Public service values and e-administration: an explosive mix? Illustration drawing on the case of the Family Allowance Funds (Caisses d'Allocations Familiales) in France
Résumé
Despite the fact that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are considered to be an important state modernization tool, resistance to change can sometimes be observed. The question is why? On the basis of intervention research mobilizing five different corpuses of material over eight years in the family branch of the French social security system, we have established that values can be an (accelerating or blocking) structuring element of an ambiguous e-administration development dynamic. In other words, in the process of enacting or activating technologies intended to modernize public services, sensemaking by managers faced with the conflicts of values generated or exacerbated by the introduction of these new management tools is fundamental to understanding the process of change. Based on this research result, recommendations for action have been drawn up for the managers, the aim being to elucidate these value conflicts within discussion forums, even if this implies a certain cost.