using a Top-Down Approach[END_REF]. However, experiences in using EA in the public sector are mixed [START_REF] Gaver | Why Doesn't the Federal Enterprise Architecture Work[END_REF], [START_REF] Hjort-Madsen | Institutional Patters of Enterprise Architecture Adoption in Government[END_REF], [START_REF] Larsson | Ambiguities in the Early Stages of Public Sector Enterprise Architecture Implementation: Outlining Complexities of Interoperability[END_REF].

EA was employed to improve interoperability of information systems and to help coordinate and develop new information systems and services for the Finnish public sector. The use of EA and the Finnish National Enterprise Architecture framework have been mandatory in the Finnish public sector since 2011. The performance audit done in 2015 revealed that EA work has 'not been integrated into existing management and planning processes and structures'. 1As EA generally has not fulfilled its expectations nationwide, a study was conducted to determine the reasons and rationale for using or not using EA in daily public sector activities. A critical research approach [START_REF] Simon | An Exploration of Enterprise Architecture Research[END_REF] using Fairclough's critical discourse analysis (CDA) [START_REF] Fairclough | Analysing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research[END_REF] was chosen to gain insight into the use of EA in the public sector. As EA is meant to be used nationwide [START_REF] Janssen | Government Architecture: Concepts, Use and Impact[END_REF], [START_REF] Peristera | Towards an Enterprise Architecture for Public Administration Using a Top-Down Approach[END_REF], a series of interviews was conducted vertically in the Finnish public administration, from the ministry level to the municipal level. The case organization selected for the research was the Finnish basic education system. While Fairclough's view on CDA does not require a research question-the starting point should be a social problem-the following question was posed to research data: 'How are the terms Enterprise Architecture and efficiency constructed and linked in the speech of public sector officials?'

Background

Efficiency in the public sector

The terms efficiency, productivity and effectiveness are often used interchangeably in political discourse. Pollitt and Bouckaert define efficiency as the ratio of output to input, and effectiveness as the ratio of outcomes to output: 'Efficiency increase (or productivity gain) is usually defined as an improvement in the ratio of outputs to inputs.' [START_REF] Pollitt | A Comparative Analysis-New Public Management, Governance, and the Neo-Weberian State[END_REF].

Improving efficiency has attracted an enormous amount of management attention in western countries. However, different ways of measuring performance and efficiency are met with 'conceptual mess' [START_REF] Dunleavy | New Public Management Is Dead-Long Live Digital-Era Governance[END_REF], [START_REF] Pollitt | A Comparative Analysis-New Public Management, Governance, and the Neo-Weberian State[END_REF], [START_REF] Van De Walle | The State of the World's Bureaucracies[END_REF]. Sometimes the output and input are mixed, and sometimes the concepts are too vague to be used consistently across the public sector (see [START_REF] Van De Walle | The State of the World's Bureaucracies[END_REF]).

With the education sector, the situation is, if possible, even worse. While it would be possible to measure the ratio of outputs to inputs-i.e., the ratio of pupils educated per a given amount of money-such measurement quickly proves itself inadequate. More important than the number of pupils is what they learn and how their education will help them later in life. Thus, the emphasis is on the outcomes of the education, not the outputs. With education, there also exist attribution problems [START_REF] Pollitt | A Comparative Analysis-New Public Management, Governance, and the Neo-Weberian State[END_REF]-how the effect of the school can be extracted, as research has shown that outcomes depend on the neighborhood [START_REF] Aaronson | Using Sibling Data to Estimate the Impact of Neighborhoods on Children's Educational Outcomes[END_REF] and parental involvement [START_REF] Flouri | Early Father's and Mother's Involvement and Child's Later Educational Outcomes[END_REF], just to name a few.

Regardless of the difficulties on measuring-or even defining-efficiency, the improvement of productivity and efficiency in the public sector is a popular topic in political speeches and documents. The improvement of efficiency can be seen in Finnish Government Programmes since the 1990s. In the Government Programme of the current Finnish government (Sipilä I), digitalization is named as a way to improve the efficiency of the public sector.

