United Nations Public Service Awards Case Studies

Service is our core business so we focus on people who are the recipients of our services on equal opportunity.

In the past our service was limited because of the management organization which result in lack of efficiency and too much unnecessary time lap, including the awkward filing system to deal with overwhelming of grievance which numbered to more than 3,500 cases per year, the people were unsatisfied with city services.

What is the initiative about? (the solution)
With the new initiative, people receive a speedy service at around the clock at their convenience as the problem rises. They can file complaints, check up and follow up with the hotline number 1132 or phone number 054-237200, or through internet at www.lampangcity.go.th without physically appearance to file to grievance. There is a chain of command and system of delegation which can be pinpointed and identified for follow up to ensure completion according to key performance index. (KPI) KPI enables the city to have clear goals and objectives which have been met with satisfaction. Such as in 2009 KPI, 1 day completion was at 94.5 percent, 2 days completion 95.38 percent, 3 days completion 96.81 percent, 7 days completion 88.94 percent, giving us overall completion at 91.00 percent. As compare to 2010, 1 day completion is 97.11 percent, 2 days completion 98.58 percent, 3 days completion 91.52 percent, 7 days completion 77.47 percent, giving us overall completion at 91.70 percent. We are able to save cost of travel for the people to deal with their problems. Some 39.80 percent request their needs by telephone and 20.38 percent use the internet. We increase efficiency in solving public lighting by allowing private sector to handle the problem. We are able to save the cost of purchasing of electrical supply 1,068,732 baht per year, reduce the personnel from 14 to 2 persons and save 947,520 baht per year.

Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
The Mayor’s announcement of the initiative to focus on people, good governance, and information technology help the City in providing speedy services for equal access to all. There is an interaction to share information and ideas among offices in transforming the policy, initiatives, and management approach involving the Office of the City Clerk, the Center for Grievance, and the Department of Academic and Planning which is responsible for planning and development and designing the supporting information technology to ensure the speediness and quality of the service. Top management for policy control consists of the Mayor, Vice Mayor, City Clerk, Deputy City Clerk, and Directors of Departments. Three groups of personnel handle the service process including 1.personnel at the Center of Grievance for handling the grievance 2.personnel who coordinate departments which deal with problems and input into information technology 3.personnel who are actual in charge of problem solving These are the responsible departments who must deal with the problems within the timeframe indicated by the adopted KPI. The target groups of service recipients and stake holders consist of people who file grievance and request for service, people who live in the community in which the problem occur, and all other people who may have problems. All of this numbered more than 3500 cases per year.

Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
a. What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
In the process of strategic planning, the city incorporates policy and guideline of the good governance and the needs of people as important guideline. One important strategy is working as a team by the management and the staff and all sectors of people participating in the direction of the development of the city. Our vision is the city of quality with effective management under good governance consists of 3 components. 1.Develop network of alliances for sustain participation, encouraging people involvement and cooperation 2.Improve the management mechanism for lean and high performance by incorporating information technology to quicken the process, reduce bureaucracy and reduce cost for quality services. Instill work culture with focus on service for the benefit of the people. Using appropriate technology for our operation and services. 3.Response to the true needs of people and the benefit of the public, covering people living in the community throughout the city.

b. What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
Establish the Center of Grievance to help people to receive speedy service at around the clock at their convenience as the problem rises. They can file complaints, check up and follow up with the hotline number 1132 or phone number 054-237200, or through internet at www.lampangcity.go.th without physically appearance to file to grievance. We incorporate information technology to record, transmit, follow up, and evaluate. We develop a warning sign for operator who has not carried on the process within 2 days. Develop a reporting, following up and evaluating the process to inform the people within 1-7 days. Service process Receiving grievance and reporting to the people who file the grievance 1. For those who file grievance at the center and by telephone, the officer in charge will record and transmit within 5 minutes, and the same process is with the grievance which is filed by the internet 2.The responsible department which receives the grievance will assign the task to proper staff to deal with the problem within 5 minutes 3. Personnel who have been assigned to handle the problem solving the task carry on the work within the time frame indicated in the KPI and report to the respective department 4.The report is entered into the system 5.The system will evaluate the data, and report to responsible authority 6.The center follows the work progress and report to the people who file the grievance by the phone within 5.-7 days and conduct satisfaction survey 7.For overdue work and work with problems and incomplete, the center will expedite the process and enter the record accordingly

