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EUROCONTROL

EUROCONTROL EXPERIMENTALCENTRE

EFQM SELF-ASSESSMENT2003

AWARD SIMULATION APPROACH

Version 2.002 May 2003

EUROCONTROL EXPERIMENTAL CENTREEFQM self assessment 2003 version 2.0

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DOCUMENT APPROVALThe following table identifies all management authorities that have successively approved the presentissue of this document.

AUTHORITY NAME AND SIGNATURE DATE

Editor in Chief Eric WATKINS 02 May 2003

Director EUROCONTROLExperimental Centre

Jean-Marc GAROT 02 May 2003

DOCUMENT CONTROL

EDITIONNo.

ISSUE DATE AUTHOR(S) REASON

1.0 04 March 2002 List 1 below 2002 edition submitted for external assessment.

1.1 16 August 2002 Eric Watkins Incorporation of extensive comments from DEEC.

1.2 21 April 2003 List 2 below First consolidated draft for the 2003 exercise.

2.0 02 May 2003 List 2 All chapters updated, comments from coremanagement members included.

2003 edition submitted for external assessment

List 1

Editor in Chief:Eric WATKINS

Chapter Authors:Marc BISIAUXJanedig DA COSTATed ELLIFFPeter ERIKSENAndy HARVEYRoger JERRAMFrederic MASColin MECKIFFDirk SCHAEFEREric WATKINS

List 2

Editor in Chief:Eric WATKINS

Chapter Authors:Marc BISIAUXMarco GIBELLINIAndy HARVEYPaul HUMPHREYSRoger JERRAMNigel SYLVESTER-THORNEEric WATKINS


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TABLE OF CONTENTSOVERVIEW ...................................................................................................................................................41 LEADERSHIP...........................................................................................................................................102 POLICY AND STRATEGY .......................................................................................................................183 PEOPLE ...................................................................................................................................................244 PARTNERSHIPS AND RESOURCES .....................................................................................................305 PROCESSES ...........................................................................................................................................396 CUSTOMER RESULTS ...........................................................................................................................457 PEOPLE RESULTS..................................................................................................................................488 SOCIETY RESULTS ................................................................................................................................519 KEY PERFORMANCE RESULTS............................................................................................................53GLOSSARY.................................................................................................................................................60


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OVERVIEW

Context of this submissionThis submission document represents the 5th

EFQM self-assessment that the EEC has carriedout since the first self-assessment in 1998. Seethe section Journey to Excellence below. This isthe 2nd time that the award simulation approachhas been used, the first being in 2002. In 2002and this time in 2003, the submission documenthas been submitted to an external team ofassessors, led by a qualified EFQM seniorassessor, in order to guarantee a totally objectiveassessment and scoring. The feedback from the2002 self-assessment has been digested by theEEC and has been used to improve EECfunctioning and operations.

This submission is being made at a time when theEEC is undergoing an important transition. Majorinitiatives have taken place in the ATM sectornamely the ACARE initiative of the EuropeanCommission and the formation of new industryalliances. In order to meet the challenges of thisrapidly changing context, the EEC conducted a farreaching strategy review in the 2nd half of 2002followed by a reorganisation to align the EECstructure with the revised strategy. The former 9business areas (pre 2003) were readjusted andconsolidated into 6 business areas in order to fullyalign with ACARE and the revised ATM2000+strategy. This transitional situation should be keptin mind by the reader.

History The EUROCONTROL Experimental Centre (EEC)was officially established as an external service ofthe EUROCONTROL Agency on 10 June 1963.The initial responsibilities were defined as:• operational research and the testing of ATC

methods• operational demonstrations of the validity of

the ATC system proposed• operational and technical evaluation of control

centre equipment The EEC was the first establishment in the worldto execute a totally digital real time simulation forATC. The resources and scope of the EEC have beengradually increased over the years and the EEChas become a leader in the provision of ATMsimulation services and a major ATM/CNS R&Dcentre.

Changing market context

From its inception and for most of its existence,the EEC has been in a stable public serviceenvironment. Despite fluctuations, the steadyEuropean economic growth has produced asteady growth in the demand for air travel with aconsequent requirement for ATC systems toconstantly deliver commensurate increases incapacity. This constant renewal and upgrade ofATC systems and airspace organisations has ledto significant investments at the EEC both forresearch and development and for ATCsimulations and the demand has usuallyexceeded the EEC’s work capacity. Competition for the EEC has been virtually non-existent since both ATC service provision andnational research and development centres weregovernment activities. Cooperation andcollaboration has taken place but the absence ofan overall view and management of research anddevelopment in Europe, has led to duplication andoverlap of activities and wasted investment. Since the beginning of the 90s, many States haveprivatised or corporatised their ATS providersand/or their R&D Centres. The EEC now findsitself in an environment where competition and theneed to demonstrate cost effectiveness must becarefully married with collaboration to ensure themost efficient use of the overall Europeaninvestment in ATM research and development.

In this context, the EEC has regularly reviewed itsposition and its role. Extensive discussions withthe main stakeholders, through the EECConsultation Group took place to define for eachtype of activity the funding, the work allocationmechanisms and the EEC role. The EEC doeshold a unique position in European ATM, it beingthe only European ATM R&D establishment, butnevertheless in many aspects it is a peer amongseveral players.

Over many years, the EEC has gradually build astrong partnership with the EuropeanCommission. In Q1 2003 after long negotiationsinside and outside the Agency, this partnershiphas been further consolidated with EATM, and theEEC has been given full responsibility for ATMR&D in Europe. This transition, referred to at thebeginning of this chapter, will see the EEC andthe European Commission constitute a JointProgramme Board which will oversee ATM R&D


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in Europe articulated through an ATM R&DMaster Plan. Detailed working arrangements arecurrently being developed.

Business of the EECThe mission of the EEC is to carry out researchand development in order to improve Air TrafficManagement in Europe.

We deliver this mission through 6 business areas:

EEC Business Areas (2003)APT Airport throughputERIS EATMP reference industry-based simulation

platformINO Innovative researchNCD Network capacity and demand managementSEE Society, Environment and EconomySPP Sector Safety and Productivity

As any research centre, the activities compriseexperiments, studies, validation, tests, andprototyping. A major tool is simulation, rangingfrom analytical modeling through to real timesimulation and field trials. Simulations are aninstrument for evaluation, validation andacceptability testing of R&D products. They arealso provided as a service to member states andANSPs in order to support improvement actionssuch as airspace reorganisation, changes inworking procedures, and the introduction of newtools. A major EEC activity is softwaredevelopment, of simulators, tools, andmiddleware, and of prototype components of ATMsystems.

The work of the EEC is organised as a set ofprojects, and a project is managed by one of thebusiness areas. The totality of the projectsconstitute the work programme. The followingtypes of deliverable are project outcomes:• Reports• Publications in learned journals and

conferences• simulators• tools• prototype ATM system components• demonstrators

Different projects in the EEC work programmeaddress different periods in the research timespectrum, from short term through medium termto long term. Experience shows that there isnormally a constant of 10-20 years to bring newconcepts into operations.

Some projects in deliver benefit in the short term.For example, NCD provides a unique capacityplanning service to the ATM community to deliverATFM delay forecasts and yearly capacity plans

and to set short-term capacity targets for ANSPs.Other projects explore the feasibility and benefitsof new airspace organisations, and new workingmethods as applied to current operationalsystems, and recommendations are oftenimplemented in the short term.

Most of the other business areas are concernedwith medium to long term research. Oneexample, and a key EEC project is COSPACE.Its objectives are essentially to determine theoperational feasibility, applicability, and potentialbenefits, in terms of safety, capacity and overallefficiency, of partial delegation of separationassurance from ground ATC to aircrew. If this lineof research delivers the expected benefits,operations could be in the 2015 timeframe.

The EEC develops a large range of softwareapplications for its own use. It is not the businessof the EEC to develop and deliver operationalproducts, that is the business of industry, butsimulators, tools, prototypes and demonstratorswhich achieve a high level of maturity can interestthe ATM community at large. These spin-offproducts are made available normally free ofcharge. See chapter 6

Funding and ResourcingAll 2003 budget figures in this report correspondto the state at the time of writing. The budget ofthe EEC is a component of part 1 of the Agencybudget, which is funded by Member Statecontributions according to Agency rules. In 2003this amounts to 57.72 MEUR and covers staffcosts, operating expenditure and investmentcredits. This EEC budget is augmented by 20.33MEUR in the form of delegations from othersponsors, both internal and external to theAgency, in payment for work done.

Budget delegationsOrigin Amount

(MEUR)Other Agency directorates,mainly EATM and CFMU

12.37

External to the Agency,mainly EuropeanCommission, ENAV, FAA

7.96

Total 20.33

With the addition of delegations, the total budgetmanaged by the EEC in 2003 is 78.05 MEUR.

The chart below shows the amount of resourcesallocated to the different business areas,enablers, and support in 2003. Funds areallocated based on agreed plans in the BusinessPlan complemented by subsequent negotiationduring budget execution.


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The EEC staff complement is 272 budgetary postsof which 15 are frozen to reduce overall Agencystaff costs resulting in 257 posts which can befilled. 252 staff are currently in post. This staffcomplement is supplemented with more than 200external persons made up of contract staff andstudents and seconded staff from nationaladministrations. The EEC building is set on a siteof some 90.000 square metres. It has a total floorspace of some 15.000 square metres whichcomprises office space, meeting rooms, aconference facility, experimental rooms andworkshops, in addition to a showroom and the realtime simulation area consisting of two controlrooms, a demonstration room and a pilot room.

EEC Organisation

The EEC operates a matrix organisation across the whole of its organisation, core business and support.There are 6 business areas and 4 principal business enablers on the vertical axis and 6 centres of expertiseon the horizontal axis. A business area contains projects which deliver outcomes to customers. A businessenabler contains services and projects which deliver outcomes to other units of the EEC. A centre ofexpertise gathers a pool of specialist knowledge and supplies skills in a dynamic manner to projects. Acentre of expertise supplies skills to projects and services in business areas and business enablers as theneeds arise. It is the responsibility of a centre of expertise to manage staff and skills and their development.Key methodologies auch as safety, validation, software engineering, reside in centres of expertise and aredeveloped and promoted and supported by the centre of expertise. Key methodologies are applied acrossall core business projects.

6%

14%

26%

7%2%9%

3%

9%

24% Innovative

Network Cap.

Sector Safety Prod.

Society Env. Eco.

Airport

ERIS

Safety and Val. Metho.

Technical Enablers

Support

Centres ofCentres ofExpertiseExpertise

BusinessBusinessAreas/EnablersAreas/Enablers

Network Capacity

Airport Throughput

Communication

Information Technology

Human Resources

Society

Sector Safety and Productivity

Infrastructure

Finance and Project Support

EATMP Reference Industry-based ATMSimulation and Trials Platform

Innovative R&D

Operational S

ervices

ATM and CNS

Systems Engineerin

g

Analysis and Scientific

Simulatio

n Facility

M

anagement

Development and

In

tegration

Finance, Infra

structure,

in

formatio

n & Personnel

providers

CoreBusinessManager

Director

SupportBusinessManager

AirportsDatabase

BADA

AirportsAirportsDatabaseDatabase

BADABADA

Safety

Validation

Human Factors

Laboratory

SafetySafety

ValidationValidation

HumanHuman Factors Factors

Laboratory Laboratory

SoftwareEngineering

Unit

Outsourcing

SoftwareSoftwareEngineeringEngineering

UnitUnit

OutsourcingOutsourcing

GEN-SpaceGEN-GEN-SpaceSpace

Simulation exploitationSimulation Simulation exploitationexploitation


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GovernanceThe EEC is an external unit of theEUROCONTROL Agency. The DEEC isresponsible to the DG for the efficient operation ofthe EEC. The EEC is overseen by the EECManagement Board (EEC MB), which sets andapproves EEC strategy and which directs EECactivities. The EEC MB meets twice per year, andapproves the EEC Business Plan.

EEC MB CompositionDirector General

Head of DG CabinetSenior Director EATMP

Director FinanceDirector Human Resources

Director CFMU

EEC Core Management members attend the EECMB meeting. The representative of the local StaffCommittee participates for agenda items whichconcern the Staff Committee.

Two other Agency steering committees are key tothe functioning of the EEC, theEUROCONTROL Programme AppraisalCommittee (EPAC), and the EATMP ManagementCommittee (EMC).

EPAC is the investment Board at Agency level. Itreviews investment proposals, being programmes,projects, services or simply equipmentacquisitions, whose total capital value exceeds 5MEUR (this financial threshold being 1 MEUR insome specific cases).

For work which the EEC conducts for EATMP,then DEEC is functionally responsible to SeniorDirector EATMP (SDE). EATMP is managed bythe EMC, of which SDE is the chairman. TheEMC meets approximately 9 times per year.

Internally, the EEC is managed by the CoreManagement (CM) which comprises fivemembers, DEEC plus four senior managers. TheCM meets approximately once every other week.The DEEC assistant is the secretary of the CMmeetings.

CM compositionDEEC

Core Business ManagerSupport Business Manager

R&D coordinatorSpecial Advisor

The Experimental Centre Consultation Group(ECCG) is the principal forum for consulting EECstakeholders. The ECCG is an official entity in theEUROCONTROL organisation. It was establishedin 1998 in order to advise the DG on the role,strategy, and performance of the EEC. An EECstaff representative who is elected by EEC staff,attends the ECCG meetings. The ECCG meetstwice per year normally in April and October.ECCG consultation is an essential step in theBusiness Plan lifecycle, and the Business Plan isamended following ECCG advice.

ECCG compositionChairman:

Marc Baumgartner(President & CEO IFATCA)

Secretary: (EEC R&D Co-ordinator

EEC staff representativeMember States

ANSPsATM system providers

IATAIFATCAATCEUC

R&D establishmentsAirports

European CommissionMilitary

An overview of EEC governance is depicted in thefollowing diagram.

Agency Stakeholders

Directives

Consultation

Advice

ECCG

DG

EEC MB

DEECCMEEC

EEC Governance


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Journey to Excellence

Experimental Centre Journey to Excellence (1)Year Highlights Features and detail

Pre1995

• World leader for theprovision of ATC real timesimulations.

• Emerging processmanagement

• EEC pressure leads to thecreation of the AgencyQuality Group in 1994

• Process management:� Software engineering standards (IEEE based)� Real time simulation handbook� Project management training� Simulation management group� Change and problem control procedures.

1995 • Jean-Marc Garot director• Hierarchical organisation

flattened• Domains of expertise• Democratic reorganisation

process• TQM initiated• EEC mission and vision

• Total quality (TQ) principles:� Customer satisfaction� Continuous process improvement� Total staff involvement.

• Seminars by external quality experts, Tom Gilb and James Teboul• The mission (1995) of the EEC is to carry out R&D in order to

improve ATM in Europe• Vision 1995

� Reinforce EEC objectivity� Become more business-like� Build on the excellence of our staff� Further strengthen R&D

1996 • Organisation focusing onprojects and stakeholders

• Comprehensive projectreviews

• Subsidiarity• TQM• Intranet and external web

site created

• Organisation: Centres of Expertise, Administrative Services,technical Services, and Core Management all in support toprojects.

• Subsidiarity: wide distribution of extracts from the book by CharlesHandy “The Empty Raincoat", extensive debate on the electronicnewsgroups.

• TQM: 11 improvement projects launched involving 30 people.

1997 • Focus on organisationaldevelopment andleadership

• Restructure of supportservices and core andmiddle management

• Framework contract forexternal effort procurement

• Business planning launched• Stakeholder survey 1• Pilot performance appraisal• TQM: CIC CoE, EFQM.

• Internal communication on organisational development andleadership was spearheaded by a seminar delivered by ManfredKets de Vries (INSEAD) a world authority on the subject. Notionof a fun factor.

• Restructuring of the technical and administrative support sections.Four work programme managers and four functional coremanagers.

• TQM: new staff performance appraisal scheme which was entirelydeveloped within the EEC. Centre of Expertise (CIC) created withthe core management special advisor as champion. AgencyQuality Policy signed by the DG, EFQM mandated.

1998 • EFQM self-assessment 1,score 203

• First Business Plan drafted• Building renovation started• ECCG created• Staff satisfaction survey 1

• EFQM awareness sessions attended by 150 people.Questionnaire issued on the intranet for all to respond.

• Business planning process focused on wide consultation insideand outside the Agency

• Extensive building project was necessary to ensure conformitywith legislation: fire, electrical installations, building materials

1999 • Business Plan v1.0approved by the DG

• Organisation EATMPalignment

• EFQM self-assessment 2,score 287

• Stakeholder survey 2• IT facilities management

• The main objectives of the organisational adaptation were:� better alignment with EATMP� a reinforcement of projects and programmes� a reduced and strengthened core management.

• EFQM self assessment again used the questionnaire approach,issued on the intranet and on paper.

• IT facilities management outsourced. Significant improvement inquality of service, staff retrained and reallocated mainly to corebusiness


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Experimental Centre Journey to Excellence (2)YEAR Highlights Features and detail

2000 • Matrix organisation• Business Plan v2.0

approved by DG.• EFQM self assessment 3,

score 306• Building renovation

completed• Staff satisfaction survey 2• Budget checkpoints

• Main objectives of the matrix organisation were:� Facilitate alignment of organisation with strategy� Increase flexibility of staff and projects

Centres of Expertise (CoEs) were retained as the basic staffmanagement unit, but their number was reduced to five. Contractstaff were no longer assigned to CoEs but were allocated directlyto projects. Projects were no longer managed in an ad-hocfashion within CoEs but were grouped together into nine businessareas which implemented strategy.

• The pro-forma interview approach was used for the EFQM self-assessment. This required more resources but is more insightful.A sample of 10% of staff was interviewed by a team of 7.

• Suggestions Box launched• Major improvement to the financial processes through the

introduction of quarterly budget checkpoints where each projectand business area is scrutinised

2001 • Think-tank• Business Plan v3.0

approved by DG.• HR section reorganisation• Major process improvement• IT facilities management

• The Think-tank cross functional team of 9 people undertook a wideranging review of the functioning of core business. Main findings:

� Reduce the number of projects� Better define roles and responsibilities within the matrix� develop knowledge management in CoEs� communicate the staff plan� restart systematic project reviews� re-energise internal communication

Improvement actions were launched to address each of the abovefindings. The functioning of the organisation should be reviewedevery 12-18 months.

• Major process improvement::� Budget monitoring process� Staff planning� Access to business information (ACB).� Intranet "How to Guide" to improve access to information

• 2002 • Business Plan v4.0

approved by DG• Major revision of strategy• EFQM self assessment 4,

score 350• Matrix extension• Major process improvement• Staff satisfaction survey 3• Stakeholder survey 3• Values project• Internal communications

improvements

• EFQM self-assessment using the award simulation approach,assessed by external assessors.

• Matrix extension to enabling services, 6th centre of expertiseadded (FIP, Finance, infrastructure, information, and personnel)

• Major process improvement::� Enabling services web site� Process mapping based on initial process framework� Review and enhancement of key performance in dicators� Clarification of the matrix and roles� Process to measure the effectiveness of training

• Staff satisfaction survey 3. First common survey undertaken in allAgency directorates.

• Major revision of EEC strategy to prepare for increasedresponsibility for R&D in the Agency and in Europe and to ensurealignment with ACARE and ATM200+ strategies.

• DEEC initiates the values project to study in depth the currentvalues of the EEC and the values to which the staff andmanagement of the EEC aspire. Improvement actions will follow.

• Improvements in internal communication, weekly informationcorner, internal newsletter, revised EMM

2003 • ERC• EFQM self-assessment 5• Staff satisfaction survey 4• EEC reorganisation

• The EEC is given the total responsibility of R&D in the Agencyand, jointly with the European Commission, the responsibility forR&D in Europe

• EFQM self-assessment again using the award simulationapproach, assessed by external assessors

• EEC restructured to align with the revised EEC strategy.


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1 LEADERSHIPExcellent leaders develop and facilitate the achievement of the mission and vision. They developorganisational values and systems required for sustainable success and implement these via their actionsand behaviours. During periods of change they retain a constancy of purpose. Where required, suchleaders are able to change the direction of the organsation and inspire others to follow.

The EEC policy of subsidiarity requires thatleadership competencies exist at several levelsof the organisation. Leadership is expectedfrom all levels of management as well as frompeople in situational leadership positions duringspecific meetings or interactions.

1a Leaders develop the mission, vision,values and ethics and are role models of aculture of ExcellenceThe mission and vision of the EEC weredeveloped in 1995 through a process of staffconsultation and wide debate led by the CoreManagement Special Advisor. The resultingvision expresses the fundamental values of theEEC culture. The mission and vision aresystematically deployed to all EEC activities viathe strategy and work programme and arereviewed on an annual basis as part of theBusiness Plan revision cycle.

In 2002 a Task Force was established toinvestigate more closely the values of the EEC.With the support of external consultants, thegroup used a survey of all staff to identify whatare, and what people feel should be, the valuesof the EEC. The findings of this group are beingdiscussed with staff at present through a seriesof presentation. Each presentation was givenseveral times to ensure maximum effectiveness.The aim of the project is to improve the collectiveunderstanding and move the EEC towards thecommon goals.