Enterprise Architecture

Research on EA still lacks a common definition and common terminology [START_REF] Janssen | Government Architecture: Concepts, Use and Impact[END_REF], [START_REF] Simon | An Exploration of Enterprise Architecture Research[END_REF]. It can be viewed as an 'integrated representation of the business and information technology in past, current and future states' [START_REF] Simon | An Exploration of Enterprise Architecture Research[END_REF] or a 'coherent whole of principles, methods, and models that are used in design and realization of enterprise's organizational structure, business processes, information systems, and infrastructure' [START_REF] Land | Enterprise Architecture-Creating Value by Informed Governance[END_REF]. Several definitions present EA as linking business and IT, defining the key principles of organization while, on the other hand, acting as a normative restriction of design freedom [START_REF] Lankhorst | Enterprise Architecture at Work[END_REF].

Use of EA in the public sector has been researched widely [START_REF] Tamm | How Does Enterprise Architecture Add Value to Organisations[END_REF], and it has been seen to improve the interoperability of Information Systems (IS) and the efficiency of operations [START_REF] Gregor | Enterprise Architectures: Enablers of Business Strategy and IS/IT Alignment in Government[END_REF], [START_REF] Hjort-Madsen | Enterprise Architecture Implementation and Management: A Case Study on Interoperability[END_REF], [START_REF] Janssen | Government Architecture: Concepts, Use and Impact[END_REF], or even reduce failure in development projects [START_REF] Janssen | Can Enterprise Architectures Reduce Failure in Development Projects? In[END_REF]. EA is being used in many roles and for many purposes [START_REF] Niemi | Using Enterprise Architecture Artefacts in an Organisation[END_REF].

There have been attempts to clarify the concept of EA in the context of public administration. Janssen et al. conceptualized Government Architecture (GA), saying that 'GA consists of frameworks, principles, guidelines and standards to guide design projects and deal with complexity. These elements are used to direct and guide initiatives occurring at all levels of government.' [START_REF] Janssen | Government Architecture: Concepts, Use and Impact[END_REF]. Gregor et al. saw Enterprise Architecture as a tool for 'business' and IS/IT alignment within organizational units [START_REF] Gregor | Enterprise Architectures: Enablers of Business Strategy and IS/IT Alignment in Government[END_REF]. Larsson researched a case involving multiple organizations within the Swedish healthcare sector [START_REF] Larsson | Ambiguities in the Early Stages of Public Sector Enterprise Architecture Implementation: Outlining Complexities of Interoperability[END_REF]. The case studies have shown that there are benefits to be gained through use of EA, but also that many ambiguities, problems and open questions exist [START_REF] Gregor | Enterprise Architectures: Enablers of Business Strategy and IS/IT Alignment in Government[END_REF], [START_REF] Hjort-Madsen | Enterprise Architecture Implementation and Management: A Case Study on Interoperability[END_REF][START_REF] Hjort-Madsen | Institutional Patters of Enterprise Architecture Adoption in Government[END_REF], [START_REF] Larsson | Ambiguities in the Early Stages of Public Sector Enterprise Architecture Implementation: Outlining Complexities of Interoperability[END_REF][START_REF] Lemmetti | Understanding Enterprise Architecture: Perceptions by the Finnish Public Sector[END_REF], [START_REF] Van De Walle | The State of the World's Bureaucracies[END_REF].

Critical Discourse Analysis

A critical approach is not common in information systems research [START_REF] Myers | A Set of Principles for Conducting Critical Research in Information Systems[END_REF], [START_REF] Richardson | The Mysterious Case of the Missing Paradigm: A Review of Critical Information Systems Research 1991-2001[END_REF], although it is regarded as a third alternative to positivistic and interpretive research [START_REF] Orlikowski | Studying Information Technology in Organizations: Research Approaches and Assumptions[END_REF]. What differentiates a critical approach from an interpretive approach is its focus on 'critiquing existing social systems and revealing any contradictions and conflicts that may inhere within their structures ' [ibid.]. Critical discourse analysis (CDA) studies texts-written or spoken-as social events that are governed by underlying social structures. These social structures are in constant dialogue with social events-on one hand, the structures govern the ways the events may take place, and on the other hand, the events are constantly reiterating and recreating social structures. [START_REF] Fairclough | Analysing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research[END_REF] CDA has been used in IS research, e.g., [START_REF] Albert | Critical Discourse Analysis: Toward Theories in Social Media[END_REF], [START_REF] Hekkala | Omega-team is moving to another premise over my dead body[END_REF]. CDA methodology of Norman Fairclough was chosen because it stresses both the careful study of texts and linking them to their social context. The starting point of the research is 'social problem which has semiotic aspect' [START_REF] Fairclough | Analysing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research[END_REF]. The difference between CDA methodology and interpretive linguistic research approaches and methodologies is that the actions and actual practices of the informants are not under study. Instead, the structures and truths governing the speech are the focal points of the research.

