Pernille Kraemmergaard

Christian Ø Madsen

Channel Choice: A Literature Review

Keywords: channel choice, e-government, integrated service delivery, literature review, multichannel, multi-channel

des établissements d'enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés.

Introduction

Although the digitization of the public sector has taken place for decades [START_REF] Chadwick | Interaction between states and citizens in the age of the internet: 'e-government' in the United States, Britain, and the European Union, Governance-an[END_REF] there is still a gap between the availability and uptake of online public services [START_REF]European Commission: Public Services Online : Assessing User Centric eGovernment performance in Europe -eGovernment Benchmark[END_REF]. Even in the countries which are front runners in terms of citizens' adoption of electronic public services citizens keep using traditional channels in addition to online channels either as a supplement or as primary channels [START_REF] Pieterson | Citizens and Service Channels: Channel Choice and Channel Management Implications[END_REF], [START_REF] Reddick | Interactions with e-government, new digital media and traditional channel choices: citizen-initiated factors[END_REF]. The continued use of traditional channels where the interaction takes place between individual citizens and government employees is costly compared to interaction through a website or other forms of self-service applications.

Several literature reviews within e-government have presented and synthesized the findings of studies of citizens' adoption of online services [START_REF] Van De Wijngaert | N: A network approach toward literature review[END_REF]- [START_REF] Hofmann | Identifying Factors of E-Government Acceptance -A Literature Review[END_REF]. However, these studies tend to focus on citizens' intention to adopt an individual e-government service in isolation [START_REF] Hofmann | Identifying Factors of E-Government Acceptance -A Literature Review[END_REF]. The channel choice (CC) literature studies citizens' choice of channels, and the interplay that takes place between citizens' use of channels for interacting with public authorities [START_REF] Reddick | Channel choice and public service delivery in Canada: Comparing e-government to traditional service delivery[END_REF]. In spite of the valuable contributions the CC literature offers, no systematic review of the CC literature exists.

To cover this gap we present a literature review of the CC field in e-government. Our review analyzes 36 papers which study government to citizen interaction (G2C) through more than one type of channel. We combine and expand Webster & Watson's [START_REF] Webster | Analyzing the past to prepare for the future: Writing a literature review[END_REF] and Schlichter and Kraemmergaard's [START_REF] Schlichter | A comprehensive literature review of the ERP research field over a decade[END_REF] methods for finding, classifying and analyzing papers.

Scope of review

Webster & Watson [9, p. xv] recommend that only one level of analysis is included in a literature review unless there is a strong rationale to include several levels. However, the studies within the CC field take place at several levels; insights from the analysis of how citizens choose channels for interaction with public authorities are used to make recommendations to these organizations on how to manage their channels. Due to this connection in the literature we include both levels in our review.

In the CC literature the terms channel or service channel are used to describe the various forms of communication available to citizens to interact with public authorities [START_REF] Van Deursen | The Internet as a service channel in the Public Sector[END_REF]. Reddick and Anthopolous [4, pp. 400-401] divide these channels into three types: traditional channels (face-to-face, telephone conversations and physical letters), e-government channels (web and e-mail) and new digital media (text messaging, social media and mobile apps). To focus our review, we only include papers which study at least two of these channel types. Further, only papers which study CC in a government to citizen context (G2C) are included. Results from studies of employees' CC may not be transferrable to citizens, as businesses' policies, structures and means of communication can affect employees' behavior. We want to study the managerial aspects of CC in e-government [START_REF] Chadwick | Interaction between states and citizens in the age of the internet: 'e-government' in the United States, Britain, and the European Union, Governance-an[END_REF], and papers focusing on CC in relation to e-democracy or e-participation are omitted. Finally, due to the rapid technological development of online services, only papers published within the last decade (2005-2014) are included.

The papers are classified according to authors, country and methods based on a framework by Schlichter and Kraemmergaard [START_REF] Schlichter | A comprehensive literature review of the ERP research field over a decade[END_REF]. Previous literature reviews of the e-government field have criticized scholars for not leaving their offices to collect data, for conducting cross-sectional rather than longitudinal studies, and for not studying what happens inside government organizations [START_REF] Heeks | Analyzing e-government research: Perspectives, philosophies, theories, methods, and practice[END_REF]- [START_REF] Yildiz | E-government research: Reviewing the literature, limitations, and ways forward[END_REF]. To find out if this criticism is applicable to the CC literature we expand the method classification to include researchers' involvement in the data collection process, the use of longitudinal studies, and practioners' involvement in the studies. As our topic is CC we also examine if the papers include data on channel traffic. For analyzing the papers we apply Webster and Watson's [START_REF] Webster | Analyzing the past to prepare for the future: Writing a literature review[END_REF] conceptual analysis matrix identifying objects and level of analysis, conceptual models, and the theoretical frameworks used.

The next section present the methods used to find and analyze the papers in our review. In the third section we present a classification of the papers found, while section four presents the analysis of the papers. In section five we discuss the results with the aim of identifying gaps in the CC literature for future studies. Section six contains concluding remarks and limitations.

Method

The method section is divided into three parts. First we present the search for papers. We then present Schlichter and Kraemmergaard's [START_REF] Schlichter | A comprehensive literature review of the ERP research field over a decade[END_REF] framework for the classification and Webster and Watson's [START_REF] Webster | Analyzing the past to prepare for the future: Writing a literature review[END_REF] method for the concept-centric analysis.

The search for papers

The papers were found in a three step process following Webster & Watson [START_REF] Webster | Analyzing the past to prepare for the future: Writing a literature review[END_REF]. 1. Search for papers in selected journals and conference proceedings 2. Database search 3. Backwards and forwards searches We began our search for papers in selected journals recognized as core e-government journals by scholars [15] and in the proceedings of EGOV. The first round of searches was conducted in January 2015 using keywords found through an iterative process. An initial series of keywords were supplemented as papers with new keywords were found. Further, inspired by Hofmann et al. [START_REF] Hofmann | Identifying Factors of E-Government Acceptance -A Literature Review[END_REF] we contacted eight experts within the CC field for additional keywords, of which five replied. 13 keywords were used; CRM, channel behavior, channel choice, channel ict architecture, channel integration, channel management, channel marketing, channel strategy, customer relationship management, integrated service delivery, multichannel, multi-channel and orchestrating service delivery.

The keyword search included titles, abstracts, and keywords. After removing duplicates we ended with 239 papers. Papers were included if they focused on CC in a G2C context, included at least two types of channels, were published no later than 2005, and written in English. After reading the abstracts 212 papers were omitted as they only studied one type of channel or were outside the G2C domain. This left 27 papers of which two were omitted as they were inaccessible from the university libraries we had access to. After reading the remaining 25 papers 17 were included in the review.

Webster & Watson recommend that a database search is conducted as the second step to find additional papers. Following the recommendation of an expert in the field, we used the E-government Reference Library (EGRL). We downloaded EGRL version 10.0 (July 2014) to Mendeley Reference Manager for Windows (version 1.13.3) and conducted keyword searches in titles, abstracts and keywords using the 13 keywords. 56 papers were found of which 31 had been found in step 1, two were inaccessible, and one was written in Dutch. This excluded 34, leaving us with 22 papers. After reading these four papers were added to the pool bringing the total to 21.

The third step consisted of using Google Scholar to find papers that either referenced or were referenced to by the 21 papers. 68 papers were found which initially seemed relevant according to our selection criteria. We omitted four conference papers which were earlier editions of journal papers already found. Four papers were unavailable. After reading either the abstracts or the whole papers we were left with 15 relevant papers. These 15 papers were added to the final pool, bringing the total to 36. Appendix A presents an overview of the 36 papers.

Classification of papers.

For the analysis and coding we created a one page template for each paper which contained bibliographical information, abstracts, coding results and notes. This data was entered into a spreadsheet (MS Excel) and analyzed at an aggregated level. The classification of methods follow the framework by Schlichter and Kraemmergaard which they developed for a literature review of the enterprise resource planning field [START_REF] Schlichter | A comprehensive literature review of the ERP research field over a decade[END_REF]. We removed one method category, archival, as it overlapped with other categories in the papers found. Table 1 presents the classification.

Concept-centric analysis of the papers

To synthesize the CC literature we conducted a concept-centric analysis following Webster and Watson [START_REF] Webster | Analyzing the past to prepare for the future: Writing a literature review[END_REF]. As we read the papers we created a template with the primary concepts covered, and the units of analysis. A pattern quickly emerged; part of the papers studies factors impacting CC at the individual level, while another part studies processes related to multichannel management (MCM) at the organizational level. Webster and Watson state that the conceptual analysis should be supplemented with information on the variables examined, and a conceptual and theoretical analysis of how and why the variables are related [START_REF] Webster | Analyzing the past to prepare for the future: Writing a literature review[END_REF]. We therefore coded factors, processes and theories applied as well.

