MGMT 4419

 

ASSIGNMENT #
1

 

For the first assignment in Change
Management 4419, you are required to write a report on your research findings.

 

OVERVIEW:

 

1. You will be using the company
   where you are currently working

 

2. If you not currently employed,
   you will select a company that you wish to work for one day

 

3. The company must have gone
   through significant change (s) in the past ten (10) years. (Every company has
   gone through some type of change)

 

4. The organization should be
   Canadian or a division of an international company that operates in
   Canada.  It can be a medium or large size
   company and can be commercial, non-profit, etc.

 

5. The company must have a
   functioning website

 

6. You must supply the name of the
   manager/owner and his/her contact info                                                        (I
   will be contacting/visiting the company)

 

ONCE YOU HAVE CHOSEN
YOUR COMPANY, YOU MUST GET APPROVAL FROM YOUR INSTRUCTOR.

 

1. 
   ASSIGNMENT PARAMETERS:  In your
   paper you will provide the following-

 

1. Company history – provide
   the relevant information about the company.
   Management team, mergers & acquisitions, etc.

 

2. 
   An interview with the
   manager/owner stating why they made the changes they did.  Discuss management’s role in the change(s) process
   (Including reference to ” Images of Change” from the Power Points on Moodle)

 

3. Discuss at length the
   change (s) the organization went through during the period of time you are
   looking at. – (e.g  Starbucks adding food
   to menu)

 

4. Identify both internal and
   external pressures for the change (s)

 

5. Describe various types of
   change, including first-order, second –order, and beyond first-order and
   second-order ( These changes are covered in the Power Points )

 

6. Specify any resistance to
   the change process. List the approaches that were adopted by the company to
   deal with the resistance.

 

7. Describe consequences of
   the change process

 

1. FORMAT:

 

You need to follow APA format in your
report.

 

You must follow the APA guidelines
from the text, “Cites & Sources”, 3^rd Edition from Nelson
Publishing.

ANSWER

MGMT 4419: Edmonton Transit Services (ETS)

Introduction

Change is inevitable but manageable in the corporate world and among organizations. The world we live in is characterized by uncertainties and unsteadiness where socio-cultural, political, and economic spheres of life, trends, and aspects keep changing and evolving. These evolutions and ever-changing trends and events alter the normalcy of organizational operations positively or negatively. This necessitates an organization and forces managers to react and respond by making adjustments or changes in their internal business structures, processes, and activities to meet the changing demands, address and align with the forces that could be sourced externally or internally (Predişcana & Roiban, 2014). Therefore, change management refers to the processes, tools, and techniques integrated and used to manage, equip, prepare, and support people in successfully adopting changes (Prosci Inc., 2018). Change management targets the employees equipping them to be well versed, trained, and prepared for the changes to be made. It is crucial for change management to be conducted effectively, as it influences business outcomes, affects an organization’s MVGOs (Mission, Vision, Goals, and Objectives), drives and determines organizational success. Moreover, employees are drivers and determinants or organizational performance and success, thus being termed as corporate’s valuable assets that must be adequately prepared to embrace, adopt, and utilize the change in daily working effectively (Pathak, 2010).

This research paper focuses on Edmonton Transit Services (ETS), understanding and analyzing the change that took place in the organization, how it was handled or dealt with, and what outcomes followed. Therefore, the paper is divided into four main sections. Section 1 provides a thorough and brief company history, establishing its MVGOs, organizational profile, industry, and services. Section 2 briefly outlines an interview conducted with the Supervisor/Manager Doug Tait with an interview questionnaire or guide that involves changes and the company’s change management process. Section 3 is the longest, as it analyzes the central part of the body exploring change management at length in ETS. Finally, section 4 concludes the paper with the major findings.

Company History

Edmonton Transit Services (ETS) is a Canadian public transit service organization founded in 1908, owned and operated by Edmonton City. It operates in the public transit service industry with its headquarters in Edmonton, Alberta. The primary founding aim or mission was to serve the growing transit and transportation needs of about 19,000 people in Edmonton. ETS is described as “a fully integrated, progressive, easy-to-use public transit system that provides over 80 million rides each year” (ETS, 2021). Transit services provided play a critical role in Edmonton’s city building, providing seamless connections among regions within Edmonton. The organization is guided by three pillars, including service, infrastructure, and technology. The services provided include regional bus services, U-Pass programs, which offers affordable transit services for university students travelling within the city’s municipalities, a transit strategy, which was adopted as a new service delivery model in 2020, safety programs that ensure passenger’s safety on public transit, and fare options that are flexible and affordable.