This research addresses two concepts-Enterprise Architecture and efficiencythat both lack a clear definition and are used ambiguously. In this research, these concepts are viewed as socially constructed, and the way in which they are rationalized and situated in the speech of public sector officials is examined. In terms of CDA, assumed background knowledge that governs the use of the concepts was sought. As an alternative to using only the interview texts as data, external sources were used to position the texts in their context.

3

Research Setting

Finnish Basic Education System

The structure of the Finnish public sector relevant to the basic education consists of two bodies-the state's central administration and local administration. 2 The highest central body in the hierarchy is the Ministry of Education and Culture. The Finnish National Board for Education operates under the Ministry's supervision. The local administration consists of 313 municipalities that are self-governing entities. Local self-government is based on the constitution of Finland. Thus, the central bodies have no direct authority over the municipalities. Their authority relies on the power to adopt acts that are decided by the Finnish Parliament, or give decrees and other binding instructions.

The Finnish basic education system consists of nine-year compulsory schooling that starts in the year when a child turns seven. Basic education is funded by municipalities, and 97% of the schools are public.

Basic education is regulated by the central administration. The most important guideline is the national core curriculum determined by the Finnish National Board of Education. 3 On the municipal level, Finnish basic education is one of the largest responsibilities of the municipalities, typically the biggest after social welfare and healthcare expenses. Therefore, the schools in Finland are part of the organization of the municipality in which they operate. Each municipality has some kind of organization for governing its schools. As the population of a municipality in Finland ranges from under 1,000 to over 600,000, municipalities have devised various ways to organize their basic education.

The Finnish basic education system has been widely regarded as an exemplary way of organizing public education [START_REF] Sahlberg | Education Policies for Raising Student Learning: The Finnish Approach[END_REF][START_REF] Simola | The Finnish Miracle of PISA: Historical and Sociological Remarks on Teaching and Teacher Education[END_REF]. Finland has been at the top of OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) rankings.

Enterprise Architecture in Finland

Enterprise Architecture was introduced to the Finnish public sector through the Act on Information Management Governance in Public Administration in 2011. Since then, all public organizations have been instructed to describe their operations according to the national EA framework, although it is not yet strictly mandatory [START_REF] Lemmetti | Understanding Enterprise Architecture: Perceptions by the Finnish Public Sector[END_REF].

Finland has created its own EA framework, called JHS-179. It is a simplified version of TOGAF. As suggested by [START_REF] Peristera | Towards an Enterprise Architecture for Public Administration Using a Top-Down Approach[END_REF], Finland has chosen a top-down approach for EA. While few national-level architectures exist to date, the design principles have been given and the responsible ministries have been named. A 2015 report of the National Audit Office of Finland states that 'The terminology used in the materials (of Finnish National Enterprise Architecture) is open to interpretation. The language used in the materials and the manner in which the information is presented are very difficult to understand and seem only to be intended for technical experts.'

The term National Enterprise Architecture (NEA) was chosen in this paper to refer to Enterprise Architecture in the Finnish Public sector, as mandated by the Act.

Research Data

The data used in this research comprised interviews conducted with public sector officials in touch with basic education. The officials had backgrounds in educative sciences, information and computer sciences, and in fields such as administrative sciences. A total of 12 interviews were conducted with officials in the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Finnish National Board of Education and two municipalities. The officials interviewed in the central administration were selected because of their knowledge of NEA in the basic education sector-typically, they were responsible for NEA in their sector or were participating in work on NEA. The officials at the municipal level were chosen so that their knowledge of both basic education and IT architecture were represented in the interviews.

The topic of the interview presented to the informants was "EA in the Finnish Public Sector." The letter inviting them to participate in the interview stated that the interview was not meant to be a measure of EA knowledge, a measure of EA maturity level, or a comparison to any given EA framework. No other background information about the research were given to the informants. The same letter was sent to all informants.

