Change agents’ roles within ICT diffusion

As illustrated in Table 10, during the distinct project management stages different technology ideas were diffused. All ten change agents brought new technology ideas to

the projects. However, only four were adopted by the target audience. By comparison, of the three new ideas introduced by the team members, two were adopted. Of the ten ICT change agents, nine communicated with internal and external team members. It is clear from the table that all ICT change agents used formal and informal communication channels. Of the ten ICT change agents, eight also performed informal roles within an informal network.

Table 10: Change agents’ roles within ICT diffusion in Australian state agencies

Interview data within CA-No Suggested a new idea Adoption time of CA’s new idea Team member suggested a new idea Adoption time of team member’s new idea Project communication Formal communication channel Informal communication channel Role within informal network

CA1 Yes 9-12

Yes 12 months Internal Face-to-face, email, phone

Table 10: (continued). Change agents’ roles within ICT diffusion in Australian state agencies

Interview data within CA-No Suggested a new idea Adoption time of CA’s new idea Team member suggested a new idea Adoption time of team member’s new idea Project communication Formal communication channel Informal communication channel Role within informal network

CA8 Yes 3 months No Not

Table 10 indicates that ICT change agents and a few team members spread new ideas within technological projects. It is apparent that most new suggestions were made in the early project management stages. Indeed, one of the participants confirmed that in an interview saying, “I think definitely at the first versus the last …” (CA9) stage. Whether a new idea was adopted or rejected, it depended on the person who made the suggestion and the group that needed to adopt it and the type of ICT innovation. More generally, one of the directors discussed his experiences within technology projects emphasising that “… a lot of the initial innovator ideas and stimulus for the project don’t necessarily end up being adopted ...” (CA9). After the interview, he (CA9) remembered individuals, such as opinion leaders, who helped with the diffusion and adoption of ICT innovation.

This change agent (CA9) underlined the significance of key informal leaders in the diffusion and adoption process.

In the process of ICT diffusion, ICT change agents relied on formal and informal paths.

In some organisations, the formal communication was fixed; change agents were required to meet with their project members and customers in the specified time period.

In the formal communication, all participants relied on standard channels such as face-to-face, email and phone. Nevertheless, the project process required change agents to send documents via post or fax. One change agent used a person as a messenger to deliver information to the higher level. This was a case when the change agent could not directly communicate with the person higher up the hierarchical structure.

In contrast, ICT change agents referred to face-to-face conversation as the main informal channel for informal communication. The nature of the informal discussion was “… quite spontaneous …” and that it occurred by chance, “… you know I will be walking around …” (CA7). In the same vein, another change agent who was experienced in working in public sector settings remembered “… thousands and thousands and thousands of conversations and coffee meetings and … corridor conversations …”(CA9) on an informal basis. Sometimes, informal communication occurred in order to collect evidence about issues that had arisen in the project. By way of illustration, “… the biggest crisis in the project was the failure of the system configuration vendor …” (CA9) which was firstly discussed in informal conversations.

As enough evidence was gathered, the process “… becomes increasingly formalised …”

(CA9). Another internal change agent stressed that the informal communication was necessary, “… sometimes … when you’re trying to convey a point …” (CA7). Initially, the informal discussions aimed to prepare employees for adoption of ICT innovation in the subsequent formal meetings. For example, “…it builds that seed of this basic knowledge and then when you’re getting in and you’re having a formal discussion, everybody is thinking about this concept that you’ve informally discussed earlier ...”

(CA7).

Informal communication occurred among internal and external employees. In time, some of the informal contacts led to the formation of an informal network. Internally,

change agents used an informal network to pace the diffusion of new ideas. In other words, “… you are not actually formally discussing and you let them think about that and then you let that person talk to other people about that as well …” (CA7). On the other hand, internal change agents maintained contact with professionals outside of the public sector “…to get their ongoing advice ….” (CA8). One of the state agency’s change agents, whose job was related to a managerial role, emphasised that this happened on an informal basis, saying, “… informal … we … spoke to the banks …”

(CA8). These informal contacts were used “… to learn and achieve from experiences

….” (CA8). Another internal change agent (CA7), who changed from the private to the public sector, revealed that he brought the informal networks from his previous organisations with him which he could use on demand.

To accelerate the diffusion of new technologies in the public sector settings, many private sector companies invited state agency change agents to their conferences. In the lunch break at the conference, networking among the ICT change agents was promoted.

Hence, through these functions external change agents provided public sector change agents with the informal contacts in private sector settings.

The internal guidelines of Australian state agencies requested ICT change agents to communicate “… formal with …” (CA2) external companies and allowed “… informal communication … internally …” (CA2). One of the external change agents who worked for the public sector confirmed, “Again internally we did …” (CA1) communicate on an informal basis however, “… externally never …” (CA1) with vendors. However, at the beginning of the interview, he mentioned his “… good friends in the industry …” and later revealed how important the informal contacts were for accomplishing ICT project goals by stating “… if I had a strong relationship, I would use informal first … formal

… after …” (CA1). ICT change agents were expected to be committed to state agencies’ policies while being required to complete an ICT project. However, temporary technology projects driven by the rapid-changing ICT innovation also demanded the use of informal communication channels. The nature of innovative

projects induced the majority of the change agents to communicate on a formal and informal basis within and outside their state agencies.