Introduction
All organizations (including business organizations, not-for-profit organizations, as well as, public departments) operate within a complex matrix comprising of physical, political, social, economic, cultural and technological environments. These environments mainly determine whether an organization succeeds in achieving its goals and objectives, or not.
Furthermore, the ability of an organization to adjust to changes taking place in these environments and harmonizes internal organizational changes with its environments impacts upon its ability to continue maximizing its profits and sustain its solvency and competitiveness.
Therefore, the management in an organization should integrate flexibility into its organizational culture, behavior and structure in order to ensure that their organization is sensitive and responsive to necessary changes occurring in its environments, as well as, within itself.
The objective of this exercise is to write a report of a specific change introduced in to Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) and related change management issues.
An overview of RTA
Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) is a Dubai’s government public transport agency. It was established in 2005 by order number seventeen. It is charged with the responsibility of planning and offering the requirements of transport, roads and traffic in the Dubai Emirate, as well as the other Emirates of the UAE so as to offer an efficient and an integrated transport system that is able to achieve Dubai’s vision and serve important interests of the emirate (RTA 2010).
RTA’s vision is to enhance the provision of safe and smooth transport for all. Its mission is simple and clear, that is, to set up legislation and develop integrated solutions of road systems and land/marine transport networks that are secure and in harmony with Dubai’s economic development plans and the utmost international standards (RTA 2010).
Changes Introduced in RTA
Change is an inevitable phenomenon the world over. Modern world’s pace of change and invention outpaces individual ability to keep up with it. Everything including the organizations that we work for or depend upon to meet our basic needs and wants keep on changing considerably in terms of systems, structures, boundaries and human resource (Mourier & Smith 2002).
Since organizations are essentially people working together to achieve certain shared and desired goals and objectives, it is important to note that whatever the intensity of a typical organizational change people on the receiving end are individual human beings.
It is individual stakeholders including employees, managers, leaders, shareholders, suppliers as well as customers of an organization who make change(s) introduced to succeed or fail. Therefore, failure to carefully consider the implications of change on individual makes it difficult for concerned managements to manage a major change successfully (Mourier & Smith 2002).
Common examples of organizational changes include changing the attitudes and behaviors of the employees, technological change, missionary change, operational change which include structural change and strategic change.
Dubai is an ever expanding city and as such faces an increase in demand for alternative modes of transport. As such the city needs to diversify and seek solutions to address these needs. The city transport system was previously dominated by cars but as the city grows RTA needs to seek for alternative transport methods to cater for rising demand for public transport (IRJ 2010).
In an attempt to keep up with increasing changes in passengers’ distribution across Dubai Emirate, RTA has undertaken a major operational change. According to RTA’s Director of Business Development, the operational changes introduced came in the context of giving commuters better, efficient and comfortable services that are well integrated with numerous public transport modes (RTA 2010).
Under the plan, new key routes have been introduced such as Route (F18), Route (F20) and Route (F20) (RTA 2010). Regarding rerouting of public buses changes introduced included Route (13A), Route (22) and Route (C3).Routes F25A, F32A and F39A were abolished by this new operational change plan (RTA 2010). These changes were introduced in early November, 2010.
In order to ensure successful implementation of the changes, RTA rolled out intensive awareness campaigns by establishing a work team and undertaking site tours of all bus stations across Dubai Emirate to distribute booklets written in Arabic as well English languages explaining to bus commuters changes introduced to bus routes, as well as, how to use Nol cards so as to ensure the correct delivery of information (RTA 2010).
In addition, RTA has a well established culture of posting all information related to its activities that bear up on the convenience of the public travelers on its main website detailing places and time taken in for instance operating traffic diversions. This is in line with the city’s efforts to brand its public transport sector as a sector that is on the fast lane towards globalisation.
This ensures that those who have access to the internet are furnished with detailed information about RTA activities and help minimize their distrust and help them make necessary travel arrangements to reduce cases of travelling inconveniences.
This change was initiated by the Business Development department under the leadership of the Director Mr. Mohammed Al Hashemi who is the overall head of this important department. He has also been one its key champions committed to restructuring public transport service offered by the government of Dubai Emirate in line with its Socio-economic interests.
This change according Mr. Mohammed Al Hashemi were triggered by RTA’s need to keep up with the increasing changes in passengers distribution across Dubai Emirate which is in fact one of the fastest growing cities in modern world (RTA 2010). This has made provision of high quality infrastructure facilities critical.
The change has also been backed by government’s long-term goal of providing a high standard transport network for Dubai residents, business community and visitors. This fact is evidenced by government’s initiatives to enhance public transport facilities and improve roads across Dubai in order to make travelling secure and smoother which is in fact the main reason why RTA was formed (RTA 2010).
Change Management Issues
People on the receiving end consist of first and foremost RTA personnel who shoulder the responsibility of carrying out its day-to-day activities and passengers who are the target audience of RTA. It is mainly up on these two groups of people that RTA’s top management hinges its hope up on for successful implementation of the change.
Internally RTA managers and leaders must make its employees to accept, embrace and believe in the change so that they can commit themselves fully to its absolute implementation. They should be helped to understand how the change is positioned to satisfy passengers travel needs better than previously.
The employees should also be made aware of the implications of the change up on aspects of their work in order to ensure that they are not caught unawares by the change thereby running into the risk of being demoralized (Nicolini, Hartley, Stansfield & Hurcombe 2011, p. 212). Failure to help employees understand benefits and advantages of the change to themselves and the passengers can make them oppose introduction of the change and thereby sabotage its implementation.
