Elements Of Leadership And The Role Of Big Data/Smart Systems For Sustainable Utilities: From Our Sector Leaders' Perspective

摘要

This work revisited the concept of leadership at sustainable, U.S., urban water utilities, reengaging an external advisory committee (EAC) of 12 progressive utility leaders who were interviewed in 2015 as part of a doctoral research program that explored practices and key attributes of sustainable water utilities. The EAC members were interviewed either face-to-face or via telephone. Interviews were recorded and transcribed and the transcriptions were analyzed using discourse analysis to generate conclusions. The EAC reflected on the five components of leadership at sustainable utilities, affirming the importance of the components and providing additional insights. They emphasized the complex nature of today's urban water utilities and the challenges in leading utilities toward sustainable operations. They compared leadership at a sustainable utility to 'traditional' leadership traits. Sustainable leaders favored a more inclusive approach, focused on the long-term, and emphasized significant external engagement. The EAC also provided input about the movement toward smart systems/big data, a concept that was not a highly-ranked practice for sustainable utilities in the 2015 research, but was emphasized in recent efforts such as the Effective Utility Management Primer. EAC members generally thought these new systems were needed for sustainability but provided numerous explanations for why it wasn't highly ranked in 2015 and continues to be slowly-adopted today. These included challenges getting the right systems and staff in place; high costs; low reliability; and the water sector's slow pace in adopting new technology, among others. Finally, connections between leadership and smart systems emerged for sustainable utilities. The long-term vision, articulated by the leader, needs to inform smart system deployment. The leader need to ensure utility fundamentals are in place before such deployment, and there will continue to be a human element in utilities even with smart systems, requiring effective leadership.