Information, Technology and Process Constraints
Where decentralized information systems, manual or computerized, are already in place, barriers to centralization may be severe. In order to centralize, changes may need to be made to the organization’s whole information systems architecture: new data fields and formats, new hardware and software, new processes by which to handle data, and new processes by which to make decisions and take actions.
Objectives and Values Constraints
Centralization means changes in flows of resources: of people, of money, of technology, of information. Those public managers who perceive themselves as potential resource losers will resist centralization. With data, for example, staff find it hard to think of ‘my data’ or ‘our data’ becoming ‘the organization’s data’. This is a particular problem for the public sectors given the political antagonisms caused by the need to fight over limited resources.