c. What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
1.Incorrect filing of name and address which creates difficulties in coordination and follow up. Many times the locations of the problems can not be identified. 2.More cases to handle (more than 3,500 cases per year) and not enough personnel to handle the grievance 3. Some of the problems cannot be dealt within given time because of complexity which has to do with rules, law and regulation. Some may infringe of the right of others which will require compromising and arbitration which delay the problem solving 4. Telephone filing for complaints base on false truth caused a lot of time and effort

d. What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
1.Financial The City allocates a budget of 1 million baht to invest in information technology for administration and service, and 350,000 baht budget for the Center of Grievance for filing, transmitting, evaluating, follow up, and service satisfaction survey 2. Personnel 2.1 The Center of Grievance has 4 staff to receive grievance, screen, and assign the proper authority to handle the grievance. Head of the Center is responsible for following up, coordinating, evaluation and report the result. 2.2 The responsible section or department is headed by the director and delicate proper officer or personnel to deal with problem 3. The Department of Academic and Planning has a unit staffed with 3 personnel to handle network, hardware, software and oversee information technology system . In addition the department allocates the budget of 250,000 baht per year for in house training of all personnel who work with information technology.

Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
The sustainability touches on all aspects of financial, social, economical, cultural, environmental which is scalability for adopting and adapting by other similar cities. In finance, this project does not incur additional cost. It is a matter of restructuring organization and reallocate resource for this Center for Grievance. In social and cultural dimension, the sustainability is ensured by the participation of the people which help sustain the interest and the effort of the operation. Economically, it will help the productivity of the people and business by providing safe and sound environment for living and working of its people. Organizationally, the city has restructured organization so that there is a non-broken chain of command to assure effective and efficient delegation of authority and responsibility which is sustainable. Since the center was initiated in 2008 we have shared our model, our work with our colleague cities throughout the country. We have reported to the central government, many of those have come on a study tour of our operation and have adopted or adapted our project to be introduced in their respective cities. In addition, the office of Civil Servant Development has evaluated and awarded the city in 2009 for such an achievement.

What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
The success of the project is to alleviate the problems of the people of the City by incorporating information technology to support the operation of the center and to enable people to have quick access to our service. There is a systematic filing for research for needed information. The usually lengthy of bureaucracy is reduced. People can simply call 1132 or log on the internet to file their grievances and requests. The second lesson learned is that having a clear policy, giving emphasis on people, and implementing good governance provides a sound guideline and direction for our operation. The third lesson learned was that organization development and personnel development through seminar, workshop and study trip has proven helpful in empowering and expanding the horizon of city official and personnel which result in their increased productivity. Our next lesson learned is the importance of team building and teamwork across the department at all levels. Last but not the least is the people who are stake holders. They are not only a service recipient but are the providers of feedback and evaluation which help the city to continue improving the efficiency and effectiveness of our service.


Institution Name:		Lampang City Municipality
Institution Type:		Government Department
Contact Person:		Mr. Prasong Rueanson
Title:		Director of the Technical and Planning Division
Telephone/ Fax:		+(66) 54 237237 Ext. 7403, +(66) 81 9617827
Institution's / Project's Website:		+(66) 54 237259
E-mail:		kunprasong@hotmail.com
Address:		Chatchai Rd. Sobtui Sub-district Mueang district
Postal Code:		52100
City:
State/Province:		Lampang
Country:		Thailand

The Problem

Solution and Key Benefits

Actors and Stakeholders

(a) Strategies

(b) Implementation

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

(d) Use of Resources

Sustainability and Transferability

Lessons Learned

Contact Information