It was promised that the names and titles of the informants would be kept confidential. This was important in order to get the informants to speak freely about their impressions. The subjective estimate of the interviewer was that the interviews were open, and the informants gave their honest opinions about the state of EA work. In order to maintain the confidentiality of the interviews, the quotes used in this paper are anonymous.

Analytical Framework

In Fairclough's CDA methodology, discourse is defined as ways of representing [START_REF] Fairclough | Analysing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research[END_REF]. From the interviews, words and concepts that were used to describe the work related to EA were identified as well as results of such work and rationale given for such work. In addition to the transcribed and recorded interviews, the ways in which the text was connected to discourses in the media and in research literature were investigated.

Discourses are constantly evolving and are constantly in dialogue with other discourses. Recontextualization is the process of internalizing ideas and concepts from other discourses. Recontextualization is not merely a borrowing-the actors actively appropriate the new concepts, and this process may lead to unpredictable transformations and outcomes [START_REF] Fairclough | Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language[END_REF]. In the research, concepts and parts of text that were 'borrowed' from other sources were analyzed.

The ways in which the informants differentiated themselves from other parties in their speech were also analyzed in the texts. As each discourse offers a representation of the world, it also conveys direct or subtle ways to differentiate between the speaker and others, or 'us' and 'them.' Often in these cases, the speaker uses generalizationi.e., a single individual or single act is generalized to represent a group of people. While generalization is used to describe the properties of 'others,' it also highlights the speaker's views on the 'normal' and 'desired' properties or ways of working.

Thus, a three-dimensional framework was used in the analysis. For the parts of the interviews discussing Enterprise Architecture, the ways used to represent EA, concepts and items that were recontextualized, and words with which the informants differentiated their positions from others were studied.

Findings

Discourses Found in the Interviews

In Fairclough's CDA, discourse is a way of representing aspects of the world [START_REF] Fairclough | Analysing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research[END_REF]. The interviews described the use of Enterprise Architecture from multiple angles. The informants used different words, and all had various experiences with EA. When all three dimensions of the analysis framework were used, there were three groups of discourses that stood out from the data (see orders of discourse in [START_REF] Fairclough | Analysing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research[END_REF]). The groups found were not homogenous-within one group, there were multiple conflicting opinions and ways of describing EA. Still, within the group, the extracts from the interview revealed common beliefs, values and ways of legitimation. The orders are summarized in Table 1 and explained below.

The first such group of discourses was named the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) discourse. In this discourse, the use of EA is legitimated by the fact that there exists room for improvement in current ICT systems. EA is seen as a way to combine the needs of 'function' and 'operation' in ICT systems. The discourses carry the rational view used in engineering sciences-that EA is a way to achieve 'better' systems. The resulting architecture is a contract or a blueprint [START_REF] Smolander | Software Architectures: Blueprint, Literature, Language or Decision[END_REF]. One informant stated this as follows: 'We are missing the connection from architecture work to project management, which would bring the concreteness to this. Without it, it is just paper.' 4 The informant went on to describe how new projects should always be checked against EA descriptions. The second group was named the educational discourse. In this discourse, legitimacy comes from providing education to children. In the educational discourse, the role of EA was as a collaborative tool for education and IT professionals. The benefit of EA is that it increases mutual understanding: "We have been happy to have this holistic (shared) view, with people with backgrounds from systems, machines, function, leadership, and even customers." The term shared view was used in many interviews in one form or another. Whereas in the ICT discourse the EA descriptions were seen as 'complete' descriptions, the educational discourse saw this in another light: 'If we have new development (projects), we have to somehow decide which are regarded as pilot projects and which go to the EA process.' Thus, EA will not contain all ICTrelated development within the basic education sector, but only those projects that require cooperation from IT departments.

In the educational discourse, EA was linked to the concept of digitalization. The concept of digitalization has a broader meaning than, for example, in the Government Programme. Digitalization in educational discourse is seen as the general increase of digital appliances, digital systems, Internet and connectivity. It is not something that can be controlled-it is an emergent and contingent phenomenon that teachers have to cope with. When considered from this perspective, EA is a tool for gaining insight into and knowledge of the issues concerning the information systems used in education. EA is a way to communicate-to share needs and plans with the IT department.

The third discourse was named the administrative discourse. This discourse is linked to public administration and to the way public administration is constructed. EA is shown as a means of governance and steering. The resulting documents of EA work are documents to which lower levels of administration must adhere. EA work is similar to all other administrative work.

