TRANSPORT COMPANIES: BETWEEN TRANSMILENIO AND UNCERTAINTY

The document presents results from a research project developed in public transportation companies related with thechanges observed since the introduction of a new form of massive transport (TransMilenio) in 1998, which entered asa market competence for traditional public transport. Apparently, this process implied that companies transformedtheir administrative practices to achieve market stability. The objective of this study was to look into the events whichoccurred for these companies when they needed to adjust for the new changes. The theoretical framework discussestwo perspectives on change: traditional and cultural approaches, which served for the understanding of the results.Information was taken from in-depth interviews, organized in “sense-matrixes” with the following pre-establishedcategories: concept of change, addressing change, concept of worker, implications of change, internal changes andTransMilenio. Finally, Potter and Wetherel’s discourse analysis was applied. Conclusions show the hierarchical andvertical vision of decisions and the concentration in responsibility, the organization’s future and its change process bycompany directives.