Reference no: EM133187262

Big Tom's first experience in an 18-wheeler was when he was 7 years old. His daddy, nicknamed "Lug Nut", trucked for 32 years hauling everything from tractor parts from the then, bustling International Tractor Plant, to Floridian strawberries and drove everywhere from the Florida Keys to the Great Northwest. Tom would ride "shotgun" with his daddy during summer when school was out. He became quite accustomed to "truck stop food" and trucker jargon. Sometimes when chatter on the CB was light, Tom would get to talk to the other truckers.

Time went by and Big Tom found himself thinking more and more about the trucking industry. After a few years of running a large distribution and warehouse operation, he became restless and wanted to do more. So he took his inheritance "Lug Nut" left him and purchased a small trucking company outside of Detroit. The company had lots of problems including lost or illegible Over The Road (OTR) log books (which kept track of travel miles and destinations and is required by law), major accounts experiencing damaged and "missing" merchandise, a pending sexual harassment case, vandalism/theft to the semi-trailer rear doors of his small fleet, trucks leaving the docks late, and a lawsuit resulting from one of the drivers who had an automobile accident while driving one of the company's truck on a suspended license due to several DUI's.

Big Tom knew he had major challenges but felt all were fixable. If anyone could change things around, he could. Remembering some of the classes he had on change management while in pursuit of his ASU business degree as well as some advice from his daddy's old friends, he sat down and began laying out his plan.

He knew his company might go bankrupt if the lawsuit settled against the company but it was settled out of court and since the previous owner was aware that his driver had a drinking problem, the courts held the owner personally responsible thereby making him pay for damages. Regarding the EEOC suit, the secretary who filed the sexual harassment charge against one of the truckers was content to see the trucker dismissed for cause from the company. "She had been a long standing employee with a perfect record and while she regrets things came to this, she just wants to do her job," said the company's lawyer.

Having made it across these two major hurdles, Big Tom developed a training program addressing the topic of driving while impaired. Drug screenings were instituted immediately and three employees were given the option of treatment or dismissal. Quarterly random screenings for alcohol and illegal substances were instituted. Support groups similar to an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), were established to help truckers deal with addictions as well as family and company transition issues. Next, he brought in his wife, Mitzie (a former restaurant manager whom he met in his senior year while on the road in Mississippi) and assigned her to be the customer service representative and handle the issues with the major accounts. He chose her based on results from a test he gave her that indicated an ability to negotiate.

Missing inventory was another issue to resolve. Theft/vandalism had almost dropped off (the probable culprit was the trucker that harassed the secretary) but he noticed that none of the trailers had any type of security seal on them. He purchased all new locks, established a master key control log, and employed a new security seal that used bar code technology thereby recording exactly which driver breaks the seal. This small hand held device also can be used to track merchandise as it leaves the trailer at the loading dock of each customer.

Some of the older truckers didn't like some of the changes that Big Tom was making and presented a strong front of opposition after three months citing that they were being unfairly targeted as a result of the random drug and alcohol screenings. Knowing that the right information can be powerfully persuasive, Big Tom held a special mandatory meeting and invited a representative from the company's insurance company to talk about liability issues. The open forum session proved fruitful as the staff came to understand that insurance premiums were much lower as a result of the screening program. Big Tom also agreed to take the difference in the premium costs and create employee profit sharing program. This made the old timers happy.

After six months, Big Tom's company became busy enough to hire a full-time dispatch coordinator (DC) with some supervisory responsibilities. This added another layer in the organization but Big Tom needed some relief from the details of daily operations. Each truck had an on board computer installed that monitored travel information such as miles traveled within a time period, number of stops, geographical location of stops (using the Global Positioning Satellite technology, or GPS) and other miscellaneous data. This information was down loaded at home base by the DC who also insured that trucks left on schedule. Big Tom no longer has trucking blues but instead he and Mitzie have a baby girl nick-named "Mississippi Magnolia".

Questions

List the problems in the case study.

Identify as much causation as possible for each problem. (E.g., poor productivity may be caused by management issues, lack of proper planning, lack of resources, etc...)

Was the Human Process intervention used? If so, how?

List one reason that the organization needs/needed to change:

A. Internally

B. Externally

Was there, or do you anticipate resistance to change? If so, explain who and why.

How did the Change Agent deal with:

A. Resistance to change by individuals or groups

B. Barriers to change

Identify any barriers to change at both the individual and organizational level.

Was the Techno-structural intervention? If so, how?

Who was the change agent?