The silent virtues of the management of the number 14 Paris Metro line

• Mathieu DUNANT
  RATP (Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens : autonomous operator of Parisian public transport), director of the Number 14 Paris Metro line
  

Summary

When the Paris metro is on strike, journalists often say that the Number 14 metro line cannot be on strike because it is an automated line. What they fail to appreciate is that this automatic operation is controlled by an operations centre managed by a small team who can choose to stop the service if they wish. Yet since its creation, the number 14 has never gone on strike. Why ? The answer can be found in the management methods used to lead a team of 300 employees, who ensure that the service of this line operates in a harmonious atmosphere, which is so difficult to achieve in an industrial environment. Mathieu Dunant highlights the 'silent virtue' of this management model. It is a virtue which one finds most often in public service activities but which the media - all too eager to report the negative side - tend to ignore. Another challenge awaits the RATP : based on the same model as the Number 14, they intend to automate the Number 1, and similarly ensure a continuous service.

Summary translated from French by Rachel MARLIN.

• The entire article was written by Jacques BERTHIER.

To obtain this article, you can :

• download it for free in French (PDF help) or contact ecopar@paris.ensmp.fr (Reference VA071108).

The entire article appears in French in the Journal de l'École de Paris du management N° 76.