EEC Leaders, both members of coremanagement and middle management, act asrole models for a culture of excellence bypersonal and active involvement in improvementactivities. Improvement projects are eithergenerated from EFQM self assessments, or aregenerated by regular assessment and reviewactivities, or are generated spontaneously fromthe continuous improvement culture. The CoreManagement Special Advisor is a member of thesuggestions box board. Many of the majorimprovement actions such as strategy reviews,organisational realignments, outsourcing,facilities management, drive for businessexcellence etc., have all been triggered by coremanagement.

Effectiveness of leadership is reviewed firstlythrough a series of questions in the staffsatisfaction survey, and secondly through theannual performance appraisal. Coremanagement away-days are organised once ayear, each one focusing on a particular theme.The next one, for example, will focus on theconclusions to be drawn from the Values studydescribed above. The conclusions of coremanagement away-days are reported on at allstaff meetings. To review and improve theeffectiveness of core management leadership isthe declared objective of these meetings, whichare usually facilitated by an external consultant.Informally, leadership effectiveness is alsoreviewed through the open and democraticculture of the EEC, through personal interactionand through wide use of the electronicnewsgroups. DEEC, and to a lesser extentsome senior managers, dialogue directly withthe staff through the electronic newsgroups.

Trust and empowerment are key elements of theEEC organisation. Since 1995, the traditional,rigid, hierarchical structure has been replaced bya flatter organisational structure which, throughsubsequent and regular assessment and reviewactions, has been transformed into the currentpowerful and flexible balanced matrixorganisation. Such an organisation facilitatesand encourages empowerment, the latter beingfurther developed through coaching and training.Project and unit managers at the EEC have fullresponsibility for budget and staff and otherresources and are accountable both horizontallyand vertically through regular assessment andreview processes. Budget reviews are heldquarterly and all budget holders are required toaccount for transactions and confirm planning.Similarly people managers have beenencouraged to extend the performance appraisalprocess by holding intermediate reviewmeetings with their staff and this has becomestandard practise in each Centre of Expertise.

Communication has been identified as a keysuccess factor for the EEC and was a topic thatemerged from staff surveys as needing moreattention. Based on this feedback it was decidedto reinforce the role of the various managementmeetings as a means of ensuringcommunication in both directions.


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Minutes from Core Management Meetings CMMare published on the Intranet. Attendance at theCMM is high. Since July 2001 there have been28 CMM. At least 4 Core Managers werepresent at 26 of these meetings and there wasfull attendance at 19 of them.Collaboration is the essence of a matrixorganisation where people and resources cometogether in project teams to achieve a clear setof objectives. In 2002, in reaction to feedbackfrom the Staff Satisfaction Survey, the CMparticipated in team-building exercisessupported by an external consultant.Collaboration is also encouraged on a lessformal basis through voluntary participation inconsultative committees such as for the canteenand for major building projects.

The EEC adopted an approach of continuousimprovement over fifteen years ago. Thisinitially used total quality principles and thentransitioned to continuous improvement whenthe activities were formalised around the EFQMmodel and techniques in 1998. Throughout thisperiod, staff members have been encouraged toparticipate in improvement projects on avoluntary basis. Senior managers also will leador participate in improvement projects. It is partof the approach that managers allocate time forcontinuous improvement activities.

Appropriate training was provided through thequality module of the project managementtraining and more recently through specificEFQM training: both introductory and assessortraining. There are also regular internalpresentations. In 2003, 3 middle managershave followed the EFQM self assessmenttraining and one scientist has qualified as aEFQM European Excellence Assessor.

This document, the report for the EFQM self-assessment award simulation, is being writtenby a team of 7 people, all volunteers, somemanagers, who are drawn from different EECunits. Many other people contributed to thedevelopment of the report via interviews and bytheir supplying data for the results chapters ofthe report.

1b Leaders are personally involved inensuring the organisation's managementsystem is developed, implemented andcontinuously improved

Aligning the organisation's structure tosupport delivery of its policy and strategy

The section Overview-Journey to Excellenceabove shows that the EEC has undergoneseveral major reorganisations in order torespond to changing context. More recently, theEEC underwent a major restructuring in mid-2000 which resulted in its core business beingorganised as a classical matrix. Peoplemanagement activities, grouped into ‘Centres ofExpertise’, were placed along one axis, andprojects, grouped into ‘Business Areas’ on theother. The choice and naming of Centres ofExpertise and Business Areas is highlysignificant, as they incorporate the strategicelements of the EEC and its deploymentframework.

EEC Business Areas (2000)ACS ATM concepts and studiesATI ATM implementationCNS Communication, navigation and surveillanceENV EnvironmentERS EATMP reference industry-based platformGNS Satellite navigationINO Innovative researchPFE Performance, flow and economicsSAF Safety

In 2002 the matrix was extended to include thecenter’s support activities through theappointment of Business Enabling Managers(BEMs) and the addition of a sixth Center ofExpertise. They are listed below:

EEC Centres of Expertise (2002)ACE ATM and CNS system engineeringSAS Safety analysis and scientificDAI Development and integrationOPS Operational servicesSFM Simulation facility managementFIP Finance, infrastructure, iformation and

people provider

EEC Business Enablers (2002)MIM Marketing & information managementITM Information technology managementAMI Administrative and management information

softwareHRM Human resources managementSMU Social medical unitSPP Service for prevention and protection at workTIG Transport & mail infrastructure general

supportFIN FinanceFPA Financial planning and analysisPSO Programme support office

At the end of 2002 and beginning 2003 inresponse to the report “ Proposed EECreorientation v2”, the 9 business areas wereregrouped into 6 new business areas in order toimplement the new strategic direction in ademonstrative manner and to align with theEATM reorganisation taking place at the sametime.


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EEC Business Areas (2003)APT Airport throughputERIS EATMP reference industry-based simulation

platformINO Innovative researchNCD Network capacity and demand managementSEE Society, Environment and EconomySPP Sector Safety and Productivity

The EEC reorganisation implementing the“reorientation” was described and agreed by theEUROCONTROL Director General in DecisionN° VII/1(2003) on 13 January 2003.

The Gantt chart on the powerpoint slide belowdepicts the business planning process whichdrives the re-orientation process. This slide alsoshows the way that the process iscommunicated and explained to staff and tostakeholders. This slide is part of standard EECpresentations.

This ability to respond to the evolvingenvironment demonstrates the effectiveness ofthe EEC’s matrix structure to accommodatechange and reflect the needs of its stakeholders.

EUROCONTROL Experimental Centre

EEC Core Business Re-orientation Process

Management board

ECCG

The organisational structure and operation havebeen assessed and reviewed on an annualbasis to seek to optimise the delivery of strategy.A review took place in Q4 2001 in the form of afacilitated brainstorming exercise with theparticipation of representatives of senior andmiddle management. This led to improvementactions in the area of internal communication(see section 3d) and project management,project reviews (see section 2d) and contractmanagement (see section 4a.

In Q2 2002 the heads of Centres of Expertisereviewed the impact of the matrix organisationon the EEC work programme. A survey ofProject Managers and Business Area Managerswas undertaken, which showed a high level of

acceptance of the matrix structure but identifiedsome weak areas, notably in communicationand collaboration. The formulation ofimprovement actions to address these areas forimprovement will form the subject of middlemanagement meetings in 2003.

Starting in 2002 and continuing through 2003, amajor initiative was launched to establish aframework of key processes (see section 2d)and to map and document processes. Ownerswere clearly identified. This work was triggeredby self assessment feedback in 2002. Animprovement action was started and wasreinforced by actions led by the core businessmanager and the support services. Processesare documented on the intranet.


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An Intranet tool, the "How to?" Guide, has beendeveloped to facilitate access to intranetinformation including processes. In addition aseparate process indexing mechanism has beendeveloped, accessible from the intranet homepage.

Assessment and review of processes isgradually becoming more systematic. Forexample there are systematic annual reviews ofthe business planning process and thepromotion process. This and previous self-assessment exercises as well as the increasingmaturity of the organisation have acted ascatalysts for a more systematic examination ofkey business processes. It should be noted thatmany processes especially in the finance,procurement, and human resource domains, aremandated at the level of the Agency. In thesecases the EEC seeks, through appropriatetraining, to ensure that EEC staff understandand correctly apply Agency processes. Trainingmaterial has recently been developed on thesubjects of outsourcing and procurement to helpproject managers deal with changes to Agencyprocedures.

The EEC has been instrumental in introducingimproved processes at the level of the Agency.Examples are performance appraisal, businessplanning, staff planning, budget monitoring andframework contract.

Since 1997 the EEC has adopted the industrybest practise of using a Business Plan tocommunicate and deliver strategy. The DirectorGeneral approved the first EEC Business Plan in1999, after wide consultation with externalstakeholders and Agency staff. The BusinessPlan explains the strategy and indicates how thestrategy is deployed throughout EEC operationsvia the work programme and support activities.This is further supported by the matrixorganisation as explained earlier in this section.The Business Plan process ensures that theBusiness Plan is assessed and reviewed on anannual basis linked to the annual budgetarycycle. Approval of Business Plans is recorded inthe Overview- Journey to Excellence. The EEChas been instrumental in introducing aharmonised Business Planning processthroughout the Agency, and the EEC BusinessPlan is viewed as best practice throughout theAgency.

For over a decade the EEC has been measuringperformance indicators linked to the delivery ofsimulations, which has been its core businesssince the establishment of the EEC in the early1960s. More recently and due to the

introduction of the Business Planning process, amore systematic approach to performanceindicators has been initiated and theseconstitute chapter 7 of the current BusinessPlan. These indicators are assessed andreviewed by core management and the KPIowners on a quarterly basis (see section 2b).Performance indicators are co-ordinated at thelevel of the Agency and this resulted, during the2001 assessment and review, in the introductionof two new indicators, the timeliness of projectmilestones (see section 6b), and the projectmanagement quality index (see section 9b).Systems have been developed as part of ACB tosupport the measurement of these performanceindicators. See section 3a below for furtherdetails of ACB.

The EEC is recognised as one of the bestperforming directorates in the Agency, forexample, budget expenditure performanceconsistently exceeds 95%, and the EEC isleading the Agency in the use of BalancedScorecard techniques. Nevertheless, the EECis very aware that performance can always beimproved. Leaders constantly encourage staffto work on improvement activities by allocatingtime to continuous improvement at managementmeetings, by personal involvement in theidentification of improvements and theestablishment of performance indicators and bytheir support of self assessment, staff surveys,and customer surveys.

1c Leaders interact with customers, partnersand representatives of societyThe EEC has established several approaches tounderstand and respond to the needs andexpectations of stakeholders. Leaders, both atsenior and other levels, are fully involved in theinitiation and operation of the associatedprocesses.

All EEC leaders are encouraged to network withstakeholders on a regular basis in order to keepabreast of changing needs and expectations.Since the EEC is a research centre, the maindelivery chain is the project, and stakeholderinvolvement is paramount from initialrequirements elicitation through to finalacceptance of deliverables in order to ensurecontinuing alignment with evolving stakeholderneeds. Specific activities in the project lifecycleprocess ensure full stakeholder involvement andthese are supported by the provision ofadequate funding for visits to stakeholder sites.


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A special programme of VIP visits to the EECwas started in 2000 and is led by the DEEC.The objective of this approach is to invite to theEEC on a regular basis the CEOs of stakeholderorganisations in order to exchange views,understand the strategy and needs ofstakeholders, explain EEC and Agency strategy,and explore opportunities for collaboration. Avisitors database application was created in2003 in order to better track and follow upstakeholder visits and contacts.

A stakeholder survey has been carried out everytwo years since 1997. This is a primary sourceof objective feedback that is used to gaugestakeholder needs and expectations, to assessalignment of EEC strategy, to measurestakeholder satisfaction and to obtainstakeholder perception of EEC operations andperformance. Improvement actions are plannedand implemented based on the results of thesurvey. Senior management actively supportsthis process and fully participates in customisingthe questionnaire according to evolving needsand context.

The Experimental Centre Consultation Group(ECCG) was established in 1998 to advise theEEC and the Director General on the role,strategy, and performance of the EEC. (Seesection Overview-Governance above). TheECCG is the only forum that is dedicated to allEEC stakeholders. The principal workingpapers are the draft Business Plan of year n andthe Annual Report of year n-1 and these are thevehicles for debate and advice concerning therole, strategy, and performance of the EEC. Thedraft Business Plan is modified as a result of thestakeholder advice before being submitted to theEEC Management Board and the DirectorGeneral for final approval. In addition to thestandard agenda, each meeting comprises oneor more special themes, determined by theevolving EEC strategy e.g. safety, environmentalissues, flow management and economic issues.

Partnership is of paramount importance to aresearch organisation through all phases ofdelivery. Partnership is thus an important part ofEEC strategy. An overview of partnership isgiven here. Further details are provided insection 4a, and indicators and results pertinentto partnership are documented in sections 9aand 9b.

Partnership with other research units anduniversities stimulates creativity, maximisessynergy, and optimises the combined use ofresources. Partnership with the ATM systemsupply industry seeks to advance

standardisation, and seeks to accelerate theoperational deployment of research results.Partnership with ATM service providers, withEATMP our number one stakeholder, and withother stakeholders is essential to ensure thatEEC activities respond to the global needs ofATM in Europe and the world. Partnership withthe European Commission (EC) seeks tocontribute to the EC R&D effort in the mostefficient manner by making EEC resources andexpertise available to consortia working on ECprojects. Since 1999 the EEC has provided astaff member on secondment to the EC toconsolidate this partnership. The EC's highregard for the EEC is evidenced by the recentdecision to establish a Joint (EEC-EC)Programme Board (JPB) to oversee all ATMR&D in Europe.

Partnership is also important in the supportactivities where outsourcing has been used toimprove EEC performance and to allow EECstaff, where possible, to be retrained andtransferred from support activities to corebusiness activities. The following activities havebeen outsourced:• IT service provision• Print shop service provision• Building maintenance• Mission service provision, partnership with a

travel agency• Mission expenses, partnership with a

financial services company

One particular partnership, the frameworkcontract, has greatly improved the procurementof contractor support especially for corebusiness. A framework contract has beenconcluded with a set of consortia who haveagreed to maintain the required pools ofexpertise and to reply extremely rapidly torequests for support at agreed rates.Time to procure contract support has diminishedfrom 2-6 months to 3-4 weeks.The EEC pioneered this technique in theAgency. Now several other directorates haveadopted a similar framework contract.

The support activity partnerships are subject toregular assessment and review with the partnersin order to identify areas for improvement and toorganise joint improvement actions.

Senior managers fully support and participate injoint improvement actions with other Agencydirectorates. Some examples are:• DEEC initiated regular meetings with other

Agency Directorates in order to dialogue ona regular basis and to identify ways that theAgency as a whole can improve. Through


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this mechanism the EEC has succeeded intransferring best practice to the rest of theAgency in the domains of human resources,finance, and technology.

• Business Plan Task Force which seeks toharmonise the business planning processthroughout the Agency

• Improvement of the performance appraisalprocess

• Improvement of contractor procurementthrough the framework contract

• Promotion of an intranet culture in theAgency

• Improvement of dialogue with unions andstaff committee throughout the Agency

Many of these actions have necessitated strongsenior EEC management participation in orderto lobby for their adoption at the level of theAgency

The main EEC stakeholder forum, the ECCG, isalways encouraged to give advice to the EEC inorder to improve performance, not only technicaland operational performance , but alsoorganisational and management performance.Recommendations to this effect are recorded inECCG meeting minutes.

The EEC's senior management have adoptedthe following approach to recognise stakeholdercontributions:• Explicit recognition and thanks from the

Director in the Introduction to the EECAnnual Report

• Written acknowledgement of valuablestakeholder participation included in projectreports.

• Personal recognition and thanks at end ofproject events, delivered orally by theDirector or other manager.

In addition, a feedback brochure is sent to allstakeholders to thank them for participating inthe regular stakeholder survey and to providethem with a summary of the main findings andplanned actions.

Participation in conferences and seminars is oneof the main vehicles to disseminate and discussresearch results. This process is fully supportedby EEC senior management. In 1999, the EECmade a presentation of the its continuousimprovement strategy and actions at theEUROCONTROL Quality Forum, to attendeesfrom all over Europe. The same presentationwas also given at the ISTIA Quality Seminar to15 participants from all over Europe.Researchers regularly submit and presentpapers to conferences and seminars. This ispart of the researchers way of life. At the

beginning of 2001 a policy decision was taken toincrease the EEC contribution to the global ATMresearch effort through the publication ofresearch papers. Business areas wereencouraged to publish research papers andbudget was increased to allow greatercontribution to conferences. Results arerecorded in section 6b.

The Director himself regularly speaks on thesubject of ATM research and development atimportant conferences in the ATM community.He has also participated as expert witness intwo debates broadcast on radio. He has alsoparticipated as an authority on ATM in fourcolloquia at the French parliament:• Activites aeroportuaires, amenagement de

territoire et developpement durable, 7th

February 2001• La croissance du transport aerien en Europe

est-elle encore gerable?, 31st May 2001.• Reconcilier developpement du transport

aerien et qualite de l'environnement urbain,7th June 2001

• Les retomb�es �conomiques et fiscales desgrands sites a� roportuaires francais, 21st

October 2002

The EEC is co-sponsor and co-chair of theUSA/Europe Air Traffic Management R&DSeminar. This seminar is organised in turnsunder the leadership of the US Federal AviationAdministration or the EEC and takes place every18 months, alternately in the US and Europe.About 150 researchers from both sides of theAtlantic participate.

One of the four main orientations of the EECstrategy is to support sustainable growth of theaviation industry. To this end a dedicatedbusiness area was established in 2000 toaddress environmental issues. As a result of themost recent re-organisation of 2002, thisBusiness Area has been expanded to includethe impact on society at large of aviation. Thebusiness area has four main threads:• Noise an air quality nuisance around airports• Fuel burn and emissions• Social attitudes to aviation• Sustainable aviationThe EEC approach is to gradually increasefunding of this business area.

ENV funding in MEUR2000 2001 2002 2003

planned0.9 1.8 3.1 5.5


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Senior management has supported theintroduction of recycling measures at the EEC.These are reported in chapter 8 below.

1d Leaders reinforce a culture of Excellencewith the organisation's peopleEEC senior management regularlycommunicates the EEC's mission and strategythrough various channels. The prime vehicle isthe Business Plan. The Business Plan isavailable to all EEC people on the EEC intranet.

Management meetings take place on a regularbasis, led by a senior manager and dedicated tocore business or support or people managementor general issues. Fixed slots are provided topresent the latest information concerningpolitical context and possible strategyevolutions. See section 3d for further details ofmanagement meetings. Minutes of eachmeeting are published on the intranet within 8days. There are other, quarterly meetings toreview the detailed implementation of thestrategy and budget usage and reallocateresources as necessary. The Directorcomments the EEC political context and strategyin the twice yearly all staff meetings in June andDecember.

To reinforce the corporate message, the DirectorGeneral is invited to the EEC once or twice peryear in order to speak to the staff aboutcorporate political, institutional, operational, andstrategic issues, as well as issues concerningspecifically the EEC

Over the years the EEC has tried to foster aculture of openness, trust, tolerance, anddemocratic debate. We believe that we havegone some way to achieving this objective.

Extensive use is made of electronic mail,electronic newsgroups and the intranet. TheEEC has adopted the approach of maximumtransparency and consequently EEC people arewidely informed on political issues which mayaffect EEC strategy. Strategy is also debatedand clarified as needed on the electronicnewsgroups. Debate and diverse opinions areencouraged. Senior managers and especiallythe Director actively participate in these debatesand respond to questions, comments, andcriticisms. Democratic debate is alsoencouraged in management meetings andeveryone has the opportunity to air their views.

Managers at all levels communicate personalobjectives and targets to staff during the annual

performance appraisal, in order to deploystrategy throughout the organisation.

The annual appraisal is also an opportunity fordebate with line managers at all levels. This is a180 degree appraisal where appraisees areencouraged to comment on managementbehaviour and offer constructive criticism.

Outside scheduled meetings senior managers'doors are always open and people areencouraged to come and talk whenever theywish. If preferred, appointments can be made.Managers' electronic agendas are visible to allstaff, thus facilitating informal meetings.

In order to help people to achieve plans andobjectives, the EEC approach is based ontraining and retraining. This has been initiatedand fully supported by senior management. Ascholarship system was developed during 2001with the full support of senior management andHRM. The EEC contributes to the cost of long-term higher education for courses which willbenefit people's career development at the EEC.(See section 3b). Senior management has alsofully supported the development of asecondment policy to enable suitable staff towork for partner organisations for limitedperiods. The secondment, while being in theinterests of the Agency, also give staffinvaluable experience and the opportunity tobroaden their knowledge and skills.

Mobility is an important element of the EECapproach to Human Resources management.This is encouraged by EEC senior managementand is firmly anchored in EEC strategy. Skillshortfalls are identified within the EEC staff planand retraining is organised so that people cangradually transfer to other jobs in order to bettersupport EEC strategy. A key performanceindicator tracks skill reorientation and is reportedin section 9a below.

