Network Rail is a large rail engineering organisation sitting within a complex industrial landscape and, given the geographical and functional breadth of its operations, is a complicated organisation with many different departments. That said, Britain’s railways are the safest they have ever been. However, it is acknowledged that there is still room for improvement, from a position where safety and operational performance still falls short of Network Rail’s ambitions, and technological transformation is needed to meet the huge increase in passenger demand.
As the challenges have grown more complex Network Rail has sought to change, devolving its route businesses so that they operate within a national framework, coordinating its activities across divisions and functions, improving communications, and weaving the decision-making process into company systems and practices.
This paper describes how Network Rail has sought to transform, seeking to capture the capabilities and commitment of its employees within a matrix organisation; a structure that allows for greater customer focus. This also means becoming an organisation that has a high-performance culture, where people work collaboratively, strive for continuous improvement, and where everyone feels able to perform at the limit of their own potential.
The work by Galbraith (2000) on the adoption of matrix organisation forms shows there has been a proliferation by businesses in a variety of industries such as aerospace and automotive where increasing complexity has been a key factor. Most topics on the matrix tend to focus on its structure and variant forms (e.g. Goold & Campbell, 2002), usually associated with managing within the matrix. However, few studies have examined the human side of the matrix, and how employees are prepared to operate in a matrix structure.
This paper focuses on the research to understand the perceptions of those considered best placed to have an appreciation for the demands of the complex work system. In-depth interviews with 25 of the most senior executives and managers from across Government, the Regulator, and Network Rail, have been undertaken. Qualitative analysis of the interviews was carried out using a structured approach across 5 key themes focused on the demands of the complex work system, i.e. awareness, capability, objectives, priorities, and boundaries.
The interviews identified several contemporary challenges of the matrix organisational form that are to be addressed if transformation plans are to be achieved. These are:
- misaligned goals (e.g. competing or conflicting objectives (national vs. local dimensions));
- unclear roles and responsibilities (e.g. confusion on the overall lead);
- ambiguous authority (e.g. authority for decision making);
- silo-focused employees (e.g. not understanding / seeing the bigger picture); and
- fear of (or resistance to) change (e.g. old habits re-emerge when under pressure).
Outputs from this programme of work will form part of wider PhD research leading to a description of the rail engineering socio-technical system that aids understanding of the interconnections between human actions, decisions and technological factors, assisting Network Rail to develop strategies that make the changing landscape seem less complex, rather than more so for its employees.
