Enabling inter-organizational change integration in sociotechnical systems : Systems thinking applied in the Dutch railway system

Abstract

the author. Alle rechten voorbehouden. Niets uit deze uitgave mag worden vermenigvuldigd, in enige vorm of op enige wijze, zonder voorafgaande schriftelijke toestemming van de auteur.Chapter 1 While this minimizes the cost of the error, a time-consuming process of redesigning will need to be undertaken, delaying the trains' production process and subsequent delivery by several years (Euronews, 2023; Railway supply, 2023).Another example occurred in 2014, when French train operator SNCF ordered 2000 regional trains at a cost of €15 billion and discovered that they were too wide for the network's platforms. The error was caused by data from the infrastructure manager which did not account for older structures. In this case, the trains had already been manufactured and the platforms had to be rebuilt at great cost. As a consequence, the SNCF was forced to modify more than a thousand stations, after it was revealed that the 1860 newly commissioned trains were too wide for many of the country's platforms. This mistake cost SNCF Réseau over €50 million, as the operator started 'shaving' the edges of affected platforms (BBC News, 2014; The Verge, 2014). Both examples show that such errors can cause significant delays and can be very costly.One reason such errors occur is related to the kinds of systems in which such changes are to be integrated. Railway systems are complex, sociotechnical, and inter-organizational (Bugalia et al., 2021;Milch & Laumann, 2016), which means that they are characterized by multiple domains, such as processes, personnel, technical systems, rules and regulations, and the interactions between these (Bartolomei et al., 2012). Within these systems, multiple interacting parties, complex social structures, and numerous companies and work processes are involved, requiring the collaboration of employees from different organizations (Milch & Laumann, 2016). As such, while a change itself may initially appear simple, it can turn out to be more complex when attention is paid to the context into which it must be integrated, due to the systemic impacts of such changes.The impacts not only affect existing technologies, but also people (with varying attitudes, backgrounds, and skills) who use a range of technologies and tools, work within a physical infrastructure, operate with a specific set of cultural assumptions, and use varying sets of processes, working practices, and regulations (Davis et al., 2014). As such, practitioners may have limited access to data and information about the railway system, which can make it difficult to understand the system itself, but also to identify how changes impact it.Additionally, technological advancements spawn system after system, each increasingly interdependent with other, preceding systems (Arnold & Wade, 2015). As such, the predicted technological changes and the projects that strive to realize these, are increasing in scope, and therefore in degree of systemic impact. All of these potential impacts need to be considered and accounted for in parallel with the ch...