Change Management of Information Flows in an Interorganizational Alliance

In recent years, the train's punctuality, Sweden's ranking in the European Railway Performance Index and the train industry's customer satisfaction have decreased. The largest and most influential players in the train industry are Trafikverket and SJ AB, which are two state-owned organizations. The low customer satisfaction in the train industry is based on SJ AB’s failure to deliver the latest traffic information in case of delay. Since Trafikverket manages the majority of the railway network and SJ AB is Sweden's largest train operator, there is a high degree of mutual dependence between them in order for each organization to be able to conduct its business. At present, there is a clear division of responsibility between these actors regarding how and where the traffic information is distributed. Where the Trafikverket is responsible for conveying all information on its website and on the signs while SJ AB is responsible for conveying information on its website and in its application, as well as via textmessage and mail communication. The processes for communication between the actors regarding delays, track changes and other changes in the journey are done manually with digital tools as support. Today, several uncertainties are experienced in these processes, based on the fact that traffic control at SJ AB currently does not receive any confirmation from Trafikverket if any changes have been made. Due to these factors, this study will investigate the flow of information between SJ traffic control and the Trafikverket’s train services. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis was to identify existing communications, more specifically information flows of traffic data, between the organizations and their passengers, along with identifying possible improvements in the information flows through digitization. The thesis also explores the change opportunities for a department with many manual processes. The study was conducted with a multi-method structure consisting of a literature study, observation study, questionnaire study, interview study and benchmarking. During the observation, questionnaire and interview study, the focus was on employees at SJ traffic control and other relevant departments at SJ AB and the benchmarking was conducted through external interviews. This led to the identification of the main reasons of mismanagement of traffic information and best practices. This was later analyzed with the help of collected theory, which then led to discussion, conclusion and recommendations to SJ AB. It’s obvious that traffic information has low status within SJ AB as well as the interorganizational alliance. This has hampered the development of internal processes related to managing traffic information and therefore the processes lack standardized procedures and structured routines. The main reasons of mismanagement of traffic information depend on the human factor and specific individuals. This is based on the fact that it was clear that both traffic controls perceived the received traffic information difficult to interpret and unstructured, this depending on who sent the information. This due to the fact that the individuals use varying expressions and internal technical language. To be able to improve and in the future automate the information flows between the actors a standardized working procedure with associated technical language is required in the industry. To establish a technical language, the status of the traffic information must be increased within the organizations and a dictionary for which expressions should be used, where all used expressions are listed and defined. Additionally, a clearer goal of the alliance is required