Premium
Does E‐Government Measure Up to E‐Business? Comparing End User Perceptions of U.S. Federal Government and E‐Business Web Sites
Author(s) -
Morgeson Forrest V.,
Mithas Sunil
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
public administration review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.721
H-Index - 139
eISSN - 1540-6210
pISSN - 0033-3352
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-6210.2009.02021.x
Subject(s) - benchmarking , business , agency (philosophy) , quality (philosophy) , government (linguistics) , customer satisfaction , e government , web accessibility , marketing , public relations , web service , web standards , world wide web , political science , computer science , sociology , information and communications technology , social science , philosophy , linguistics , epistemology
This paper examines the federal government's success in implementing and providing high‐quality service through e‐government, something that has received very little attention. We define quality from the perspective of the end users of federal agency Web sites, as measured through customer survey data. Using data from the American Customer Satisfaction Index, we compare the performance of federal agency Web sites across a range of relevant variables with a private sector equivalent, e‐business Web sites. Our findings suggest that federal e‐government Web sites are not yet, in the aggregate, providing the same level of quality as their e‐business counterparts. We also find significant variability among federal agencies. We discuss the implications of these findings for e‐government performance measurement, performance benchmarking, and the market‐centered theories of administrative reform that are driving e‐government and similar transformations of government practice.