Prof Christopher Chia is Professor of Transformation Practice at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School since 2014. He chairs the NUS Business School’s Executive Education Board.

He received his postgraduate training at the University of Manchester in the fields of information systems and computer science.

Prof Chia was the Chief Executive Officer of the Media Development Authority (MDA) from June 2004 to October 2010 when he led the development and regulation of the media sector in Singapore. He also played a key role in the nurturing of the Interactive Digital Media sector and put in place the Mediapolis media business park that attracted major media industry players into a centralised media business park environment.

He was the National Library Board’s (NLB) founding Chief Executive from 1995 until 2004. He led the transformation of Singapore’s public libraries into lifestyle destinations for the population. He co-patented the world’s first commercial Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)-based library self-check machines that eradicated the queues in libraries.

Prof Chia joined the National Computer Board (NCB) of Singapore in 1983. He was involved in quality management, IT manpower planning and development, IT culture promotion, postgraduate training management and IT R&D management.
 

Synopsis - Leading Transformational Change: A Holistic Approach

At the beginning of this century the public library system in Singapore was struggling on many fronts. Its customer base was rapidly eroding and their attractiveness was beginning to be eroded by the advent of the Internet. Customers typically had to wait in queues for over an hour to be served. Its inventory was dated and in need of replacement and replenishment.

In existence for over a hundred years, the public libraries had been an integral part of the growing-up years. Much of the population had grown with it but had begun to look elsewhere for education, entertainment, with the proliferation of shops and entertainment alternatives and the Internet.

A series of initiatives focused on purpose, process and people enabled the organization to turn around within a decade to become one of the best appreciated organisations in the country; while setting the standards for service quality for much of the library world today.

Arguably the most complex part of any transformation is in the cultural change in organisations and the role of leaders. We will examine how the National Library Board expanded its customer base threefold while becoming the most productive library system in the world and where customers could enjoy various methods of enjoying their content in physical or digital form, whether on site or online.