Functional vs Divisional Structure. Organizational change.
Question
Craig Cipriano is the interim President of New York City Transit (NYCT), one of six agencies within the Metropolitan Transit Authority. The COVID-19 pandemic has decimated the MTA budget and has led to significant service changes including unheard of overnight closures of the train system. While President Cipriano faces significant challenges, he wants to tap your newly developed expertise about organizational structure because according to a news report, his predecessor said “the MTA has no organizational chart.” He wants you to provide an update.
According to the information he found, the NYC subway system was managed by a Senior Vice President in the Department of Subways (see MTA New York City Transit and Department of Subways Organizational Charts). At the time, the Transit Authority’s statistics showed the Department of Subways system’s on-time performance as an abysmal 63.1%, except for the Staten Island Railway, which had an on-time performance rate of 97.1%.
The Vice President & Chief Officer of the Rapid Transit Operations Division (see Department of Subways and Rapid Transit Operations Organizational Charts), who was responsible for overseeing the subway, reported that public administration students and professionals can help. You have learned that the subway lines were divided into four subdivisions-A, B, C, and 7; and each was supervised by an Assistant Chief Transportation Officer who reported to the Vice President & Chief Officer. However, the Staten Island Railway has a different reporting structure.
The idea he wants your feedback about is whether the structure for the Rapid Transit Operations system should mimic the Staten Island Railway structure (see MTA Staten Island Railway Organizational Chart) by assigning one person to supervise each of the 24 subway lines (i.e., 24 Vice President and Chief Officer positions) or another configuration you might suggest. Whatever structure you recommend would require each subway line officer to appreciate the challenges inherent in the new structure and to manage these challenges.
Prompts:
1. Based on the old organizational charts provided, describe the structures of the Rapid Transit Operations and the Staten Island Railway, and the strengths and weaknesses of each structure.
2. What advice do you have for the Interim President on how to improve New York City Transit’s Rapid Transit Operations structure to better accomplish its goals? What factors should be considered when deciding whether to restructure the Rapid Transportation Operations structure?
3. The Interim President senses that the organization’s culture has problems, including the potential for burnout and turnover. How would you help the Interim President understand the connection between structure and an organization’s culture? (e.g., What would you observe? Whom would you speak to? What data would you collect? What would you recommend the NYCT do to change the culture of the agency?)
4. Be sure to take into consideration that the suggested structural improvements in Question A will help to change the organization’s culture to better meet their goals.
5. Finally, change is difficult in organizations. The Interim President would appreciate your advice about how to implement any proposed changes, what resistance should be anticipated, and what can be done to address any resistance.