In this section we present the classification of the papers according to authors, countries and methods applied. We also discuss practioners' involvement and the use of channel traffic in the papers.

Authors and country

Table 3 presents an overview of the most prolific authors, while Table 4 presents the papers according to first author's country. The majority of the papers were written by a small group of authors from only a few countries. Three scholars have authored or co-authored 21 of the 36 papers. The papers in the pool are written by first authors from nine different countries.

Authors from The Netherlands have published 40 percent of the papers and authors from the Netherlands, US and Canada have published 29 of the 36 papers.

Methodology

Table 5 presents the papers according to the primary method applied. Four papers are labeled as 'combined' as they rely on several methods. Case studies and surveys are the most frequently applied methods. Eighteen papers include results from surveys, but only eleven use surveys as a primary method; ten study the factors that influence citizens' choice of channels and one studies the adoption of multiple channels in organizations. Twelve paper present individual or multiple case studies, based on documentary material and interviews, workshops or other forms of collaborations with practitioners. Four papers develop theory, and focus mainly on exploring and explaining government organizations' strategies for multichannel management through various theoretical lenses. One paper presents a role-playing game as a method for involving case-workers multichannel management, and the results from applying this method in practice. None of the 16 of the papers which apply qualitative methods relies on one method. Rather, interviews or focus groups discussions are combined or conducted preliminary to a survey. [START_REF] Barth | Electronic Service Delivery in the Public Sector: Understanding the Variance of Citizens' Resistance[END_REF], [START_REF] Frey | Distribution channel management in e-government: Addressing federal information policy issues[END_REF]- [START_REF] Teerling | How to improve e-government use: An empirical examination of multichannel marketing instruments[END_REF], [START_REF] Pieterson | Channel choice determinants; an exploration of the factors that determine the choice of a service channel in citizen initiated contacts[END_REF], [START_REF] Bharosa | Guiding Integrated Service Delivery : Synthesizing and Embedding Principles Using Role-Playing Games[END_REF]- [START_REF] Teerling | Multichannel marketing: An experiment on guiding citizens to the electronic channels[END_REF], [START_REF] Pieterson | The use of service channels by citizens in the Netherlands: implications for multi-channel management[END_REF], [START_REF] Pieterson | Channel Perceptions and Usage: Beyond Media Richness Factors[END_REF], [START_REF] Plattfaut | Unravelling (E-)Government Channel Selection: A Quantitative Analysis of Individual Customer Preferences in Germany and Australia[END_REF], [48] Secondary 7 [START_REF] Reddick | Interactions with e-government, new digital media and traditional channel choices: citizen-initiated factors[END_REF], [START_REF] Reddick | Channel choice and public service delivery in Canada: Comparing e-government to traditional service delivery[END_REF], [START_REF] Reddick | Citizen-Initiated Contacts with Government: Comparing Phones and Websites[END_REF], [START_REF] Reddick | The adoption of centralized customer service systems: A survey of local governments[END_REF]- [START_REF] Pang | How Channel Choice and Service Failure Influence Customer Satisfaction: The Case of Public Services[END_REF], [47] Tertiary 6 [START_REF] Van Deursen | The Internet as a service channel in the Public Sector[END_REF], [START_REF] Flumian | Transforming service to Canadians: the Service Canada model[END_REF], [START_REF] Kernaghan | Changing channels: Managing channel integration and migration in public organizations[END_REF], [START_REF] Singh | Integrating Internet, telephones, and call centers for delivering better quality e-governance to all citizens[END_REF], [START_REF] Ebbers | Electronic government: Rethinking channel management strategies[END_REF], [START_REF] Pieterson | Governmental service channel positioning: history and strategies for the future[END_REF] No data 1 [START_REF] Pieterson | Citizens and Service Channels: Channel Choice and Channel Management Implications[END_REF] Table 6 presents the highest level of data in the papers according to researchers' involvement. Primary data has been collected for 22 of the 36 papers. Secondary data is used in seven papers which use survey results on individuals' CC and channel satisfaction for statistical modeling. Six papers present only tertiary data, while one paper does not present any data. Times series are used frequently, but only one paper presents a longitudinal study, with six months between data collection points.

There is a high level of practitioner involvement in the papers, largely due to the many case studies based on interviews with employees. Of the 36 papers, 21 include involvement or collaboration with practioners. The authors' biographies reveal that four authors behind three of the papers [START_REF] Flumian | Transforming service to Canadians: the Service Canada model[END_REF], [START_REF] Frey | Distribution channel management in e-government: Addressing federal information policy issues[END_REF], [START_REF] Singh | Integrating Internet, telephones, and call centers for delivering better quality e-governance to all citizens[END_REF] have worked in government organizations, in three cases at the top level.

Seven papers presents channel traffic, of which three presents the same data [START_REF] Van Deursen | The Internet as a service channel in the Public Sector[END_REF], [START_REF] Ebbers | Electronic government: Rethinking channel management strategies[END_REF], [START_REF] Pieterson | The use of service channels by citizens in the Netherlands: implications for multi-channel management[END_REF]. Three papers contain a single table or paragraph with channel traffic [START_REF] Reddick | Channel choice and public service delivery in Canada: Comparing e-government to traditional service delivery[END_REF], [START_REF] Frey | Distribution channel management in e-government: Addressing federal information policy issues[END_REF], [START_REF] Roy | E-government and integrated service delivery in Canada: the Province of Nova Scotia as a case study[END_REF]. Finally one paper analyzes channel data as a part of a field experiment conducted in 2008 [START_REF] Teerling | Multichannel marketing: An experiment on guiding citizens to the electronic channels[END_REF]. This data only concerns transactions; however, information inquiries related to the transactions are not presented. Further, except for the field experiment, the latest data on channel traffic is from 2006.

Concept-centric analysis of the CC literature

This section present the concept-centric analysis of the pool of papers following Webster and Watson [START_REF] Webster | Analyzing the past to prepare for the future: Writing a literature review[END_REF]. During coding we focused on the two overall concepts in the papers; CC which focuses on the factors that influence citizens' choice of channel and MCM which focuses on the processes and issues related government organizations management of multiple channels. Table 7 presents the result of this analysis. • [START_REF] Flumian | Transforming service to Canadians: the Service Canada model[END_REF]- [START_REF] Klievink | Coordinating e-government service delivery[END_REF], [START_REF] Van Veenstra | Migration Strategies for Multi-Channel service provisioning in public agencies[END_REF], [START_REF] Gagnon | Multichannel Delivery of Public Services: A New and Complex Management Challenge[END_REF], [START_REF] Kernaghan | Changing channels: Managing channel integration and migration in public organizations[END_REF], [START_REF] Singh | Integrating Internet, telephones, and call centers for delivering better quality e-governance to all citizens[END_REF], [START_REF] Pieterson | Governmental service channel positioning: history and strategies for the future[END_REF], [START_REF] Reddick | The adoption of centralized customer service systems: A survey of local governments[END_REF] • [START_REF] Pieterson | Citizens and Service Channels: Channel Choice and Channel Management Implications[END_REF], [START_REF] Mundy | Examining the Potential for Channel Shift in the UK Through Multiple Lenses[END_REF], [START_REF] Teerling | How to improve e-government use: An empirical examination of multichannel marketing instruments[END_REF], [START_REF] Pieterson | Channel Integration in Governmental Service Delivery: The Effects on Citizen Behavior and Perceptions[END_REF], [START_REF] Ebbers | Electronic government: Rethinking channel management strategies[END_REF] • • [START_REF] Bharosa | Guiding Integrated Service Delivery : Synthesizing and Embedding Principles Using Role-Playing Games[END_REF] • [START_REF] Van Deursen | The Internet as a service channel in the Public Sector[END_REF]* Legend: O = organization, G = group, I = individual, * = service channel Of the 36 papers 14 study CC at the individual level, while 15 study MCM at the organizational level. There are five papers which overlap these levels, of which two presents the results of field experiments and three are theoretical. One paper, presenting the results of a MCM design study takes place at the group level. One paper [START_REF] Van Deursen | The Internet as a service channel in the Public Sector[END_REF] does not fit into either level, but focuses on the channels and services delivered, and the development of channel traffic over time. None of the papers study CC at the group level, although a few briefly mention that citizens can also influence each other, or ask each other for help in dealings with public authorities.

Studies at the individual level

Of the 19 papers which study citizens' CC for interaction with public authorities three are theoretical and 11 use survey data either for descriptive analysis and/or to test the factors that influence this choice. Four papers explore the factors through qualitative methods, two of which also use surveys. Three papers study the effects of organizations' instruments for channel integration and migration, and how these instruments are perceived by citizens. These studies are noteworthy as they cross the boundaries between the individual and organizational unit of analysis.

