Managing the It Relationship

There are approximately 700,000 non Government organisations in Australia employing approximately 936,000 people. Many of these can be classified as Non Government Human Service Organisations (NGHSOs). These organisations provide an array of services to people experiencing disadvantage. In the emerging information intensive climate, NGHSOs are increasingly under pressure to consider their own use of information technology (IT) to underpin and transform traditional methods of service delivery, or risk becoming irrelevant to their clients and those that support them materially. This thesis argues that NGHSOs have a critical role to play in addressing the so-called "digital divide" affecting their disadvantaged clients. It suggests a critical role for IT vendors in NGHSO IT management and examines this vendor role in diffusing new IT innovations. The thesis also highlights the multitude of impacting structures and policies that that influence NGHSO IT management practice. There has been little research into the IT management practices of small NGHSOs, and more particularly those that operate in regional, rural and remote communities. The study seeks to address this situation.