Jim O-Brien Seems to Be

Jim O-Brien seems to be facing a fundamental conflict among his customers, driver employees, and sales team. This is a significantly difficult management issue, because all the parties involved are vital to the survival of Hardee Transportation. Therefore, Jim's solution should be constructed in such as way as to create the best possible solution for all involved. The best way to accomplish this is to examine the issues and information at hand and arrive at a suitable compromise to satisfy everybody involved.

The best way to accomplish this is to consider each point-of-view. From the truckers' point-of-view, the new driving regulations reduce actual driving time, because these include non-driving duties such as pickup and delivery (PUD). For customers with long PUD times, this creates less wages for truck drivers who spend longer hours on these duties, because they tend to be paid only per mile. Non-driving work is generally non-paid work.

According to Jim, truck drivers with long PUD times are therefore likely to increase their driving hours in order to make ends meet. This creates a dangerous situation, in which truck drivers could suffer from fatigue and therefore be involved in accidents, which would in turn harm the reputation of the company. This is not a groundless concern. According to Hokey (2009), HOS rule violations are on the rise.

In this way, inadequate driver compensation resulting from fewer regulated hours on the road could, paradoxically, create a situations where drivers are more likely to fall asleep at the wheel. Jim's task in this regard would therefore be to create a platform of communication with drivers to determine their needs for compensation in terms of non-driving time.

As for the point-of-view of customers, it is important to recognize that meeting customer demand in any industry is generally the best way to construct a sound reputation for the company, and to ensure repeat customers. The Sales team seems to have a good point in this regard. If customers were required to reduce their PUD times in order to retain the driving service, it is likely that these customers would seek another provider who is willing and able to meet their requirements.

In the current economic situation, this is hardly something that any company can afford. The customers and the sales team therefore represent the receiving sector of the Hardee business. Because both the customers and employees are vital components of the transportation business, Jim needs to arrive at a solution that can satisfy both. If this cannot be done, the business is in danger of losing both customers and employees, as income from the former is vital in ensuring a sustainable salary for the latter.

Hence, Jim should first look into every possible solution before approaching customers with a threatening attitude. The action recommended is to first communicate with both employees and customers, both of whom must voice their concerns and needs. Jim needs to ensure both customers and employees that their requirements are important considerations in the final decisions to be made. The outcome of these conversations need to drive the recommendations, an outline of which follows. The first recommendation is to negotiate terms of pay for the.