Recognition by leaders is an essential aspect ofa modern human resources policy and the EECleadership takes every opportunity to implementthis policy. Some examples follow.The annual promotion round is the formal way torecognise individuals for excellent work andpotential. It is a transparent and democraticprocess based on merit.Excellent performance by a team is recognisedat the end of project event where participantswill be thanked by the Director or a seniormanager.Spontaneous public thanks is posted onelectronic newsgroups by senior managers and


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other members of staff when praiseworthyachievements are reported.The Core Management Special Advisor is amember of the suggestions box board. Thesuggestions box is an important source ofimprovement across all EEC activities. The bestsuggestion, elected annually by an all staff vote,receives recognition with a certificate and prizewhich is presented by the Director at the all staffmeeting in June.

1e Leaders identify and championorganisational change

Since 1995 the EEC has undergone 4 major re-organisations {1995, 1998, 2000 and 2003},each time in order to respond to the changingexternal environment. These re-organisationshave been managed with very full staffconsultation. Individuals have been encouragedto contribute their own ideas on the organisationof the Centre and consensus has been soughtthrough discussion. Early re-organisationsallowed the identification of the Centre’s keycompetencies. As the Business Plan hasmatured, subsequent re-structuring hasproduced a matrix structure which directlysupports the strategy of the Centre.The two primary reasons for the implementationof a matrix structure were to increase flexibilityand facilitate empowerment. Another importantreason was to facilitate the alignment of theorganisation’s structure to support delivery ofpolicy and strategy. The horizontal view of thematrix is structured as a set of business areas,directly derived from the EEC strategy. SeeOverview above.

The effective delivery of change is ensuredinitially through thorough preparation viaplanning and especially communication toexplain to staff the reasons and the plans. Allcommunication channels described in section 3dare used. Change often requires reallocation ofstaff to different tasks. This is facilitated throughplanning with the HR section to facilitate mobilityand retraining.

Since 1998 self-assessment has been anessential means to stimulate and involve staff inimprovement and to identify and implementimprovement actions. After each self-assessment, staff are encouraged to lead andcontribute to improvement projects andmanagers are committed to release staff to workon improvement projects. Senior and middlemanagement lead by example and participate inimprovement projects.

The effectiveness of change is assessed byreview and survey. For example the functioningof the organisation is reviewed approximatelyevery 18 months, and the impact of the matrixorganisation on the work programme wasassessed via survey in Q2 2002, see section 1babove.


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2 POLICY AND STRATEGYExcellent Organisations implement their mission and vision by developing a stakeholder focused strategythat takes account of the market and sector in which it operates. Policies, plans, objectives, andprocesses are developed and deployed to deliver the strategy.

2a Policy and Strategy are based on thepresent and future needs andexpectations of stakeholders

Eurocontrol Experimental Centre stakeholdersrange from public service providers tocommercial organisations, from ordinary citizens(which could be airline passengers or residentsin an airport environment) to governmentministers. The institutional context of theEurocontrol Agency, which includes theExperimental Centre, is constantly under review.Issues include; the need to separate regulatoryfunctions from service provision, the tendencytowards greater ‘corporatisation’, and changes inour relationship with political bodies such as theEuropean Commission. For all these reasons akey requirement in the establishment of policyand strategy for the Experimental Centre isflexibility and responsiveness, while remainingconfident in, and building upon, our particularstrengths and special identity.

Market contextThe Experimental Centre executes research anddevelopment (R&D) in the area of Air TrafficManagement (ATM). Our immediatestakeholders, those for whom we most directlywork, are the air traffic service providers of ourmember states. There exist other organisationswithin Europe and beyond which also performATM R&D, and there is potential for conflictbetween these organisations and ourselves.One reason for this is that the Agency is anintergovernmental organisation with an ‘internal’supply of funding originating fromEUROCONTROL member states or, moreprecisely, from the collection of route charges.This means that some of our products cansubsequently be made available to states withinthe EUROCONTROL Organisation withoutcharge. Other R&D organisations, however, areincreasingly obliged to compete on acommercial basis, marketing and selling theirexpertise and products. The potential existstherefore for market distortion, and our policyand strategy must take this into account. Inpractice we have made specific efforts to includesenior representatives of such ‘competing’organisations in our strategic consultativeprocesses to obviate this problem.

A further consideration is the fact that some ofour member states, which formerly hadsubstantial government-funded facilities, arelooking to reduce their own costs. Under thesecircumstances R&D is often an early casualty,and EEC is therefore increasingly regarded asan agent useful in the coordinated dispersion ofEuropean ATM R&D activities.

The strategy loopGiven our complex and changing context, thesetting of strategy and policy is a continuous anddynamic process. It can be characterised by thefollowing loop:

Developstrategy and

policy

Publish andcommunicate

Businesscontext and

drivers

Stakeholderfeedback

Broadly speaking, policy and strategy isdeveloped on the basis of:

− our legacy of skills and experienceembodied in an existing strategy,

− moderation and amendment by stakeholderfeedback,

− yearly review in the light of a changingbusiness context.

In 2002 this included input from a task forceasked to explore the direction the EEC shouldtake in the light of the 2020 Vision from ACARE,new ATM actors such as Boeing and the ATMAlliance. The task force proposals are published


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in “Proposed EEC Re-Orientation V2.” Theproposals drove the realignment of the EECorganisation in 2003.

Stakeholder feedbackStakeholder feedback is critical to keep EECpolicy, strategy, services, products, and projectsaligned with stakeholder present and futureneeds. Key inputs are:• Stakeholder/market survey• ECCG• Visits• R&D co-ordination• Market watch

Stakeholder/market survey processThe process has two objectives:1. Identification of stakeholder future needs2. Extraction of stakeholder satisfaction.The two aspects are combined in aquestionnaire. The survey is conducted everytwo years. All EEC stakeholders receive thequestionnaire. The survey is contracted to aspecialist consultancy in order to benefit fromtheir specialist knowledge and to ensureobjectivity. Additionally in 2002 a specific surveywas conducted amongst ECCG members attheir meeting in May. Results have been used tore-orient EEC strategy and activities.Stakeholders receive a synthesis of the resultsand the EEC responses. Results are providedin section 6a.

The Business PlanThe principal expression of our policy andstrategy is to be found in our Business Plan.This is based on a standardised format forEUROCONTROL Business Units and is updatedeach year, with its fifth edition to be published inMay 2003. The annual process by which theBusiness Plan is developed is shown in theGantt chart above.

Development starts in the Spring. The first partof this process involves a complete review of theprevious Business Plan, with sections updatedand rewritten as necessary. This is theresponsibility of the Core Business Manager,with relevant sections written by the BusinessArea Managers, who have a more direct day-to-day contact with stakeholders for their particularareas. In addition we take into account therequirements of our Agency partners such asEATMP and CFMU, and external partners,especially the European Commission. Thecontent at this stage is derived from ourunderstanding of stakeholder requirementsaccumulated during the previous year including

some specific project requests. Input also comesfrom our particular knowledge of the state of AirTraffic Management based on analytical dataand forecasts, which are often generated by ourown internal projects.

Market watch activities comprise careful readingof air transport trade magazines, the specialisedand general press, company annual reports,web sites of companies and organisations suchas the European Commission. Articles andinformation are systematically placed on theintranet and/or distributed to senior and middlemanagement depending on the type ofinformation. Market watch activities contributeto our general understanding of market evolutionwhich we feed into Business Plan development.

The draft Business Plan is presented to theExperimental Centre Consultation Group(ECCG) for comment and discussion.

Comments and feedback from the ECCG aretaken into account when developing the finalversion of the Business Plan, which is thenpresented to the EEC Management Board forfinal approval. Details of the ECCG and EECMB are provided in the section Overview-Governance above. The main role of the EECMB is to ensure that all considerations andguidelines coming from EUROCONTROLAgency controlling bodies are suitably taken intoaccount in the Business Plan, and to give finalapproval for the document.

2b Policy and Strategy are based oninformation from performancemeasurement, research, learning andexternal related activities

The origins of policy and strategy as embodiedin the Business Plan are varied. Threesignificant contributions in 2002 include the taskforce report on “ EEC Reorientation”, the Agencyreorganisation and the results from the 2002Stakeholder Survey. Inputs also come from theBalanced Scorecard approach, instituted in2002. See Chapter 9.

Additionally in a response to a need to bettertarget our resources and expertise we havepursued our policy of support to EATMP andEuropean Commission programmes which areof benefit to all EUROCONTROL members inpreference to support to individual states.

We are in addition responsible for performing anumber of studies related to the current dayperformance of European ATC, and studies toforecast future ATC capacity and demand. This


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means that we have direct and early access tomuch of the source data which is used to driveplans for Europe-wide ATC systemsdevelopment and harmonisation, and this isincluded in our own strategic thinking.

A different, and equally important input to ourstrategy results from the role of the ExperimentalCentre as leader of the ATM community inresearch and development, which means thatparts of our Business Planning is ‘proactive’ andbreaks new ground. The novel elements of ourstrategy are sometimes potentially controversial.Examples of leading-edge planning include theintroduction of research into societal trendswhile maintaining the emphasis onenvironmental studies and the pursuit of safetyas an end in itself. A safety culture survey hasbeen conducted to measure the implementationof safety culture within the EEC. Results arereported in section 9a.

In order to allow comparison of our strategy withthat of other institutions, EEC projects areincluded in the ARDEP1 database. This is aEurope-wide census which collects andcategorises information on R&D projects in AirTraffic Management. Positioning ourselves in awider context gives two specific benefits. First,we are able to avoid duplicating research that isbeing done elsewhere, and second, we are ableto identify gaps in current activities. This was, forexample, one of the mechanisms by which thechronic lack of investment in innovative researchwas identified (ARDEP ‘Yellow Book’, 1998),resulting in new initiatives at EEC in thisdirection.

We have initiated an annual R&D symposiumtargeted at high level management of ATM R&D.This is a forum where current trends and futureprospects of European activities are discussed.US contributors are also invited to thesemeetings. Much valuable feedback is derivedfrom these.

A general understanding of social, political,economic, institutional, operational, andtechnical issues as they affect ATM are anessential input to Policy and Strategyformulation and evolution. This is achievedthrough the creation of a Business Areaaddressing social, economic and environmentalissues in the context of ATM. In addition we arein the process of determining a social andenvironmental policy with regard to ourinteraction with the non-ATM community. Theseactions are supplemented by a regular reading

1 Analysis of Research and Development inEurocontrol Programmes.http://www.eurocontrol.int/ardep

of general and specialised press, of EuropeanUnion and national government officialpublications, and by regular monitoring ofrelevant web sites.

On the more creative side, we continue theinternal ‘brainstorming’ sessions, held in both in2000 and in 2001. These were organised as fullday open sessions in which all staff wasencouraged to participate, and expressthemselves on various ATM issues. They wereled by a single ‘facilitator’ and, apart from somebasic rules of courtesy and protocol, participantswere encouraged to freely express their views.These brainstorms provided some animateddebate, and many of the ideas expressedtherein have been integrated into our strategicthinking. Recent brainstorm topics have includedEEC Values and placement of externalcontracts.

New technologiesTo support strategy and policy development, theExperimental Centre stays abreast of newtechnologies in two specific ways.

− First, we keep our experimentalinfrastructure up-to-date. This is necessarysince our experimental facilities, softwareand hardware, need to simulate increasinglycomplex models and tools, which amongstother things require constantly increasingcomputing power. In addition, we aresomething of a ‘showcase’ for newtechnologies applicable to ATM. Oneexample of this is the progressive upgradeof the controller ATC displays used insimulations to use the latest large flat paneldevices. A second example is the AudioLanproduct where the EEC was the leader indeveloping voice over IP functionality.

− Second, we have an entire Business Areadedicated uniquely to innovation. Bydefinition this area looks into new, andsometimes radical, technologies with theexpectation that some of results can be fedinto the other Business Areas. One of thebenefits of this work is an increased contactwith universities, where academics areactively encouraged, sometimes by meansof financial support, to engage in research inATM. Currently 11 PhD or MSc students aresupported with theses such as: Air-railintermodality from the Passenger’sPerspective and Modelling of AircraftTrajectory Uncertainty with Semi-MarkovModel.


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2c Policy and Strategy are developed,reviewed and updated

Depends on EEC mission and visionOur strategy accommodates a mix of short andlong-term activities, and the balance betweenthese is important.

On one hand our stakeholders expectincreasingly rapid results, since they themselvesare more and more subject to short-termcommercial constraints. Some of our fast turn-around activities include analysis of delayfigures and forecasts for, say, one year into thefuture. Another example is the direct support weprovide to air traffic service providers when theywish to prototype and test their new controllerinterface designs. Results of such work havebeen implemented directly in operations rooms,a good example is operational application ofMedium Term Conflict Detection in the RomeATCC.

On the other hand the EEC is one of the feworganisations capable of centralising longer-termactivities, and our stakeholders understand andencourage this. Here, for example, we performlonger term forecasting activities up to 2010 andbeyond, for example in the Constraints toGrowth project, and develop innovative productswithin our Innovative Research Business Area.

A further business scenario that we haverecently embraced is one of industrialisation,where we have decided to identify productswhich could be further developed by partnersoutside the Experimental Centre, and to makethe necessary agreements to do this. This is oneway in which we are developing a sense ofcommercial awareness that was previouslyabsent. Industrialisation is further described insection 4a.

Evaluating relevance/success factorsStakeholder/market surveys (section 2a) givethe EEC important insights which have had asignificant influence on our policies and strategy.

In the1997 survey was a clear message that weshould adapt our environment to changingdemand, and in particular take on a central roleas coordinator of European ATM R&D. Inresponse to this we appointed a full time R&Dcoordinator who forms part of the CoreManagement team.

The 1999 survey indicated:

We were asked to better cooperate with projectsexternal to the EEC. Part of our response hasbeen to become active consortium partners in at

least 8 European Commission projects. Suchcooperation did not previously exist.

− We should set more realistic objectives andproperly complete projects, “make it workproperly before moving on to the nexttechnology horizon”. In response to this wehave initiated specific project structures toensure completion and reusability of ourresult, for example c.f. Business Plan 2002and the AGI project structure. We are alsobuilding on in-house simulation results bytaking platforms out into operations roomsand connecting to live data feeds cf MTCDin Malmo, Maastrict and Rome,– this is asignificant new contribution to the overallvalidation process. See also section 9a.

− We should improve analysis methods. Inresponse we have launched a majorinitiative to implement high quality validationmethodologies and have created avalidation cell within the SAS CoE . We areimplementing this by providing validationmanagement for the major EC Gate to Gateproject.

Our most recent (IPSOS) stakeholder surveyconducted in 2002 has identified:

• a need to improve the communication of ourresults. Efforts are in hand to address part ofthis element through improvements to theActivity Report, and through the compilationof a web based external newsletter sent toover 4000 subscribers every quarter.

• to be more operational and concrete in thework produced. We seek to put moreemphasis on field trials.

• to remain neutral and independent.

• continue in the pursuit of creative andproductive research. We seek to increasepartnership with universities and maintain orincrease funding to the Innovative researchbusiness area.

2d Policy and Strategy arecommunicated and deployed through aframework of key processes

Key processes for delivery of strategyDuring 2002 and 2003, a large effort wasdevoted to mapping and documenting processesand reaching consensus on the framework ofkey processes which implement strategy. Thiswork was based on the strategy review of late2002 and the subsequent reorganisation of


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2003, and is consequently a new frameworkwhich is now being consolidated.

BUSINESS ENABLING PROCESSES

INTERNAL COMMUNICATION

STAKEHOLDER RELATIONS

ORGANISATIONAL LEARNING

HUMAN RESOURCES

BUDGET and FINANCE

TECHNICAL SUPPORT AND

INFRASTRUCTURE

STRATEGY and BUSINESS CYCLE

R&D COORDINATION

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

SAFETY, CORE METHODOLOGIES: VALIDATION,

INNOVATION

We are currently studying how best to link thekey process framework to cascading processdescriptions using the intranet.

In practice it is the Core Business Manager,supported by the Business Area Managers, whois responsible for implementing ExperimentalCentre policy. Work-programme ManagementMeetings (WMMs) are held approximately everytwo weeks to exchange information necessaryfor the execution of the work-programme. Onoccasion we open these meetings up to externalstakeholders (e.g. European Commission) toimprove our visibility at working level and allowfeedback.

Further supporting processes include systematicreviews of Business Area Portfolios, individualprojects and CoE direction. A special reviewtakes place at the proposal stage to ensure thatonly projects that are consistent with policy arelaunched. Regular reviews take place thereafterto ensure continued alignment.

In many cases our activities are bound up withthose of some stakeholders: for example, weexecute several key workpackages for someEATMP programmes, and we are activepartners in European Commission consortia. Inthese cases our processes are integral withthose of our sponsoring organisations. Forexample, when we are working with the EC,there are specific budgetary control andreporting processes.

Internally communicating and cascadingstrategy/policyThe principal instrument for communicatingstrategy and policy is the Business Plan. This isa public document, and Experimental Centrestaff are expected to read and understand the

content. Additional internal communication ofpolicy takes place at twice yearly all-staffmeetings, where key initiatives are explained,quarterly Enlarged Management Meetings(EMM), which are addressed to all middlemanagers and specific issues are addressed inWeekly Information Corners open to all staff.During 2002 an initiative was launched to linkindividual objectives identified in thePerformance Appraisal process to EEC Policyand Strategy in an endeavour to better acquaintstaff of their individual contribution.

The working-level guardians of policy andstrategy are the Business Areas, and theactivities of each are reviewed in detail at leastonce per year in open meetings. During 2002 allBusiness Areas spent at least half a dayexplaining their activities. There is, twice a year,a management away-day involving coremanagement, Business Area managers andheads of Centres of Expertise and separatelycore management and Business EnablerManagers. On these occasions a number of keystrategies are exposed and discussed, and thevalue of our activities is reviewed Business Areaby Business Area.

Every person working at the ExperimentalCentre, staff and contractors, has direct access(via his or her desktop computer) to the intranet,on which a wide range of strategy-relatedinformation is freely available. For example, allEEC publications, minutes of managementmeetings and relevant documents from partnerorganisations are readily accessible. The ‘homepage’ includes a diary of forthcoming events,hyperlinked to detailed descriptions, and there isa column for senior management to transmit keymessages.

There is a set of internal news discussiongroups within the Experimental Centre. Theseinclude groups concerned with management,ATC, infrastructure, social and staff issues.Contributions to these groups are often directlyrelated to strategy issues.

External communication of policy andstrategy – closing the loop to strategy settingOur policy and strategy are communicatedexternally via a number of public forums. Forexample, our senior management madepresentations at major ATC conferences both inEurope and worldwide eg. ATC 2002 Maastricht,Advanced Workshop on ATM in Capri and “Lesrétombes économiques et fiscales des grandssites aéroportuaires française’’. The EECexternal web site is an important publiccommunication vehicle where the Business Plancan be viewed, a quarterly newsletter,introduced in 2002, can be viewed and


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subscribed to, and where the EEC Policy andStrategy is explained:http://www.eurocontrol.fr/

We host, on the premises of the ExperimentalCentre, a large number of working groupsinvolving direct and indirect stakeholders. Theseinclude international groups such as RTCA andEUROCAE. We provide conference chairs,session chairs and rapporteurs for a number ofinternational R&D conferences, for example theEurope/US ATM2002 R&D conference, and theDigital Aviation Systems Conference. In 2002our articles for books, journals and professionalmagazines, plus our conference and workshoppapers totaled 66 contributions. In addition wewere present on the stands of variousinternational exhibitions such as ATCMaastricht. All these events give the opportunityto further expose our activities and in particularto receive feedback from our peers andstakeholders.

During 2002 we received approximately a dozenhigh-level visitors at the Experimental Centre,plus 357 others including engineers and airtraffic controllers. Amongst our high levelvisitors were several Directors and CEOs fromnational service providers and industry egAirports Council International (ACI), FrenchDirection del la Navigation Aérienne (DNA), andAircraft European Contractors ManufacturersAssociation (AECMA). A yearly report –Rapport de Activities MIM, tracks all these publicrelations activities. All high-level visitors, andmany of the others, received a presentation ofour activities. Standard powerpoint files for thisare available to all on our internal computernetwork, and this ensures that the samemessage on our policy and strategy is beinggiven to all visitors. Many of the visitors receivelive demonstrations of our products either in ourshowroom or in their ‘working’ context. Thefeedback we receive from these presentations,although informal, is a vital part of our strategy-setting and effectively closes the strategy loopdepicted in section 2a.

Shown below is a MS Powerpoint slide extractedfrom the current standard presentationillustrating the type of information shown.

EUROCONTROL Experimental Centre

20022002

2001 - 2002 Budget

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Core Business 69%

Support Services

19%

Communications and Public Relations

4% Management 8%

2001Budget : 77 M€Staff : 274 Contractors: 240

Establishing organisation wide reportingmechanisms to track progress

The ACB tool is the main repository for allproject related information. It generatesnumerous reports on a daily basis which areused to track staff allocations, budget usage.These reports and others are used in thequarterly budget checkpoint reviews whichreview progress and reallocate funds asrequired.

