UpFront Dunlop hits the road

Making difference to society rather than “simply making profits for company”, appealed to newly appointed Ministry of Transport chief executive and secretary for transport Dr Robin Dunlop. That’s why he chose the public, rather than the private sector for career.
Dunlop has PhD in civil engineering and was CEO of Transit New Zealand until his move last month. Transport, he says, “constitutes the fabric of society and provides access to every aspect of life”. He has been consultant on transport issues to The World Bank and the International Road Federation. He joins the Ministry at time when the Government is undertaking review of the transport sector agencies.
And while Dunlop is “looking forward to the challenges” of his new role and to “working towards the Government’s vision” of providing New Zealand with an “affordable, integrated, safe, responsive and sustainable transport system”, he’s also articulate on what he sees as the five most critical issues facing public sector managers today.
Public sector managers need to provide the Government with good quality advice, he says. They also need to take government goals and objectives and implement them.
And like an increasing number of private sector enterprises Dunlop believes that public sector managers need to run “an organisation which has integrity and honesty as key values”. “We also need to be well aware of the wider environmental context in which organisations must now operate. And public sector managers must develop culture which encourages good listening skills to appreciate what communities and stakeholders are saying.”
Dunlop has also been actively involved with the New Zealand Institute of Management for the past seven years. He served as chairman of NZIM Central and is currently member of the National Board of NZIM.
NZIM provides public sector managers like him with good project management training, plenty of opportunities for networking and access to people with great ideas. His involvement with NZIM gave him “much wider appreciation” of the role of management and the essentials of leaders.