Organization Behavior in Fire and Rescue Service Control Rooms in England - Case Study Example

Title: Organization Behavior: case study of fire and rescue service control rooms in England Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name Course Code and Name: University: Date Submitted: 1. organizational context through studying the relationships between internal organizational structures and external environmental factors The internal organizational structure of fire rescue service control rooms in England has been changing in response to changes in external environment. The environment has been changing in many ways. The changes can be described as operational, technical and political in nature. Most of these changes were triggered by the publication of the original control room report in April 2004. Today, the changes that affect the manner in which fire and rescue service is managed organized and delivered are greater today than at any other time in the past. In order for the fire and rescue service to continue offering the critical public service of saving lives and protecting property, many issues relating to internal organizational structures need to be addressed. Internal organizational structures need to be changed in response to the new environmental challenges that are being faced. Contrary to the expectations that had been set in the original control room report, no significant progress has been made towards bringing about efficiency and economy in various fire and rescue service control rooms in England. The implication here is that a national or regional approach to control rooms can never be reliant on decisions that are made at the organizational level. After the terrorist attacks of the September 11 2001, a new dimension was adopted in order to secure the preparedness and resilience of England in terms of fire and rescue service. The attack resulted in a complete overhaul of operational environment of the country’s fire and rescue service. Management and organizational strategies were changed in accordance with the new security challenges and threats. The changes in the internal organizational structures took the form of new approaches to working practices, new equipment, operational procedures and training. The new working practices required inter-work relationships between brigades as well as across all the emergency services that are offered on a national scale. The disparity that exists between today’s brigade management standards, shift patterns, operational protocols, resource availability, shift patterns, and conditions of finance and service are an impediment to a common national response approach. There is need for commonality of control for purposes of facilitating fall-back arrangements. The level of enhancement in collaboration between different emergency services becomes successful only when the changes have been made in response to environmental factors. The Firelink that was introduced in Great Britain in 2007 is part of England’s fire and rescue service control rooms’ internal organizational structure. Firelink is a new radio system that is enhances the effectiveness of control rooms and all the fall-back facilities that are found there. Early integration was expected to offer additional opportunities for optimization of both Firelink and the entire communication infrastructure that is necessary for all regional control rooms. According to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (2003), the recent dispute between employers and staff over payments has far-reaching implications for the future of Fire and Rescue Service in England1. The agreement that was reached between employers and staff members embodied an increment in pay in exchange for drastic reforms and modernization of the service (Burchill, 2004)2. The internal organizational structure of England’s fire and rescue service control rooms was also affected by environmental factors through the formation of an independent review of the fire service. This review was initiated by the UK government in response to a proposal that was forwarded by employers in the fire and rescue service. The final report of the independent review was published in 2002. In this report, major reform and modernization programs were proposed with an aim of increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the services delivered. It was hoped that the changes would revolutionize the internal organizational structure in response to the broad aim of modernization. 2. An analysis of the role of individuals and teams within organizations (specific reference to learning, communication, perception, motivation, group formation and structure and team work) The most significant aspect of learning in a fire and rescue service environment entails risk management. Towards this end, the functionality of control rooms in England has been significantly improved over the past few years as part of the fire and rescue service’s control room integration agenda. Enhanced training facilities have been of great help in supporting risk-based decisions by operators of control rooms across the country. The process of integrated risk management is ongoing, with emphasis being on putting in place the ideal communication platforms for all employees to express their feelings and perceptions about efficiency. The motivation of local staff has not been optimal, mainly because of restrictive budgets that prevent many brigades from procuring all the necessary systems. This negative effect is expected to bring about a negative effect on the risk-based approach to operations and mobilization. The operations of England’s fire and rescue service control rooms are a part of public service delivery. Efforts to modernize this aspect of service delivery have been benchmarked on the need for teamwork, group formation and structure. Emphasis on modernization has been hinged on the need to run these services in a corporate or ‘joined-up’ manner. However, the organizational structures that were developed within the last 50 years seem to be inappropriate to today’s service requirements. Particularly, there is diversity in the operational practices between different brigades. This appears to be incompatible with efforts to create teamwork and group undertakings. Instead, national and regional structures