The institutional context surrounding the ERP implementation illustrates how executive support for the Imagine PA project was operationalized in terms of bringing the appropriate stakeholders together and clarifying the roles and responsibilities of the key organizational players. In the Commonwealth, the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Auditor General, and State Treasurer are all elected offices. All of the core administrative functions of government that were the focus of the ERP implementation (i.e., Accounting, Budget, Human Resources, Payroll, and Procurement), fall under the Governor’s jurisdiction within the Governor’s Office of Administration, Office of the Budget, and Department of General Services (see Figure 4). However, since the State Treasurer is a separately elected official, the Commonwealth’s authority to issue payments resides outside of the Governor’s jurisdiction. Therefore, from an institutional and political perspective, the Governor has authority over the Commonwealth’s finance processes just short of payment. Today, the State Treasurer is not part of the Commonwealth’s ERP. Efforts are underway to streamline and automate the transfer and access of data between the Executive Offices and the State Treasury.

The Imagine PA project team that managed the initial implementation from 2001 to 2004 reported to the Secretary of Administration. Today, the Bureau of Integrated Enterprise System (IES) is organizationally located within the Office Administration under the Deputy Secretary for Technology (i.e., the equivalent of the State CIO). The Deputy Secretary for Human Resources and Management, leader of one of the key business areas served by IES, also reports to the Secretary of Administration (see Figure 4).

From an institutional and political perspective, the relevant IT, Accounting, Budget, Human Resources, Payroll, and Procurement functions are under the direct jurisdiction of the Governor. The inclusion of Deputy Secretaries for Information Technology and Human Resources and Management under the Secretary of Administration along with the Secretary of Budget and the Secretary of the Department of General Services, all of which are appointees of the Governor, provided a very clear institutional structure for managing the project.