Municipal benefits of a mobile government solution : A study of the Swedish cases

Mobile government (m-government) provides a high potential to facilitate internal work processes, improve the quality of service, and increase performance of organizations in the public sector. However, only a few investigations have been conducted to explore this research area. And we lack of knowledge of evaluating the value and benefits of m-government solutions. In the paper, we identify and analyse the benefits of a mobile government solution for problem and complaint management by adopting the PENG model. Data are collected from case studies of two municipalities in Sweden. We perform thematic analysis of the data. The results reveal two main benefits of the m-government solution. Firstly, it helps the municipalities to enhance their innovative appearance and increase transparency in administration, which result in an improved social image. Secondly, the solution provides a number of benefits that have an impact on the municipalities and citizens. In particular, these benefits include an improved quality of public service, reduced costs and improved democracy. Moreover, we summarize the strengths and weaknesses of the PENG model that arises in the study. This paper contributes knowledge to the research of mobile government and increases the understanding of benefit analysis of mobile solutions for public organizations.