All three groups of discourses could exist in a single interview. Thus, the informant could change his or her position in the interview. It was interesting to see that the discourses prominent in the interviews were not dependent on the informants' education. The informants typically came from the education sector or had background in ICT. However, the informants used mostly the discourse prominent in their job role, not their background.

Recontextualization in the Discourses

Recontextualization and intertextuality were present in all discourses-different discourses used the concepts from other discourses to legitimize their work and give rationale for the use of EA in their operation.

In the ICT discourse, the concept of efficiency was often discussed. Efficiency is recontextualized from the administrative discourse to the ICT discourse to mean more efficient information systems-not to mean layoffs and cuts to employee benefits. Inefficiency is seen in overlapping information systems, in systems that do not have proper interfaces, and in tasks that could or should be done digitally. Thus, efficiency is achieved by spending more money for the development of information systemswhich will, in turn, save money in the long run. Information systems are seen as an investment, and increased efficiency is seen as a rationale for funding.

The link between information systems and efficiency was seen also in the administrative discourse. However, in this discourse, efficiency meant that the administration must operate literally with less money. Information systems are not seen as an investment, as in the ICT discourse. EA should be key to this by removing the need of simultaneous information system development in different municipalities. The information systems and interfaces should be developed once, and they should be usable nationwide.

The word efficiency was used hardly ever in the educational discourse. It was replaced by such concepts as development, cooperation, mutual understanding and keeping up with digitalization. This may be because the word efficiency is extensively used in neo-liberal discourses in the education sector, which are in conflict with the traditional view on independent teachers and quality of education. The educational discourse borrowed many terms and concepts from the ICT discourse, but generally the view was that of the school and the pupils. For example, it was suggested that digital technologies will put pupils in different situations based on their socioeconomic background.

Ways of Differentiation

The ICT discourse emphasizes ICT skills and knowledge. For example, it can be seen that the ability to make informed decisions comes from knowledge about the subject, as evidenced in a quote from an informant: "They are experts in their own domain (education) that have drifted to (ICT sector). If you have to explain the very basics of information systems design to them, how could they make informed decisions?" While the expertise in the other domains is respected per se, it does not provide the authority to make decisions in IT systems.

In the educational discourse, the providing of education is seen as the essential value. EA is seen as 'one of the many' requirements posed to teachers and organizers of education. Thus, the value of EA is instrumental, whereas the value of education is intrinsic. The authority to make decisions that affect the education sector should rest solely in the educative sector. While instructions from IT departments are mandating, they can be regarded with comments such as 'Yes, from time to time there are new instructions from IT. I have such e-mails coming daily from more than a hundred different sources.' So, while the speaker acknowledges the importance of the instructions, (s)he appeals to the fact that strictly abiding by all rules is not possible. In different levels of government, the same thing is said in different words, but the message is the same: The IT department does not have the authority to tell us how to conduct our work.

In the administrative discourse, education providers and IT staff of municipalities are seen as parties that 'cling on to their customary ways of working.' The operations could be streamlined by standardizing different ways of working. The ICT discourse shares this view, but it is again recontextualized in the ICT discourse. Whereas the administrative discourse recognizes the autonomous nature of the municipalities, the ICT discourse carries the notion of mandated compliance to common norms. It was also noted that conditional clauses regarding EA were often used in the administrative discourse: 'The EA would be a great tool to achieve interoperability.' Sometimes the 'but' was left out, and sometimes it was directly stated that it is not possible to achieve with current administrative structures.

Discussion

EA as Government Architecture

The role of EA as a resulting architecture, a blueprint that governs future operations, is highly contested. The ICT discourse relies on the fact that the IT department 'has a say' about new projects and pilots in the education sector. The educational discourse opposes the role of the architecture as a guiding tool. The education professionals have their own development methodologies, and EA is not seen as a replacement for them. However, also in the educational discourse, the need to link EA to an organization's strategy was seen as important. The administrative discourse acknowledges the difficulty related to putting EA into practice, as the independent organizations currently have no need to comply with national standards.

While the educational discourse effectively rejects the concept of efficiency, digitalization provides a rationale for EA usage. The informants see the effects of digitalization in the problems caused by the unprecedented and uncontrolled increase in the number of smartphones and other personal appliances. They demand training on how to use the new digital learning environments, and EA is seen as a way to put things 'under control.' However, EA is kept strictly out of the development of other educational activities.

