Conditions for channel shift behaviours and simplification in business individuals' and small businesses’ online interactions with government

This research explores what would make it easier for business individuals and small businesses to deal with government agencies and use online channels instead of traditional channels in their interactions with government. The research explores what channels business individuals and small businesses have used for particular activities in their dealings with government in the last year, and under what conditions they would be willing to shift from traditional channels to online channels and use these channels 12 easily and more seamlessly in end-to-end service provision and compliance processes with government. A specific focus in the research has been to explore the conditions under which individuals and small businesses would be willing to adopt end-to-end online processing of tax compliance processes, in particular Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) deductions and Goods and Services Tax (GST). The research found that although most small businesses participating in this research are willing to shift from traditional channels to online channels, the current way in which online channels are used in interactions with government is not sufficient to make it easier for these businesses: the administrative complexities experienced by the research participants are not so much a channel or technology issue, and need to be treated differently therefore. Government agencies need to design their (online) channel strategy and relationships more with the business customer in mind and, preferably, in close collaboration with the business community. Social media channels targeting business clients were hardly used or not used at all by the research participants, which may point towards a low return-on-investment for government agencies needing to manage and maintain these channels for only a small proportion of their customers. In general, government agencies will need to design their (online) channel strategy and relationships more with the business customer in mind and, preferably, in close collaboration with the business community. Quite a few participants in this research commented that New Zealand government agencies are doing a good job in this respect and that online services are improving over time. However, this research points out that not only more, but particularly different things need to be done to make it easier for small businesses to interact with government in the digital age. • This research project, is being conducted as part of Victoria University of Wellington’s (VUW) Research Programme ‘Government and Democracy in the Digital Age’, a five-year research programme led by Professor Miriam Lips, Chair in Digital Government at VUW’s School of Government, and developed in partnership with Datacom Systems Ltd, Department of Internal Affairs, Inland Revenue and the Ministry of Education.