Impact Of Technological Disruption On The Business Of Comfort Transportation Ltd

Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) World

Question:

Discuss about the Training and Development.

Disruptions in the technological usage have adversely affected the punctuality of the customers regarding reaching to the workplace. Viewing it from other perspective, this lack of adequate knowledge in technology has compelled the taxi industry to encounter difficulties in efficient execution of the business activities. The outcome of these perspectives is the interplay with 5% of the taxi drivers in terms of their employment. Herein lays the appropriateness of the term “idle fleets”, as the drivers are reluctant towards catering to the commuters from midway (Todayonline.com, 2017).  This reluctance reflects the adherence towards responding to the bookings done through mobile applications. However, the fame and glory of the mobiles have aggravated the discrepancies between the actual time of the bookings and the time when the drivers are receiving the bookings. These discrepancies, in turn, have projected noticeable differences between the mobile application booking and the street hailing. The major drive behind these discrepancies is the absence of quality training in terms of technology usage (Todayonline.com, 2017). This assignment sheds light on the impact of technological disruption on the business of Comfort Transportation Ltd.

VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) is a world, where the companies and organizations struggle for altering the business scenario. The following is a detailed description of the four components.

Volatility signifies the extent or rankings for the change. In view of the technological disruption of taxi industry, the ratings are very high. This is due to the complexities of the customers regarding a hassle free journey to their workplace and other places of recreation. This aggravation has adversely affected the affordability of the customers especially those belonging to the middle class (Khanna & Kendall, 2015).  

The objective of the taxi industry is to provide a comfortable ride to the passengers. In view of this objective, technological disruption acts as an obstacle in terms of fulfilling the needs, demands and requirements of the customers. The word “disruption” turns the comfort into discomfiture. Herein lays the importance of training, which possesses flexibility to alter the business scenario of the industry (Amara & Atia, 2016). This is possible only if the employees make practical example of the provided lectures for carrying out the allocated tasks. As a matter of specification, formative assessment proves beneficial for the industry in terms of exposing a systematic approach towards overcoming the crisis phase. On the contrary, it is the duty of the managers to adopt appropriate means for assessing the performance of the employees. Within this, post training tests are an effective means for judging the performance of the staffs (Cummings & Worley, 2014).

Role of Training Programs in Overcoming Technological Disruption

The taxi drivers at comfort Transport Ltd are provided with training for preparing themselves for adjusting with the ongoing technological disruption. The drivers need to enroll themselves for the training, where they are provided with a license for receiving the training. Along with this, the drivers are eligible for renewing their license, provided they complete the PV15 NI application form from the official website of the industry.

One of the major attractions is the e-learning course, which provides the opportunity to the drivers regarding the clarification of the doubts regarding the execution of business activities in an efficient manner. However, this e-leaning is applicable only for vocational courses (Pollock et al., 2015). Within the e-learning courses, the drivers are briefed about the ongoing business scenario and the new policies and schemes introduced for improving the current strategic position. Along with this, the drivers are enlightened by the managers on the basic management skills and the ways and means to resolve them. Apart from management skills, technology is one of the subjects, on which the drivers are trained for enhancing the productivity.

The training is divided into several sessions, which enhances the grasping power of the drivers regarding the provided lectures. Partial drafts are sent to the higher authorities for making them aware about the training processes undertaken. This awareness helps in making estimations regarding the achievement of successful completion of the projects in hand.

Apart from this, taking into consideration the means of survey questionnaire makes the industry personnel aware of the needs, demands and requirements of the employees. Inclusion of straight forward questions helps the managers to achieve positive outcomes. Consideration of the ethics is an agent for the managers in terms of preserving the individual sentiments of the employees. Therefore, presence of questions, which bears relationship with religion, caste and gender of the employees, is strictly prohibited for maintaining the order and harmony of the workplace environment (refer to Appendix 1). Provision of multiple options helps the employees to voice out their opinions regarding the proposed questions. Uploading the questionnaires on the official website systematizes the business activities of the industry. However, in view of the technological disruption, this step would not prove beneficial for the industry to bestow a proper development on the employees (Cummings & Worley, 2014).