The project support office organises at leastannual reviews of business project portfolios toensure strategy alignment. Projects arereviewed at least twice per year to reviewprogress, ensure continued alignment withstrategy and to ensure conformity to qualitystandards.

On a quarterly basis Core Management and KPIowners meet together to review the state of thebalanced scorecard (see section 9a).Achievements to date are examined andprojected end of year results are checked todetermine if progress is on track and, ifnecessary, what corrective action to initiate.During the meeting, documents are reviewedwhich detail the lower level components of theKPI which are aggregated to produce the KPIwhich appears in the balanced scorecard. KPIowners are clearly identified. The mainresponsibilities of a KPI owner are:• owner of the associated process• yearly target proposals• monitor and regularly report on progress

towards the announced target• issue alert if process is inadequate and

propose corrective action.

http://www.eurocontrol.fr/


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3 PEOPLEExcellent organisations manage, develop and release the full potential of their people at an individual,team-based and organisational level. They promote fairness and equality and involve and empower theirpeople. They care for, communicate, reward and recognise, in a way that motivates staff and buildscommitment to using their skills and knowledge for the benefit of the organisation.

3a People resources are planned,managed and improved.

Today, the EUROCONTROL ExperimentalCentre has 272 budgetary posts. Due tobudgetary restrictions at Agency level, the EECis authorisd to fill 257 of these posts. Currently,252 of these posts are occupied, while 3recruitment campaigns are in progress. Inaddition 252 non-EUROCONTROL people wereworking on site made up as follows; 178contractors, 2 national experts, 3 interimworkers, 18 students and approximately 50people working on facility managementcontracts. Just over half of the staff membersare French, the remainder currently being madeup of nationals of 14 of the EUROCONTROLmember states. Of the 252 people in post, 83are female, and 169 are male, and thebreakdown by grade is as follows: A – 95 (88male, 7 female), B – 91 (63 M, 28 F), C – 66 (18M, 48 F).

All EUROCONTROL staff work at the Bretignysite except for the small number of people onsecondment to national administrations orindustry. Secondment is normally for one yearrenewable. Currently there are 3 secondees: 1at the European Commission, 2 at theEUROCONTROL Air Traffic Control Centre,Maastricht, while 1 person has just returnedfrom the Mitre Corporation in the United States,and 1 has just returned following 2 years atAENA, the Spanish air traffic services provider.

The EEC has undergone 4 majorreorganisations since 1995. Over this period,the original hierarchical organisation has beentransformed into a responsive matrix. Seesections 1e, 2a, and Overview-Journey toExcellence for further details.

Staff Management

The inclusion now of almost all EEC staff (229)in the matrix, has given new impetus to thedevelopment of the Staff Plan. The ResourceAllocation Management Meeting, RAMM (aforum responsible for allocation of staff toprojects and for the prioritisation of filling vacantposts), has reviewed and revised the skillfamilies present at the EEC. The Staff Plandescribes the skills of each staff member andmaps these against the current utilisation ofthese skills by the different Business Areas andBusiness Enablers. This allows the identificationof areas where the supply and demand of skillsdo not match. Furthermore, using the strategygiven in the EEC Business Plan it is possible topredict skill requirements of the Business Areasand Business Enablers over the next 5 years(currently to end 2007). Turnover of staff throughretirement and requests for re-assignment arealso accommodated in the Staff Plan. The endresult is a clear plan of how the needs of theEEC can be met over the next 5 years throughrecruitment, re-training and internal mobility. Infact in 2002, we succeeded in re-orientating 6skills in line with the needs defined in theBusiness Plan. The following table is an extractof the current Staff Plan.


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Skill Family Skills Officials in post Detachment Recruitements openFrozen posts

Vacant posts Nominal Posts

ATM Syst Engineering Air & Ground System Engineering 34 0 0 1 0 35ACE + SFM CNS 9 1 0 1 1 12

Total 43 1 0 2 1 47Information Technology IS Management 12 0 0 0 0 12

DAI + SFM Software systems 23 1 0 1 1 26System administration 9 0 0 0 0 9Total 44 1 0 1 1 47

Management Management 25 0 0 0 0 25Management Assistance 18 0 1 2 0 18Quality & methods 5 0 0 0 0 5Total 48 0 1 2 0 51

EEC Posts (Headcount) on March 1st 2003

Clearly, in order to remain useful, the Staff Planhas to be maintained on a regular basis. It isreviewed continuously by the Heads of CoE andHR at the Resource Allocation Managementmeetings (RAMM). During a review of thedefined skills contained in the Staff Plan whichtook place in March 2003, the number of highestlevel skills has been reduced from 36 to 19,grouped for the most part by CoE.

By using the Staff Plan to identify skill shortages,it has been possible to develop our recruitmentstrategy. A list of recruitment priorities has beenagreed, along with a timetable based on theanticipated retirements of the next 5 years. Theposts which will become available in this periodwill be allocated according to the Staff Plan. Theapplication of this process at the EEC, agreedby DHR and DG, has enabled the EEC tostreamline the recruitment process. The fact thatthe EEC has the lowest rate of unfilled posts inthe Agency is evidence of the effectiveness ofthe overall recruitment process at the EEC.

A web-based tool, ACB (Access to Business),monitors the EEC’s work programme andbudget, and supports the application of the StaffPlan. As well as containing information on all theactive projects of the EEC, the ACB tool isavailable to track which staff are assigned towhich projects and over what duration. Theallocation of staff to CoEs is extracted from theHiRIS data base. Project Managers can also usethe tool to note their requirements in terms ofresources.

HR Tools

The HR database HiRIS, is updated by HRMand maintained by the AMI support service.Graphical presentations of the staffdemographics are updated weekly on the EECIntranet.The data base contains comprehensiveinformation on staff members. However many ofthe processes are managed by Headquarters,which leads to some inefficiency in terms of lost

time due to the need for EEC HR staff to double-check input made at HQ. The Director EEC hastaken an initiative with the support of HRM tofurther decentralise data base processes, and afirst meeting was held on April 14 with a seniormanager from HR Brussels during which anumber of processes were identified as potentialfor optimisation.

HR processees

Many HR processes and procedures aredocumented on the intranet under the "Services"section. The process documentation initiative isbeing pursued as well as the integration of HRprocesses into the key process framework asdescribed in section 2d The EEC recruitmentprocess has recently been updated and hasbeen approved by the PMM (PeopleManagement Meeting).

Staff Satisfaction Surveys

Staff Satisfaction surveys have been performedat the EEC in 1998, 2000 and 2002. Responserates in the first two were relatively low possiblydue to the design of the survey and concerns ofconfidentiality. In 2002 a standard Agencysurvey was used and measures taken to assureanonymity of all respondents. The result was anexceptionally high return rate of 85%: which isone of the best in the Agency. Results arecommunicated to everyone through reportsposted on the intranet and through presentationsat all staff meetings, management meetings, andat a Weekly Information Corner. Improvementactions are derived and all people areencouraged to participate in improvementprojects. The next survey at the EEC will takeplace in Quarter 3, 2003. Results of staffsatisfaction surveys are provided in section 7a

Human Resources Management Unit

HR processes at the EEC are owned by theHuman Resources Management (HRM)Business Enabler (BE). These processes


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include Recruitment, Training and StaffManagement. The unit shares the managementof processess with the Core and MiddleManagements as appropriate.With a view to improving its service to internalcustomers, HRM requested an internal audit ofits activities and services. A series of interviewsof a sample of staff members was carried out bya staff member with experience in ContinuousImprovement. The results of the survey werepresented to all staff at a Weekly InformationCorner in January 2003, and the complete reportis available on the Intranet.HRM is committed to addressing the findings ofthe survey, which although not of a statisticalnature, nevertheless highlight areas forimprovement. As a quick win, the StaffManagement office now has published openinghours each morning during which staff maycome with questions and problems of anadministrative nature. This initiative has allowedthe HRM staff concerned to better manageworkload by having un-interrupted time in theafternoon, and so being able to deal morerapidly with routine tasks

3b People's knowledge andcompetencies are identified, developedand sustained

Matrix Organisation

See also sections 1b and Overview-EECOrganisation.

One of the main reasons for the first major re-organisation of the Experimental Centre was tobetter manage and develop the competencies ofthose working here. The key element in meetingthis goal is the Centre of Expertise (CoE).Whereas staff are allocated to one or moreBusiness Areas or Business Enablers for theirday-to-day work also belong to a CoE, accordingto their area of competence. The Head of theCentre of Expertise (HoCoE) is responsible forthe long-term career management and personaldevelopment of each staff member. In addition,the HoCoE has the role of anticipating the CoE’srequirements in terms of skills and knowledge,and ensuring that staff are trained appropriately.These requirements are then fed into the StaffPlan and Training Plan respectively.

The Training Section

The Training Section is a unit of HRM and isresponsible for the development andmanagement of the EEC Training Plan. The aim

of the Training Plan is to identify training needsaccording to strategic requirements, while at thesame time, recognising individual training needs.The link between the Business Plan, the StaffPlan and the Training Plan is beingconsolidated, leading to the development of amore coherent and planned training strategy. InParallel, a Task Force has been set up tomonitor training effectiveness.

Staff are encouraged during the PerformanceAppraisal process (see this section below) tothink about their training requirements. Theserequirements are fed into the training plan.

Finally, all staff have access to training supportvia the Educational Assistance and Scholarshipprogrammes. Currently 3 staff are availing of thesupport provided by the Scholarship scheme tofollow higher educational courses such as MBA.Staff who wish to undertake study in their owntime are encouraged to do so if the nature of thestudy has relevance to their professionaldevelopment. They receive financial supportfrom the training budget and are entitled to timeoff work for the preparation and sitting ofexaminations.

The Performance Appraisal processAnnual Performance Appraisal has beensystematic at the Eurocontrol Agency since1998 although there has been some evolution inthe process used. In fact it was the EEC whichinitiated the pilot scheme of PerformanceAppraisals in 1996. Prior to that date there wasa system of annual notation but no formaldialogue. The pilot scheme was adopted anddeveloped by the Agency into the currentprocedure which entails an interview and writtenreport. The regulations specify that each officialmust have an appraisal every two years. Inpractice, appraisals take place at least once ayear. A guide book has been produced by HRDirectorate and training courses for Appraisersprovided. All staff participate in the processexcept those who would be retiring in the next12 months. This point was raised in the FeebackReport as an area for improvement, and shouldbe compensated to some extent by the recentintroduction of exit interviews for retiring orresigning staff. In 2002 90% of performanceappraisals were completed, the highestcompletion rate in the Agency. As a result ofbenchmarking with EUROCONTROLLuxemburg (IANS), mid-term performanceappraisal is encouraged and is widely acceptedby the Heads of CoE as a means to have morecontinuous dialogue with their staff.There is an increasing appreciation among staffand managers of the benefits of a well-conducted Appraisal process.


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3c People are involved and empowered.

Director's Policy facilitates involvementSince his arrival in the EEC the Director hasinsisted on the importance of openness andvisibility with a view to encourage people to beinvolved and to facilitate empowerment. StaffRepresentatives (see Staff Committee below)are present at certain management meetingsand participate in the development of processesand procedures. For example the StaffCommittee participated in all meetings dedicatedto the Agency Job Management project (see3e).All senior managers operate an open-doorpolicy. Their electronic agendas are public, andare regularly consulted by staff.

Involvement of people in re-organisationsStaff have fully participated in the definition of allre-organisations. For example, during the 1995re-organisation, staff were freely invited to sign-up to the CoE of their choice. A Working Groupcomprising a broad range of staff managed themost recent re-organisation of 2000. A similarWorking Group was tasked in November 2002 toreview the effectiveness of the new EECstructure. The so-called Think Tank wassupported by an external facilitator andproduced a series of recommendations whichhave since been implemented in the latest re-organisation which came into effect in January2003.

Staff CommitteeMembers of the local Staff Committee (SC) areelected for a two year period. The SC is madeup of 2 representatives of each of the three staffcategories (A, B and C) elected by secret ballotof all staff.The SC is a permanent member of thePersonnel Management Meeting (PMM), andparticipates as an observer in the EECManagement Board (see section Overview-Governance above) and it may be asked tospeak and express its opinion on particularsubjects. The policy of the Director is toencourage the participation of the SC whereverpossible. The result of this is SC participation inthe promotion procedure, the recruitment of newstaff and in the Centre’s ad hoc WorkingGroups. In fact, the SC’s participation in therecruitment process was an EEC initiative whichhas now become standard Agency practice,despite resistance from other Directorates.The SC initiative to provide crèche facilitiesduring the summer vacation has been a greatsuccess and now runs during all school holidays

and on Wednesdays. This initiative, called theEurokids project, is further described in section8a below.

UnionsTwo unions are currently recognised at the EEC.It is EEC policy:1. to enable the unions to function effectively

for the benefit of the staff and of the EEC ingeneral

2. to develop and sustain a meaningful andconstructive dialogue between managementand unions.

Union meetings are held during working hours:one annual general assembly, and ad hocmeetings on particular topics as required. Theunions are an essential partner in the socialdialogue between staff and Agency. There areon average 4 consultation meetings per yearbetween DEEC and the unions at the EEC.Finally the unions are allocated a slot at thetwice yearly all staff meetings and at thequarterly EMM. They are also permanentmembers of the PMM.

ECCGThe ECCG is described in sections 1c andOverview-Governance above. An EEC staffrepresentative who is elected by EEC staff at thesame time as the Staff Committee elections,attends the ECCG meetings and reports back tostaff by means of a newsgroup posting. This isan important way of involving staff directly instakeholder consultation.

Suggestions BoxThe suggestions box, started in June 2000, is animportant vehicle to stimulate staff to formulateand propose improvements. It is recognisedthat staff on the front line are best placed toidentify opportunities for improvement.Suggestions are managed by an intranetapplication and everyone can monitorsuggestions which have been proposed andtheir implementation state. A suggestions boardcomprising staff volunteers, a representative ofthe staff committee, and a representative of coremanagement, facilitates the implementation ofsuggestions. The best suggestion, electedannually by an all staff vote, receives recognitionwith a certificate and prize which is presented bythe Director at the all staff meeting in June.Results are provided in section 7b below.


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3d People and the organisation have adialogue.

Communication

The three pillars of the EEC’s internalcommunication are 1. Informal communication,2. Management meetings and 3. Publishing andelectronic communication.

The objective of informal communication is topromote informal exchange of information andopen discussions by providing opportunities forstaff to meet and discuss in the Cafeteria, theCanteen, through the AIPE clubs and activities,in the Language courses and in Conferencesopen to all staff.

The management meetings are:CMM: Core Management Meetings occur every2 weeks with additional ad hoc meetings asrequired. Participation is limited to the CoreManagement and special invitees depending onthe agenda.EMM: Enlarged Management Meetings occurquarterly and include all the management of thecentre (CM, HoCoE, BAM and BEM and Co-ordination Units). These are informationsessions where the Core Management reportsthe strategic and political situation.WMM: Work-programme Management Meetingsare held every two weeks as a forum fordiscussion for BAM and HoCoE.BEMM: Business Enabler ManagementMeetings occur every 2 weeks for the managersof the Business Enablers.PMM: People Managers Meeting occur eachmonth. The attendees are the HoCoE and HRMplus Staff Committee and Union representatives.These meetings discuss general HR issues.RAMM: Resource Allocation ManagementMeetings are held every two weeks to discussproject resourcing and specific instances of HRpolicy e.g. the recent Job Management processwas treated in this meeting. The meetings areattended by the HoCoE and HRM only.

An all staff meeting is held twice yearly in Juneand December, and all Centres of Expertise holdmonthly meetings.

The objective of publishing and electroniccommunication is to develop and maintain anintegrated information system for the EEC basedon the principles that non-confidentialinformation should be accessible as early aspossible, and that all staff deserve trust andshould be informed.

The EEC makes active use of its Intranet. TheEEC’s home page comprises a list offorthcoming events, latest news andpublications. Given the amount of informationavailable on the EEC Intranet, we know that staffin Head Quarters regularly log on to our site toreceive the latest information on a wide range ofAgency issues. There are regular and frequentdebates on the internal newsgroups. Moderatorshave been assigned to each newsgroup. Theseare staff members whose role is to generatediscussion and ensure that replies are given toany questions raised. A current objective of theMIM team is to measure the numbers of staffreading each Newsgroup. This becomespossible with MS Outlook. The EEC has recentlytaken the initiative to produce two publications,the Experimental Centre News for externalcirculation and focusing on ATM issues, and aninternal newsletter, EEC News. Each edition ofthe EEC News contains a number of featuresand includes an interview with a member of staffwho may be a new arrival, somebody who maybe leaving us shortly or somebody with aninteresting project to describe.

Communication Channels

An Internal Information Monitoring Group hasbeen set-up, and a Weekly Information Cornertakes place on most Tuesdays outside of holidayperiods. Attendance at the WICs variesaccording to the subject, however theaccumulated average attendance so far in 2003is 59, with a high of 155 and a low of 33.

The management open door policy referred to insection 3c above also provides a valuablecommunication channel between managementand staff.

3e People are rewarded, recognised andcared for.

PromotionsWorking conditions and remuneration at theEEC are good. Levels of staff satisfaction arehigh compared to other benchmarkorganisations. However there is some discontentwith the rewards and recognition possibilities.Currently, the only means to reward goodperformance is through the annual promotionprocess. The Agency allows for a maximum of20% of promotable staff to benefit each year.However the availability of promotion ‘slots’ is afunction of the number of budgetary postsavailable in each grade. This has led toimbalances between grades, whereby for themost part, there have been more promotion


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possibilities at A grade level as compared to Band C grades. This has led to some frustrationespecially at the lower grade. The EEC hasmade considerable effort in the past to rectifythe perceived imbalance in the number ofpromotions given to A-grade staff in comparisonwith B and C grade staff. The Director EEC andthe Staff Committee attach high importance toensuring as far as is possible, an equitabledistribution of promotions across the grades.The contribution of staff to collective activitiesoutside their normal professional activities aretaken into account as secondary criteria forpromotion. The EEC ensures the greatestpossible level of openness in how the process ishandled locally and continues to support effortsto have the process revised at the Agency level.

Job Management

The objective of this project is to develop clearand standardised information on all Agency jobs,and to ensure that individual staff members areassigned the grade which corresponds to theactual work they are doing. The principleoutcome from the first phase of the project isthat about 60 staff should benefit from an up-grade. This further indicates the principle ofempowerment which exists at the EEC, wherebycapable people are allowed to take onresponsibilities which would normallycorrespond to a higher grade.

Safety at Work and Welfare OfficersThe EEC had a Welfare Officer under contract atthe EEC from 1996. In 2001 this position wasmade into an Agency post. The Welfare Officeris active in the integration of newcomers but isalso available to all staff with personal or familydifficulties. The first full-time Welfare Officer isno longer with the Agency and a recruitment isin progress to fill the vacancy.A post was also created for a Safety andPrevention and Protection at Work Officer.Several benefits have already been seen suchas regular fire drills, and staff are being trainedas fire wardens and first aiders.

Flexitime and Home-working

The EEC operates a system of flexible workinghours. The system is popular with most staff asit allows the recuperation of 1 day’s overtime permonth as a leave day, and allows flexibility instart and finish times. Flexitime is managed atthe unit level.

A pilot study of the use of home-working was runduring 2001 with 5 staff volunteers participating.In 2002 the pilot scheme has been extended

with quarterly reviews of the impact of this wayof working on the staff member and hiscolleagues. Staff are allowed to work at homefor a maximum of three days per fortnight.Others also benefit from ad-hoc home-workingwhich allows staff to work in this manner on upto 30 days per year and for specific tasks.Results are provided in section 8b below.

Building improvements

The EEC building was completely renovatedover a period of 2 years from 1998 to 2000. Theworking conditions are now excellent, and in thelatest phase of improvement, an air conditioningsystem was installed in the area known as theextension which was built in 1995. Anothersimple but effective innovation has been theinstallation of water fountains in all conferencerooms.

Environment and social responsibilty

To promote world environment day on June 5 aseries of exhibitions and events is beingorganised. The aim is to raise the awareness ofenvironmental issues amongst the peopleworking on the Bretigny site:� an art and photography competition for staff

and their children� promotion of public transport with an extra

shuttle� exhibition on water and the environment� "bio" products stand� "bio" meals at the canteen at lunchtime� visits to the local waste disposal/recycling

site� films on ecology themes in the auditorium


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4 PARTNERSHIPS AND RESOURCESExcellent organisations plan and manage external partnerships, suppliers and internal resources in orderto support policy and strategy and the effective operation of processes. During planning and whilstmanaging partnerships and resources they balance the current and future needs of the organisation, thecommunity and the environment.

4a External partnerships are managed

Strategic Partnership

The Experimental Centre Consultation Group(ECCG) is the main general forum for consultingEEC stakeholders and for building andstrengthening strategic partnerships. Seesection Overview-Governance above. TheECCG has met 7 times between May 1998 andApril 2003.

An EEC Strategy Task Force of 10 EEC staffwas created in July 2002 to define a strategy forthe EEC that would benefit the whole ATMsystem. It reported in October 2002 with the firstversion of the ‘Proposed EEC Strategy’ forpresentation and discussion at ECCG in April2003. The report formed the basis of areorganisation of EEC Core Business carried outin the 1st quarter of 2003 and approved by theDirector General. Version 5 of the EEC Businessplan will be based on the agreed strategy.