Most of the studies at the individual level apply variance models to test the impact of independent variables on citizen channel and/or source choice. Nine study citizens' satisfaction with a channel and/or interaction. Satisfaction is both studied as a dependent variable, based on channel chosen, and as an independent variable, where satisfaction with a previous encounter influence future interactions. The factors influencing channel choice have been found through qualitative studies, informed by previous studies, adoptions studies such as TAM [START_REF] Davis | Perceived Ease of Use, and User Acceptance of Information Technology[END_REF], marketing theory, and theoretical frameworks from media and communication theory especially Media Richness Theory (MRT) [START_REF] Daft | Organizational information requirements, media richness and structural design[END_REF], Channel Expansion Theory [START_REF] Carlson | Channel expansion theory and the experiential nature of media richness perceptions[END_REF] and Uses and Gratifications research [START_REF] Katz | Uses and Gratifications Research[END_REF]. The papers test a number of different factors. To provide a simple overview we clustered the independent variables into four groups during coding. Note that satisfaction was studied both as an independent and dependent variable. Table 6 presents the factors studied, and the papers which study them. [START_REF] Reddick | Interactions with e-government, new digital media and traditional channel choices: citizen-initiated factors[END_REF], [START_REF] Reddick | Channel choice and public service delivery in Canada: Comparing e-government to traditional service delivery[END_REF], [START_REF] Verdegem | The user at the centre of the development of onestop government[END_REF], [START_REF] Lamberti | Benefits sought by citizens and channel attitudes for multichannel payment services: Evidence from Italy[END_REF], [START_REF] Pieterson | Channel choice determinants; an exploration of the factors that determine the choice of a service channel in citizen initiated contacts[END_REF], [START_REF] Ebbers | Electronic government: Rethinking channel management strategies[END_REF], [START_REF] Pieterson | The use of service channels by citizens in the Netherlands: implications for multi-channel management[END_REF]- [START_REF] Pieterson | Channel Perceptions and Usage: Beyond Media Richness Factors[END_REF], [START_REF] Reddick | Comparing citizens' use of e-government to alternative service channels[END_REF]- [START_REF] Lee | Service source and channel choice in G2C service environments: a model comparison in the anti/counter-terrorism domain[END_REF] Situational constraints Availability of channels Price Distance to channels Marketing theory, [START_REF] Pieterson | Citizens and Service Channels: Channel Choice and Channel Management Implications[END_REF], [START_REF] Mundy | Examining the Potential for Channel Shift in the UK Through Multiple Lenses[END_REF], [START_REF] Verdegem | The user at the centre of the development of onestop government[END_REF], [START_REF] Pieterson | Channel choice determinants; an exploration of the factors that determine the choice of a service channel in citizen initiated contacts[END_REF], [START_REF] Ebbers | Electronic government: Rethinking channel management strategies[END_REF], [START_REF] Pieterson | The use of service channels by citizens in the Netherlands: implications for multi-channel management[END_REF], [START_REF] Reddick | Citizen-Initiated Contacts with Government: Comparing Phones and Websites[END_REF], [START_REF] Reddick | Channel choice and the digital divide in e-government: the case of Egypt[END_REF], [ Channel expansion theory, marketing theory, [START_REF] Reddick | Interactions with e-government, new digital media and traditional channel choices: citizen-initiated factors[END_REF], [START_REF] Reddick | Channel choice and public service delivery in Canada: Comparing e-government to traditional service delivery[END_REF], [START_REF] Verdegem | The user at the centre of the development of onestop government[END_REF]- [START_REF] Lamberti | Benefits sought by citizens and channel attitudes for multichannel payment services: Evidence from Italy[END_REF], [START_REF] Pieterson | Channel Integration in Governmental Service Delivery: The Effects on Citizen Behavior and Perceptions[END_REF], [START_REF] Teerling | Multichannel marketing: An experiment on guiding citizens to the electronic channels[END_REF], [START_REF] Reddick | Citizen-Initiated Contacts with Government: Comparing Phones and Websites[END_REF], [START_REF] Pang | How Channel Choice and Service Failure Influence Customer Satisfaction: The Case of Public Services[END_REF] An alternative to the variance models is presented by Teerling and Pieterson [START_REF] Teerling | How to improve e-government use: An empirical examination of multichannel marketing instruments[END_REF] who use a process model to illustrate how governments' marketing efforts and a person's previous experiences also influence channel choice. This model is interesting as it acknowledges that channel choice is not just a psychological process taking place within citizens, but also a social process where citizens can be influenced by external factors. This is important as government organizations can then impact citizens' CC before an interaction takes place.

Studies at the organizational level

Table 7. Concepts analyzed at the organizational level Concept Theory Papers Channel strategies Media theory, technology adoption models [START_REF] Pieterson | Citizens and Service Channels: Channel Choice and Channel Management Implications[END_REF], [START_REF] Van Deursen | The Internet as a service channel in the Public Sector[END_REF], [START_REF] Ebbers | Electronic government: Rethinking channel management strategies[END_REF],

[39] Channel integration and/or migration Media theory, technology adoption models [START_REF] Van De Wijngaert | Influencing citizen behavior: Experiences from multichannel marketing pilot projects[END_REF], [START_REF] Mundy | Examining the Potential for Channel Shift in the UK Through Multiple Lenses[END_REF], [START_REF] Van Veenstra | Migration Strategies for Multi-Channel service provisioning in public agencies[END_REF], [START_REF] Kernaghan | Changing channels: Managing channel integration and migration in public organizations[END_REF], [START_REF] Singh | Integrating Internet, telephones, and call centers for delivering better quality e-governance to all citizens[END_REF], [START_REF] Pieterson | Channel Integration in Governmental Service Delivery: The Effects on Citizen Behavior and Perceptions[END_REF], [START_REF] Teerling | Multichannel marketing: An experiment on guiding citizens to the electronic channels[END_REF] Inter-and cross-organizational cooperation, integrated service delivery References e-government and e-commerce literature and institutional theory but no explicit theoretical framework [START_REF] Flumian | Transforming service to Canadians: the Service Canada model[END_REF], [START_REF] Kernaghan | Moving towards the virtual state: integrating services and service channels for citizen-centred delivery[END_REF], [START_REF] Roy | E-government and integrated service delivery in Canada: the Province of Nova Scotia as a case study[END_REF], [START_REF] Klievink | Coordinating e-government service delivery[END_REF], [START_REF] Gagnon | Multichannel Delivery of Public Services: A New and Complex Management Challenge[END_REF], [START_REF] Bharosa | Guiding Integrated Service Delivery : Synthesizing and Embedding Principles Using Role-Playing Games[END_REF]

Intermediaries

Intermediation theory, marketing theory, transaction cost theory, [START_REF] Frey | Distribution channel management in e-government: Addressing federal information policy issues[END_REF], [START_REF] Janssen | The Role of Intermediaries in Multi-Channel Service Delivery Strategies[END_REF] Other (various) Technology adoption models [START_REF] Nam | The changing face of a city government: A case study of Philly311[END_REF], [START_REF] Reddick | The adoption of centralized customer service systems: A survey of local governments[END_REF] The 21 papers which take place at the organizational level are much more diverse in terms of topics studied than those at the individual level. Channel integration and migration are the most frequently studied topics, followed by inter-and cross organizational cooperation related to MCM. Due to the limits of this review we only briefly cover the topics here.

Pieterson's studies of government organizations' channel positioning strategies stand out as they are presented in four papers [START_REF] Pieterson | Citizens and Service Channels: Channel Choice and Channel Management Implications[END_REF], [START_REF] Pieterson | Channel Integration in Governmental Service Delivery: The Effects on Citizen Behavior and Perceptions[END_REF], [START_REF] Ebbers | Electronic government: Rethinking channel management strategies[END_REF], [START_REF] Pieterson | Governmental service channel positioning: history and strategies for the future[END_REF]. He uses a process model to illustrate how public authorities can migrate citizens towards the most efficient channels to reduce administrative costs and increase citizen satisfaction. The studies are informed through theories from media science such as MRT, Bordewijk and van Kaam's [START_REF] Bordewijk | Towards a new classification of tele-information services[END_REF] classification of tele-information services, a historical analysis of government organizations' channel strategies, and through a series of field experiments from the Dutch Channels in Balance project [START_REF] Van De Wijngaert | Influencing citizen behavior: Experiences from multichannel marketing pilot projects[END_REF], [START_REF] Teerling | How to improve e-government use: An empirical examination of multichannel marketing instruments[END_REF], [START_REF] Pieterson | Channel Integration in Governmental Service Delivery: The Effects on Citizen Behavior and Perceptions[END_REF].

