To explore managerial issues and their implications on e-Government deployment in the public sector: Lessons from Taiwan's Bureau of Foreign Trade

The objective of this article is to explore the experience of reconciling the strategic information system (IS) management with the radical transition of the Information Technology (IT) infrastructure in Taiwan's Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) between 1998 and 2003. This investigation will be beneficial for the implementation of IT projects, as well as the comprehension of the organizational and managerial issues related to the discontinuity of IT development in office automation. This paper conducts an interpretative approach by means of qualitative methods – namely through participatory observation and in-depth interviews with fourteen informants – to reveal the managerial issues and their implications on the adoption of electronic government (e-Government). Through the method of content analysis, this study reviews the process of decision making, implementation, and other issues emerging as a result of the adoption of new technologies in public authorities, such as the cognition of the employee toward the benefits and effectiveness of IS in public authorities.Learning from this case, this article identifies key lessons and provides suggestions regarding the managerial issues related to the discontinuity of technologies in the workplace. These goals are achieved through reflexive exploration of the sense-making process among civil servants. In addition, this study shares the experience and suggestions with a government CIO through the proposition of a framework of SPECISM approaches to cope with the challenges from the appropriation of new IT in a public authority.