should be supported, while staff members should be empowered and motivated to pursue as many teamwork ventures as possible. Today, technology is changing the way in which people work. Likewise, control room technology has brought about many changes in the way brigades demonstrate their understanding business of fire and rescue service. However, small brigades tend to be disadvantaged owing to the limited budgets on which they operate. Individuals who motivate staff members in various brigades have a critical role to play in ensuring that the right organizational practices are maintained in efforts to modernize the fire and rescue service. The functions of individuals in control rooms have evolved significantly. Today, the people who work in these places perform highly specialized tasks. This affects the nature of teamwork tasks that are doable. The availability of appropriate technology for supporting such highly specialized tasks as provision of fire survival guidance needs to be guaranteed in order for employees to be motivated. An explanation of how roles are defined in organizations and how they are affected by organizational design, structure, culture and strategy The roles of individuals, teams and groups in England’s fire and rescue service control rooms are defined mainly on the basis of the ongoing reform strategies such as modernization. One of these roles is e-government or ESD (Electronic Service Delivery). The ESD strategy was introduced by the government as part of the modernization initiative. In order for this strategy to work well, the roles of individuals need to be redefined in order to reflect the changes that take place. Additionally, there is need for the data being used to be standardized in readiness for use in fire and rescue services on a modern platform. The roles that are taken in control rooms also tend to be culturally defined in terms of the key operations that take place here. One of these tasks is call handling, whereby modernization efforts have brought about the need for inter-service and same-service collaboration in different control rooms. Response times also constitute a crucial factor. Indeed, different emergency response units, such as police, fire and ambulance services are distinguished from each other mainly in term of differences in response times. However, each service has an influence on the effectiveness of all the others, especially in situations where inter-service initiatives are being undertaken. Fire service entails not only extinguishing of fires but also preventing unfortunate fire accidents from happening. Minimizing the risks of fires is a key determinant of tasks that are performed in the control rooms. It is also a crucial factor in the determination of modernization efforts that authorities pursue at different levels. In England, fire service is being undertaken on both full-time and part-time basis. Some of the job titles that are traditionally associated with fire and rescue services in England include uniformed operational staff, service duty men, appliance drivers, uniformed non-operational staff, and control officers. The factors that determine the job descriptions in each of these job titles are manifold. Structural, cultural and strategic considerations also tend to determine the manner in which tasks are distributed among various professionals in control rooms. Meanwhile, the ability to perform challenging tasks is always a crucial requirement among all professionals in all fire and service operations. Government policies, which are culturally motivated, remain crucial in determining the spread of corporatism at both local and national levels (Fitzgerald, 2005)3. The FBU (Fire Brigades Union) for instance, possesses significant levels of influence on the way management decisions are made. The reflection of this influence is clear in the key role FBU has played in various industrial relations processes (Fitzgerald, 2005). These processes have enabled the union to protect all the working practices that have already been entrenched in the fire and rescue service control rooms. However, notes (Fitzgerald, 2005), the longstanding corporatist partnerships that have traditionally existed at the local level have started to show signs of breaking down with the rise of financial crisis. The financial crisis forced the fire and rescue service control room management to adopt a highly proactive approach. At the national level, though, corporatist structures remained, and it is only during the second term of office of the Labor government that they were overhauled. An assessment of organizational development by explaining organizational change, culture and conflict Central government intervention within England’s fire service can be traced to the beginning of the 20th century (Ewen, 2003)4. During this time, organized fire protection was always left to the discretion of different local authorities, private enterprises and voluntary organizations. Technological, financial and organizational factors were crucial influences on modernization and professionalization of the service. Additionally, the threats that were caused by the national wartime activities during the World War II were ultimate, decisive factors that compelled local authorities to maintain functional, professional fire brigades (Ewen, 2003). Both peacetime and wartime impetuses for organizational change in the fire and rescue service constitute elements of culture that is associated with this crucial service. Organizational culture in England has changed in many ways. The days when people believed that organizations rarely change are long gone. However, the leadership of organizations is always critical in bringing about a change in the existing organizational culture. Today, this change is being driven by both market and sectoral pressures. Strong leadership is needed in order to bring transformations through motivation, encouragement, and inspiration. Diversity management plays a key role in the success of government-led targets of ensuring that the existing organizational culture is transformed. The main difficulty lies in unwillingness by employees to let go of the existing culture, for fear that they will be alienated from the organization. However, in a country with as many diverse communities as England, such measures are