Kernaghan discusses the different types of MCM collaboration between government organizations and presents two models to visualize these variations. The first describes inter-and cross organizational partnerships, in terms of actors, services and channels involved [START_REF] Kernaghan | Moving towards the virtual state: integrating services and service channels for citizen-centred delivery[END_REF]. The second model describes the degree to which organizations involved in MCM can be integrated, from informal cooperation, where they share information, to full consolidation, where they give up individual goals and policies and become fully harmonized [START_REF] Kernaghan | Changing channels: Managing channel integration and migration in public organizations[END_REF]. This is reminiscent of the vertical and horizontal integration of government organizations which is frequently studied in egovernment literature, such as Layne & Lee's [START_REF] Layne | Developing fully functional E-government: A four stage model[END_REF] often cited e-government webstage model. Kernaghan differs from Layne and Lee, however, in that he does not present consolidation as an inevitable last stage, but rather as one of several strategic options to consider depending on one's needs and resources. In this way Kernaghan avoids the technologic determinism which the web-stage models have been criticized for. Kernaghan's studies are mostly informed through case studies, especially from Service Canada, rather than any explicit theoretical framework.

Klievink and Janssen [START_REF] Klievink | Coordinating e-government service delivery[END_REF] categorize challenges related to MCM coordination based on a literature review from several fields including e-commerce and egovernment. They identify three layers which cover the political, organizational, and information and technological aspects to MCM coordination and present these in an analytical framework. Kernaghan and Flumian discuss similar barriers [START_REF] Flumian | Transforming service to Canadians: the Service Canada model[END_REF], [START_REF] Kernaghan | Moving towards the virtual state: integrating services and service channels for citizen-centred delivery[END_REF] with a stronger emphasis on problems caused by changing political climates and power struggles.

In another study Klievink and Janssen focus on public and private intermediaries [START_REF] Janssen | The Role of Intermediaries in Multi-Channel Service Delivery Strategies[END_REF]. Based on case studies and transaction cost theory they discuss the positive roles intermediaries play in facilitating government to citizen interaction, and the strategies government organizations can employ in relation to them in the shape of a process model. Another perspective on intermediaries comes from Frey and Holden [START_REF] Frey | Distribution channel management in e-government: Addressing federal information policy issues[END_REF] who study the channel conflicts that can arise when private companies appear as intermediaries. The authors apply the theoretical concept of distribution channel management from marketing literature and two case studies to illustrate how government organizations can handle these conflicts. Like Janssen & Klievink they acknowledge the positive role intermediaries can play in MCM. However, Frey and Holden note the importance of protecting the interests of the private companies in addition to those of the government and citizens, while Janssen & Klievink are more concerned with ensuring that citizens have equal access to government services.

Discussion

In this section we discuss the results of our literature review with the aim of identifying methodological and knowledge gaps in the CC literature. Table 8 presents six areas for future CC studies, which could bring the field further forwards. The CC literature is dominated by a few authors and countries. Many of the papers study actual use and involve practitioners. This limits the places where the studies could have been carried out, as well as their generalizability. Studies from other countries and of specific services could offer valuable contributions to the literature.

Many methods are used to collect and analyze data, but two types of studies stand out; statistical analysis of survey data of citizens' CC, and case studies of MCM at the organizational level. The studies of CC appear more harmonized and coherent than those of MCM. Part of this may be because they are carried out by a small group of authors who cross-reference each other. However, these studies also revolve around one topic -individual's CC -use similar variance models and explicitly refer to the same theoretical frameworks to inform their analyses. There is a strong sense of progress and building on each other's work, and both empirical and theoretical contributions are offered. However, they are largely based on survey data from secondary data sets which the researcher cannot influence. Although a few studies use qualitative studies to inform the survey creation, CC scholars repeatedly state a need for supplementing surveys through qualitative methods [START_REF] Pieterson | Citizens and Service Channels: Channel Choice and Channel Management Implications[END_REF], [START_REF] Reddick | Interactions with e-government, new digital media and traditional channel choices: citizen-initiated factors[END_REF], [START_REF] Reddick | Channel choice and public service delivery in Canada: Comparing e-government to traditional service delivery[END_REF], [START_REF] Pieterson | The use of service channels by citizens in the Netherlands: implications for multi-channel management[END_REF], [START_REF] Reddick | Citizen-Initiated Contacts with Government: Comparing Phones and Websites[END_REF], [START_REF] Reddick | Channel choice and the digital divide in e-government: the case of Egypt[END_REF].

Methods of direct observation are time consuming to conduct, but they provide valuable contextual information [START_REF] Blaikie | Designing Social Research[END_REF] and could inform areas which have only been slightly touched upon; situational constraints, habits and how the service in question and its importance to the citizens influence CC. Observations could study an entire service encounter from the citizens' point of view and the interplay that takes place between channels during such an encounter. This would enable CC scholars to explore citizen initiated requests and explain why these requests occur and gain insight into channel switching and supplementing behavior.

Data on channel traffic could update and supplement the existing knowledge on MCM. Longitudinal studies of channel traffic could be used to evaluate the effects of MCM instruments on citizens' channel behavior. Most of the existing analyses of channel traffic are based on data which is a decade old, and it is unknown if the conclusions based on this data still hold up today.

Future CC studies could examine how citizens influence and help each other when interacting with government organizations. It is striking that the papers in this review focus at only the individual or organization level. There are no studies of CC at the group level, although both private and public intermediaries are mentioned at organizational level, and several studies mention that friends and family members can be intermediaries [START_REF] Klievink | Coordinating e-government service delivery[END_REF], [START_REF] Pieterson | Channel choice determinants; an exploration of the factors that determine the choice of a service channel in citizen initiated contacts[END_REF], [START_REF] Reddick | Comparing citizens' use of e-government to alternative service channels[END_REF]. Teerling & Pieterson's process model seems suitable for this task as it illustrates external parties' influence on citizens' CC [START_REF] Teerling | How to improve e-government use: An empirical examination of multichannel marketing instruments[END_REF].

A series of conceptual models have been presented to illustrate channel integration and migration, inter-and cross organizational collaboration and barriers to MCM. However, most of the authors seem to either build new models or improve their own. Having presented some of the overlaps in the MCM studies at organizational level here, we would suggest that the existing conceptual models are criticized, tested or synthesized before new models are created. This could lead to a more mature and coherent field. We also recommend that theoretical frameworks are used to inform these models to a higher extent.

Finally we recommend that new field experiments are conducted to study the effects of MCM instruments. The existing studies have been valuable to bridge the individual and organizational levels, but they have been carried out in one country by a small group of scholars. New experiments could contribute by including new service areas, target groups, and MCM instruments. Further they could examine the effects of MCM on all available channels, rather than a few isolated channels. Field experiments could also to examine the effects of MCM instruments on new digital media, which previous experiments have not covered.

Conclusion

This paper has presented an overview of 36 papers from the CC literature found and analyzed following [START_REF] Webster | Analyzing the past to prepare for the future: Writing a literature review[END_REF]. The classification of the papers expanded a framework by [START_REF] Schlichter | A comprehensive literature review of the ERP research field over a decade[END_REF]. The importance of supplementing the search for papers with forwards and backwards searches has been demonstrated as new papers were added in each step. Hofmann's method of contacting authors to inquire about keywords proved fruitful [START_REF] Hofmann | Identifying Factors of E-Government Acceptance -A Literature Review[END_REF]. Our analysis has revealed multiple gaps in the CC literature. We have suggested six areas which future studies could address to contribute to the theoretical and empirical development of the CC field.

There are several limitations to our study. Many of the papers were found due to authors citing themselves. This self-citing means the pool of papers revolve around a few authors and countries. The effect may have been strengthened by the sources searched, keywords used, and the fact that papers from certain publishers were inaccessible. It is possible that we may have missed papers for these reasons. Our conceptual analysis is limited to two main areas due to author resources and spatial limitations. A synthesis of results, recommendations for practioners, and a more indepth discussion of suggestion for future studies were omitted for similar reasons.

Future literature studies could address these limitations by expanding the search, classification and analysis conducted here. An analysis of author keywords, citations, sources and disciplines could illuminate the relationships between the papers and to other fields. Future studies could synthesize and discuss results, suggestions for future studies and recommendations for practioners. We welcome input from scholars on these issues and will gladly share our data for further analysis upon request.