The second pillar is infrastructure, which includes vehicles and transit stations availability and maintenance to create more significant and adequate space for both customers and ETS employees. Two major infrastructure projects include Public Transit Infrastructure Funding (PTIF) construction projects enacted to improve customer service, experience, and satisfaction as well as transit centre’s safety and Kathleen Andrews Transit Garage, a project that has been adopted to replace the ageing infrastructure and facilities providing space for about 300 buses and 700 employees. The third pillar is technology, whereby ETS prides and invests in new technology to maximize customer and employee service, experience, and satisfaction. Technological projects adopted in ETS include Smart Bus technology, Smart fare or the tap and go electronic payment model, soon to be implemented, accessible buses backed with auditory and visual announcements, electric buses, and safety measures for emergency assistance.

According to the 2016-2016 ETS Business Plan, ETS works to help in the attainment and achievement of Edmonton City’s mission and strategic goal of “Enhancing the use of Public Transit and Active Modes of Transportation” measured by Transit Ridership per Capita and Journey to Work Mode split” (ETS, 2019). Therefore, the mission of ETS is the commitment to “providing transit that is accessible, reliable, safe, affordable all the while ensuring our customers have an overall positive experience” (ETS, 2019). According to ETS statistics as of 2019, operating routes include 2 Light Rail systems, 191 buses, and 230 school routes. Bus stops are 7,456, with shelters being 2,376 and benches being 2,744. More importantly, ETS has 100 Disabled Adult Transit Service (DATS) vehicles (ETS, 2021).

ETS’s goals and objectives include enhancing Public Transit and Active Modes of Transportation as per the city’s strategic goal, which is achieved by connecting people to their workplaces or schools through an accessible, enjoyable, and reliable transit system. Secondly, ETS’s goal is to maximize the preservation and sustenance of the environment by reducing GHG emissions and reducing city congestion through the providence of ecologically sustainable systems and operations. Finally, ETS’s goal is to ensure community safety and security through safety programs implementation in buses, LRT, bus stops, stations, and transit centers (ETS, 2019). ETS’ corporate leadership team presents strategic focal areas in the organization as the organizational culture, which involves developing an effective communication strategy that ensures all staff and workforces in ETS remain fully informed and engaged. Other focal areas include accountability, major initiative transit and LRT strategies  (ETS, 2019).

Interview

An interview with ETS Supervisor/Manager Doug Tait was conducted to highlight and discuss significant changes that ETS had undergone, using the following guiding questions.

1. How would you define effective change management?
2. What are some of the crucial changes ETS has undergone in the last ten years? Which of the changes would you categorize as the most recent? Was it incremental (First Order) or transformational (Second Order)?
3. What were the driving forces that led to this change? What process is used to determine change necessity internally?
4. How was the change implemented? What process was used?
5. Did you face any resistance? How was it handled?
6. Would you say the change made at ETS was the right call, looking back at the change outcomes today?

This interview guide ensured that it covered all critical issues organizations face in conducting effective change management. Not all change is successful or well-received, resulting in many failed changes, necessitating the first question. According to my Manager, effective change management must consider organizational MVGOs, align this change with the business process adequately and, most importantly, be received and embraced by the workforce adequately. He further added that whatever change is adopted and implemented at ETS, could be incremental, structural, cultural, strategic, process, transformational, planned or unplanned, is viewed as a valuable investment for customer and employee service, satisfaction, and experience. Moreover, the changes in ETS, which are many, leave a better or improvement mark without exhausting the corporate resources or straining its financial performance and health. The Manager outlined changes this organization had undergone in the last ten years, including introducing new services such as the U-Pass, DALT, LRT; changing its name publicly in 2017 from Edmonton Transit System to Edmonton Transit Service; introduction of Smart Bus technology; and ETS Text messaging services introduced among others (ETS, ETS Statistics, 2021).

The most recent and outstanding change that my Manager described for ETS is introducing electric buses into the transit services. According to him, ETS has been the driver and leader of change introducing the largest fleet of electric buses bought in a single fleet in Canada’s history. Purchasing and integrating about 21 electric buses and purpose-built electric garages at Kathleen Andrews Garage and the other 19 to be added totalling 40 electric buses has been a significant milestone and change for ETS and Canada.

