Information Systems Security (ISS) of E-Government for Sustainability: A Dual Path Model of ISS Influenced by Institutional Isomorphism

This study investigated information systems security (ISS) as one of the important issues of e-government for sustainable development. ISS is becoming increasingly important in the discourse on information technology-related organizational transformation, and governments need to undergo organizational transformation to establish an effective ISS system for advancing e-government capacity which plays a vital role in achieving sustainability. Furthermore, ISS breaches are becoming the norm rather than the exception, but ISS can only be achieved when employees fully and firmly embrace the concept by changing their behavior to comply with advanced ISS technologies. A research model is theoretically developed in this context based on institution theory, which proposes a dual path model consisting of legitimacy-leading organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) and organizational cynicism-causing counterproductive work behaviors (CWB) in the process of innovating ISS for e-government. This dual-path model is empirically tested against 388 data collected from information security managers in 30 departments and councils within Korea’s central government. A structural model evaluation of the collected data principally validates the research model. The results indicate that the path through legitimacy, influenced by normative and coercive isomorphism, is stronger than that through organizational cynicism. The data largely supports the proposed research model, confirming the applicability of institutional theory in explaining the institutionalization processes in effective ISS compliance at the organizational and individual levels. The implications of these findings are then discussed in detail.