minutes of 4th.meeting sputnic working group on...

SPUTNIC – Strategies for Public Transport in Cities

http://www.sputnicproject.eu

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Minutes of 4th.meeting Sputnic Working Group on Corporate Management in Prague, CZ, from October 9th - 11th.2008 Thursday October 9th.2008 (11:30- 13:00) Present: a) Cluster members: Arnulf Schuchmann, Stratos Papadimitriou and Hans Brouwer (Cluster

Leader) and b) Experts:

* Mr. Matyas Jangel – Budapest Transport Ltd – Hungary * Mrs. Dorota Popinska – Metro Warszawskie, Warsaw, Poland * Mr. Janusz Bosakirski – Miesjkie Zaklady Autobusowe Sp.z.o.o., Warsaw/Poland * Mr. Jan Barchanek – Transport Operator of Praque – Czech Republic * Mr. Rene Dvorak – Dopravni Podnik Mesta Brna – Brno – Czech Republic * Mr.Angelo Caragiuli – Bremer Strassenbahn AG – Bremen - Germany * Mr. Radu Popescu, General Manager, RATP Public Transport Company, Ploiesti, Prahova,

Romania * Mr.Jesus Herrero Gamon, Empresa Municipal de Transportes de Valencia, Spain

1. Welcome and opening of the meeting - Hans Brouwer - cluster leader, opens the meeting and welcomes everybody - Hans thanks our host DPP for a well organized and warm welcome in Prague - Hans explains the agenda for the coming three days, which also includes a technical visit to the

local DPP Central Control department and visits to 3 modern metro stations in Prague on Saturday. • Hans received notice that the following invited person was not able to come to this 4th.

workgroup meeting: Mr. Ian Jenkinson of Sheffield Community Transport, Sheffield UK • Jesus Herrero Gamon introduced himself and the Valencia public transport company, moving

from a “military” type company to one that places emphasis to the consumer • Everybody else introduced themselves

2. Presentation “Why is strategy so important” by Hans Brouwer

• After this a plenary discussion follows and it is concluded that the subject “strategic management” is very important nowadays and new threats such as the current financial problems create new situations for PT companies, which are obliged to rethink their strategy for the next year 2009 and the years thereafter.

• After this “Business Strategy and how to gain competitive advantage” is presented and discussed

3. Presentation “Strategy of Prague Public Transit – 2008 – 2015” by Jan Barchanek

• Jan Barchanek makes his presentation on the Prague public transport system and the visions and goals, priority issues (quality of service, scope of service, responsibility, efficiency) and action plans.



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• Jan showed a small booklet on Strategy 2008-2015 which has been handed out to all employees!

• Interventions by various experts (Radu, Jesus, Janusz, Dorota). There is no one single solution. The situation is continuously evolving and in motion and we have to find strategic solutions for each situation. Sometimes outsourcing may create problems as well. Sometimes the General Manager is not fully in charge for defining a strategy as there must be approvals by the municipality and the politicians. (the “Houdini” problem)

Thursday afternoon Session (13:00- 17:00)

• Angelo Caragiuli has arrived and introduces himself to the group. • Hans recaps the presentation of Jan and discussion of this morning

4. Stratos gives a theoretical and practical explanation on strategy planning:

1. What are the foundations of competitive advantage? 2. What is the strategic management process? 3. What types of strategies are used by PT companies? 4. How are strategies formulated? 5. How external stakeholders can be valued? 6. Why to do a SWOT-analysis (like we did before in Barcelona) 7. What are current issues in strategy implementation?

5. Work and discussion in two separate groups of 4 experts, which are asked “to create or renew an

existing strategy” in two companies, being Prague (Jan) and Valencia (Jesus) Outcome of the two small group discussions: Group of Jan B: Why is a new strategy necessary?

Change of people in management Change of external conditions Who should be involved? Owner Board Business Units/employees Customers Politicians How to build strategy? Must be understandable for everyone involved Must be acceptable for each party



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How to implement strategy?

Transparency Communication Motivation Expected results? Better Quality Lower Cost



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Group of Jesus/Valencia:

• Why ---Analysis • Which Dimensions Three Pillars approach: a) Customers should be proud and enthusiastic in using PT b) Staff should be proud of being member of the company c) Great care about all of our resources • Goals

How to develop Measures Impact

• How to implement Strategic (owner and shareholders) Tactical (top and middle management Operational (middle & lower management)

• How to “sell”, implement and communicate about the new strategy One major conclusion: the role of middle management is crucial when creating or implementing a new strategy, whether the strategy is developed “top down” or “bottom-up”!



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Friday October 10th. 2008 (9:00 – 12:30) Hans makes the introduction on the day and presents the day’s program

6. Presentation “Ideas about Strategy for PT and BKV in Budapes “ by Matyas Jangel • A list of dilemmas is presented, which is typical for most PT companies in the new

Member States. • The present mission, strategy and organizational structure (matrix and holding) is

discussed in terms of advantages and disadvantages • Plus a list of strategic issues, which play an important role at the moment in Budapest

7. Presentation “RATP Ploesti between old and new concept of PT”by Radu Popescu

Most important strategic decisions made by the management of RATP o Important was that RATP was the first PT company in the country to implement

a new quality system, based on ISO 9001/2000 o Top management developed a mission, vision and strategic plan and involved

middle management. o RATP also participated in the CIVITAS project by which the company improved

a number of internal processes in the control center and also in fleet management.

8. After these two presentations there was a plenary discussion on the differences between strategic and/or tactical planning.