Passengers on the other hand should be educated extensively using all effective communication means in order to ensure that they do not get confused in the process of seeking commuter services from RTA and thereby lose their confidence in this important public transport agency (RTA 2010).
RTA should help passengers understand how the change is set to improve the quality of the service they get from it in their bid to satisfy their travel needs within Dubai and between Dubai and other Emirates as well as neighboring countries. They should also be helped to understand how the change will promote RTA’s efficiency and effectiveness as a public transport agency.
Bringing about controlled change is inspired by many skills especially social skills needed to deal with the people affected by changes in some nature of their work. Argyris (2002) opines that the probability for failure or a less satisfactory result is always there and this demands that keen attention be directed towards those factors that might jeopardize success in implementation of desired organizational changes (Starr-Glass 2002).
In a nut shell, the need for an early involvement of all stakeholders is critical because these consist of the people up on whom the result of the change process rests.
The rerouting changes introduced by RTA are all related to where it would like would like to be after a definite period time , how it will get there and how it will involve people. Even though change is normal as mentioned earlier its outcomes can be abnormal for people affected by it.
In other words, although RTA’S productivity demands and other organizational pressures and needs will continue necessitating change in its operations and other aspects whenever necessary, its consequences can be abnormal to first and foremost its personnel as well as passengers. RTA should therefore take up an intelligent approach to planning, co-coordinating, and controlling a change process that ensures continuity of operations, whilst bringing in new energy and driving force into its business activities and its social infrastructure (RTA 2010).
One of the most important factors to consider is that change is usually generally not welcomed by majority of the clients and is normally distrusted. Changes should be allowed for in terms of quality, time and cost before project initiation so that the client’s representative can be warned in advance about the kind of resistance and challenges they are bound to encounter (Szamosi & Duxbury 2002).
Generally certainty and speed is the core in change management for ensuring a smooth shift and avoiding unnecessary disruptions of an organization’s workflow (Kayla 2010, p. 270). Most important ensuring commitment of every stakeholder raises the probability of success.
It is also important to note that implementation of targeted change brings change managers directly to the all-important task of safeguarding the budget (Nicolini et al 2011, p. 215). In most cases, the budget is set in advance in accordance with an accepted plan and is an especially challenging circumstance when the change attracts outsourced services.
It is also noteworthy, while some changes can be foreseen and resources allocated for them, there is no possibility of anticipating others. Some changes may also come to the fore in the process of implementing planned or foreseen changes. Some of the circumstances that can inspire change include changing needs in client organization’s program, unpredicted requirements of external authorities, and unpredicted conditions in the work place, designers or other specialists requiring additions to complete work or the change manager failure to include certain work.
A successful outcome of change management is definitely a product of proper planning. Planning is crucial for success in change management and as such organizations like RTA should not underrate time needed to plan and then implement a change management project (IRJ 2010). RTA should take time to consult with all stakeholders because one party can sabotage its chances of success.
Recommendations and Conclusion
RTA should ensure that their personnel are fully conversant with the plan for the change and the project of implementing that change which will follows planning. They should be informed adequately what is needed of them. Likewise passengers should be furnished with adequate information regarding time that the project is likely to take and plans that RTA has put underway to ensure that their activities are not disrupted unnecessarily.
This is possible if RTA takes its time in integrating all essential stakeholders into the change process. Doing so will make personnel own the project and commit themselves fully to its quick and successful implementation. In order to ensure an efficient implementation of the project, RTA should also ensure that there is effective collaboration with other crucial government departments like Traffic law enforcers as well as other external stakeholders who can assist in ensuring a certain and speedy implementation of their change management project (Cameron & Green 2004).
Change managers should ensure that all factors necessary in making the implementation of the process a success are put in place in advance.RTA should ensure that the change being introduced does not interrupt its workflow. In short, resources and attention should be directed where necessary so as to ensure certainty and quick implementation of the change management project. Timely and accurate implementation of the change will help RTA to safeguard affected passengers confidence.
Change is certainly inevitable in the lives of individuals as well as organizations. Within organizational context while some changes are anticipated others are unforeseen whilst others are systematically and deliberately planned and implemented by decision makers like in the case of RTA analyzed above.
In overall terms, deliberate organizational changes revolves around the question of where an organization would like to see itself after definite period of time, how it will get there and people that it will involve and how it will involve them. Successful change management can lead to outcomes that drastically improve the viability of an organization and its competitiveness.
Reference List
Argyris, C., 2002. Flawed Advice and the Management Trap. Journal of Organizational Change Management, Volume 15, No. 6.
IRJ., 2010. Public transport – a solution for a changed world. International Railway Journal [online] available at https://www.railjournal.com/opinion/public-transport-a-solution-for-a-changed-world
Kayla, A., 2010. Change management for effective quality improvement: a primer. American Journal of Medical Quality, vol. 25 no. 4 , pp. 268-273.
Mourier, P., & Smith, M., 2002. Conquering Organizational Change: How to Succeed Where Most Companies Fail. Journal of Organizational Change Management, Volume 15, No. 5.
Nicolini, D., Hartley, J., Stansfield, A., & Hurcombe, J., 2011. Through the eyes of others: Using developmental peer reviews to promote reflection and change in organizations. Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 24 Iss: 2, pp. 211 – 228.
RTA. 2010. RTA announces bus changes. Web. Web.
Starr-Glass, D., 2002. The voice of the shuttle: Mythical and organizational transformations. Journal of Organizational Change Management, Volume 15, No. 5.
Szamosi, L.T., & Duxbury, L., 2002. Development of a measure to assess organizational change. Journal of Organizational Change Management, Volume 15, No. 2.