BROWN, Mary Maureen <br/><br/>
The benefits and costs of information technology innovations :  an empirical assessment of a local government agency 

 -  2001 
<br/><br/> This study describes teh outcomes of a large-scale information technology (IT) initiative in a major metropolitan police department. Although popular rhetoric suggests that substantial benefits cna be gained from IT, empirical studies have demonstrated more speculative results. IT projects are often fraught with cost overuns and delays. Moreover, once deployed,many systems failf to meet functional requirements or are too complex to be geasible for many organizations. This study details  one agency`s attempt to leverage technology to improve responsiveness and stimulate productivity. The implementation effort made it possible to capture pre- and post- implementation results. The study is longitudinal, with one preimplementation and two postimplementation observations. The results of the pretest and first pos-implementation review, collectd in spring 2000, are reported. The study revealed that  IT affords many benefits but demands substantial tangible and intangible resource investments. It concludes that the high-risk nature of IT initiatives is grounded in intangible resource requirements