The principal feedback on EEC performancefrom strategic partners comes through thestakeholder/market survey. See section 2aabove. Results are provided in section 6abelow.

Forming value added supply chainpartnerships

Framework contractSince 1996 the EEC procures externalassistance using a ‘framework contract’ withindustry consortia. The objective of the contractis to set up partnerships with the consortia thatare able to provide support to EEC in theexecution of its work programme. Thisarrangement has reduced the time to let acontract to an average of 6-7 weeks. Thecontract is renewed every 3 years the mostrecent being April 2002.

The emphasis in using external assistance isincreasingly on fixed-price tasking undertaken

mainly at the suppliers’ sites. This encouragesour Industrial partners to understand our needsand focus on deliverables. It also tends towardsa ‘level playing field’, since proximity to EEC isno more an advantage.

Simulation Partnership.A Simulation Partnership Scheme wasestablished in 1997 in order to make use ofexisting simulation capacity in Europe when thatof the EEC is not sufficient to meet EATMPrequirements. Under this scheme simulationshave been run for Portugal Oceanic at NATSand for RVSM at ENAC, DFS and Skyguide.

Industrial Partnership and IndustrialisationPolicyA report on the relationships between theAgency and Industry was produced in1997 bythe Industrial Policy and Supplier Relations TaskGroup. The EEC contributed to this work andsubsequently built on this foundation in order todevelop its own industrialisation policy. An EECTask Force on Industrialisation Policy was setup from October 1997 to April 1998 to evaluatethe different options to be considered for thedeployment of R&D products by industry so thatproper support, maintenance and training wouldbe ensured by industrial partners. Its report wasendorsed by ECCG in November 1998.

The development of partnerships with industry isnow a cornerstone of EEC strategy. The EECBusiness Plan contains an action to furtherdevelop co-operation with Industry. The EC-sponsored 5th FP and TEN-T projects encouragethe involvement of Industry in the specificationand development of EEC simulation platforms.

A framework was defined in co-operation withthe legal service of EUROCONTROL HQ toaddress licensing and intellectual property rightsissues. A standard licensing agreement wasdeveloped that can be used most cases. ThisEEC policy was widely presented to and waswell received by industry.

A notable success of the industrialisationstrategy was the AudioLAN product, aninnovative venture exploiting voice-over-IPtechnology, which is now commercialised with a


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non-exclusive licensing agreement via morethan five separate companies.

The monitoring of the industrialisation approachhas been reinforced since the end of 2000 byinitiatives to create dedicated user groups. TheAudioLAN user group gathers seven userestablishments (EEC, MUAC, IANS, CRDS,ENAC, DFS and ENAV). The group’s objectiveis to ensure that an adequate level ofdevelopment and support is provided for theproduct through appropriate outsourcing ofeffort. It meets 4 times a year.

The ECAPE User Group was formed in 2002 togather the users of the ESCAPE real timesimulation platform (EEC, MUAC, IANS, CRDS,SICTA, and two ANSPs). The group meets xtimes per year. A Service Level Agreement(SLA) between the EEC and the CRDS hasbeen drawn up. The support for the distributionof the simulation platform is provided byEEC/SFM. The service includes the provision ofa hotline and a problem reporting channel.

The objective of the ERIS business area is toprovide an industry based reference validationplatform and integration facility to EATMP andEC validation projects. The outsourcingapproach has been used to provide externalcomponents to the main platform (FlightManagement and Trajectory Prediction: INDRA,Arrival Management: Barco/Orthogon,Integrated Datalink Server: ThalesATM).

ERIS is based on the development of theAVENUE standard created between 1998 &2001 in the context of a project sponsored bythe European Commission. This has led to anEEC/Industry/ANSP partnership aroundcommonly agreed simulation architecture andinterfaces.

AECMAThe European Association of AerospaceIndustries (AECMA) represents the aerospaceindustry in Europe in all matters of commoninterest. EUROCONTROL and AECMAestablished formal working relations through abilateral steering group. Its aims are to identify,propose, promote and monitor joint initiativesaimed at preparing a joint Master Plan for apragmatic implementation of the EuropeanSingle Sky.

BoeingThe Boeing Company has taken the view thatcongested skies and inefficient ATM will hampermarket growth for commercial airline sales. Thecompany has consequently created newbusiness area committed to the development ofan efficient and secure ATM system. TheEUROCONTROL Experimental Centre has overthe years established excellent working relationswith Boeing through the exchange of staff andthrough the development of aircraft performancemodelling.

EUROCAEThe European Organisation for Civil AviationEquipment (EUROCAE) was formed atLUCERNE on the 24th April, 1963 as a forumwhere administrations, airlines and industrycould meet to discuss technical issues.EUROCAE minimum performance specificationsfor airborne electronic equipment (MOPS)documents are considered by Joint AviationAuthorities (JAAs) to be referenced by the JAAJoint Technical Standard Orders and otherregulatory documents. The main Europeanadministrations and the main aircraft andequipment manufacturers are members ofEUROCAE and actively participate in theWorking Groups, which prepare thesespecification documents. The EUROCONTROLExperimental Centre actively participate in someof the working groups:WG61 : standardisation of intra-centrearchitecture. EEC participation includes draftingthe development plan, participation to meetingsand will also include contribution to technicalstandardisation. In principal WG61 will useAVENUE as the basis for architecturestandardisation.

WG59 : Interoperability. Primarily concernedwith the standardisation of FDP interoperability,using the ODT as the basis for most of therequirements. EEC participates in meetings.There is a strong connection with AVENUE.


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WG51 : Automatic dependant Surveillance.Primarily concerned with the use of broadcastcommunication for increased airbornesurveillance information, the EEC participates inthe context of Airborne Situation AwarenessSystems (ASAS).

Gate-to-Gate

In 2002 the EC 5th FP Gate-to-Gate projectstarted work. This project brings together EEC,Industry (INDRA, ThalesATM, Alenia Maconi,BAE, Airbus and Sextant), ANSPs (DNA, AENA,ENAV, DFS, LFV) and R&D Centres (NLR,CENA). The project will develop and validateoperational concepts including departure, en-route and arrival management. It will alsodevelop a reference validation platform usingAVENUE standards.

Ensuring cultural compatibility

Management training applied throughout theAgency helps management and project leadersto be responsive to multicultural aspects inprojects and working groups. This training hasbeen reinforced at the EEC by the unique EEClanguage training policy. Knowledge of foreignlanguages is an important enabler ofmulticultural understanding. Courses at alllevels in the principal European languages areorganised at the EEC. The courses are open toeveryone working at the Bretigny site.

Supporting mutual development

Internal partnershipsThe activities of the EEC directly contribute tothe agency programmes and are developed inclose co-operation with the correspondingsponsors (EATMP, MUAC, CRDS, IANS, CFMU,PRU, SRU ..).

These partnerships are formalised andsupported by agreements such as EATMPProject Delegation Agreements, Service LevelAgreements and Project Charters. Progress isreviewed with sponsors at regular intervals.

CRDSThe EEC led the Agency project to implementthe CRDS in Budapest. The CRDS is one of thesupport units of CEATS, which will establish aregional ATC system in central Europe. TheCEATS ATC centre will start operations in 2007.

The CRDS implementation project started in1999 and was completed in 2001. It was a

complex cross-Agency project since expertisewas drawn from most Agency services. TheEEC Core management Special Advisor led theproject. The EEC was well placed to lead thisproject to set up the new ATM R&D centre sincethe EEC is regarded as the leading ATM R&Dcentre in Europe.

The CRDS is now running a simulationprogramme in support of CEATS. The EEC hasalso helped the CRDS to initiate researchactivities and partnerships, includingcollaboration with of Belgrade University. TheCRDS is expected to provide synergies andcontributions to the overall ATM R&D effort andto the opening of EUROCONTROL to central &Eastern Europe

European Commission Projects andRelationships.Since 1995 the EEC has been extending itsrelationship with the European Commissionthrough participation in successive frameworkprogrammes for research and development.

The EEC successfully negotiated in 2001 itsparticipation in eleven new projects of the 5th

Framework, TEN-T and Thematic Networksprojects as peer to the principle researchinstitutes and to major players in the EuropeanAeronautics supply industry. These projectsfurther strengthen the strategic developmentorientations of the EEC’s business areas.

The accession of the European Community toEUROCONTROL in 2002 further strengthenedthe partnership with the EEC. Throughout 2002the EEC continued to work on the following 11EC projects: AERONET II, EVP, LEONARDO,TALIS 2, ASAS-TN, Gate to Gate, NUP II,Wakenet 2, ATC Wake, HYBRIDGE,SAFESOUND.

Research PartnershipSpecific partnerships are established with peerresearch establishments. Research topics areselected that may include collaboration onspecific products or work on operationalprocedures and methods.

Particular fields of co-operation were identifiedwith CENA. A co-operation agreement has beenestablished between the EEC and CENA thathas allowed mutual progress and developmentof tools such as the COSAAC ATFM simulator. Ithas also resulted in collaboration and exchangeof staff as in the context of the CARE ASASproject. The Directors of both establishmentsmeet each year to monitor the co-operation.


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The EEC has started a cycle of visits to its peerresearch establishments in order to complementthe mutual information and actions. Results areprovided in section 9b below. Such visits are anopportunity to inform partner establishments onthe strategy and the work programme as well asgetting direct feedback on the approach. Thecontact allows to better position the EECbusiness plan prior to presentation to the ECCG.

The Innovative Research Advisory Board wasset up in 2002, comprising three externalprominent scientists and experts, among which1 University Professor from the US, and 1 Headof National Research Center in ATM fromEurope. The board is functioning and providesinput to all proposals and theses.

Generating and supporting innovativeand creative thinking through the use ofpartnerships

Research Co-ordination.A research and development review processexists in the Agency in the form of the R&DReview Group. Although this process iscurrently being revised, the data gatheringprocess which is the key element of the reviewis still in place under the form of the ARDEPdatabase. The EEC contributes to the provisionof data to ARDEP.

An annual review, led by EUROCONTROLheadquarters, of the ARDEP data is conductedby all R&D establishments. ARDEP web site:http://www.eurocontrol.int/ardep.

A similar framework (ARDA) to ARDEP hasbeen established in the US by the FAA to collectinformation on Aviation R&D in the US. Thisaction is co-ordinated with EUROCONTROL andincludes a common classification by domains ofEuropean and US R&D.

University partnerships.Contacts are maintained with universities ofpotential interest due to their specific fields ofknowledge. Study topics fall generally into threeareas: in-depth studies in a PhD context, studyof specific topics (such as optimisation) andexploratory experiments.

The R&D conducted in co-operation withuniversities is reviewed by an internal EECgroup that examines the progress of co-operation topics and reviews the requests forPhD work. Results are provided in section 9b.

The EEC also receives requests from traineeswho wish to take part in our activities. Aninternal committee makes the selection ofcandidates. Results are provided in section 8a.

Other contacts with universities are taken by allbusiness area managers on subjects of directconcern to their activities.

Creating synergy in working together toimprove processes and add value to thecustomer/supplier chain.

The EUROCONTROL Agency has developed aseries of Action Plans in co-operation with theUS FAA. The EEC contributes to the planningand implementation of these co-operativeactions in all areas of common interest. Thetopics covered include: ASAS, VDL, DecisionSupport Tools, Flow Management, ATC WorkingMethods, and Wake Vortex. The practicaldevelopment of the co-operation is performedthrough Technical Interchange Meetings, whichallow an exchange of views as well as sharing ofdata, methods, and software. The overallprocess is monitored twice a year throughmeetings of a dedicated R&D Committeeincluding staff from the two Agencies, FAA andEUROCONTROL.

The US/Europe ATM R&D seminar, whichconvenes every 18 months, is another forumwhere the ATM community exchanges researchresults. A selection committee examines andselects research papers for inclusion in theseminar. The papers are made available on anInternet site managed by the EEC.

4b Finances are managed

Financial PlanningThe budget of the EEC is prepared annuallybased on a cycle applied to all directorates ofthe Agency. A five years budget proposal iselaborated on the basis of the business plan andtherefore based on EEC strategy. The draftbudget is reviewed by the ECCG and endorsedby the EEC Management Board before beingsubmitted to the EUROCONTROL AdvisoryFinancial Group (AFG). The proposal is made inOctober of Year N for the plan starting in YearN+2. The budgetary envelope for the wholeAgency is examined in May of year N+1.Adjustments are made in the period May-October and the first year of the plan is


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approved by the Agency governing bodiesbased on the AFG proposal.

Financial RegulationsThe application of the financial regulations of theAgency is guaranteed at the EEC by proceduresand tools developed to facilitate their direct useby expense managers. The definition and use ofthe EEC financial procedures and tools isfacilitated by the Financial Tools and RegulationInterface (FTR) unit, which also monitors theconsistency of their application.

The Local Procurement Review Group (LPRC)meets weekly to review procurements in order toverify that financial regulations are followed andprocurements are in line with EEC strategy. TheLPRC regularly issues process measures.

The Financial Unit of the EEC operates as aservice to Project Leaders/Expense Managers,in the implementation of procurement requests.Approval of the agreed procurements is given bydesignated officials from the Core Management,or the head of the financial unit, or by theDirector of the EEC depending on the amount ofthe procurement. The Technical Managerconfirms that a service or good has beendelivered according to contract. Afterconfirmation, the accounting department paysthe invoices.

Budget MonitoringThe use of the budget is monitored though aseries of quarterly budget checkpoints. Initialbudget allocations to expense managers arebased on the agreed annual allocations derivedfrom the Business Plan and hence from the FiveYear Plan. Budget checkpoints are based on anumber of indicators showing the performanceof payment planning and the use of the allocatedbudget to date. Credits allocated arerenegotiated based on new planned needs andcash flow planning and financial performance todate. The ACB tool has been updated withfeatures allowing Project Managers to enter theirown Planned Payments.

Cash flow managementAn increasing level of performance in budgetconsumption has been achieved since 1996.Once contracts are passed with serviceproviders, the payments can be monitoreddirectly by the expense managers through theACB. The ACB has in 2002 been enhanced withreports showing budget allocation, usage andpayments The actual payment of services andgoods is subject to a validation process initiatedby the financial services who seek approval of

deliverables by expense managers and projectleaders.

Financial Relationship with sponsorsMany projects of the EEC are co-financed withfunding from sponsors either internal or externalto the EUROCONTROL Agency (EATMP,CFMU, CEATS, FAA, ENAV, PRU, MUAC, STS,and EC). Support is provided by the FinancialPlanning and Analysis unit in the monitoring ofthe associated budgets as well as in establishingrelationships at financial level with the sponsors.

A specific support is provided in all aspectslinked to the management of contracts with theEuropean Commission. This support covers thepreparation of formal responses to call forproposals, setting up of contracts, and setting upof cash flow. In addition, support is given tofacilitate relationships with consortia members.

Missions Office

The provision of a travel service for EEC staffmissions has been outsourced to a travel agentunder the framework of the Agency TravelPolicy. The fixed costs of the travel agency arefinanced by EUROCONTROL, while as acounterpart, the commission obtained by theagency is refunded to EUROCONTROL.

In order to facilitate the reimbursement ofmission expenses to staff, an agreement hasbeen signed with a finance company, whichprovides staff with corporate individual creditcards. An extensive partnership in this areawould facilitate the invoicing of missionexpenses.

4c Buildings, equipment and materialsare managed.

Infrastructure managementMost aspects linked to buildings, equipment andmaterials are managed as outsourced projectsmonitored by the TIG unit.

Since January 1st, 2001, for a period of 3 years,the EEC building maintenance has been let toan external company. This single outsourcingcontract replaced over 30 individual contracts.The contract covers air conditioning, purification,power etc. The company keeps arepresentative permanently at the EEC site, anda team of four people, which can be extended toten people, can be called on if required. Theproblems are managed using a GMAO system(Computer Assisted Maintenance Management)


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which allows the monitoring of problems andprovides maintenance checklists for each pieceof equipment on the basis of informationgathered during the renovation of the building. Ahotline service is provided using a generic emailaddress, and problems are tracked and solutionreports are provided to the initiators of requests.It is planned to introduce a more direct interfacewith the GMAO system on the Intranet, whichwill provide more widely visible feedback.

Building reconstruction, evolution,maintenanceThe EEC building renovation was initiated in1998 following an expert examination regardingconformity to building regulations. A staffmonitoring group was created in order toguarantee that staff opinions and interests weretaken into account. Although the reconstructionwas heavily constrained by the initial structure ofthe building the facilities were designed to allowhigh degrees of synergy and interaction withinthe building. The renovation was successfullycompleted, within time and budget, in July 2000.The renovated building was inaugurated on 29September 2000 in the presence of thePresident of the EUROCONTROL PermanentCommission, the French Minister forInfrastructure, Transport and Housing, thePresident of the EUROCONTROL ProvisionalCouncil, the Director of the EuropeanCommission's Air Transport Directorate, and theEUROCONTROL Director General.

New infrastructure projects are manageddepending on the magnitude of their funding.For projects over 100K€, it is considered that thecorresponding proposals should be aligned andreflected in the Business Plan. Once validated,and the budget agreed, initial contracts may beinitiated to prepare technical requirements, withpossible sub-contracts to address specificrequirements issues (security, supervision). Anoverall consultation for the main project is thenlaunched on the basis of the technicalrequirements.

Smaller infrastructure projects, up to 100K€,(which may concern limited improvements to theinfrastructure) can be initiated on the basis of arequest formulated to the TIG unit, which entersin a cycle of budget allocation and execution,most generally through an external contract.

To ensure that staff concerns and expectationsare taken into account wherever possible, aconsultation group of staff representatives hasbeen created: Groupe de Co-ordinationInfrastructure (GCI). This group is consultedduring the initiation phase of infrastructure

projects and it monitors progress during theimplementation phase.

During 2002 a contracts were let to install airconditioning in the so-called extension. As wellas the installations themselves, work was doneto provide temporary accommodation to staffand to move them out and back in stages so thatwork disruption was kept to a minimum.

Transport and MailThe TIG unit manages EEC Service Vehicles,which is in charge of the monitoring of their useand their maintenance. More extensivetransport requirements, for example to transportthe controllers participating in real timesimulations, are also managed by TIG.

The handling of mail and parcels has beencontracted to an external company, which alsoassures the internal mail distribution.

Print shop serviceSince September 1999, the printing facilities ofthe EEC are provided under an externalcontract. This includes:• a printshop facility onsite for large print

requests;• a number of self-service print facilities by

means of networked printers/copiers;• the management of supplies (paper, toner).

Staff previously allocated to the printshop werereallocated to other tasks.

During 2002 a project was initiated andcompleted to replace all network printers.

Meals and refreshmentsDuring the building renovation, meals andrefreshment facilities were created which wouldfacilitate and encourage staff to mix and meet ininformal surroundings. This increases formaland informal information exchange and fostersinternal and external communication. A largeand attractive cafeteria is located in the centralarea of the building, close to the atrium, meetingrooms, and showroom. This is the place to meetpeople from outside the normal professionalcircle and the place to meet and talk to visitors.The second informal meeting point is themodern canteen, which is also situated near tothe centre of the building complex. The cateringservice is outsourced, and provides lunch toover 250 people each day, including visitors. Aseparate room, which anyone can reserve anduse, is available for small groups.

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General support is provided through specificcontracts with external companies, which aremonitored by the TIG unit. One example is thereception desk service. Tools were eitherdesigned or made available at the reception toimprove its efficiency. These tools include theweb access to the Intranet where the dailyevents are published, and an access to aspecific interface allowing recording and keepingin contact with current visitors to the EEC.

Cleaning of the offices and common space isalso provided under contract. A quality checkprocedure is being defined. Part of this serviceis a continuous cleanliness check during thedaytime, which also allows reporting of defectiveequipment to the infrastructure team.

Office and workspace management andallocation of office tools are facilitated by anIntranet application, which allows indicating andmonitoring of new planned arrivals. Externalstaff performs necessary furniture removalsunder a specific contract agreement, whichallows a removal to be performed within 72hours.

SecurityThe protection of EEC premises is covered by asecurity service contract. Security measures tobe applied by the security company are definedin a handbook written by the TIG unit.

The access to the building is monitored by videocameras. Security staff initiate actionsaccording to the security procedures. Access tothe recorded video information is restricted andcan be viewed only by the Security Officer in thepresence of the Staff Committee chairman.

SafetyThe Service Prevention and Protection at Work(SPP) provides assistance and advice to defineand implement the Prevention and Protection atWork policy. The SPP assesses risks at theEEC, and supervises the application of thepolicy defined by the Central Service forPrevention and Protection at Work, in co-operation with the EEC Director or hisrepresentative and the Local Committee forPrevention and Protection at Work (CLPP).

The 2002 SPP programme is as follows:• to further develop a prevention and

protection at work policy at the EEC;• to follow the implementation of the

regulatory mechanism concerning themanagement of prevention;

• to develop a prevention culture EEC-wide(staff and contractors).

