Transportation Manager At Dodge: Job Responsibilities And Salary In Canada

1. Describe (provide) the company Mission Statement 
2. Explain at least 3 strategies the company uses to accomplish their Mission (internal) 
3. How does the company utilizes these strategies to achieve competitive advantage(s) (external) 

Background information on Dodge

Introduction

Dodge is an American automobile manufacturer based in Michigan. The industry in which the company operates makes it important to focus on supply chain management greatly. The company has been in the sector of manufacturing cars since 1914, making them one of the established companies in the global automotive market. However in the Canadian market the Dodge lineup of cars had hit the bottom, when in 1988 the Dodge Dynasty was sold in Canada as the Chrysler Dynasty. Despite the challenges that the company faced in the country with the changes in ownership, the company makes sure that the safety and security of the customers and their families as paramount and is thus fully committed to producing vehicles with long lasting reliability (FCA Canada Inc, 2018).    

The Transportation Manager (NOC code- 0731) of the company is an essential part, who ensures that there is effective planning, organising and directing of the transportation to and from the company. Transportation is one of the most important aspects of the supply chain management of the Dodge Company. Apart from that the transportation manager in the dodge company is responsible inbound transportation and controlling of the outbound logistics as well. Further areas like budget of transportation departments which is responsible for the transportation and movement of goods or companies involved in supply chain services are also dealt by the transportation manager.

Job responsibilities 

The main responsibilities of the transportation manager include:

• To plan, develop, organise, direct, manage, as well as evaluate the operations and budget of transportation departments of the company.
• Work with the different international carriers and freight forwarders so as to streamline the flow of goods across the international borders and through the customs.
• Direct the activities of the staffs who, are related to transportation operations, which includes, dispatching, routing, and tracking transportation vehicles.
• Negotiate as well as authorise contracts, and even direct procurement that are related to transportation operational needs
• Monitor the operations so as to ensure that the staffs comply with the administrative policies and procedures, safety rules, union contracts, and government regulations
• Conduct investigations in order to determine the causes of the accidents related to transportation and to improve the safety procedures.
• To remain updated with the latest technological advancements in transportation systems and procedures (Supply Chain Canada, 2014).

From the above job responsibilities, it is seen that the transportation manager handles a wide range of activities, which makes sure that the transportation of raw materials and final products are made securely and safely across states and borders. However of the eight responsibilities, two of those are quite interesting, which includes;

• Work with the different international carriers and freight forwarders so as to streamline the flow of goods across the international borders and through the customs.
• Direct the activities of the staffs who, are related to transportation operations, which includes, dispatching, routing, and tracking transportation vehicles.

It allows the company to make effective transportation plan across the country and across international locations as well. Further it also makes sure that the company is able to understand the delivery time for the raw materials, vehicles and vehicle parts.

However there are certain responsibilities that are not attractive, like monitoring the operations for ensuring that the staffs comply with the administrative policies and procedures, safety rules, union contracts, and government regulations, as well as investigation of the causes of the accidents related to transportation and to improve the safety procedures. These activities could also be carried out by the junior transportation executives, as the transportation manager has several other responsibilities which if not taken care off might lower the efficiency of the transportation system.

The expected salary of the transportation Manager in Canada is high. As per three sources, the salary has been highlighted below:

Figure 1 shows a possible salary comparison table.

Figure 1: Comparative Salaries for a Transportation Manager (NOC-0731) Source: (Glassdoor Inc., 2018) (Salary Expert, 2018) (Salary Wizard, 2018)

Reasons for the similarities and/or differences in the salaries from these three sources

The differences in the salary listings of the different websites could be mainly due to the inaccurate information acquisition from the market. Apart from that, often the amount entered by some of the websites is not verified, so there are high chances that the salary might be different in different websites. Apart from that, some of the websites provide the salary figure including all the benefits and the variable pay, while some other website only highlight the actual salary or the fixed pay. However the similarity often ensures that there are high chances that the salary could range from the stated figure, as two or more than two website could not provide wrong information at a particular period of time.

The importance of Transportation Manager at Dodge

The job that has been highlighted in the above section- Transportation Manager is an interesting job and requires taking great responsibility. In an automobile company, transportation plays a prominent role, as the finished vehicles needs to be transported in different show rooms and warehouses. Apart from that, it also involves making sure that the company is able to meet the requirements and delivery time appropriately. Thus, I would be glad to accept this job role. However, it requires a great deal of experience and expertise. For that, I have to start in the junior level and prove my expertise to reach to that level. The salary for the port is also high. However, it would have been better if the salary would have been a little high, as it requires much hard work and responsibility.

Based on the 10 critical decisions of operations management, 6 of them have been explained below with respect to the Dodge Company.

