Cultural Barriers in Digital Transformation in a Public Organization: A Case Study of a Sri-Lankan Organization

Abstract

Digital transformation is a sine qua non in the business operations in private and public sector organizations. However, in achieving digital transformation in public organizations of significance importance are the cultural barriers. Previous studies on the barriers in digital transformation have mainly focused on private organizations, and less attention has been given to cultural barriers in digital transformation in public organizations. Therefore, this research has focused on the case of a public organization like Inland Revenue Department (IRD) in Sri-Lanka to identify the cultural barriers in digital transformation. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews, and from internal documents (organizational publications and annual performance reports of IRD), and was analyzed using thematic analysis. The research has identified a number of twenty-one cultural barriers that were classified into five themes. Out of those twenty-one, twelve were recognized as new cultural barriers in digital transformation in public organizations. The results of this research are important for both researchers in this area as well as the managers in public organizations to focus their efforts, mitigate the identified cultural barriers, and improve the digital transformation implementation in their organizations.