inevitable. Areas of improvement in fire and rescue service control rooms can be identified through reports, questionnaires, and staff surveys. The most critical areas where change management is necessary include behaviors, attitudes, perceptions, and approaches to learning and organizational communication. According to Feather (2009), all the reports that focus on modernization fail to take into account the embedded culture existing in an organization5. Additionally, they fail to provide a clear methodology of embedding successful cultural change, thereby capitalizing on all the benefits of diversity. Others issues that easily get swept under the carpet during cultural change include spending efficiency and development of new skills among staff members. Organizational culture comprises the management, staff, history, values and beliefs, and public perception of an organization. Feather (2009) gives the example of the organizational culture at East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service (ESFR), which he regards as extremely complex. At ESFR, both non-operational and operational staff members tend to create a ‘them and us’ atmosphere. For instance, in a 2004 focus group discussion finding, support staff at ESFR were regard as second class; many senior managers did not recognize their expertise and experience, merely because they did not wear uniforms. Organizational conflict is common in fire and rescue service control rooms, mainly because multiple subcultures with distinct ideologies are embedded within the main organizational cultural fabric. These subcultures are often created during the change process. The operational staff members who were employed some 30 years ago tend to be comfortable with a militaristic style of management. In contrast, they tend to be uncomfortable working with members who come from a non-uniformed background. It is not surprising, then, that uniformed managers tend to struggle to manage and deal with support staff. Their approach appears suited to operational incidents but highly undesirable in an office environment. In the process of cultural change in a control room, non-operational staffs also create their own subculture making integration with new team members almost impossible. Change management has to succeed through development of strategies of integrating staff members into groups and teams. One may say that autocratic and hierarchical management styles, a tradition of rituals and ceremonies only creates and perpetuates cultural conflicts that are difficult to bridge (Feather, 2009). An appraisal of organizational management by an examination of decision-making, conflict, power and politics All properly managed fire and rescue control rooms ought to embed successful organizational-cultural changes while at the same time forging ahead with modernization goals. These tasks ought to be performed without any subcultures being formed. In England, the government has taken a significant step ahead by integrating technology into control rooms through Firelink. The workforce in the fire and rescue service control rooms is also diverse. This diversity marks the defeat of the perception that operational firefighters are only supposed to be big-bodied, white men. In most cases, the professionals who work in any given area are a representation of the diverse communities that reside there. The UK government was able to resolve the 2003 conflict amicably. When the 2002/2003 dispute over pay first emerged, the entire structure of Britain’s service started being regarded as an obstacle. Indeed, the pay dispute appeared as an opportunity for instituting changes through the Bain Report, was a development of the pre-existing arguments contained in the Audit Commission. The most progressive values that exist in England’s Fire and Rescue Service Control Rooms include teamwork, public service and mutual support. These values stand in sharp contrast to those undesirable traits of this public service institution, which exist even today. They include bitter hostility and close-knit teamwork and the resulting solidarity among firefighters (Feather, 2009). Conclusion In summary, organizational behavior is a key element through which the organizational dynamics of fire and rescue service control room in England are understood. Today, the fire and rescue service in the UK is undergoing a modernization process. This case study examined the organizational context of control rooms in England with an aim of understanding the existing relationships between internal organizational structures and various external environmental factors. Moreover, the case study also highlighted the role that individuals, teams and groups play within the control rooms of fire and rescue services. These roles are heavily influenced by prevailing perceptions, organizational culture, group formation and structure dynamics, communication and learning. An explanation was also made on how roles are defined within the fire and rescue service control rooms in England. The main determining factors assessed include organizational structure, design, culture and strategy. Moreover, the progress of the modernization process of this public service was assessed, with examples being drawn from an analysis of organizational changes at East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service (ESFR). Finally, this case study carried out an appraisal of organizational management efforts made by the fire and rescue service in effort to improve the service’s organizational culture. References Burchill, F. (2004). The UK fire services dispute 2002-2003", Employee Relations, Vol. 26, No. 4, pp.404 - 421 Ewen, S. (2003). Central Government and the Modernization of the British Fire Service, 1900–38, Twentieth Century British History, Vol. 14, No. 4, 317-338. Feather, M. (2009). How to further cultural change in East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service in order to capitalize on the positive benefits of diversity: Management Research Report, London: PAC-CIPD Fitzgerald, I. (2005). The death of corporatism? Managing change in the fire service, Personnel Review, Vol. 34, No. 6, pp.648 – 662. Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, The Future of Fire and Rescue Service Control Rooms in England and Wales, London: Mott Macdonald. Read More