EquipmentThe IT systems of the EEC are managed by theITM unit, which establishes the data processing,needs in line with the business orientations ofthe EEC through dialogue with the BusinessAreas and the Centres of Expertise. Policy andstrategy are documented in the IT StrategyDocument. ITM also provides support toprojects in defining their needs in IT systems,and solving usage problems. The ITM unitassists in the preparation of acquisitions throughprice enquiries and preparations of calls fortenders. A large proportion of the IT budget isdedicated to maintenance contracts andlicences which require a significant monitoringeffort. An inventory of all equipment andlicences is maintained.

The computing facilities of the EEC havedramatically evolved over the past decade inkeeping with technological advances. Theoriginal central IBM mainframe, used for batchprocessing, gradually evolved (1992-1995)towards the General Computing Facility (GCF)which added local area networks, a Novellsystem, PCs for general purpose computing,and Unix workstations for technical work. Themainframe was finally decommissioned in 1997,leading to a fully distributed network computingfacility.

In 1999 the entire IT service was outsourcedand staff were reallocated to core business andsupport tasks. The reliability and efficiency ofthe service has increased significantly. Overallsystem availability is now close to 100% andproblem solution times are well within the targetsset by the service level agreement, 4 hours forlevel 1 problems, and 8 hours for level 2problems. The IT service provision contract wasawarded for a period of 3 years. The IT contractis monitored by means of various proceduresand meetings:• The evolution of systems is jointly

elaborated between the contractor and ITMin technical meetings;

• A Pilot Committee meets monthly to checkthe contract status, examine on-goingproblems and user requests, examine theevolution of the equipment stock;

• A strategic committee meets annually toreview the overall status of the contract andcontrol evolutions.

• A Users Committee meets every 2 monthswith the objective to review the IT strategy,to propose evolutions, and discuss andvalidate IT approaches.


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The procedures dealing with the servicesprovided are being progressively documentedand published through a web site on theIntranet, as part of the quality improvement effortof the EEC.

The ITM unit in co-operation with its PeerAgency unit, DF/MIS, manages specificinformation technology projects. Such projectshave included Agency wide corporate tools suchas electronic mail and calendar, informationsecurity systems. The governing body at theAgency level is the Corporate InformationSystems Committee (CISC).

During 2002 the ITM unit conducted an internalsatisfaction survey. The results of this will beexamined and needed improvementsimplemented starting in 2003.

4d Technology is managed

Managing technology - Technology watch.All business areas and units where it is relevantmonitor the evolution of technology. In thedomain of large ATC screens and simulationequipment, a common EUROCONTROL policyincluding CRDS and EHQ has been elaboratedwith the aim to set up a framework agreementfor the procurement of simulation equipment.

Leading edge technologyAdvanced display technology is monitored for itspotential applicability in the fields of ATM.Exploratory projects involving 3-D visual andsound systems development have beenlaunched in view of augmenting the realism ofdata representation in a more human-centreddirection. Examples of investigations includeController Working Positions using techniques inAugmented Reality for applications such asStack Management at Airports and 3D volumesectorisation at Terminal Areas (ProjectVIRTUAL and 3 Ph.D. Theses). Otheralternatives for short-term capacity improvementare also explored by focusing on the use ofproven technology to suggest new operationalprocedures.

The latest Internet technology was exploited todevelop the voice-over-IP functionality, whichculminated in the AudioLAN product, see section2b above.

Web technology is used to implement manyadministrative support tools to providegeneralised access. See sections 3a and 4babove.

4e Information and knowledge aremanaged

Knowledge management.Both the Think-Tank initiative of 2001 and thefeedback from the 2002 EFQM self-assessmentpointed out the lack of a knowledgemanagement policy and system at the EEC.This is of special concern to the EEC because ofthe probability of early retirement which willresult in much knowledge being lost, andbecause of the large number of contract staffworking on key projects.

To respond to these concerns the EEC haslaunched a knowledge management studysupported by a specialist consultant to see whatapproach to knowledge management would bestfit the EEC situation and needs. The EEC isdetermined to take a very practical approach.Initial conclusions of the study will be availablein July 2003. A questionnaire has been issuedto senior and middle management to start tomap the current state of knowledge at the EEC.

External communication

The creation of a Marketing and InformationManagement unit in 1999 has contributed to anoverall reflection on how marketing approachescould be relevant to a research establishmentsuch as the EEC. Although most of thestakeholders and partners are well known in theATM environment, the reflection around thepreparation of regular stakeholder surveysallows to review the existing range of partnerswhile consulting the current base ofstakeholders. The evolution of the strategy istaken into account by including in the surveythose partners who are becoming directlyconcerned by the EEC actions. It is planned toinclude lobbies and pressure groups in the nextstakeholder survey, considering the increasedimportance of society and environmentalaspects in the EEC strategy.

A large part of external communication at theEEC is based on the dissemination of the EECreports and technical notes. The reports andnotes are distributed to around 250representatives of our stakeholders. Since 2001,taking into account the wider use of the Internet,the reports and notes are announced to ourstakeholders by emails pointing to the downloadaddress of the reports. Postal mailings of reportsand notes are maintained for a smaller numberof requests, either in paper form or in CDROMform. This approach has greatly reduced paperconsumption. See results in section 8b.


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Information is also communicated throughparticipation to conferences, the organisation ofinternal workshops, seminars or events as wellas numerous visits. Procedures have been setup to deploy these communication actions.

The installation of a permanent showroom in therenovated building has given the ability toperform demonstrations without pre-notificationon a series of selected projects. Projects in theshowroom are changed several times per year.

Short interviews with the press and the mediaare sometimes provided either by the DirectorEEC or by staff members. These declarationsare co-ordinated with EUROCONTROLheadquarters when the subject goes beyond thework programme of the EEC. During 2001, twoFrench TV magazines, broadcast on ARTE andFR3, featured sequences shot at the EEC.

External web sites are extensively used forcommunicating. They are tailored either forgeneral-purpose information on the EEC ordesigned for specific groups of ATM users.The design of the official EEC web site conformsto the corporate style defined for theEUROCONTROL web site. The EEC was thefirst directorate in the Agency to provide all itsstaff with Internet access.

Information on innovative technology isdisseminated through the OpenATC web site,which includes data on research projects, andspecific software.

Internal CommunicationAll staff meetings are held twice per year, inJune and December. Middle managementmeetings which target different domains of EECactivity are held quarterly. Following therecommendation of the think-tank in Q4 2001,these information meetings have beencomplemented from 2002 by a “weeklyinformation corner” and by an internalnewsletter. These two new media, as well asinternal communication in general, aremonitored by an internal information monitoringgroup in order to detect information needs andopportunities, and to respond to these needs

The Intranet and electronic newsgroups are keyaspects of EEC internal communication.

The Intranet is a repository of information ofgeneral interest as well as project information. Itoffers an access to administrative, financial andgeneral-purpose tools. It also includes an"Infocentre" where all information and workingdocuments are accessible by category. The

Infocentre allows the creation of categories andsubcategories and to manage the documents.

A classical library service is available whichoffers subscriptions to periodicals, purchase ofbooks, loan of books, as well as assistance forinformation search through databases. Externaldatabase searching is co-ordinated with otherDirectorates.

While electronic mail has been extensively usedfor professional external and internalcommunication since 1996, questions of generaland social interest to staff are also posted anddiscussed on dedicated internal newsgroups.


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5 PROCESSESExcellent organisations design, manage and improve processes in order to fully satisfy, and generateincreasing value for, customers and other stakeholders.

5a Processes are systematicallydesigned and managed

Since its origins in the 1960s, the main activity ofthe EEC has been simulations and morespecifically real time simulations. Formalprocess mapping started in the early 1990s andnot unnaturally, concentrated on real timesimulations which is a large and complexundertaking. Processes were well initiallydocumented in what was then called the RealTime Simulation Handbook but their applicationwas erratic and they were not kept up to date.Since these early attempts, the managementprocess of real time and fast time simulationshas matured and is consistently applied. Typicalteams are being set-up to manage eachsimulation using a recognised efficientapproach. The facilities are managed by adedicated centre of expertise (SFM). The accessto simulation facilities is managed through acommon schedule and there is a commonaccess to the tools allowing change requestsand problem reporting. The simulation processitself will have its description updated and madeavailable through the intranet on whichreference documentation are available.However, there is already a wide collection ofsupporting documentation for the technicalactors of simulations.

Since1998, the EEC Business Model evolved in

concert with the development of the EEC matrixorganisation. The model represents thefundamental entities and principles within the

EEC and its market context. Staff , budget andactivities (projects) combined through thebusiness plan, and stimulated by internal andexternal communication and consultation,deliver value to stakeholders through projects,services, and products. The staff-activity-budgettriangle is the heart of the ACB tool which is therepository for all work programme information.

A key process framework has been established,through reviews at Core Management level andin consultation with Middle Management,wherein EEC top level processes are structuredin order to match the strategy needs. This toplevel framework has started to evolve towards aset of common processes for all Core Businessareas as well as support units. See section 2dabove.

At the end of 2002, as part of the reorganisation,was created a unit in charge of defining andimplement processes based on sound projectmanagement principles. This unit initiated ageneral process mapping in view of checkingconsistency of the processes with the top levelprocess framework as well as identifyingredundancies and possible gaps. A web basedmatrix view of the process map was developedwhich includes identified processes, theirowners an the supporting documents. It willallow in the continuous improvement trend, tobetter identify potential interface issues of ourprocesses with internal and externalstakeholders.

A particular emphasis was given in 2002 tocomplementing the documentation of existingprocesses and in particular to :• Project Management processes• Finance and Procurement Procedures• Support Services (Human Resources,

Finances, IT, Programme Support,Communication, General Services,Prevention, Health)

The processes are documented in standard textformat and available on the intranet throughdedicated web sites cross referenced in thevarious levels of the intranet entries.

The process framework and the processeswhich it contains is also indexed in the "How to?"Guide, a Web based key word facility which

Stakeholders

Stakeholders

StakeholdersStak

ehol

ders

Activities

Staff Budget

Business Plan

ExternalCommunication

InternalCommunication


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guides staff via the intranet to useful proceduresand information.

Applying standards

In the field of software development, the SEUpromotes the use of norms and standards, forEEC project management. A series ofreferences to standards are provided on theintranet .

SEU standards are based on IEEE softwareengineering standards and ISO9000 standards.

SEU also provides support for software quality inthree areas:

1. Quality assurance techniques2. Definition of quality requirements3. Software quality audits

Training in project management methodology isprovided as part of the staff general trainingplan.

The safety key methodology uses the standardindustry Safety Culture Maturity Model toimplement and measure deployment of thesafety culture at the EEC. See survey results insection 9a below.

In the field of security a Service for Preventionand Protection at work (SPP) has been created.As an example of the deployed securityapproach, 2002 saw the establishment of thecompulsory periodic checks of the technicalinstallations (electricity, heating etc.) by anindependently approved company. A preventionplan was also established for all the externalcompanies working more than 400 hours in theEEC according to the Decree of 20 February1992. The EEC is currently considering anapproach to using the ISO14001 environmentalstandard.

5b Processes are improved, as needed,using innovation in order to fully satisfyand generate increasing value forcustomers and other stakeholders.

The significant step towards management byprocess taken in 2002, where the existingprocesses were systematically reviewedstarted from the interview of Heads of Unit inorder to understand what they considered astheir key business processes, and to obtain theirview of what is not working well and what can bedone to improve. Initial interviews identified

financial processes and the testing processes ofthe real time simulation life cycle. This has leadto documenting the corresponding processes.

Innovation and creativity is stimulated at theEEC through the open and democratic trustculture and the flat matrix organisation. This hasnot only benefited core business activities butalso support activities and continuousimprovement. Opportunities for processimprovement are sought from as many sourcesas possible, and have resulted in incrementalchanges and some breakthroughs. In this flatorganisation the development of methodologiesis the role of the Centres of Expertiise as well astheir promotion to staff. This is particular thecase for the common validation methodologywhich has been introduced as a specific processmentored by a dedicated unit created in ???.

Project management method deployment hasbeen monitored through the introduction of aKPI on project management quality andtimeliness of milestones.

Since year 2000, during which were introducednew financial regulation including multi-annualbudget planning, improved cash-flow planningprocesses were developed. A strict budgetmonitoring process was already in place since1999. These improvements allowed anincreasing awareness of budget status throughtargeted internal communication and improvedinformation, and training in the essentials ofbudget and finance for project managers. EECbudget usage performance is now best inAgency. An integrated information system (ACB)is providing support to the project planning andbudget processes and is also supporting theprocurement process since early 2003. The useof this integrated tool by project leaders andbusiness area managers has drasticallyimproved the budget planning.

The 1997 stakeholder satisfaction survey(section 5e) revealed that stakeholders were notreceiving adequate information concerningprojects and research results. This prompted areview of the external distribution process forEEC reports, notes (section 4e), and for theAnnual Report . The management and contentof the stakeholder database was also reviewedand improved, and the accessibility and speedof delivery of documents was improved bygradual transition from paper distribution to aweb based service.

The self assessment process itself is a valuablesource of process improvements. The 1998 self


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assessment generated an improvement actionto develop a people satisfaction survey (section3a). This was a breakthrough as far as the EECwas concerned. A small multi-disciplinary teamdeveloped a questionnaire based on standardpractice and the process was initiated with thefirst survey in 1998. This process has sinceevolved and from 2002, the people satisfactionsurvey uses a questionnaire which is common tothe whole of the Agency. This will enable datato be aggregated and conclusions to be drawnfor the Agency as a whole.

The learning culture ensures the establishmentof focus groups when particular issues need tobe addressed. The matrix organisation isassessed and reviewed periodically with a viewto further improvement. In 2001, a review tookplace in the form of a brainstorming exercisewith the participation of representatives of seniorand middle management and with the support ofan external facilitator. Details of the exercise,the findings and the improvement actions, aregiven above in chapter "Overview", section"Journey to Excellence", year 2001. (????)

In 2002, the matrix structure was extended tothe support units and the core business matrixwas aligned to better fit the proposedreorientation of the EEC towards a longer termstrategy as proposed by the “strategy taskforce”. The management structure of businessareas was adapted to larger size units bysetting-up management teams (early 2003).

Electronic newsgroups (section 3d) are avaluable source of improvements especiallyregarding improvements to the workingenvironment. Senior management andSuggestions Board members regularly monitornewsgroups to identify potential improvements.In 2002, the newsgroups, as well as the minutesof management meetings, were the source of asemiotic analysis in the context of the EECVALUES project. See section 1a above.

The suggestions box (section 3c) is anestablished method for identifying andimplementing improvements. Results are givenin section 7b below.

5c Products and Services are designedand developed based on customer needsand expectations.

Work at the EEC is organised in projects,ranging from large scale projects to portfolio ofsmaller studies. Unlike production-linecompanies, where the client is buying the endproduct, each of the EEC projects involves agreat deal of interaction with stakeholders due tothe required link of our research with fieldexperience. For some of our projects, ourstakeholders are part of the project teams at ouror at their premises. This gives a very direct andopen feedback, and allows the client to have adirect influence on the end product during theprocess. Other forms of projects involve a highdegree of partnership with members of consortiafrom industry and research bodies; the EEC hasdeveloped this ability take part and manage thistype of interaction since the early days ofcollaborative ATM research programmes(PHARE 1989).

Project outcomes are reports, demonstratorsand prototypes. "Products" which do emergefrom the projects are, as a general rule, madeavailable to stakeholders free of charge. Wealso deliver open source products to industry,allowing them to commercialise and sell a newproduct.

All customer related activities, based onprojects, have commonly agreed project plansthat are approved and signed by the client at thebeginning of the project. These project plans areregularly submitted to pear reviews by thebusiness area managers, heads of centres ofexpertise and the work programme manager inorder to assess their adequacy with the EECoverall strategy as well as to thecustomer/stakeholder needs. A changeprocedure ensures that changes can be agreedand accommodated based on mutualunderstanding. We use the result of each projectto build up our know-how and expertise, in orderto serve present and future customers.

Stakeholder/market surveys (section 2a) seek todetermine stakeholder satisfaction with thescope and structure of current EEC activities aswell as their expectations for future activities. In2002, the customer survey conducted byIPSOS included interview of a group ofpersonalities as well as a parallel mirror surveyof staff opinions. See results in section 6abelow.


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ECCG meetings (section 2a) are also used tovalidate re-orientations of EEC strategy,services, and products through the ECCGreview and endorsement of the draft EECbusiness plan.

Some examples of EEC re-orientations basedon the perceived future needs of stakeholdersfollow.

In 1998 a major initiative was launched toexpand the partnership with the EuropeanCommission (EC) because of the increasedimportance given to ATM in the EC 4th

framework programme for research andtechnological development. Because of itsneutral and objective positioning, the EEC wasable to respond to the ATM communityrequirement to provide a site for thedevelopment of the first instance of a Europeanintegration and validation platform for the futureunified European ATM system. Furtherresponding to the needs of the ATM communityand the EC, the EEC work has been expandedand restructured into the ERIS programmewhich now also contains the Gate-to-gate-2005project of the EC 5th framework programme.

In support of the EATMP 2000+ strategy and inorder to contribute to an increasedunderstanding of safety risks in the EuropeanATM system, safety activities have beengradually expanded at the EEC from the earlyACAS activities which started in 1991. Since1997, the ATM Automatic Safety Monitoring Tool(ASMT) has been developed by the EEC. Itprovides an automatic monitoring facility forsafety related occurrences based uponoperational data. The tool encourages theconcept of automatic safety monitoring in a non-punitive safety culture. The tool underwentoperational evaluation at Maastricht UAC, andentered into operations in August 2002.Several specific or generic implementations ofASMT were achieved or initiated in 2002(Bratislava, Gatwick) and interest wa sshown byother sites.

The long development lead time and theenormous financial, regulatory, social, andoperational impact of new concepts makes itmandatory to work extensively with allstakeholders when researching and developingnew tools and systems. A very promisingresearch area concerns the delegation ofseparation responsibility from the ground to theair. The work at the EEC comprises severalinter-linked projects most of which arecollaborative efforts where the EEC is an active

partner. Mediterranean Free Flight (MFF) is amajor project led by ENAV, and supported byEC TEN-T funding. AFAS and MA-AFAS areEC collaborative 5th framework projects withstrong involvement of airframe manufacturers.

The EEC has provided extensive support toStates for controller working positionspecification in preparation for new systemprocurement. The DSI project started in 1997and produced an HMI specification for the futureDanish ATC system, DATMAS, and the futureSwedish ATC system S2000.

The HMI specifications are much appreciated bythe ATM system providers and the HMI isemerging as a de-facto industry standard. Thefinal specifications were delivered in 1999. TheSWI project started in 1999 and took resultsprovided by the DSI project as a model to startdevelopments to define the HMI of the future en-route and approach controller working positionsof the future Swisscontrol ATC system. Asimilar project is being undertaken with ENAV,the Italian ANSP.

Creativity coupled with the consideration of thelonger term stakeholder expectations asexpressed by high level white papers of the ATMcommunity has been the approach taken by theStrategy Task Force created in 2002 in order toidentify potential conceptual orientations of theEEC research; this has been achieved throughthe application of creativity methods throughnumerous organised brainstorming sessionswithin a multidisciplinary expert group.

5d Products and Services are produced,delivered and serviced.The business of the EEC as expressed in itsmission is to carry out research anddevelopment in order to improve ATM in Europe.It is not the business of the EEC to deliver andsupport operational products, nor to buildoperational ATM systems, this is the domain ofthe ATM system supply industry. To implementthis policy, the EEC has adopted an approachwhereby industry is involved as early as possiblein the lifecycle through partnerships andconsortia membership, and through the ERISbusiness area by progressively greaterinvolvement of industry in ATM systemcomponent prototyping. Results are given insection 9a below.

The infrastructures provided by the ERIS andSFM units are used internally by business areasto achieve their objectives in terms of conceptsand operational validation. The facilities allow to


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explore the feasibility and benefits of newairspace organisations, new traffic flowmanagement schemes, and new workingmethods and systems. The EEC offers theunique service of large multi-ATC-centre, multi-state real time simulations. The total lifecycle ofa large real time simulation lasts up to 18months. The ANSP customers are involvedfrom the very beginning of the project toaccurately specify the requirements, andcontrollers from the participating member stateswork at the EEC for up to 4 weeks during thesimulation execution. The results of the projectare a set of recommendations to improve theefficiency of the airspace under consideration.These recommendations are then considered foroperational deployment by the participatingANSPs.

In the field of flow management research, theEEC is providing the Central Flow ManagementUnit and its stakeholders with a researchenvironment where the exploration of specificflow management issues can be performed.Such projects result in recommendation for newoperational procedures as well as prototypeswhich are then raised to the standard of realtime systems. The use of macroscopicsimulations allows to evaluate the potentialimprovement identified and eventually to checktheir performance following their implementation.

An industrialisation process (section 4a) wasstarted in 1998 as a direct result of feedbackobtained from the 1997 stakeholder survey. Theobjective was to transfer EEC products toindustry thereby allowing the EEC to betterfocus on research projects.