Change Management Analysis: ETS

Throughout the interview with the Manager explaining the changes made in ETS to maximize employee and customer service, satisfaction, and experience, a smile and excitement were all over his face. He said that he had advocated for the adoption of electric vehicles in the company and the city for years. It was a new trend in the public transit service and transportation industry globally with numerous advantages for both customers and employees. The first electric foot buses were launched in August 2020, powered using electricity and have supportive charging infrastructure and systems, including charging stations and garages. According to the Manager, these buses are more efficient, fast, energy-conserving or efficient and can travel to about 350km using a single charge. More interestingly, their batteries are compatible and work efficiently in all weather conditions, having been tested highly during the fall and winter seasons.

This type of efficiency means that service providence costs are minimized, operational costs are reduced, and service providence, productivity, and performance are equally enhanced. Both employees and customers commented on the quietness, peace, and smoother rides these electric buses provide. Having such advantages would mean that more electric buses would arrive, and as of the 2020-2021 plan, ETS plans to have launched and debuted 40 electric buses. This forces employees to undertake a massive change in all their operations and tasks as operating and providing public transit services with electric vehicles is something new that may not have been done before, especially in the organization. This is an entirely new change, a second-order transformational change that requires the creation of new thinking to make the impossible possible, as it will not be like operating a diesel fleet but operating new technology. The Manager states that this plan has been planned and analyzed before for years to ensure the change would be beneficial to customers, employees, ETS as an organization and meet its MVGOs as well as aligning with the changing and evolving trends in the public transit service sector and transportation industry especially in the age of rapidly advancing technology, global climate crisis, need for sustainability, survival, stiff competition, competitive advantage, and changing consumer needs.

Internal and External Pressures

The introduction of electric buses in ETS does not get rid of the diesel-fueled buses immediately, according to the Manager, as this is the initial stage: The Debut stage. However, in the future, this is an investment that may be categorized as the better choice and mode of transportation and transit due to the external forces of greening the economy, sustainability, and addressing the global climate crisis. My Manager communicates the economic and environmental benefits, including minimized costs of operations and service providence. Environmentally, electric buses emit 38%-44% lesser carbon (IV) oxide, which is acquired from its power generators than the diesel buses. E-buses are more efficient, fast, energy-conserving or efficient and can travel to about 350km using a single charge working in all seasons. They maximize customer experience and satisfaction as they have been found to provide quietness, peace, and smoother rides. These benefits are expected to increase in the future, as the world settles into the new normalcy.

Therefore, the forces driving this change in ETS are external and internal. The most prevalent external force is the strategic goal to maximize the preservation and sustenance of the environment by reducing GHG emissions and reducing city congestion through the providence of ecologically sustainable systems and operations. The world is cooperating to address the global climate crisis, ensuring that capitalist systems adopt the sustainable green economy. It is an international, regional, national, local, and individual strategic goal and responsibility to decarbonize the world, reducing carbon footprint as it contributes to the global warming and climate change spillover effects we are experiencing. In a report conducted, the Canadian transportation sector accounts for 23% GHG emissions national, second after oil and gas (26%), and equivalent to 1.6% of the global GHGs (Neufeld & Massicotte, 2017). In addition to greening the economy, ETS responds to decongesting the Edmonton city’s external political pressures, the technological advancements taking place in the industry, and how they are impacting and changing consumer needs. Customer satisfaction is vital in the success of every business as he notes, as a business exists to serve a customer’s need, which if not well provided, a company may lose to its competition given that the large number of companies providing these services grant customers a higher bargaining power as the buyers. Internally, the need for maximized performance, increased employee support as valuable assets of the company, the technological pillar, and aligning ETS’ mission more into the city’s strategic goal contributed to the changes.

E-Buses as Second-Order Transformational Change in ETS

When establishing how to determine a change necessity internally, my Manager noted that questionnaires and suggestion boxes were common to develop areas with discrepancies requiring improvement. Moreover, an open-door policy was established to ensure internal employees from the top to the lowest hierarchy felt like partners in delivering the strategic MVGOs of ETS, communicating changes and providing opinions or ideas. It is through these strategies that the idea for an introduction of electric buses was sourced internally. According to the Manger, many would agree that this change is a second-order transformational change. Even though many would feel it is incremental, adding to what already exists, this is more, as electric vehicles are examples of disruptive technologies that require a new set of rules, tasks, infrastructure and requirements. When the idea was first communicated to all employees of the adoption of e-buses by leaders in all branches and departments through official communication forms such as emails and memos, employees were astonished and excited as it was like introducing something never done before.