  M., Coe, A., & Kernaghan, K. (2007) IRAS Canada 32 Pieterson, W., & van Dijk, J. (2007) Dg.o. Conference Netherlands 38 Ebbers, W. E., Pieterson, W. J., & Noordman, H. N. (2008) GIQ Netherlands 40 Pieterson, W., & Ebbers, W. (2008) IRAS Netherlands 42 Pieterson, W., Teerling, M., & Ebbers, W. (2008) IFIP EGOV Conference Netherlands 34 Singh, A. K., & Sahu, R. (2008) GIQ India 29 Verdegem, P., & Hauttekeete, L. (2008) IJEG Belgium 20 Janssen, M., & Klievink, B. (2009., Janssen, M., Klievink, B., van Veenstra, A., & Overbeek, S. (2010). EJEG Netherlands 28 Gagnon, Y. C., Posada, E., Bourgault, M., & Naud, A. (2010) IJPA Canada 25 Klievink, B., & Janssen, M. (2010) Dg.o. Conference Netherlands 26 Mundy, D., Umer, Q., & Foster, A. M., & Veit, D. (2011) HICSS Conference Germany 30 Teerling, M. L., & Pieterson, W. (2011) IP Netherlands 24 Van De Wijngaert, L., Pieterson, W., & Teerling, M. L. (2011) IJIM Netherlands 27 van Veenstra, A. F., & Janssen, M. (2010) EJEG Netherlands 48 Lee, J., & Rao, H. R. (2012) ISJ US 47 Reddick, C. G., Abdelsalam, H. M., & Elkadi, H. A. ., Kohlborn, T., Hofmann, S., Beverungen, D., Niehaves, B., Rackers, M., & Becker, J.

Table 1 .

 1 Classification of methods theory, typically with the aim of developing new theory Papers that gather data by means of questionnaires Researchers' involvement in data collection (Table2) was coded following Blaikie[16, p. 161]. Longitudinal studies followed Blaikie's definition 'a study extended in time'[16, p.201]. Practioners' involvement was coded if the authors had direct contact with government organizations' employees through workshops, interviews, surveys etc. Channel traffic was coded if it was presented in numerical form.

	Category	Description
	Case study	Papers reporting on studies involved with a single site or a
		few sites over a certain period of time
	Combined	Papers which do not rely on one primary method
	Descriptive	Papers solely describing or arguing for a phenomenon and
		often very practically oriented
	Design science	Papers that construct systems and/or tools
	Field experiment	Papers which conduct field experiments
	Theoretical	Papers analyzing existing
	Survey

Table 2 .

 2 Types of data

	Category	Description
	Primary	Data generated by the researcher
	Secondary	Data generated by another researcher
	Tertiary	Data analyzed by another researcher

Table 3 .

 3 Most productive authors within CC literature

	Author	Papers
	Pieterson, W.	11
	Reddick, C.G.	6
	Janssen, M.	4
	Teerling, M.L. (with Pieterson)	4
	Ebbers, W.E. (with Pieterson)	3
	Kernaghan, K	3
	Klievink, B. (with Janssen)	3

Table 4 .

 4 First author's country

	Country	Papers in pool
	The Netherlands	14
	US	10
	Canada	5
	Germany	2
	Belgium	1
	India	1
	Italy	1
	South Korea	1
	UK	1
	Total	36

Table 5 .

 5 Papers classified according to primary method

	Category	Number of papers	Papers
	Case study	12	[17]-[28]
	Combined	4	[29]-[32]
	Descriptive	2	[33], [34]
	Design	1	[35]
	Field experiment	2	[36], [37]
	Theoretical	4	[3], [11], [38], [39]
	Survey	11	[4], [8], [40]-[48]

Table 6 .

 6 Level of data

	Level of data Number of	Paper
		papers
	Primary	22

Table 7 .

 7 Concept-centric analysis of papers

	Papers		Concepts
	Channel choice	Multichannel
				management
	Unit of Analysis	Unit of Analysis
	O	G	I	O	G	I
	[41] [32] [40] [42] [29] [44] [17]
	[48] [47] [8] [31] [45] [46] [4]

Table 6 .

 6 Factors related to citizens' channel choice

	Variable	Examples of	Theory	Papers
		indicators
	Channel	Multiple cues	Media richness	[3], [17], [26],
	characteristics	Level of interactivity	theory, marketing	[30], [32],
		Perceived ease of use	theory, technology	[36], [38],
		Perceived usefulness	adoption models	[42], [45],
				[48]
	Task characteristics	Type of task at hand	Media richness	[3], [4], [8],
		Complexity of	theory, uses and	[17], [26],
		problem	gratifications	[29], [32],
		Ambiguity of	research	[38], [40]-
		information		[42], [44],
				[45], [48]
	Personal	Socio-demographics	Digital divide	[3],
	characteristics	(age, gender, race,	literature,
		education, income)	technology
		Experience with	adoption models,
		channel, habits	channel expansion
		Trust in public	theory,
		authorities

Table 8 .

 8 Suggestions for future CC studies

	Suggestion	Purpose
	Studies from new countries and services	Increase analytical generalizability
	More use of primary data and qualitative	Improve statistical analysis of CC, and
	data	in-depth examination of specific areas
	Direct observation and analysis of	Supplement and update existing studies
	channel traffic	Analyze long-term effects of MCM
	Longitudinal studies	instruments
	Studies of CC at group level	Extend existing process models to
		include the effects of citizen-to-citizen
		interaction on CC
	Field experiments	Bridge gaps between CC at individual
		level and MCM at organizational level


Catherine G Mkude
email: cmkude@uni-koblenz.de

Maria A Wimmer
email: wimmer@uni-koblenz.de

E-government Systems Design and Implementation in Developed and Developing Countries: Results from a Qualitative Analysis

Keywords: E-Government Design and Implementation, Developed Countries, Developing Countries, Qualitative Analysis

des établissements d'enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés.

Introduction

The last United Nations (UN) e-government survey reveals that governments in developing countries have recognisably advanced in the area [START_REF]E-Government for the future we want[END_REF]. The contribution of mobile phones and technologies is highly acknowledged in such advancements, particularly in the provision and adoption of online public services by governments and citizens [START_REF] Ogunleye | Exploring the success, failure and factors influencing m-Government implementation in developing countries[END_REF], [START_REF]E-Government for the future we want[END_REF]. To support developing countries in keeping pace with the innovations and developments of e-government and in realising more successful e-government implementation, the sharing and transfer of expertise, experiences, design approaches and solutions among developed and developing countries is crucial. However, a direct transfer of solutions is cautioned in literature because a country's context is not necessarily reflected in system designs [START_REF] Heeks | Information Systems and Developing Countries: Failure, Success and Local Improvisations[END_REF]. Also, contextual factors of countries such as culture, infrastructure, economic growth and ICT capabilities ought to be considered when transferring solutions [START_REF] Chen | E-government strategies in developed and developing countries: An implementation framework and case study[END_REF]. Saebø points out that knowledge of e-government in developing countries, is "mainly based on research in developed countries" [START_REF] Saebø | E-government in Tanzania: Current Status and Future Challenges[END_REF].

Following these arguments, this paper has two objectives to bridging the gap between developed and developing countries: [START_REF] Aichholzer | Scenarios of e-Government in 2010 and implications for strategy design[END_REF] to investigate and compare e-government design and implementation approaches in developed and developing countries along differences, similarities and their impacts; and (2) to bring forward recommendations for more successful implementation of e-government endeavours in developing countries based on findings of [START_REF] Aichholzer | Scenarios of e-Government in 2010 and implications for strategy design[END_REF]. The term 'e-government approaches' is used throughout the paper in a general manner to incorporate methods of analysis, design, implementation and evaluation as well as overall frameworks (for distinct purposes such as strategic, legal, management, architecture, interoperability, technological development or evaluation) that are employed by governments to support better achievement of the envisaged objectives. The primary focus of study is the national level, and the research is guided by a strategic framework for e-government implementation as put forward in [START_REF] Mkude | Strategic Framework for Designing E-Government in Developing Countries[END_REF]. Practitioners of e-government -particularly of developing countriescan benefit from the insights and lessons of the qualitative analysis and from the recommendations put forward to successfully implement e-government.

The remainder of the paper is as follows: Section 2 presents the research design and methods used, followed by the analysis and comparison of approaches of e-government design and implementation employed in different countries (section 3). Recommendations derived from the data analysis are synthesised in section 4. In section 5, we conclude with suggestions for future research.

