Outcome-based Performance Management in the Public Sector: What Role for Inter-organizational ICT Networks?

Public sector decision-making takes place across multiple tiers of government and societal organizations. Governance arrangements have major implications on performance, especially when addressing wicked problems: dispersed authority can lead to silos mentality, thus triggering coordination problems. We explore how inter-organizational Information and communication technology (ICT) networks can improve the performance of public sector organizations responsible for wicked problems by observing three such networks implemented by the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region (Italy): a portal for tourism promotion, a tracking system for intermodal cargo networks and a database of public works designed to prevent floods and landslides. Our analysis highlights that inter-organizational ICT networks improve outcomes when interests converge, but seem to have little impact when stakeholders perceive the interplay as a zero-sum game, and to perform best when interaction patterns are closest to hierarchy. In brief, the evidence suggests that ICT cannot contend to be a substitute for a shared governance model.