There is one notable exception to the policy offocusing on research rather than the support ofoperational products, and this concerns the EECreal time simulation platform based on theESCAPE, IPAS, and AudioLan components.This simulation platform is probably the mostpowerful real time ATC simulation platform in theworld, but its complexity is such that until nowindustrialisation is judged to be impossible.Instances are deployed at three Agency sites,Luxembourg, Maastricht, and Budapest. Toreduce to a minimum the support workload onthe EEC, extensive training is provided torecipients so that they can be as autonomous aspossible. Platform development is centralised atthe EEC and new versions are delivered to othersites after they have been validated at the EEC.The EEC has set up the SFM coordination cellwhich interfaces with remote sites to co-ordinatedeployment and to provide a hotline service.ESCAPE deployment is further described in

section 4a above. Further results concerningspin-off products and services are given insection 6b below.

5e Customer relationships are managedand enhanced

An essential feature of the matrix organisation,(see "Overview") is that the responsibility forcustomer relations related to our products iscentred on the Business Areas (BAs). Whenlooking at each BA it becomes clear that thetypes of customers and the products aredifferent for each BA. Different BAs havedifferent customers that range from airlines,airports, ATM service providers to the EuropeanCommission and other Eurocontrol units. EachBusiness Area Manager (BAM) is responsiblefor the improvements in his own BA.

A project for a corporate contact managementtool was launched in late 2000; the selection ofthe relevant products was made in 2001 an2002 was dedicated to the population of thedatabase and correction of discrepancies. Therecording of customer details and contactmanagement is now made through thedeployment and use of this agency contactdatabase which allows to identify the links to thenumerous working groups ; this corporate toolallows as well to perform targeted mailing lists.to be expanded...

Stakeholder/market surveys (section 2a) aredesigned to provide satisfaction levels fordifferent aspects of the stakeholder relationshipsuch as EEC ability to deliver results on time,the professionalism of EEC staff, the availabilityof EEC staff, and the relevance of servicesoffered. Results are detailed in section 6.

On a project basis, the greatest numericalinvolvement of customers occurs in real timesimulation execution where up to 40 controllerscan participate in a real time simulation. Aftereach simulation we ask the participating airtraffic controllers to rate our performance. Anexample of improvement based on this feedbackconcerns the simplification of the payment ofdaily allowance to the controllers. The simplifiedprocedure satisfied controller wishes andsimplified the administration for the EEC.

Proactive involvement of customers has beenorganised for customers of the ESCAPE realtime simulation platform. User groups have beenestablished and meetings are organised on aregular basis to discuss their needs and


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expectations with respect to platform supportand also with respect to simulator functionality.This is further described in section 4a above. Asexplained in section 5d, day to day contact isassured by the SFM co-ordination cell.

At a strategic level, as explained in section 1cabove, stakeholder VIPs are periodically invitedto the EEC. The objective is to exchange views,to understand their needs and expectations, topresent EEC strategy, and to exploreopportunities for collaboration. Visits areorganised by the Public Relations unit.

A high emphasis has been given to externalcommunication; a long experience of EEC sitevisit showed the benefits of such acommunication and an approach has beentaken to reinforce communication withstakeholders and the media. Thecommunication is targeted explicitly towardsgroups such as :• ECAC members states representatives• ATS service providers• Airlines and airlines organisations• Professional ATC and aeronautical

organisations• Aviation press• Research establishments• Industry• European Union representatives and other

international organisations

The communication is customised according tothe visitors profiles. A database project has beeninitiated to enhance the visits organisations andto better plan future visits. The needs has beenrecognised that this database could be evolvedto track the visits to our stakeholders as well asfeedback concerning visits from and tostakeholders.

A considerable increase in the number of visitswas noted in 2002. Guests are not onlyEuropeans, but originate from a wide variety ofcountries world-wide including America, Japan,and China.

2001 2002Workshops, seminars 12 17Major Visits, VIPs 51 10Visitors 220 347

Visits of EEC staff to stakeholder sites alsomaintain and enhance stakeholder relations.Missions have decreased for two main reasons.Firstly as a contribution to overall cost reductionmeasures, and secondly as a result of theincreased use of visio-conferencing and theincreased use of electronic networking.

2001 2002missions to ECAC(European Civil AviationConference)

1546 1037

missions to non ECACcountries.

128 97

Among these missions, external contacts areenriched through participation to external eventsand seminars. In 2002 , the EEC took part inseveral major international exhibitions: ATCMaastricht, ATCA Washington and NAVSATNice.

At the project level, project leaders and projectteam members are in regular or constant contactwith customers and partners in order to clearlyestablish objectives and specifications andsubsequently to ensure continued alignmentwith customer needs and expectations.Customer representatives are frequentlyintegrated into project teams.


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6 CUSTOMER RESULTSExcellent organisations comprehensively measure and achieve outstanding results with respect to theircustomers.

The EEC is a public service organisation, whichexists in a complex environment comprising thepublic and corporate/private sectors. A carefulline must be steered between partnership andcompetition and consequently it is often moreappropriate to use the term stakeholder ratherthan customer. The EEC does not sell anything.The primary deliverable of the EEC is researchresults in the form of reports, demonstrators,and prototypes. It is not the role of the EEC todeliver operational products and services. Thatis the role of industry. Nevertheless, because ofthe unique position and expertise of the EECthere are research spin-offs, which can bedirectly valuable to the ATM community, and thisdoes lead to the provision of some operationalproducts and services.

The demonstration of customer results is amajor challenge to a public service organisationand even more so to a research unit whichworks with lifecycles which are often ten to thirtyyears. Despite this the EEC is constantlyseeking ways to better measure the benefit thatit delivers to its "customers", and to increase thefeedback from "customers" in order to improveEEC performance.

6a Perception Measures

Business Plan deliverables

Business Plan deliverables cover all businessareas. Starting in 2002 a short e-mailquestionnaire was sent to each customer of aBusiness Plan deliverable, in order to determinetheir satisfaction level. This covered 81deliverables.

Business Plan deliverables satisfaction2002 target

Response rate 25% 90%

Very satisfied 70% 75%Rather satisfied 25%Not satisfied 5%

The response rate was low due to the fact thatthe questionnaire was not issued at the time ofdelivery but when the survey action wasinitiated. The process is being improved in 2003

in order to make the feedback a part of thedelivery process. Despite the modest result in2002 the deployment of this process is seen asa major step forward for the EEC to improvecustomer feedback. The "not satisfied"responses are being followed up in order toidentify problems and improvement actionslinked to the business area concerned.

Stakeholder Satisfaction

The EEC aims to conduct a comprehensivestakeholder survey every two years in line withAgency policy. The 1997 survey was organisedto gather data for the first EEC Business Plan. Itconcentrated on EEC positioning. The 1999survey expanded the scope of the survey andthis trend continued in 2002. In 2002 for the firsttime an internet based survey was used. Priorto that date the EEC conducted a paper/postalsurvey. In the following table, satisfaction levelsare the sum of “completely satisfied” and “rathersatisfied”.

Stakeholder satisfaction1997 1999 2002 target

Overall satisfaction 73% 80% 82% 85%

responds well to its mission - 99% 98% 90%Positioning - 73% 72% 90%Loyalty 73% 71% 94% 90%Recommendation - - 95% 90%Relations with EEC staff 86% 93% 95% 90%Communications media 90% 89% 90%Project management 61% 75% 85% 90%

Not all subjects were addressed in earliersurveys. In general, satisfaction levels havebeen sustained or are increasing. Detailedresults segmented by Business Area areobtained in order to target the detailed feedback.These detailed Business area results are notreproduced in this report.

The survey response rates are shown in thefollowing table.

Stakeholder survey responserates

1997 1999 2002 target62% 30% 20% ↑

Several factors contributed to the decrease inresponse rate over the three surveys. The 1997survey was a pioneer and the novelty and theintense lobbying resulted in an exceptional


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return rate. Because of the exceptional returnrate of 1997, a significant decrease wasexpected in 1999. The decrease in 1999 and2002 can also be attributed to the lack ofmaintenance of the stakeholder database. Thisweakness is being tackled in 2003 by the MIMbusiness area in collaboration with the BusinessDevelopment Manager.

Qualitative market survey

In 2002 for the first time a qualitative marketsurvey was carried out by a specialistconsultancy, IPSOS. High ranking managers inthe air transport industry were interviewed toobtain their views on sector evolution,EUROCONTROL, and the EEC. See section 2aabove.

ECCG Feedback

The Experimental Centre Consultation Group(ECCG) is the main consultation forum for EECstakeholders. The ECCG advises the DirectorGeneral on the strategy and performance of theEEC. During the meeting participants are askedto complete a short satisfaction questionnaire,which addresses two separate issues:1. The strategy and positioning of the EEC2. The ECCG processIn the following table, satisfaction levels are thesum of “completely satisfied” and “rathersatisfied”.

ECCG feedback2002 target

Response rate 70% 90%

Strategy andpositioning

EEC strategy is wellfocused on criticalEuropean issues

90% 90%

EEC strategy fits well withother R&D programmes

71% 90%

ECCGprocess

Meeting style andsubjects

95% 90%

The questionnaire also asks for comments. In2002 many participants asked to be betterinformed of EEC events and project results via aregular newsletter. To respond to this requestthe EEC now issues a regular newsletter to allstakeholders. See section x.x.

Real Time Simulation satisfaction

Real time simulation is one of many tools usedin research projects. The larger multi-State realtime simulations require a very large investmentin terms of technical equipment, funding, project

staffing and controller involvement. A dedicatedquestionnaire is sent to sponsors after projectcompletion in order to obtain specific feedback.The table illustrates the results for the threelargest real time simulations in 2002:LINK2000+, COSIBA, and TRAMS.

Real Time simulation sponsor satisfaction2002

Link2000+

Cosiba Tramstarget

Overall satisfaction 80% 85% 70% 80%

Project management 75% 75% 100% 90%Meeting timescales 100% 100% 75% 90%Meeting objectives 75% 75% 75% 90%Simulation facilities 75% 75% 75% 90%Analysis and reporting 50% 100% 25% 90%

6b Performance Indicators

Business Plan Deliverables

A process to track the timeliness of BusinessPlan deliverables has been in place since 2001.Figures for each project are aggregated atBusiness Area level and are then averaged toproduce the overall EEC performance indicator.Projects are reviewed at the initiation of eachphase and at least twice per year. BusinessArea portfolios are reviewed twice per year.These review mechanisms coupled with thebudget checkpoints which are held quarterly,enable problems to be detected early, andcorrective action is initiated as necessary. Thedetailed Business Area results are notreproduced in this report.

Average timeliness of BPmilestones

2001 2002 target72% 76% 85%

Research publications

The principal deliverables of the EEC areresearch papers in the form of reports,conference proceedings and publications inrefereed journals. They cover all researchactivities of the EEC. They contribute to thebody of ATM research knowledge. Based onthe work programme in the Business Plan, at thebeginning of the year, each Business Areaannounces the planned output for the year.Plans and results are reviewed quarterly as partof the quarterly key performance indicatorreview, and corrective action is taken asappropriate. The table shows the aggregatedEEC indicator, the total number of research


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papers. The detailed Business Area results arenot reproduced in this report.

Aggregated number of research papers1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 target

39 32 60 92 93 90

Products

Operational products are a spin-off of research.The following table shows the main operationalproducts and their deployment.

EECunit

Product Deployment

NCD COSAAC CFMU (B)SSP CORE Prague

BudapestSFM ESCAPE Prague (CZ)

IANS (L)Maastricht (NL)ENAV (IT)SICTA (IT)ENAC (F)CRDS (H)

SAS InCASInteractive collisionavoidance simulator

D, UK, DK, CH,NL,US,MUAC

Services

Operational services are a spin-off of researchor are initiated to support the delivery anddeployment of a spin-off product.

EECunit

Service

SSP Validation of ARTAS v6Validation of VDL2 for ICAOAircraft and transponder monitoringfor the Mode-S implementationprogramme

SAS ACAS analysisACE BADASFM ESCAPE supportNCD Capacity planning

RVSM height monitoringSEE Noise studies


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7 PEOPLE RESULTSExcellent organisations comprehensively measure and achieve outstanding results with respect to theirpeople.


The EEC has conducted three staff satisfaction surveys in 1998, 2000,and 2002. As a consequence ofthe EEC’s first EFQM self-assessment in 1998, a ‘people satisfaction’ task force was formed andentrusted with developing a questionnaire for the EEC. The same questionnaire with minor modificationswas used in 2000. The Agency has recognised the importance of staff satisfaction surveys and the 2002survey was the first one to be conducted Agency-wide with a unique Agency developed questionnaire,thus allowing for comparison and transparency within the Agency. This questionnaire was morecomprehensive than the EEC local questionnaire but key questions remained enabling trendidentification.

The conduct of staff satisfaction surveys is now part of the annual EEC operational cycle. Theaggregated overall staff satisfaction and the response rate are both elements of the EEC balancedscorecard. The survey results are communicated internally, via the EEC’s Intranet and at a dedicatedweekly information corner for all staff. A detailed and comprehensive action plan is set up and executedin order to address the issues identified by the survey results.

Category Satisfaction factor 1998 2000 2002 Benchmark

Overall results Overall job satisfaction 86% Ip85Workingconditions

Overall satisfaction with working conditions 73% 89%

I have the resources and technology I need to do my job well 58% 56% 89%I can cope with the stress levels of my job 72% 92%

Advancementand personalgrowth

Overall satisfaction with advancement and personal growth 53%

I believe I have the opportunity for personal development andgrowth

58% 38% 71%

In my current job I have sufficient opportunities to receive training 65% 85%Staff are rewarded according to their job performance 23%

Leadership Overall satisfaction with leadership through the direct manager 75% 70% 72%My manager is available when I need him 80% Ip80My manager delegates adequate authority to me to do my job 84% 70% 88%My manager provides adequate coaching/guidance to me 70%Overall satisfaction with leadership by EEC core management 53%EEC core management demonstrates teamwork 39%EEC core management will act on problems identified though thesurvey

47%

Teamwork Overall satisfaction with the personal and professional contactwith my team colleagues

78% 70% 89%

There is a good team spirit in the EEC 12% 56%I have good working relations with my team colleagues 73% 93%Successful team efforts are appropriately rewarded 24%

Responsibilityand Jobchallenge

Overall satisfaction with responsibility and job challenge 79% 67% 83%

The EEC makes good use of my abilities and skills 71%I have documented measurable objectives for the current year 68% Ip72

Communication Overall satisfaction with the level of communication 55% Isr37The information I need to do my job is readily available 76% 75% 76%Internal communication in the EEC is effective 46%

Organisationalclarity

Overall satisfaction with organisational clarity 47%

Mission, goals and objectives of the EEC are clear 70% 66% 70%I have a good idea of what is happening in other parts of the EEC 48%

The coding of benchmarks in the last column is as follows: Ip=IPSOS, Isr=ISR. The list of measureswhich were taken as a result of the 2002 survey are provided in section 3a above.


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Staff satisfaction survey return rate

Staff satisfaction survey return rate1998 2000 2002 Target Bench-

mark33% 20% 86% 80% 92%

The benchmark is Yellow Pages 1999.

The participation in the staff satisfaction surveyis an important measure of staff involvement andmotivation. Participation at the EEC is optional.The exceptionally high return rate in 2002 is dueto a particular middle management initiative toexplain to staff the importance of their opinion.Also in 2002 and for the first time, an externalconsultant (IPSOS) collected the questionnairesand performed the analysis. This would havecontributed to the feeling that privacy waspreserved and thus probably had a positiveeffect on the return rate.

Absences

Absences are a standard indicator of staffmotivation. The EEC records two types ofabsence. Absenteeism is defined as theaverage number of days of unjustified absenceper staff member per year. Sick leave is definedas the average number of days of justified sickleave per staff member per year.

Absences1999 2000 2001 2002

Absenteeism 2.2 2.2 1.9 2.0Sick leave 12.7 15.5 16.47 12.72

There is a small decreasing trend for both of theabsence indicators. Regarding absenteeism,the EEC compares well with the UK nationalaverage for absenteeism which is 3.6%. For theEEC, 3.6% equates to 7 days per staff memberper year.

Accident levels

Two standard indicators are tracked, accidentfrequency and accident seriousness. Accidentfrequency is normalised and measured as thenumber of accidents per 1 million hoursexposed. An accident is defined as an event atthe place of work or on the journey to workwhich results in death or inability to work for at

least one day. There were three accidents in2002 all occasioned on the journey to work.

Accident frequency2000 2001 2002

4.33 0.00 3.94

Accident seriousness is defined as the totalnumber of calendar days lost per 1000 hoursexposure.

Accident seriousness2000 2001 2002

0.0173 0.0217 0.1955

The considerable increase in 2002 is due to oneaccident on the journey to work which resulted ina long absence.

Training

The EEC offers their staff professional trainingcourses in areas relevant for their work. Thesecourses encompass management and projectmanagement skills as well as ATM-specificissues, people issues and technical subjects.The figures are days training per staff memberper year. The EEC performs well and is veryclose to the TNT benchmark.

Staff training1999 2000 2001 2002 Target Bench

-mark10.6 9.0 9.8 9.3 10 10

Suggestions Box

The submission rate of suggestions to thesuggestions box (section 3c) is well aboveindustry standards. This is an indicator of highpeople motivation.

Suggestions submitted2000 2001 2002 Target Bench-

mark52 46 44 45 25

The benchmark is based on the figure of 40-50suggestions per year per 1000 staff for theprivate sector. The figure for the public sector is25 suggestions per year per 1000 staff. Thereare approximately 500 people on site at the EEC

A set of KPIs and targets have been defined tomonitor the implementation of suggestions.


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0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Imple

mentat

ion

Imple

mentat

ion

Refuse

dIm

plemen

ted

Not Sup

porte

d

Suppo

rted

Under

Review

Implementation

ImplementationRefused

Implemented

Not Supported

Supported

Under Review

Suggestions By StatusSuggestions By Status

Services provided to the EEC's people

The EEC has recognised that moving to andliving in a foreign country brings about somedifficulties for their staff and thus encouragesand initiates social activities and providesassistance to problems linked to expatriation.Often, spouses and family members areincluded in these activities. Foreign languagecourses are open to spouses and partners.Assistance is provided to newcomers to findaccommodation, and to find work for spousesand partners.

The Association Internationale du PersonnelEUROCONTROL (AIPE) serves as our socialcommittee and provides social and sportingfacilities for staff and contractors. This includessports classes at the EEC, social activities, aspouses club, and special conditions for thepurchase of cars, for insurance and bankaccounts. The Club Evasion offers reducedairfares for staff on certain airlines. AIPE alsoorganises festivities on a regular basis, such asbarbecues and Christmas parties forEUROCONTROL staff and contractors and theirfamilies. The activities of AIPE are stronglyencouraged by the EEC management. TheAIPE subsidy figures are in euros

AIPE subsidy2002 200321000 21000

Other benefits that EEC staff and contractorsbenefit from are free coffee at vendor machines,flexitime, personal telephone account for privatecalls. The tennis court on the EEC premises isavailable to staff and contractors alike andsports classes are offered in the EEC’sgymnastics room during the lunch breaks.


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8 SOCIETY RESULTSExcellent organisations comprehensively measure and achieve outstanding results with respect tosociety.


Involvement with the Communities

The EEC seeks to provide training opportunitiesfor both local and international students.Internship duration varies from 2 months to 12months.

Students at EEC2001 2002 2003 to

date18 17 7

The EEC has introduced a scheme toencourage staff to contribute small amounts offoreign currency to charity when they return frommission. A collection box is placed in the EECmain entrance. The charity "Secour Populaire"received the donation. The figure in the table isin euros.

Donations tocharity2002

224

A partnership has been entered into withanother local employer, SNCF, the Frenchnational rail company, to ensure the viability of alocal childrens' activity centre. The activitycentre was threatened with closure because of areduction in the numbers of children. TheEurokids project has delivered benefits on allsides, to local children, and to the children ofEUROCONTROL staff. The increase in thenumbers of children has ensured thesustainability of the activity centre and hasenabled more ambitious and interestingactivities to be undertaken.

Eurokids (number of kids)2001 2002 2003

February 19 22April 25 26Summer 52 50Autumn 12 20Wednesdays 10 10Christmas Show 17 50

Eurokids (number of days)2001 2002 2003

February 127 97April 153 126Summer 573 510Autumn 45 66Wednesdays 69 20Christmas Show 17 50


Ecological impact

Home-workingThe EEC has pioneered home-working in theAgency. See section 3e. This facility givessignificant added flexibility to staff who need itand it also has a positive impact on theenvironment by reducing the number ofkilometers driven.

2001 2002 2003 TargetNumber of staffhome-working

5 15 24 ↑

Estimated kms notdriven per month

3100 ↑

Printer paper consumptionDespite the steady increase in the number ofpersons working on site there has been a steadydecrease in the amount of printer paperconsumed. This has been due to twoapproaches. Firstly research reports and notesare now made available and distributedelectronically, and secondly, printing equipmenthas been continually upgraded to enable easyprinting recto-verso and 2-up. Recto-versoprinting is now the default printing mode.