During a testing phase conducted in 2016, qualitative research, including focused groups and interviews, was conducted among staff regarding their contact and experience with the e-bus. During the pre-trial, according to the Manager, all bus operating participants had been trained. Many felt it was a good idea, further showing that this would maximize organizational reputation and create a good image for ETS. During this phase, operators seemed to welcome the change. However, a small number was concerned whether people would pay for these buses as it would be more than usual fare charges. Among mechanical and maintenance staff, things were different. The largest number was resistant, arguing ETS was not ready or adequately equipped to tow e-buses, qualified personnel were few or lacked, a whole new set of understanding and knowledge such as spare parts and procurement of the supportive charging system was difficult and complex. Many argued they did not understand how these e-buses needed to be treated from a safety perspective.

Having this in mind, the Manager commented that the implementation of the change process was delicate and took a long time, adding, “but I am happy, it was worth it.” It was conducted in three stages: creating a milieu for change by planning, creating urgency, and creating a team guided by a vision to oversee the transformation. The second phase involved engaging all staff, in which the management participated much by communicating the change and vision, enabling and empowering action among the staff. Finally, implementation and sustenance of the change were conducted, including training, education, running pre- and post-trials, conducting qualitative research on customer and staff perspectives. During these phases, they identified resistance sources and divisions, ensuring that managers and supervisors were at the forefront of explaining the urgency, external and internal pressures, and the need to streamline ETS’s MVGOs for their benefit as valuable assets and partners, customers, and organization. The management also ensured training, education, and trails were not hurried, tailoring and personalizing the training to meet all staff’s needs, hence the longer time it took to implement the change altogether.

The concluding question was vital in understanding whether ETS’s change was the right call, looking back at the change outcomes today. The response acquired was that an organization will always feel internal and external pressures necessitating change. However, what sets the success from failing changes is the preparedness, adequate planning, communication, having all employees on board and strategy integrated. This response aligns with the argument that “Successful change managers are likely to be those who have a clear understanding of the pressures on them to change their organizations and a well-developed rationale for what they are attempting to achieve, and the likely effect of their actions” (Jick & Peiperl, 2010). He answered by stating, “Even though this is the first stage for a better future, this change was the right call for ETS. The e-cars are operating better than projected with better charging time response, operating 14-hour shifts, Canada and Canadians are supportive.” The only present challenge is the pandemic that has disrupted numerous service providence, thus slowing down their potential realization.

Conclusion

Organizations must be flexible and adaptable in their processes to adopt and embrace the changes that result from forces of change from both internal and external spheres for survival, sustainability, organizational successes, and competitive advantage. ETS illustrates this argument through the second-order transformational change to integrate electric buses into their processes following external pressures of greening the economy, changing consumer needs, technological forces and internal pressures of streamlining its corporate MVGOs.

 

 

References

ETS. (2019). 2016-2018 Business Plan: Edmonton Transit Transportation Services. https://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/documents/PDF/Edmonton%20Transit-%202016-2018%20Department%20Business%20Plan%20Transporation%20Services-4.pdf: Edmonton.

ETS. (2021). About ETS. Retrieved from ETS: https://www.edmonton.ca/ets/about-ets.aspx

ETS. (2021). ETS Statistics. Retrieved from ETS: https://www.edmonton.ca/ets/ets-statistics.aspx

Jick, T., & Peiperl, M. (2010). Managing Change: Cases and Concepts. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.

Neufeld, R., & Massicotte, P. J. (2017). Decarbonizing Transportation in Canada. https://sencanada.ca/content/sen/committee/421/ENEV/reports/TransportationReport_FINAL_e.pdf: Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources.

Pathak, H. (2010). Organisational Change. New Delhi: Pearson India.

Predişcana, M., & Roiban, R. N. (2014). The main forces driving change in the Romanian SME’s. Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol 124 pp; 236 – 245.

Prosci Inc. (2018, May 23). Organizations do not change, people do. Retrieved from https://www.prosci.com/change-management/what-is-change-management