Research Design

Comparing approaches of e-government design and implementation in developed and developing countries is grounded in qualitative research. This is because the objectives are not particularly geared towards generalisation and representativeness of samples in empirical research, which are among the key features of quantitative approaches [START_REF] Guba | Competing paradigms in qualitative research[END_REF], [START_REF] Punch | Introduction to Social Research: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches[END_REF]. A qualitative approach is also selected because of its relatively smaller sample in which the researcher acquires a comprehensive overview of different contexts to draw conclusions rather than statistical measures of results ( [START_REF] Punch | Introduction to Social Research: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches[END_REF], p. 259). Based on the objectives, interviews and desk research were selected as research methods. The design of the interviews and the systematic analysis of literature through desk research were guided by the framework for strategic design of e-government suggested in [START_REF] Mkude | Strategic Framework for Designing E-Government in Developing Countries[END_REF]. The framework helped to identify the areas of investigation deemed important to e-government design and implementation at national level. The strategic framework for designing e-government in [START_REF] Mkude | Strategic Framework for Designing E-Government in Developing Countries[END_REF] compares nine e-government approaches identified in literature and proposes five core activities of e-government implementation to better achieve the overall objectives: (1) developing a vision, (2) developing a strategy, (3) introducing programmes for implementing the strategy, (4) running concrete projects, and (5) evaluating the achievements of projects towards strategy and vision. The framework emphasises a clear relationship and feedback loop among the activities so policy makers are able to evaluate the achievement of objectives of each activity by the subsequent activity. Further literature review revealed the significance of e-government sustainability [START_REF] Aichholzer | Scenarios of e-Government in 2010 and implications for strategy design[END_REF], [START_REF] Dshusupova | Sustaining Electronic Governance Programs in Developing Countries[END_REF], [START_REF] Kumar | Factors for Successful E-Government Adoption: A Conceptual Framework[END_REF] as a key principle of strategic design of e-government. Accordingly, the principle is investigated in this paper, too.

The interview protocol consisted of 30 questions (mix of open and closed), which were grouped into six parts (A -F) grounded on the strategic framework for designing e-government. Part A consisted of demographic questions. Part B collected information about the existence of a vision and strategy in a country. Part C investigated the presence of programmes (see [START_REF] Mkude | Strategic Framework for Designing E-Government in Developing Countries[END_REF] for a definition of 'programmes') that support the implementation of the strategy. The purpose of part D was to find out what approaches countries employed for successfully implementing e-government projects. This part investigated aspects such as criteria for selection of projects, interoperability and development methods. Part E investigated evaluation and sustainability approaches. Part F inquired recommendations for successful implementation of e-government.

The interviews were conducted in person (at the IFIP EGOV conference in 2013) and via VoIP technologies to reach experts beyond the conference in developed and developing countries in the time span of end 2013 -mid 2014. The experts were selected from the pool of contacts of the authorsone per country, with a balance among developed and developing countries. The interviews took 40-60 minutes to allow in-depth interrogation. The transcribed interviews were sent to the interviewees for accuracy and additional comments. The authors ensured that the responses were recorded and verified to ensure accuracy and reliability of the findings as is suggested by Riege [START_REF] Riege | Validity and reliability tests in case study research: a literature review with "hands-on" applications for each research phase[END_REF]. Data obtained from the interviews was analysed qualitatively to search for patterns, similarities and differences in the approaches.

Desk research was conducted in parallel to the interviews to triangulate and validate data collected from the interviews. The authors sought official documentations such as e-government strategies, interoperability frameworks and architectures and evaluation frameworks, and evaluated the suitability of documents with the interviewees so to address drawbacks of desk research such as access restrictions or lack of control over data quality (see [START_REF] Oates | Researching Information Systems and Computing[END_REF] and [START_REF] Saunders | Research methods for business students[END_REF] for more details).

3

Analysis of E-Government Approaches in Developed and Developing Countries

Sample Selection and Demographic Information of Experts

The authors aimed at interviewing at minimum one person per country and at investigating a reasonable set of countries. A good balance of interviews from developed vs. developing counties was aimed at, with a minimum of five interviews per country group. However, the selection of countries was challenging because the interview required participants who are knowledgeable of e-government endeavours in their countries at the national level and that the interviewees bring 40 -60 minutes of their time. These aspects presented a significant geographical constraint to approach the 'right and willing' participants. The candidates were selected from the pool of contacts in the egovernment networks they are involved.

Analysis of Results along the Interview Protocol, Parts B -E

The results are presented along the five activities suggested in the strategic framework for e-government of [START_REF] Mkude | Strategic Framework for Designing E-Government in Developing Countries[END_REF], with the addition of sustainability (along evaluation). The italic entries with Q: correspond to the interview questions.

Part B: Vision and strategy formulation Q: Is there an e-government vision and strategy at the national level? 10 out of 11 experts of developed countries and 6 out of 7 experts from developing countries confirmed the existence of a vision and strategy at the national level. In CA, the Digital Canada 150 was published in April 2014, which was after the interview, i.e. today, all 11 developed countries where we conducted interviews have a vision and strategy in place at national level. However, the respondent of CA stated that lacking a strategy at the national level led to the absence of a standardised approach and to nonexploitation of synergies across the country to implement e-government projects, which also led to high costs. The respondent argued further that solutions are not interoperable due to the lack of a centralised approach. Furthermore, the respondent stated that "this situation is worse to handle in a federal country because there is no standardised direction in coordinating vertical and horizontal level investments of the government".

The formulation of a vision and strategy at the national level in NG is an on-going process. General guidelines for e-government implementation exist in ministries, departments and agencies. The respondent stated that the absence of the strategy results in a lack of a standardised approach across the country to implement e-government projects, presence of dismantled programs and projects with objectives that are not necessarily aligned, waste of resources and redundancy of solutions.

Q: Is the implementation of the strategy obligatory, optional but recommended or optional and not recommended to other government levels?

In developed countries, the implementation of the strategies is obligatory in MT, SA, DK and RU and optional but recommended in AT, CH, SE and DE. The implementation in NL and UK includes obligatory and optional but recommended facets depending on aspects addressed by the strategy. Respondents from CH, DE and NL revealed that the high level of autonomy in lower levels of the government contribute to the implementation of the strategies being not entirely obligatory. Respondents from AT, CH and DE also mentioned that the non-obligation is due to the federal structure of the governments. The respondent from AT explained that internal discussions, collaboration and common agreements among the federal government and lower levels of the government improve consistent and coordinated implementation of e-government.

In developing countries, the implementation of the strategy is obligatory in LB and GE, and optional but recommended in TN, MW and EG. The respondent from GE stated that the strategy has a legal force; therefore all government organisations are highly obliged to implement the objectives specified therein. The implementation of the strategy in MX includes obligatory and optional but recommended facets depending on aspects addressed in the strategy. The overall approach of implementing the strategies in TN and EG have been disrupted by political revolutions. For example, the respondent from EG commented that "after the revolution, the national focus shifted from development aspects, particularly e-government implementation, to the turbulences and security. Therefore at the moment, ministries are not as obligated to implement the strategy as before".

Q: What impacts does the answer in the previous question have to e-government systems design at national level?

All respondents, regardless if obligatory or optional but recommended, reported that the presence of an e-government strategy at the national level helps to enhance adoption, to ensure political support at the national level and to provide a national framework for implementation of strategic objectives. Table 2 sums up the impacts reported by experts on obligatory and optional but recommended facets of implementing the e-government strategy. As can be noted, the obligatory strategy has more positive impacts on implementing e-government than optional but recommended ones. In AT, where the strategy is optional but recommended, the presence of collaboration, internal discussions and common agreements among different levels of the government strengthen the implementation of effective, efficient and interoperable e-government solutions. Part C: Programmes supporting the implementation of vision and strategy Q: Are there any programmes that support implementation of the strategy? In 7 out 11 developed countries (AT, NL, SE, SA, MT, DK and RU) and in 4 out of 7 developing countries (TN, LB, EG and GE), respective programmes to implement the e-government vision and strategy are in place. Q: What is the impact(s) of the presence or absence of the programmes? Table 3 indicates the impact of the presence or absence of programmes at the national level. Respondents from DE and CA, both federal countries, stressed on the resulting different approaches towards achieving the objectives of the strategy and lack of coordination as the most observed and significant impacts.

Table 3. Results regarding impacts of presence or absence of programmes

Impacts of presence of programmes

Impacts of absence of programmes Holistic management of projects that they don't exist in silos; Provide an end-to-end of projects to strategy and vision particularly in large scale implementations of the strategy; Ensure coordination across the country in implementing the strategy;  Assessment and evaluation of projects by experts based on their business cases to ensure that they are aligned to the programmes -AT, NL, DK, SE, RU, EG  Presence of the same organisation/committee that formulated the strategy, identified the programmes and selected the projects -SE, AT, DK, MT, SA, LB, GE  Collaborative meetings and discussions when selecting projects and transparency in implementation of projects -AT  Presence of an e-government commission, which is responsible for cross-agency cooperation and coordination -GE Q: Is there an e-government interoperability framework at the national level? An interoperability framework exists in 9 out of 11 developed countries, except in CA and CH. Among the developing countries, an interoperability framework is in place only in NG (it is currently under review). However, all respondents in developing countries indicated that the development of the framework is on-going. Respondents from LB, MX, EG and GE reported that there are interoperability standards but they are developed in an ad-hoc manner and are not institutionalised.

