Digital Transformation in Sweden's Public Organisations, A Study of Cultural and Structural Barriers

Sammanfattning: Digital transformation has a significant impact on various areas of public sector organizations across the globe. While its most noticeable effect is proposed at the organizational level, digital transformation influences operational efficiency and performance. Digital transformation can enhance operational efficiency, for instance, by enabling accelerated decision-making processes through analytics and big data. Automation and improved business processes also contribute to operational efficiency. However, these organizations often encounter significant challenges in digital transformation, particularly cultural and structural barriers. While plenty of research is exploring digital transformation in private and public organizations, specific insights into the context of Swedish municipalities still need to be explored. Prior research has shown that digital transformation involves overcoming several barriers. In response to the research, this study aims to analyse the most impactful obstacles in digital transformation in public organizations: cultural and structural barriers within Swedish municipalities. The research strategy is a survey-based study involving semi-structured interviews with IT directors and managers from 14 municipalities undergoing digital transformation. The data collected was analysed using thematic analysis. The data analysis has identified a total of 19 barriers, with 11 being newly discovered and 8 reaffirmed from prior research literature and internal documents to achieve data triangulation. These findings provide a deeper understanding of these barriers, promoting the successful implementation of digital transformation strategies in the public sector.