Benchmarking railway communication systems the case of tanzania zambia Railway Authority

An increasingly competitive business environment is forcing organisations to invest in ICT technology in order to improve their position in the marketplace. The world, including organizations, is in the information era where access to information means power to organizations. However, technology transfer is a very complex art worth learning. For example, when implemented improperly, ICT can be very costly. In order to avoid such heavy losses, it is wise to use a benchmarking tool to import ICT technology with a degree of certainty. The work-study shows to what extent it is possible to implement ICT in developing countries taking an example of a railway company where competition is very stiff. TAZARA’s financial position is very poor with slim chances of improvement unless with ICT assistance. Effective ICT use and applications are constrained by poor infrastructures, lack of funds, inadequate service facilities, poor ICTs’ knowledge/skills and lack of management commitment towards ICTs. The main objective for the study was to improve efficiency and effectiveness of TAZARA communication system through application of the benchmarking management tool. The study has shown that TAZARA can improve by concentrating on mobile phones, Internet, Emails and make extensive use of Information systems. It was also shown TAZARA had little information on spare part availability, less knowledge on its manpower skill inventory, it had less information on future trends on ICT including electronics at large.