Q: Which challenges have you identified on organisational, legal, semantic and technical interoperability? What possible solutions exist to address these challenges?

A total of 13 challenges -3 legal, 5 organisational, 2 semantic and 3 technicalwere identified by the respondents with proposed solutions (except, CA and SA, where the expert did not provide answers to the question). Due to space limitation, only summaries and not the individual answers are reported here. The presence of legacy systems was identified as a technical challenge in developing countries and not in developed countries. All other challenges were mentioned by respondents from both groups. Re-spondents argued that legal and organisational challenges are more prominent than semantic and technical challenges because the latter are mostly resolved by high availability of advanced technologies to support semantic and technical interoperability. Legal and organisational interoperability challenges are e.g. grounded in different and long-term social circumstances and organisational structures and the long time required to change legislation compared to advancements made in e-government and innovative ICT. Respondents emphasised that the development of an interoperability framework that addresses the challenges is vital to ensure interoperable e-government solutions. Also, such a framework needs continuous improvement. Adding to this, the respondent from GE stated: "given the significance of an interoperability framework in implementing e-government, we currently develop the framework with legal obligations attached to it". Q: Is there a project development method at the national level? Is the method obligatory, optional but recommended or optional and not recommended to other government levels? What are its objectives? 6 out of 11 developed countries have a project development method in place, which is obligatory in DK, AT, MT and SA and optional but recommended in SE and UK. None of the experts of developing countries reported the existence of a project development method at the national level. Table 4 presents the methods and their objectives mentioned by experts (except by the expert of MT who could not provide details due to confidentiality reasons).

Q: What is the impact of the absence of a project development method at the national level?

Respondents from the countries that have no project development method at the national level pointed out that the impacts of this absence include among others a high fragmentation and heterogeneous solutions, a higher number of solutions that are not interoperable, a duplication of efforts and waste of money, a lack of learning from the projects' results by organisations, a lack of coordination in the development processes and in the use of required infrastructure, an increased uncertainty in the outcomes of the projects, and a lack of proper documentation in place. Q: Is there an architecture repository at the national level? What are its objectives? What is the level of reusability of the artefacts? Architecture repositories exist in 7 out of 11 developed countries (not in UK, RU and CA), while none of the developing countries have architecture repositories in place. However, the respondent from LB stated that there is a high emphasis of sharing and reuse of resources across the public sector.

The objectives of the repositories are to provide a reference point for project developments and architectural works, to provide consistency of the artefacts for reuse in new projects, to achieve synergies and sharing of artefacts, to promote reusability, to improve interoperability, to reduce costs by reducing duplication of artefacts and to improve quality in projects by providing quality assured artefacts.

The artefacts are extensively reused in NL and DK, reused in SA, DE, SE and AT, and rather not reused in MT (scale: extensively reused, reused, rather not reused, not reused). The respondent in MT stated that the repository is rather not reused because reuse is not institutionalised. The establishment of the repository in the UK is an ongoing process. The UK respondent also stated that resource sharing is among the core technology codes of practice that "must be demonstrated for the project to proceed". The sharing and re-use of ICT components and solutions across government is also emphasised in UK's Government Digital Service (GDS) design manual.1 Part E1: Evaluation Q: Is there an evaluation framework at the national level? Is the framework obligatory, optional but recommended or optional and not recommended? At national level, 7 out of 11 developed countries apply evaluation frameworks (except in CA, SE and MT), which are obligatory for all except in AT where the framework is optional but recommended. 2 out of 7 developing countries have evaluation frameworks at the national level -LB (obligatory) and MW (optional but recommended).

Respondents from countries that lack evaluation frameworks at the national level reported impacts such as the lack of a possibility to determine whether the projects have achieved the objectives of the strategy or programmes, decentralised approaches to evaluation across the government, uncertainty whether the project outcomes are the desirable ones depending on time and financial investments, lack of possibility to measure the quality of the projects at the national level and low sustainability of the projects.

Q: Does the framework assess the alignment of the projects' objectives with the objectives of strategy and programmes?

Only in 2 countries, AT and SA, the evaluation frameworks include assessment of the alignment of project objectives with the objectives of both the strategy and programmes. The framework in CH and MW assesses the alignment of project objectives with strategic objectives since there are no programmes in CH and MW.

Part E2: Sustainability Q: How important do you perceive sustainability to be addressed along project development? How is e-government sustainability ensured at the national level? All respondents considered e-government sustainability as a significant factor to be addressed in all e-government projects. A total of 24 sustainability factors were mentioned by respondents from country experts (see Table 5), except from CA, GE, LB and MX. The respondent from DE commented that the use of standards to ensure interoperability is particularly important in federal governments. Further to the sustainability factors identified, respondents were asked to recommend additional factors if the ones that are already in place are insufficient.

Recommendations

The results of the analysis of e-government implementation approaches in developed and developing countries reveal findings consistent with the literature and with international surveys: developing countries still lag significantly behind developed countries. We argue that developing countries can learn from experiences of developed countries for more successful e-government endeavours by applying a strategic framework for designing e-government as proposed in [START_REF] Mkude | Strategic Framework for Designing E-Government in Developing Countries[END_REF], and along this, by employing a set of measures to improve quality, efficiency, collaboration and success.

Recommendations for successful e-government implementation were put forward by the respondents in part F of the interview protocol. They are summarised in Table 6 and include political, economic, socio-cultural, technological and legal aspects as well as management aspects of implementing e-government. These recommendations provide a rich addition to current literature of e-government success factors. Based on the insights from literature and data analysis, the following e-government design and implementation approaches have positive impacts on success e-government implementation and are therefore highly recommended for a transfer to developing countries:  Define success factors for e-government that are customised to the country's circumstances. Developing countries can benefit a lot by specifying success factors for their e-government strategies, programmes and projects, which are customised to their local circumstances in which they operate, and involving political, economic, socio-cultural, technological and legal conditions.  Mechanisms to ensure alignment between e-government strategies, programmes and projects. Ensuring this alignment is significant to ensure that the objectives are achieved and consequently to evidence that resources are spent well. A total of 7 alignment mechanisms were identified mostly from developed countries.  Presence of government-wide interoperability frameworks. Initiatives are already on-going in all developing countries investigated. However, developing countries need to ensure that their framework addresses the country's specific interoperability challenges and that continuous improvements of the national framework are ensured.  Presence of architecture repositories to avoid reinventing the wheel and to improve quality of design artefacts. As architecture repositories promote reusability, improve quality of design artefacts and prevent redundant investments, developing countries can benefit from this opportunity of sharing and reusing.  Presence of evaluation frameworks at national level to ensure that not only the objectives of the projects are achieved, but also contributions to the strategic objectives and the vision are made. Evaluation frameworks are particularly important for developing countries where funds are very limited. Also, transparency in evaluation and implementation of projects (sustainability factor) is important and recommended.  Implementation of project development methods at national level. While no such methods are implemented so far in developing countries investigated, they can learn from developed countries particularly the objectives of methods, stages supported and adoption approaches across government. Only 6 out 18 countries studied implement such a method at national level. Interestingly, research on successful e-government project development methods and their impacts to the overall success in e-government implementation is scarce.

Table 6. Recommendations for successful e-government implementation

 Include sustainability at strategy, programme and project levels. Most of the 24 sustainability factors put forward are settled in developed countries while respondents from developing countries could only recommend them (as these are not yet applied in their countries). For example, a significant sustainability factor is a close linkage between e-government strategies and national development goals which is already applied in MX and DK and recommended in UK.  Learn from others and reuse concepts and solutions. Experiences from developed countries can be a valuable and useful asset for developing countries to transferring concepts and solutions among developed and developing countries. Yet, capabilities of transferring and sustaining solutions from other countries have to be available, too.

Conclusion

This paper presented a qualitative analysis of e-government approaches in developed and developing countries based on a strategic framework for e-government design [START_REF] Mkude | Strategic Framework for Designing E-Government in Developing Countries[END_REF] to scope the areas of investigation: formulation of vision and strategy at the national level, selection of programmes, selection and implementation of projects, evaluation and sustainability. While literature cautions that the transfer of concepts and solutions is not a straightforward task and that the understanding of differences in the countries' contexts is important, this paper investigated the approaches of e-government development from 18 countries -11 from developed and 7 from developing countries. Based on the analysis, recommendations were put forward for more successful e-government implementation in developing countries.

The findings highlight differences in the advancement of e-government implementation between developed and developing countries and, most importantly, the impacts of such advancements to successful implementation of e-government. The differences in implementing the approaches provided a rich ground in understanding the impacts of their presence/absence and for deriving recommendations to transfer best practices to developing countries.