In taxi industry, the staffs are provided training through the formative and summative training methods. Variety in the training methods helps the managers to assess the most appropriate training means for the staffs. As a matter of specification, the employees are provided coaching regarding the effective means of using the modern machines for carrying out the allocated tasks. The lectures are divided into various sessions for the convenience of the employees (Hendrick & Kleiner, 2016). Within this, different experts are hired for delivering the lectures. Role plays makes the employees aware of the complexities, which the managers have to undergo for delivering the lectures. Increasing the frequency of these role plays enhances and affirms the stability in the relationship between the employees and the managers. This stability is a crucial component for resolving the ongoing crisis of technological disruption.

Comfort Transportation Ltd Training Programs

The courses on decision-making and evaluation relate to the personality development of the drivers. The assignment is on the right track due to the word “development”. Enhancement of the decision-making skills of the employees results in the professional development of the employees. This professionalism, in turn, is assistance in terms of making the most from the talents produced by the employees (Amara & Atia, 2016).

Critically reflecting on the training courses, technical training proves beneficial for altering the predicament of the taxi industry. The major drive behind this is to revolutionize the business environment through effective and judicious use of technologies. Inspiring the drivers for collaborative output enhances the parameter of collectivism. This results in the preservation of the organizational culture, which brings Hofstede’s cultural theory into the discussion. Delving deep into the aspect, bringing technological advancement into the business environment, with special adherence to the organizational values paves the way of foreign market penetration for the industry (Ivala, 2016). In view of the previous sentence, the aspect “dimensions” as proposed by Hofstede in his cultural theory is broadened.

In order to resolve the ongoing crisis, the industry needs strategic vision towards the execution of the business activities. Involvement of the stakeholders, shareholders and drivers in meetings and conferences would help the industry personnel to come up with beneficial decisions regarding the restoration of the hard earned glory and respect. Inclusion of evaluation within these processes would help the personnel to assess the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed plans in terms of the identified and specified requirements (Johnston & Marshall, 2016).

Regarding the individual needs of comfort Transport Ltd, the means of survey is crucial in terms of gaining in-depth insight into the needs, demands and requirements of the drivers. This insight would help in making estimations of financial resources and the time needed for solving the issue. Apart from this, post training tests need to be conducted for assessing the capability of the drivers regarding making practical usage of the learnt skills in the workplace operations.

Most importantly, evaluation is to be conducted frequently for keeping a track of the undertaken steps and the performance of the contemporary brands. Spontaneity in modification of the drawbacks would enhance the personality of the company personnel. Rationality and consciousness towards the execution of the business activities would help in the achievement of large scale customer satisfaction (Ivala, 2016). Eagerness towards the preservation of loyalty, trust and dependence from the customers would omit the word “disruption” from the parameter of technology and add “advancement”.

Table: Training plan template

References

Amara, N. B., & Atia, L. (2016). E-training and its role in human resources development. Global Journal of Human Resource Management, 4(1), 1-12.

Cummings, T. G., & Worley, C. G. (2014). Organization development and change. Cengage learning.

Ford, J. K. (2014). Improving training effectiveness in work organizations. Psychology Press.

Hendrick, H. W., & Kleiner, B. (Eds.). (2016). Macroergonomics: theory, methods, and applications. CRC Press.

Ivala, E. (2016). Educational technology training: Staff development approaches. International Journal of Educational Sciences, 14(3), 195-204.

Johnston, M. W., & Marshall, G. W. (2016). Sales force management: Leadership, innovation, technology. Routledge.

Khanna, M. S., & Kendall, P. C. (2015). Bringing technology to training: Web-based therapist training to promote the development of competent cognitive-behavioral therapists. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 22(3), 291-301.

Pollock, R. V., Wick, C. W., & Jefferson, A. (2015). The six disciplines of breakthrough learning: How to turn training and development into business results. John Wiley & Sons.

Todayonline.com (2017) What next for ride sharing services and taxi industry. Retrieved 28^th July 2017 from https://www.todayonline.com/commentary/what-next-ride-sharing-services-and-taxi-industry

Todayonline.com (2017). Coping technological disruption taxi industry. Retrieved 28^th July 2017 from https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/coping-technological-disruption-taxi-industry