The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of organizational culture on open government reforms by developing a theoretical framework bridging the theory and practice gap.
An exploratory qualitative study consisting of a document analysis and a case study was conducted.
An open organizational culture is a precursor to effective open government. A network strategy as a facilitator for developing an open culture was used in one US federal agency, breaking across boundaries within the organization, creating greater symmetrical horizontal and vertical openness.
Much of the focus in both theory and practice has been on the use of technology as a vehicle to increase government openness. This study argues that a movement toward openness is beyond the technical. Organizational culture is a key to openness and may need to be changed. A networks strategy may be one way to facilitate a transformation to a more open culture.