Further research is required to assess the application of the recommended approaches in a particular country grounded with a good understanding of the context of the country, as recommended in the paper. Additionally, the studied approaches in this research call for richer investigations; for example, the contents and application of evaluation frameworks and project development methods at the national level demand for more details of understanding to operationalise transfer.

  Q: How do you ensure the alignment of the objectives of the strategy to the vision? In 9 out of 10 developed countries and in 4 out of 6 developing countries, mechanisms are in place for ensuring that the objectives of the strategy are aligned to the vision. The following mechanisms were mentioned (with respective country indications):  The same organisation is responsible to formulate both a vision and a strategy -AT, UK, CH, SE, NL, DE, SA, MT, DK, MX, MW, LB, GE  Re-evaluation and feedback of how the strategy impacts and realises the vision -AT  Constant negotiations and communications involving representatives of the government at different levels and use of alignment scenarios -NL No specific mechanisms exist in RU, TN and EG.

  Different approaches towards achieving objectives of the strategy; Lack of clear alignment of projects to the objectives of the strategy; Create transparency and shared understanding of the development efforts; Benefits and value are the foci of programmes unlike projects which are often measured by objectives, deliverables and milestones; Concrete definition of measures and actions for implementing the strategy including setting of priority themes Uneven distribution of e-government progress, particularly in federal governments; Lack of coordination in implementing the projects at national level Q: How do you ensure the alignment of the programmes to the strategy? 8 developed countries and 3 developing countries have mechanisms in place for ensuring the alignment. The following mechanisms were namedwith country indication:  The same organisation is responsible for formulating the strategy and for defining the programmes -AT, DK, SE, MT, SA, LB, GE  Constant communication among stakeholders involved in planning and implementing the programmes -AT, NL  Top down approach of formulating the programmes by formulating the programmes from the objectives of the strategy -MT, RU  Demonstrating alignment of programmes to the strategy by indicators -SE, EG Part D: Implementation through projects Q: How do you ensure the alignment of the projects to the programs? All developed countries and 3 developing countries mention mechanisms for ensuring the alignment as follows (with respective country-indication):

  Recommendations for successful e-government implementation Country Developed and developing countriesStudy and reflect the level of trust of citizens and their willingness in using egovernment services when designing e-government strategies UK, NL, RU, MX Increase the understanding of the importance of coordination and collaboration in vertical and horizontal government relations in implementing e-government projects. Advantages of this must be made clear SE, DE, SA, EG, MW, NG, LB, GE Design e-government strategies whilst reflecting on the local settings of a country -PESTEL factors NL, RU, UK, MX, EG, LB, TN, MW Use user-friendly technologies and multi-channel delivery of services to cater the needs of all citizens including online and offline provision of services. Leverage on the opportunities brought by the widespread mobile market NL, DK, MW, MX, TN Establish a legal framework to support the implementation of e-government projects and increase an emphasis on data security and protection procedures UK, EG, GE, MW Ensure political support and commitment regardless the changes in political system to ensure e-government sustainability NL, EG, MX, TN Developed countries Use design thinking approaches and engage users in designing and providing e-services. Personalise services to users' conditions, skills and needs to increase the uptake of e-services by the users UK, NL, CA, DE, RU, AT Apply stakeholder management methods to ensure inclusion of dynamic groups of stakeholders in designing and implementing e-government solutions CH, CA, MT Change the government's role as a sole provider of e-services by encouraging other proprietors and societies to utilise open data and e-participation initiatives to provide public services UK, CA Assess the public value generated by the projects UK, CA Embed the use of ICT in the overall social welfare. Do not only migrate towards e-services but also use ICT to improve the quality of services provided via non-electronic media UK Policy and implementation are too far apart from each other therefore ensure advanced agreements among organisations to improve the implementation of cross-organisational projects NL Implementation of projects which are easier to manage and sustain NL Top management support in organisations NL Do not underestimate the importance of personal interactions e.g. in areas such as education and health. Personal interactions should not be minimised but use ICT to improve the quality of those services DK Ensure obligated adoption of important aspects in e-government implementation for example interoperability standards and principles, evaluation methods and reusability of solutions SA Developing countries Use measures to ensure interoperability at all levels GE, MW, LB, MX, EG, TN, NG Formulate a centralised entity to coordinate, enforce and monitor e-government implementations EG, LB, NG Ensure human capacity in developing, implementing and maintaining e-government services and also for the side of users by providing continuous training MW, NG, LB Ensure accountability of public managers to the public and the parliament in the development and implementation of ICT solutions TN

Table 2 .

 2 Impacts of obligatory vs. optional but recommended e-government strategies

	Impacts if obligatory strategy	Impacts if optional but recommended strategy
	Cost savings due to a centralised structure of	Provision of more opportunities for bottom up initia-
	planning and implementing e-government;	tives that are not necessarily identified by the central-
	Comprehensive and consistent provision of	ised strategy;
	public services across the country;	Lack of coordination in achieving the objectives of
	Enhanced assurance that the implementations	the strategy;
	are directed towards achieving the goals and	Lack of standardised approach towards implementing
	objectives of the strategy;	e-government;
	A unified approach towards implementing	Low cooperation among public sectors at different
	e-government;	levels of government particularly in federal countries;
	Enhanced coordination and collaboration in	Lack of clear alignment between strategy and projects
	achieving the objectives of the strategy	implemented at different levels of government

Table 4 .

 4 Summary of project development methods and objectives in use

	Country: Method	Objectives
	DK: Common government	Contribute to a better and more uniform planning, management and
	IT project model	implementation of IT projects
	SE: Method Development	Provide a common framework to ensure quality, meet common expecta-
	Coalition	tions and demands on development
	UK: Agile method	Ability to better meet user needs;
		Improve quality and visibility of the method;
		Reduce cost to market
	SA: YESSER software	Assure predictability of work activities and achieving approximately the
	development life cycle	same deliverables with the same resources;
		Increase productivity and the probability that the deliverables produced
		will be the desired deliverables;
		Increase awareness of the required standards;
		Improve schedule and budget predictability;
		Increase quality and customers satisfaction
	DE: V-Modell XT	Minimise project risks;
		Improve and guarantee quality;
		Reduce total cost over the entire project and system life cycle;
		Improve communication between stakeholders

Table 5 .

 5 E-government sustainability factors named by respondents

	Sustainability factors	In place in	Recommended in
		(country)	(country)
	Government commitment to e-government implementation	UK, DK, SA, DE,
		GE
	Sufficient and continuous funding of e-government initia-tives	UK, DE, CH, MT, GE	TN, EG, MW, LB
	Continuous control and maintenance of solutions	CH, SA, NL, DE	TN, LB
	Use of standards to ensure quality and interoperability	DE, UK, MT, RU	MW, NG, TN, GE, MX, EG, LB
	Promote transparency in implementation and evaluation of projects	NL, AT
	Support the implementation of e-government with a legal framework	AT, DE, RU, GE	MX, NG, LB
	Centralisation and coordination of e-government implemen-tation at the national level through a centralised organisation	SA, GE	TN
	Close linkage of e-government strategies with national de-
	velopment goals and policies in sectors such as health and	DK, MX	UK
	education
	Yearly assessment of projects regarding outcome, prioritisa-tion and sustainability by relevant stakeholders	AT
	Use of robust business cases	DK
	Use of robust guidelines for contracts, developments and implementation procedures of the projects	DK
	Development of reusable solutions	SE
	Ensure relationship and link between the strategy, pro-grammes and projects, and also among different projects	NL
	Track usage of e-services and feedback of users	MT
	Ensure political support and commitment regardless the change in political leadership	DK	NL
	Collect, use and disseminate knowledge on e-government implementation across the public sector	SE
	Ensure sufficient ICT infrastructure	RU
	Establish support from experts with a long-term perspective of e-government solutions		SE, EG, LB
	Presence of a centralised evaluation framework		NG, MW, EG
	Ensure sufficient ICT capacity in public sectors		GE, EG, MW
	Ensure coalition and cooperation among ministries		DE, EG
	Exercise accountability measures when projects are out-sourced to private sectors		UK
	Integrate knowledge between researchers and practitioners in public sectors		MT
	Citizens' desire for the government to provide e-services		MX

See: https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/technology/code-of-practice.html#the-technologycode-of-practice (last access

: 2015/03/15)

1. Austria (AT) Public sector E-Government >15 2. Canada (CA) Public sector E-Government 18 3. Denmark (DK) Public Sector E-Government 10 4. Germany (DE) Academia and public sector Information systems 10 5. Malta (MT) Public sector Computer science 20 6. The Netherlands (NL) Academia E-Government 12 7. Russia (RU) Academia E-Government 5 8. Saudi Arabia (SA) Academia and public sector E-Government 6 9. Sweden (SE) Public sector E-Government 5 10. Switzerland (CH) Academia and public sector E-Government