The administrative discourse sees EA as a promising tool, but asserts that it should bring about tangible benefits-i.e., reduction of costs in the public administration.

While the efficiency of the teaching itself is not at stake, there are several systems, like payroll and student registration, that are handled differently in each municipality. This causes overlap of IT development and is a waste of resources. However, the educational discourse sees this as 'operational agility'-when the processes are not fixed nationwide, there is room for pilot development and new innovations. ICT discourse sees these pilots mainly as nuisances, as they often come as a surprise and are not discussed with IT beforehand.

EA as Common Language

The educational discourse sees the role of the National Enterprise Architecture as a common language between educational staff and IT staff. It is a tool that can be used to describe and visualize IT systems and the desired future state. The ICT discourse recognizes this from its own standpoint. The EA can help to agree on the current state and the target state. The administrative discourse shares this view, but the context is in the organization between autonomous parties, while the educational and ICT discourses look at the situation within one organization.

This role of EA is uncontested in the interviews-the need for mutual understanding and common language is recognized in all discourses, but only in educational discourse does this arise as the most important function of EA. From the viewpoint of educational discourse, IT is just one of the requirements imposed on the school system. Other requirements and instructions come from all directions, and the schools have to balance them. Increasing common understanding so that IT departments can help them is an understandable wish.

On the other hand, the ICT discourse and administrative discourse simplify complex operations in the basic education sector as 'function' or 'special knowledge.' While the ICT discourse expresses the desire that EA acts more as a coordinating element, the accountability of the actions remains on the educational side.

Conclusion

The object of the research was to determine different ways of constructing Enterprise Architecture and efficiency in the speech of public sector officials. Three orders of discourse were found: ICT discourse, educational discourse and administrative discourse. While the ICT and administrative discourses had differing views of the concept of efficiency, the educational discourse did not see EA an as agent for improving efficiency.

The ambiguity of EA's role in practical work has also been noted in other research, such as [START_REF] Larsson | Ambiguities in the Early Stages of Public Sector Enterprise Architecture Implementation: Outlining Complexities of Interoperability[END_REF]. The same ambiguity can be seen in this study, but due to the CDA methodology used, the ambiguity was seen to arise from different background knowledge and assumptions embedded in social structures. Hjort-Madsen studied the implementation of EA in the US government using an institutional lens, and found three strategies to cope with the mandated use of EA: accepters, improvers and transformers [START_REF] Hjort-Madsen | Institutional Patters of Enterprise Architecture Adoption in Government[END_REF]. Here we see that the Finnish basic education sector has long traditions and is capable of 'defending itself' against requests from other sources-in fact, it is battling them constantly. However, digitalization in schools provides such an external shock to the system that it is seen as necessary to find new ways to cooperate with IT departments.

CDA was determined a suitable methodology for conducting research on a subject with so many 'free-floating' concepts, such as efficiency and newly introduced Finnish national enterprise architecture. By investigating the text and the social structures and practices regulating the speech simultaneously, the contradictions between different orders of discourse can be revealed.

This research focused on the construction of concepts. The discourses are in constant flux, and a single informant may use different-even conflicting-discourses in the course of an interview. Further research is needed on the power structures behind these discourses [START_REF] Hekkala | Omega-team is moving to another premise over my dead body[END_REF] -it is clear that the ICT discourse and the educational discourse must align themselves with the administrative discourse when they are applying for funding, but it is not yet clear what effects this has on discourses and daily operations.

Table 1 .

 1 The main three orders of discourse found in the interviews.

		ICT	Educational	Administrative
	Representation	EA is a tool for ration-	EA is a tool for com-	EA is a tool for 'archi-
		al decision-making.	munication and mutual	tectural steering' and
			understanding.	governance.
	Recontextualization	Efficiency comes from	Emphasis is on	Efficiency means that
		well-designed infor-	digitalization.	administration must
		mation systems.		use less money.
	Differentiation	Emphasis on	ICT is 'one require-	Parties 'cling on to old
		knowledge, especially	ment among hun-	habits and ways of
		ICT-related skills	dreds.'	working.'

National Audit Office of Finland, Audit report 7/2015

http://vm.fi/en/administrative-structures

http://www.oph.fi/english/curricula_and_qualifications/basic_education

The quotes from the interviews are translated by the author(s).