Reference no: EM133216106

Assignment:

Thompson and Associates (TA) is a large trucking company in the transportation industry. TA is based in the Houston Area. Their delivery territory goes:

• As for west as Santa Fe, New Mexico,
• As for north as Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,
• As for east as New Orleans, Louisiana, and
• They make deliveries as for south as Brownsville, Texas.

They are known for always being on-time with their deliveries not to mention they deliver exactly what was ordered. As mentioned, the organization takes pride in their on-time delivery. In fact, they have earned numerous awards for their on-time performance and their name has become synonymous with on-time delivery. TA consider this a sustained competitive advantage because no one in the industry can duplicate what they do. According to a survey conducted by TA, one hundred percent of their customers indicated the company had never been late delivering products.

TA's trucks are always on the road and the drivers face a tight schedule, but that does not seem to be an issue because TA has an incredible logistics operation. They are very effective in how they how they get their truck's loaded and back on the road.

For the last week, the National Weather Service has been talking about the potential of an ice storm that could hit later in the week. The weather service indicated early on they did not think the components of an ice storm was going to form because the arctic front was hundreds of miles way behind the rain. In fact, the only way the ice storm would come to fruition is if the arctic front accelerated.

Tim Thompson, the transportation manager, receives a weather bulletin about an hour ago that indicated the arctic blast had indeed accelerated and was moving much faster than first calculated. In fact, the fast-moving arctic front with blizzards conditions was to hit the Oklahoma City Area within seven hours. The storm is forecasted to go as far south as the Dallas/Ft Worth area. TA has a truck that is about to leave for Oklahoma City delivering lifesaving medical supplies to Oklahoma General Hospital. Oklahoma General does not keep a lot of supplies on hand because they subscribe to Just-in-Time Inventory system.

It normally takes about six hours to make this run to Oklahoma General Hospital. The Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) is reporting that roads will be very hazardous within the next four hours. In fact, TXDOT has indicated that it would take approximately four hours to get from south Dallas to north Dallas.

Based on this, Tim realizes their reputation could be at stake as for as on-time delivery. This would be the first time they have ever been late. Not only is their reputation in jeopardy, so are the lives of the patients at Oklahoma General that need those life-saving supplies.

For this question, pretend, you are Tim. What do you do in this situation? Consider your company is delivering lifesaving supplies and you want to keep your reputation, but you must also be mindful of the ethical aspect and doing the right thing for your loyal and dedicated employees.