Benchmarking the E-Government Bulldozer: Beyond Measuring the Tread Marks

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of international benchmarking studies as drivers for e-government development. Design/methodology/approach – The paper shows that after reviewing 44 published e-government benchmarking reports (2000-2006) and evaluating their validity and acceptance in academic and practitioners' literature, the paper systematically compares and contrasts ten established international e-government benchmarking methodologies. The comparative analysis is conducted utilizing a proposed conceptual framework (CMBP), which specifically assesses the context, methodology, type of benchmarking and social paradigmatic tendency of each of the reports studied. Findings – The paper finds that regardless of the methodology adopted-international e-government benchmarking does have an imperative role in driving e-government development, only when the exercise is accompanied with a long-term iterative adaptation and reform mechanism. Originality/value – The framework proposed in this paper provides public administrators with a valuable conceptual lens for understanding the value of each benchmarking study to better assess its applicability in driving development of their e-government initiative. The paper also contributes to the limited body of academic literature investigating e-government benchmarking and proposes a methodical framework for understanding the role of international benchmarking reports in e-government development.