An empirical study of cultural dimensions and e-government development: implications of the findings and strategies

Abstract

We aim to examine whether national culture has an impact on e-government development. We used methods of correlation and multiple regression to analyse two sets of index: (1) Hofstede's cultural dimension index and (2) the e-government development index of the 2010 United Nations e-government survey. We found that there is a correlation to a various degree between e-governmental development and the cultural dimensions defined by Hofstede. Of the five cultural dimensions, we found that, individualism (i.e. the extent to which an individual is integrated into a group), power distance (i.e. the extent to which a society accepts the differences and inequalities in power distribution) and long-term orientation (i.e. the extent to which a culture programs its members to accept delayed satisfaction of their material, social and emotional needs) are significantly correlated with e-government development. The implications of the findings and the strategies proposed by this study could help governments and decision makers design and implement policies that take into account cultural factors to improve e-government services and their overall development. This study confirms and supports previous research and extends the scope of, and updates the results of, similar studies in the field.