MASCA

MAnaging System Change in Aviation

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'In response to the FP 7 Transport Call 3, AREA 7.1.4.3. (Air Transport system operational cost), Topic AAT.2010.4.3-4. (Human factors), MASCA proposes to deliver a structure to manage the acquisition and retention of skills and knowledge, through training on organisational processes for managing organisational change in the ‘whole air transport system’. Different stakeholders in a common operational system (airlines, airports, maintenance companies, etc.) will come together to change the shared operational system to deliver a better service. An Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), and software designer will offer technology solutions which support a more effective integrated operational.

This requires the participating companies to develop and maintain new skills and knowledge in change management. MASCA will develop the ‘concepts and techniques’ which can develop, manage, and support the effective deployment of these skills and knowledge in the management of change.

The workprogramme takes an action research approach with a primary focus on the transfer of change management capability into the organisations that are responsible for and involved in change. It is organised in 7 workpackages to deliver two complementary objectives: • The development of a system to deploy an integrated change management capability (Change Management System – CMS) • The deployment and evaluation of the CMS in selected change management initiatives, both simulated and actual.

The MASCA consortium covers the right range and balance of partners to address the ‘whole air transport system’ – airlines (SAS and Eurofly) include flight, maintenance and ground operations companies, airport authority (Arlanda), OEM (Thales Avionics) a world leader in aircraft technologies, universities (TCD, KTH), research organisation (NLR), and an SME (KITE) with a strong profile in technology and human factors services to aviation. The eight partners represent five European countries'

Introduzione (Teaser)

A novel solution to help airports embrace the future promises to support the aviation sector in several ways, from introducing new safety management systems to assessing airport risks.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

As the demand for air travel increases, the aviation industry is evolving rapidly, supported by an explosion in new technologies, materials and systems. These changes call for high-level expertise and skills that in turn require an effective management system. The EU-funded project 'Managing system change in aviation' (MASCA) proposed a solution to manage the acquisition and retention of skills and knowledge through training.

Designed to deliver integrated change management capability in selected case studies, MASCA aimed to address the high failure rate of change initiatives and to improve upon the process. In this context, it focused on how an organisation can be flexible and adaptable to better survive and prosper under a variety of circumstances. The project team looked at how processes depend on the social logic of relationships and how this interaction can evolve through the logic of knowledge and information.

To achieve its aims, MASCA elaborated four case studies that covered likely scenarios where its system could be valuable. The first involved a medium-sized European airport that aims to implement a collaborative decision-making system, while the second concerned introducing a sophisticated safety management system in a major airline. The third scenario considered implementing a holistic performance management approach for a small regional airport. The fourth worked on managing risk prior to major changes in a regional airline.

With these case studies in mind, the project team elaborated a management solution that can understand system change and deliver improved outcomes. It outlined how to build consensus for change, manage and share knowledge, underline leadership tasks such as detailing requirements for competitiveness, and foster collaborative learning.

Overall, the case studies demonstrated the validity of the project's approach in analysing the state of change with credible and useful recommendations. The solution is poised to be ideal for managing change in airports, and could eventually be adapted to other sectors such as health care. Thanks to MASCA, managing change in such large environments is set to become easier, more effective and less costly.