Printer paper consumption/tons/yr1999 2000 2001 2002 target

19.5 18 16.5 15.3 ↓


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Reduction and elimination of waste andpackaging

The EEC has started to systematically measurewaste. The approach was initiated in the courseof 2001 when only partial measurement wasconducted. The 2001 figure is an estimate. Thetonnage shows a reduction in 2002 because ofthe introduction of some recycling measures.

Waste (tons)2001 2002 Target

55 48.2 ↓

Usage of utilities

The water figure for 2001 is an estimate sincemeasurement was started during the course of2001. Despite the gradual increase in thenumber of persons working on site, there is areduction in both electricity and waterconsumption. The reduction in electricityconsumption is due to measures such as use ofbetter insulating materials during the buildingrenovation, and the use of lower consumptionbulbs. Measures to decrease waterconsumption include the installation of tapswhich switch off automatically and theinstallation of two-flush systems in the toilets.

Utilities2001 2002 Target

Electricity (kw/m2/yr) 373 321 ↓Water (m3/m2/yr 0.38 0.34 ↓

Recycling

The EEC has started several recyclinginitiatives.

Waste recyclingThe figures in the table are in numbers ofstandard skips.

Recycling (standard skips)2001 2002 Target

Paper/cardboard 8 15 ↑Neon lights - 1 ↑Glass - 2 ↑

Batteries

We encourage everybody working on site tobring used batteries to the EEC and to depositthem in a container in the main cafeteria. Theyare brought regularly to the local wastecollection/recycling site. The weight is estimatedas being the average weight of a full container.

Batteries/kgs/mth(estimated)

2002 Target20 ↓

Printer cartridges

A specialised company (Les CartouchesRamassees) collects all the inkjet cartridges andtoners. The cartridges which can be reused aresent on to other specialist companies. Thosewhich cannot be reused are sent to a specificsite (SARP Industries) for ecologically friendlydestruction.

Printer cartridge and tonerecological disposal

2001 2002 Target100% 100% →


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9 KEY PERFORMANCE RESULTSExcellent organisations comprehensively measure and achieve outstanding results with respect to thekey elements of their policy and strategy.

EEC Balanced Scorecard

The EEC has identified and tracked performance indicators for many years, and is continuouslyseeking to improve. During 2002 in collaboration with other directorates in the Agency, an EECbalanced scorecard (BSC) was developed. This enabled the EEC to identify and mitigateshortcomings in the coverage of EEC performance indicators.

The EEC BSC is a distillation of the most important EEC performance indicators and contains selectedindicators from customer, people, and key performance results. The BSC is reviewed quarterly in ajoint meeting of core management and performance indicator owners. Corrective action is triggered ifan indicator is off track regarding its target. The EEC BSC is an integral part of EEC management andit is included in the standard EEC visitor presentation. See chapter 2 for further details.

9a Key Performance Outcomes

These measures are key results defined by theorganisation and agreed in their policy andstrategies.

Funding the strategy

The fundamental enabler of strategyimplementation is funding. Business areas(BAs) implement strategy and funding isallocated accordingly. The following two tablescorrelate EEC strategic choices with BAfunding. The first table indicates the main BAswhich implement EEC strategy.

Strategy implementationStrategy Implementing BAsSafety first SAFImplement concepts ACSSustainable growth ENV, PFEInnovative research INO

The three year trends in the second tabledemonstrate that the EEC has largelysucceeded in aligning funding with strategy byincreasing funding to the main strategyimplementing BAs.

Funding aligned with strategyBA 2000 2001 2002 Trend StrategyACS 6.55 8.73 12.97 ↑ ↑ATI 3.83 4.82 2.98 ↓ ↓CNS 4.53 4.38 3.23 ↓ ↓ENV 0.86 1.84 3.14 ↑ ↑ERS 7.61 7.87 6.51 → →GNS 2.49 2.69 3.73 ↑ →INO 2.49 3.50 3.18 ↑ ↑PFE 5.20 5.75 6.76 ↑ ↑SAF 1.72 1.94 3.00 ↑ ↑SFM 3.96 7.68 3.29 → →

EEC BalancedScorecard31.3.2003

Projectmanagement

76% 95%

BusinessExcellence

306(2000)

350

MatrixefficiencyFilled posts

kpi2001result

2003target

2002result80%

400

68% 80% 85%

97% 100% 98%

INTERNAL BUSINESS

kpi2001result

2003target

Milestones 72% 85%

Publications 92 91Stakeholdersatisfaction

80%(1999)

85%

RT sim volume 795 1000

2002result

68%

9382%

900

R&D diversity 12.9% 10.1%

CUSTOMER

15% Training 9,3 10Skillorientation

6 6

Peoplesatisfaction

80% 80%

PA completed 89% 90%SSS returnrate

21%(2000)

80%

Suggestions 88 90Staff ratio 33%

(min)OPSreallocation

kpi 2001result

2003target

2002result

9,89

86%

92

37%

x

63% 66%

33%

70%(2000)

90%

LEARNING AND GROWTH

Cash flowefficiency

98% 100%

Overhead 27% 30%

kpi2001result

2003target

2002result

Funding ext 5 3

98%

29%

FINANCIAL

Funding int 14.5 12

8

14


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In 2002 the EEC was set an objective by itsgoverning body to increase internal andexternal funding in order to increase the totalamount of funding available to research.Internal funding is defined as funding originatingfrom other directorates in the Agency, currentlymainly EATM, and external funding is definedas funding originating from outside the Agency,currently mainly from the EuropeanCommission. In order to gain insight into recentbehaviour, the figures for 2001 were calculatedin retrospect. Figures are in meur.

Internal funding2001 2002 target

14.5 12 14

External funding2001 2002 target

5 3 8

Skilling the strategy

The skill orientation plan is derived from the skillneeds of the strategy. See chapter 3 for adetailed description of the process.

Skill orientation1999 2000 2001 2002 target

6 9 9 6 6

The figures in the table are the net number ofstaff posts re-orientated from one skill toanother based on the needs of the strategy.The decrease in 2002 is due to the difficultiesinduced by the freezing of 15 posts, whichcorresponds to the EEC contribution to theoverall Agency staff cost reductions set by theProvisional Council.

Within the skill orientation plan a second levelstrategy aims to gradually reallocate a majorpart of the operational skills (ex controllers)from working on current operations projects toworking on research projects. This indicator isthe % of operational staff working on researchprojects.

OPS reallocation2001 2002 target37% 63% 66%

Strategy implementation:Safety first

Business area SAF implemented the safety firststrategy. The extract from the table aboveshows that funding is aligned with strategy.

Funding aligned with strategyBA 2000 2001 2002 Trend StrategySAF 1.72 1.94 3.00 ↑ ↑

Safety is an essential aspect of research anddesign in ATM and therefore it is important thatthe EEC strives for higher levels of safetyawareness, more positive attitudes, andcommitment to safety. The deployment of thissafety culture strategy at the EEC is measuredby a set of leading indicators, and a series oflagging indicators based on a Safety CultureMaturity Model (SCMM) survey.

Safety culture deployment (leading)2002 2003

plannedPMPs addressing safety 18% 40%Safety related training - people 38 49Safety related training - days 49 100

The SCMM which is used at the EEC has beenused in high reliability industry sectors includingATM. The model contains 5 iterative levels ofmaturity whereby organisations can progresssequentially by building on their strengths andremoving the weaknesses. The five levels are:1. Emerging2. Managing3. Involving4. Cooperating5. Continually improving.

The four main elements on which organisationscan progress are highlighted in bold in thedetailed survey results table below.

The SCMM survey was carried out in the EECduring March 2003. There were 36respondents from different projects andbusiness areas. Both staff and contractorsparticipated. The survey characterised eachlevel of maturity of each safety culture element,and respondents gave their opinion of wherethe EEC was positioned.


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Average Maturity Scores for Each Safety Culture Element1. Management Demonstration Averag

eStndDev

Min Max

Management Commitment to Safety 2.77 0.79 1 5Safety Performance Goals 2.77 0.80 1 5Impact 2.4 1.10 1 5Investment & Resource Allocation 2.68 1.00 1 4.5Policy & Strategy on Safety 2.68 0.80 1 4.5Safety versus Productivity 2.44 0.82 1 42. Planning & Organising for SafetySafety Planning 2.40 0.80 1 5Training & Competence 2.07 0.64 1 3Knowledge of ATM Risks 2.57 0.83 1 4Risk Assessment and Management 2.01 0.81 1 43. Communication, Trust &ResponsibilityCommunication 2.57 0.97 1 5Integrated Teams 1.96 0.86 1 5Involvement/ Participation of Employees 2.13 0.89 1 4Relationship with External Regulator 2.03 0.75 1 4.5Involvement of Stakeholders 2.55 0.89 1 5Trust & Confidence 2.62 1.09 1 4Responsibility for Safety 1.90 0.83 1 44. Measuring, Audition & ReviewingOrganisational Learning 2.29 1.02 1 4.5Safety Management System/ AuditingSafety

1.78 0.82 1 3.5

Achievement of Safety Targets 2.23 0.97 1 4Test and Evaluation of Safety in Design 2.58 0.97 1 5

The overall results indicate that the EEC is at level 2.38, indicating that we are between level 2(managing) and level 3 (involving. The overall standard deviation between respondents was +/-0.88,indicating that respondents generally had similar points of view. A follow-up survey is planned for2004.


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Strategy implementation:Towards a real implementation of new concepts

Business area ACS is the prime implementer of the "towards a real implementation of new concepts"strategy. The extract from the table above shows the steady increase in funding which is aligned withstrategy.

Funding aligned with strategyBA 2000 2001 2002 Trend StrategyACS 6.55 8.73 12.97 ↑ ↑

As explained in BP section 4.1.2, one of the principal approaches to implement this element of strategyconsists of technical consolidation of the live trials platforms and more systematic use of these platformsin the validation process. This allows us both to perform more realistic validations and to reach a wideraudience of ATC controllers through the installation of prototyping platforms close to the operationsrooms. This helps to obtain a real buy-in from ATC controllers and from ANSPs, which is a vital steptowards real implementation. The following table depicts the current state of the results of this strategy.

SegmentationEEC unit

ATM Component Field trials Pre-operations Operations Transfer toindustry

SSP PROVE/MTCD Roma ACC 2003Malmo ACC 2002

Specs to beused forANSP specs

ASMT NATS LGWRoma ACC

Bratislava ACC (SK) Maastricht UAC (NL)

SHIELD ATM safetydata exchange toolsand support

>10 deployments

ADS-B TLAT reportNCD CDM Deployed at 4 EU

airports soon to beincreased to 7.

CPDLC datalink(Petal2e)

In Europe using SITAVDL2

In US using ARINCVDL2

DSI HMI specifications Specs usedfor ANSPspecs[Note 1]

Notes on above table

1) The DSI controller working position HMI specifications were developed by the EEC over manyyears in collaboration with ANSPs and industry. They were used as input to the specifications forthe new Swedish ATC system currently undergoing pre-operational trials in Malmo. The mainsupplier is Thales who are basing their new core product on this system, S2K. Follow on clientsinclude: Hungarocontrol (H), Skyguide (CH), ANA (PL), and Naviair (DK). All these ANSPs usedthe real time facilities of the EEC to develop their understanding of stripless systems and toprepare system requirements.


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Co-operation with industry is another keyapproach to implement this element of strategy.The ERIS business area is the main enablerthrough its partnership with the EuropeanCommission's 5th framework programme andTEN-T projects. This co-operation bridges thegap between research and industrialdevelopment, and is a prerequisite for a realimplementation of research results.

The following table lists the industrialcomponents which have been integrated ontothe ERIS platform at the EEC with a view tofacilitating interoperability of ATM componentssupplied by different ATM system suppliers,through use of the standard ERIS platformapplication programming interfaces.

Integrated industrial componentsATM system component Industry partnerArrival manager OrthogonFlight manager-trajectory predictor

Indra

Datalink Thales(on-going)

Strategy implementation:To support a sustainable growth

Until 2002 the business areas PFE and ENVwere the primary implementers of the supportsustainable growth strategy. The extract fromthe table above shows that funding is increasingfor these two business areas and is hencealigned with strategy.

Funding aligned with strategyBA 2000 2001 2002 Trend StrategyENV 0.86 1.84 3.14 ↑ ↑PFE 5.20 5.75 6.76 ↑ ↑

A powerful approach to implement this strategyis to ensure that all projects, not only thosewhich belong to the ENV and PFE businessareas, address economic and environmentalissues. This requirement is systematicallychecked in the regular project review cycle. Theobjective if that all projects shall comply. TheEEC is at the beginning of the deployment ofthis approach.

% projects addressing sustainable growth2002 Target

2003Environmental issues 10% 40%Economic issues 16% 40%

Strategy implementation:To stimulate innovative R&D

Business area INO is the main business areawhich implements the "stimulate innovativeR&D" strategy. Despite a small reduction in2002 because of Agency imposed budgetrestrictions, the trend extracted from the tableabove shows that overall funding is increasingand aligned with strategy.

Funding aligned with strategyBA 2000 2001 2002 Trend StrategyINO 2.49 3.50 3.18 ↑ ↑

The first key approach to stimulate innovativeR&D is to build partnerships with universitieswhich have air transportation departments. Aprogramme of visits is established andsystematically carried out. Universities aresituated in Europe, including eastern Europe,the US, and the far east. The table contains thenumber of different universities visited.

Partnership withuniversities

2001 20028 14

The objective of the partnerships withuniversities is to identify areas of mutual interestwhere the EEC can sponsor PhD studies. PhDstudents either continue their EEC sponsoredstudies at their home university or come to studyat INO laboratories at the EEC. The followingtable shows the number of PhD students. Thetarget of 13 is considered to be the currentoptimum capacity of the EEC.

PhD studies at the EEC2002 2003 target

11 13 ↑

The total INO sponsored PhD theses anduniversity studies is shown in the following table.

INO sponsored PhD theses anduniversity studies

2002 2003 target17 20 ↑


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9b Key Performance Indicators

Financial measures

Cash flow efficiency measures total expenditureas a percentage of total allocated budget. Thisis an aggregated figure for the whole of theEEC. The indicator is tracked at lower levels ofdecomposition: business area, project, andbusiness enabler.

Cash flow efficiency1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 target89% 92% 99% 98% 98% 100%

Overhead measures the percentage ofexpenditure which is spent on non core businessactivities.

Overhead1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 target39% 43% 33% 27% 29% 30%

The EEC has been using a combination ofmeasures to reduce the overhead with theobjective of transferring resources to corebusiness:• Improving support productivity• Retraining and mobility to core business• Selective outsourcing of internal servicesThe EEC judges 30% to be an optimum figure.Below this value the quality of the supportservices suffer and adversely impact corebusiness.

Process measures

2001 2002 2003target

Project management quality 76% 80% 95%Matrix efficiency 68% 80% 85%Filled posts 97% 100% 98%Business excellence 306 350 400

Project management quality is measured as thepercentage of projects which have a compliantproject management plan which is regularlyreviewed.

Matrix efficiency measures the percentage ofstaff in all Centres of Expertise who areallocated to projects. Excluded aremanagement, secretaries and people workingon non project horizontal activities.

Filled posts measures the overall efficiency ofthe recruitment process. On a monthly basis thepeople in post is compared with the number ofposts which can be filled. This latter figure canvary from month to month because of freezing ofposts to reduce Agency staff costs. The figure

in the table above is the average monthly figureacross the year.

Business excellence tracks the EFQM selfassessment score.

R&D co-ordination

On 10 March 2003 the Director General agreedto the reorganisation of the Agency andresearch in particular whereby the EEC wouldbecome an EATM directorate and wouldassume total responsibility for research in theAgency and total responsibility, in collaborationwith EATM and the European Commission, forthe planning and co-ordination of ATM researchin Europe. The EEC has been working towardsthis goal for many years and has deployed anapproach to strengthen ties between the mainR&D actors in Europe and the US. See section4.3 of the Business Plan A programme of visitsto R&D units in ANSPs, R&D units in the supplyindustry, professional associations such asAECMA and AFATCA, and to national R&Destablishments has been planned and executed.The Core Management R&D co-ordinator andother core management colleagues visit thedifferent R&D unit and visits by R&D units to theEEC are arranged. The table shows the totalnumber of visits to the EEC and to partner sites.

R&D partnership2002 2003 to

date16 9

Another performance indicator, R&D diversity,has been introduced in 2002 to measure theeffectiveness of the EEC goal to increase thetotal value of tasking contracts which the EECplaces with other research establishments inEurope. In recent years, as a result of thegeneral economic slowdown, the budgets ofresearch establishments have been decreasing.Diversity of ideas is essential in order tomaintain a healthy and creative R&Dcommunity, so the EEC seeks to maintain thisdiversity by funding the particular expertise ofpartner R&D units. The table shows the value ofcontracts placed with R&D units as a percentageof total contract value.

R&D diversity2001 2002 2003

target12.9% 10.1% 15%


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Continuous improvement

Using the EFQM model and techniques asvehicles the EEC has for many years sought tobuild a continuous improvement culture wherebyquality and continuous improvement are a partof everyone's work. Consequently there is onlya small amount of dedicated effort (2persons*50%).

We seek to maintain or increase the amount ofresources devoted to continuous improvementby means of the operating budget which fundsimprovement projects, suggestions boxactivities, special events, and surveys. Thefigures in the following table are taken from theBusiness Plan and combine the cost of internaleffort and the operating budget. The figures arein keur.

Continuous improvementfunding

2001 2002 2003 todate

119 264 308


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GLOSSARYACARE Advisory Council for Aeronautics

Research in EuropeACB Access to Business InformationACE ATM and CNS Systems Engineering

(CoE)ACS ATM Concepts and Studies (BA)ADP Aeroports de ParisAECMA European Association of Aerospace

IndustriesAFG Advisory Financial GroupAMAN Arrival ManagerAMI Administrative & Management

Information Software (SET)ANSP Air Navigation Service ProviderARDEP Analysis of Research and Development

in EUROCONTROL ProgrammesAS Administrative ServicesASAS Airborne Separation Assurance SystemASC Analysis and Scientific (CoE)ATC Air Traffic ControlATCEUC Air Traffic Controllers European Unions

CoordinationATFM Air Traffic Flow ManagementATI ATM Implementation (BA)ATM Air Traffic ManagementBA Business AreaBP Business PlanCARE Co-operative Actions of R&D in

EUROCONTROLCEATS Central European Air Traffic ServicesCENA Centre d'Etudes de la Navigation

AerienneCFMU Central Flow Management UnitCIC Continuous Improvement CentreCM Core ManagementCNS Communication Navigation Surveillance

(BA)CoE Centre of ExpertiseCOSAAC Common Simulator to Access ATFM

ConceptsCRDS CEATS Research Development and

Simulation CentreDAI Development and Integration (CoE)DEEC Director EECDFS Deutsche Flugsicherung

(German ANSP)DG Director GeneralDGAC Direction Generale de l'Aviation Civile (F)DG RTD Directorate General Research and

Technological Development (EC)DSI Denmark Sweden InterfaceEATMP European Air traffic Management

ProgrammeEC European CommissionEEC EUROCONTROL Experimental CentreEHQ EUROCONTROL HeadquartersEMB EEC Management BoardEMC EATMP Management CommitteeEMM Extended Management MeetingENAC Ecole Nationale de l"Aviation CivileENAV Italian ATM ProviderENV Environment (BA)

EPDA EATMP Project Delegation AgreementERS EATMP Reference Industry-based ATM

Simulation and Trials Platform (BA)ESCAPE EUROCONTROL Simulation Capability

and Platform for ExperimentationEUROCAE European Organisation for Civil Aviation

ElectronicsFAA Federal Aviation Administration (US)FIN Finances (SET)FREER Free Route Experimental Encounter

ResolutionGNS Satellite Navigation (BA)HQ/MIS Head Quarters/Management Information

ServiceHRM Human Resources Management (SET)IANS Institute of Air Navigation Services

(EUROCONTROL)IATA International Air Transport AssociationIEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics

EngineersIFATCA International Federation of Air Traffic

Controllers AssociationsIFS Infrastructure, Finance, Staff (EEC Core

ManagerINDRA Spanish ATM system providerINO Innovative Research (BA)INSEAD European Institute for AdministrationIP Internet ProtocolITM Information Technology Management

(SET)LPRC Local Procurement Review CommitteeMEUR Millions of EurosMUAC Maastricht Upper Area Control CentreODID Operational display and input

developmentOPS Operational Services (CoE)PFE Performance, Flow Management,

Economics and Efficiency (BA)PMP Project Management PlanPRIF Procurement InterfaceToolPRU Performance Review UnitR&D Research and DevelopmentRADAR Results, Approach, Deployment,

Assessment and Review (EFQM)RTCA Requirements and Technical Concepts

for AviationSAF Safety (BA)SDR Special Advisor (EEC Core Manager)SET Services Enabling TeamSFM Simulation Facility Management (CoE)SICTA Sistemi Innovativi per il Controllo del

Traffico AereoSMU Social Medical Unit (SET)SSS Staff Satisfaction SurveyTIG Transports & Mail Infrastructure General

Support (SET)TQ Total QualityTQA Total quality AgentTRS Task Requirement SpecificationTS Technical ServicesVDL VHF data link

efqm self-assessment report › newsletter › 2003 › july › efqm › efqm_s… · efqm self...

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