How strategic leaders facilitate public sector digitalisation: the context of two Saudi Arabian ministries

Alajaji, Yosef Abdulaziz (2023) How strategic leaders facilitate public sector digitalisation: the context of two Saudi Arabian ministries. Doctoral thesis (PhD), Manchester Metropolitan University.

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Abstract

Digitalisation is a product of necessity converting analogue signals to digital ones, replacing paper-based processing with digital (technology) language for effective and timely service delivery Digitalisation is a complementary activity improving customer value intentions, effective interaction, and collaboration in the value-chain delivery processes. Digitalisation enhances the modernisation of better service delivery both in public and private institutions. The digitalisation of government services symbolises a paradigm shift in governance, transforming and integrating public services for agile, holistic, and responsive government. Combining insights from the literature on strategic leadership and national cultural factors within the strategic triangle model, this research examines how strategic leaders facilitate public sector digitalisation service delivery: The context of two Saudi Arabian ministries. Specifically, it evaluates the effect of national civilization and power dynamics on strategic leadership panache employed to drive digitalisation in the selected ministries for quality public service delivery in the Saudi context (Saudi Vision 2030). The study used the two ministries to gain access to the ten participants. The participants were carefully selected because they provided needed information on the characteristic of interest as revealed in the pilot study. In addition, his selection of participants for the research was carefully shaped by his employment with a management position in a public institution in Saudi Arabia for over five years. Descriptive statistics and Multiple regression analysis analysed data. All respondents in the research are males. Considering that the researcher is male and cannot access female leaders due to cultural restrictions, it was impossible to identify an organisation with female leaders. In addition, female leaders worked in different locations inaccessible to their male counterparts. The Respondents are between 45 and 55 years old, with a mean age of 55.5. Results revealed that the Development Director, Information Technology director and human resources director had 20% of the population sampled. Working years of experience in directorship range between 5-8 years. The mean years of working experience are 6.4, mean departmental size is 27.50. Departmental sizes 25 and 30 are in the modal class. The driver of the strategic and operational elements of digitalisation in leadership influenced quality public service delivery by 27.5%. More so, about 20% of the leadership style compliance to digitalisation aligned with Saudi Vision 2030, while 20% of the respondents placed achieving desired results by positioning the allocation of resources, both human and natural, effectively. Moreover, 75% of the respondents reported that strategic leadership are responsible for channelling who to lead the people. The study observed that the flexible strategic archetype adopted by these ministries balances public value, operational capability and interests of the appointing authority. Hence, the strategic leadership style adopted for the digitalisation drive is engrossed in the Saudi-Vision-2030. Although the study indicated different leadership styles, leaders at the upper echelons keyed into the Saudi-Vision-2030 for digitalisation drive. Thus, transformational strategic leadership needs to be discernible through goals to influence successful digitalisation drives, such as transformational visibility, effective communication, mode of strategic leadership-drive, a channel of the drive and clearly defined roles and responsibilities. The research deduced that digitalisation has led to achieving the organisation's desired results, improving culture collaboration and cooperation, building a solid internal system and a dependable internal culture, and generating a strong social network and strong internal and external networks. Strategic leaders facilitated public sector digitalisation through a medium organisation for better service delivery. This research recommends that, for sustained successful digitalisation, leaders should be aware of the national culture in the current Saudi public sector context, accelerating growth and intergovernmental collaborations aligned to Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030. Strategic leadership must be able to operationalise the digitalisation goals set by appointing authorities with a high degree of autonomy. Further research might draw on different methodologies and stakeholder analysis using larger samples.