9. Stratos added new knowledge on these differences: • What types of strategies are used • Corporate strategy – in what type of markets should we compete • Business strategy – how are we going to compete for customers in these markets • Functional strategy – how can we best utilize our resources to implement the business

strategy • Growth and diversification strategies (expansion, concentration etc.) • Restructuring strategies (readjusting operations when an organization is in trouble • Globalization strategy (the world is one large market)

10. Presentation “Results of the questionnaire on Strategic Corporate Planning» by Arnulf Schuchmann

• The feedback was given by 8 experts from different cities and from 6 different

countries. • Details can be found in the presentation materials. (PPT) • Discussion followed (i.e. sustainability, on how to include sustainable development in

the overall strategy)



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• Plus a short post-it exercise for all experts on the following two questions/dilemmas: 1. “What do you prefer as a manager?

a. Fixed amount of subsidy, but not enough for the long term. BUT without much influence of the authority”

b. Or annual negotiations of subsidies and (maybe) getting more on a short term, BUT more influence of the authority OUTCOME: All experts preferred nr. A!!!!

11. Stick- up poster session for an exercise in two groups of experts, working on the main question:

‘WHAT DO YOU LIKE AND DISLIKE IN THE PRESENT STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT APPROACH IN YOUR OWN COMPANY? LIKE:

• Our strategy is clear, reliable and executable • Cooperation during the whole preparation process (bottom-up) • Communication of our strategy, including our ambitions • Clear mission and vision statements, also announced on our intranet • Pressure by top management to think strategically • Restructuring of the company included synergy • Successful financial management • We used balanced goals • Good reporting system at operational level • The operational plan for maintenance • Common solution approach • Customer centered • It is short and comprehensive • The strategic planning process itself. It is the best possibility to formulate major

questions, which is important not only for the board, but for all other managers.

DISLIKE: • It has not been written down yet and spelled out in more detail • We do not use (core) values in our plan • We always have to think about the political aspects of our strategy • The way we implemented it • Too much focus on the core business • Marketing strategy is rather weak • Unmeasurable goals • (non) Cooperation with other business units • Shortage of money to cover all goals • High pressure on outsourcing • Communication of the strategy • Our strategy cannot be discussed (top down approach) • Inconsistency in the partial goals



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Other general remarks: • Goals will have to be formulated SMART = Specific, Measurable, Attractive,

Realistic and in Time

12. Presentation “Warsaw Metro Strategic Corporate Management” by Dorota Popinska • Explanation on the existing and new(also planned) metro lines • The structure of the company and the stakeholders • Interesting is the high level of education of employees and retaining them by offering

development opportunities • Mission statement, including a number of corporate values • The strategic planning process and the overall strategy of Warsaw city • Strategic issues for Warsaw metro

13. Plenary exercise “Developping a chart for Strategic management” with a mindmaster system.

Outcome: the chart is presented in our presentation for the closing session of today!



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14. Final post-it exercise “LESSONS LEARNED” by each individual expert. Each expert is asked to produce two short statements of what he/she learned from this 4th. WG meeting on Strategic Management: SUMMARY:

• My company should start making a new strategic plan soon • Have a vision FIRST • Think SMART, when formulating your goals • Strategy is something which has to be “alive” and “growing” • Use the strategic planning to open up discussion about the company.Involve as many

managers as possible. This should not be your plan only! • Focus on implementation, as everyone has to know what it means for him/her • Be sustainable • Find the easy way and working way • Use all (legal) tools to sell strategy to politicians • The social aspects of the company (called social responsibility) could be also

included in the strategic plan • What you cannot measure, you cannot manage • Important operational plans also include personal development and implementation of

new technology • Think about realistic goals • Think about how to involve as much people as necessary • Convince the decision makers and make all steps clear • Take good care of implementation • It is very important for everybody in the company to know where the company is

heading • Coordination of the personal/individual goals and strategic targets (shareholders,

employees and your own) • Keep in mind different dimensions (needs) • Need clear communication (internal & external) and smart indicators • No plans without resources • Use personal capacities of your enterprise • Analyse the environment (political, financial,market, company’s culture) • It has to be real practical and avoid producing just a piece of paper • Goals will have to fit responsibilities • Next to SMART all goals must also be transparent and up-to-date • Communicate, communicate, communicate……

15. Explanation on good practice case studies (GPC) by Hans: Up till now we have developed the following GPC’s, which are also published on the Sputnic website:

1. Restructuring at BRNO Public Transport Company, Czech Republic



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2. Transformation project at Praque Public Transport Co., Czech Republic 3. Restructuring and transformation at Salzburg AG, Austria 4. The use of performance indicators at Trams SA, in Athens Greece 5. Development of GPS system at RATP, Ploiesti, Romania

16. Explanation on Best Practice Case Studies (BPC) by Hans We need to produce one BPC per Corporate Management Topic! One draft BPC has been written based upon the specific Sputnic template. This is a “BRNO”case on restructuring. Hans hands over this draft to Rene Dvorak, and will contact him about finalizing this BPC. Other BPC’s could be Prague and Metro Warsaw. Hans will contact Jan and Dorota soon.

Presentation of the general outcome in the Sputnic plenary closing session. Hans Brouwer presented these results. See power point presentation Final remarks: General (evaluative) conclusion is that every CM expert has been actively involved in this 4th.WG meeting and that different points of view were expressed, making it a very fruitful, constructive and interesting event, so that everybody gained from this meeting. The next day (Saturday, Oct.11th) cluster partners and experts participated in the technical visit, a guided tour by DPP, visiting the Control Center and three modern metro stations, accompanied by the architect Mr. Patrik Kotas. J.Brouwer – Breda, October 23rd.2008

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