ASSIGNMENT 5


Organizations are as alike and unique as human beings. Similarly, group processes can be as straightforward or as complex as the individuals who make up the organization. It is vital to successfully launching a new program that the leaders understand the strengths, weaknesses, and idiosyncrasies of the organization or system in which they operate. Try to anticipate barriers to implementation so that you can develop strategies to minimize their impact or avoid them altogether. The following list of common barriers can be used to help your leadership team identify potential obstacles. The list of essential elements for change can help the team brainstorm possible solutions.


A barrier is an obstacle which prevents a given policy instrument being implemented, or limits the way in which it can be implemented. In the extreme, such barriers may lead to certain policy instruments being overlooked, and the resulting strategies being much less effective. For example, demand management measures are likely to be important in larger cities as ways of controlling the growth of congestion and improving the environment. But at the same time they are often unpopular, and cities may be tempted to reject them simply because they will be unpopular. If that decision leads in turn to greater congestion and a worse environment, the strategy will be less successful. The emphasis should therefore be on how to overcome these barriers, rather than simply how to avoid them.

How should we deal with barriers in the short term?

It is important not to reject a particular policy instrument simply because there are barriers to its introduction. One of the key elements in a successful strategy is the use of groups of policy instrument which help overcome these barriers.

How can we overcome barriers in the longer term?

It is often harder to overcome legal, institutional and technological barriers in the short term. There is also the danger that some institutional and political barriers may get worse over time. However, strategies should ideally be developed for implementation over a 15-20 year timescale. Many of these barriers will not still apply twenty years hence, and action can be taken to remove others. For example, if new legislation would enable more effective instruments such as pricing to be implemented, it can be provided. If split responsibilities make achieving consensus impossible, new structures can be put in place. If finance for investment in new infrastructure is justified, the financial rules can be adjusted.



Operational problems
* Need for co-ordination and networking among professionals and educational institutions
* Need for supportive policy to release information
*Insufficient access to information source
*Confidentiality
*Redundancy of information
*Nature of policy directives
*Need for identifying sources of information
*Centralization of activities
*Need for systematic documentation


Operational improvement

* Set clear policy guidelines on information dissemination
* Encourage government to have depository laws and enforce them
* Introduce information system
* Use mass media
* Follow a bottom-up approach
* Develop grassroots level inventory of information
* Create awareness of the value of information
* Identify user information needs
* Consult target groups
* Develop target-oriented and useable information
* Develop effective system of information management and dissemination; information should be simple, understandable and manageable
* Institute efficient and effective co-ordination and networking
* Encourage a free flow of information — horizontally and vertically

Financial barriers

The figure below provides perceptions of the severity of financial barriers for European cities. It suggests that road building and public transport infrastructure are the two policy areas which are most commonly subject to financial constraints, with 80% of cities stating that finance was a major barrier. Information provision, again, was the least affected in terms of financial constraints. The only differences by city size are that small cities are less likely to perceive financial constraints on land use policies, and large cities are even less likely to identify financial constraints on information measures.

Political barriers

The figure below summarises information on political barriers for European cities. It suggests that road building and pricing are the two policy areas which are most commonly subject to acceptability constraints, with around 50% of cities stating that acceptability was a significant constraint on road building and pricing measures. Public transport operations and information provision were the least affected by acceptability constraints. Generally, large and small cities were more likely than medium sized cities to identify political barriers. Large cities were much more likely to perceive such barriers for road and rail infrastructure projects; small cities were more likely to identify them for pricing measures.

Practical and technological barriers

While cities view legal, financial and political barriers as the most serious which they face in implementing land use and transport policy instruments, there are some concerns also over practical limitations. For land use and infrastructure these may well include land acquisition. For management and pricing, enforcement and administration are key issues. For infrastructure, management and information systems, engineering design and availability of technology may limit progress. No attempt was made to survey cities' views on these, since they are very specific to individual instruments.



References:
http://www.mywhatever.com/cifwriter/content/22/4481.html
http://www.elseviersocialsciences.com/transport/konsult/public/level1/l1_barr.htm