Benefits slippage: The yearlong process of implementing electronic document management in a Danish municipality

Government institutions invest substantial resources in digitalizing their processes and services. To benefit from these investments, the expected benefits must be specified and systematically pursued. Otherwise, they will likely slip. Benefits slippage is the situation where specified benefits do not materialize even though they continue to be seen as, at least partially, realizable. This study investigates benefits slippage in the implementation of electronic document management in a municipality in Denmark. On the basis of interviews, we identify three reasons why benefits slipped. First, inactionable benefits specifications make it difficult to see the link between the specified benefits and the work-process changes necessary to realize them, thereby leaving staff without directions about what changes to implement. Second, a prolonged realization process increases the opportunity for external events to disrupt the process, thereby shifting attention to other matters before the benefits have been realized. Third, absent benefits follow-up leaves the status of benefits realization uncertain or ignores indications that benefits have not been realized, thereby prolonging or discontinuing the realization process. In the studied municipality, the specified benefits had slipped for three years. Future research should investigate how benefits-realization initiatives can be resumed late, locally, and at low cost.