Goods and service design refers to the range of products sold by the company and the relevant transformation process. In the case of the Dodge Company, it manufactures and sells goods such as pickup and medium to heavy trucks, sport utility vehicles, vans and high-performance vehicles. The transformation process of the company has been taking place at the Warren Truck Assembly plant wherein the trucks, vans and vehicles are made. The designs of the trucks are integrated with the features of a car with the plush adventurer package. On the other hand, the vans, sport utility vehicles and high-performance vehicles followed the panel delivery models with Dodge Dart platform, six-cylinder and v8 engines (Dodge, 2018). Through goods and service design, the mission of Dodge Company is attained as it would provide the high quality and performance vehicles to its customers.

Quality has been crucial for the operation management decisions as it forces the company to adhere to the standard procedures to meet the customer expectation. The mission of the Dodge Company is aligned with its quality commitment as it plans to be the premier quality vehicle retailer in the world (Dodge, 2018). Through its continuous improvement approach, Dodge has been restructuring its vehicles for better performance which is the mission of the company.

Location is a significant area of the operation management on which the decision to supply and distribute the product depends. Although the Dodge Company distributes its vehicle on a global scale, it has its major operations in Argentina, Asia (Japan, China, South Korea, and the Middle East), Australia, Brazil, Canada, United Kingdom, Spain, France etc. (Dodge, 2018). In order to provide the best opportunities to its customer, Dodge Company thinks global and hence the mission of the company is achieved through its effective decision of location.

Human Resources and Job Designs forms an integral part of the system design. The labour standards and the skills, abilities and knowledge are vital for the operation management decisions. At Dodge Company, the job designs are aligned with the organisational goals and objectives which are to manufacture high-quality vehicles with the high-performance feature. Hence, the company conducts an effective recruitment and selection process by justifying the roles, responsibilities and job description of each of the positions. For instance, currently, the Dodge Company is seeking to hire a creative designer with the ability to create both production and advanced design proposals representing 2-D and 3-D concepts through digital sketching, Photoshop, ALIAS and similar programs. Dodge Company’s vision is to produce premier quality vehicles in the world which is achievable with the decision to frame appropriate human resource policies and job designs.

Job Responsibilities of Transportation Manager

Supply chain management is the most important part of the operations management decision as it is considered to be the pathway between the production and distribution to the end users. Dodge Company has an innovative supply chain management process as it entails a test model for radically different models of vehicles along with a unique method to deal with the suppliers (Dodge, 2018). This decision is unique as it helps Dodge to ensure that the stakeholders such as customers, communities and suppliers are satisfied with the product and service which is the mission of the company.

Inventory deals in the availability of the products which facilitates the production process and also tends to meet the market demand. In case of the Dodge Company, an Automatic Replenishment Order system has been facilitating the management of the inventories (Kwanten, 2017). The mission of the company is to provide the best opportunities to the customers and suppliers which could be achieved through the effective decision of managing inventory.

The mission of Dodge Company is to be the premier quality vehicle retailer that would be providing the best opportunities to its customers and communities (Dodge, 2018). The mission statement reveals that the focus of the company is on its continuous improvement process as well as on maintaining the highest quality of the vehicles to satisfy the needs and expectation of the company stakeholders.

The three strategies that the Dodge Company implements and uses in order to achieve its mission are promoting effective teamwork, being committed to consumer enthusiasm and facilitating continuous improvement. The mission of the company is to produce high-quality vehicles and offer it to its customers and in doing so, the employees of the organisation play a significant role. In this regards, the company ensures that the talents and skills are recognised efficiently and work in collaboration to satisfy the needs and expectation of the stakeholders. With effective teamwork, the Dodge Company is able to increase its productivity and produce high-quality vehicles. On the other hand, the second strategy is based on practising commitment to consumer enthusiasm. The ultimate mission of the company is to satisfy the interests and needs of the customers and hence the company undertakes this strategy as a symbol of valuing and caring about the customers. By exceeding the expectation of the customers, the company is able to provide them with the best opportunities as a part of their mission statement (Dodge, 2018). Lastly, the strategy of promoting continuous improvement is considered to be the step to improve the performance of the company as the employees are given the opportunity for growth and development. This would help them to be motivated and perform towards achieving the mission and goal of Dodge Company which is to be the manufacturer of premier quality vehicles in the world.

Through these three strategies, the company is able to meet its mission. Through effective teamwork, the company is able to create a brainstorming session to exchange product development ideas and also to facilitate the research and development unit of the Dodge Company. This would enable the company to differentiate their vehicles and truck features which inevitably helps them to achieve competitive advantage. On the other hand, by focusing, valuing and caring about the customer needs and expectations, the company is able to attract a greater customer base through which it gains a competitive advantage (Dodge, 2018). Lastly, the commitment towards continuous improvement allows the company to increase the productivity and performance. This tends to improve the quality of the vehicles manufactured by Dodge Company and supports them in achieving competitive advantage.

Conclusion

From the above discussion, it is seen that the job of a transportation manager is very important for the company and is also an important aspect of the supply chain management. In the context of the dodge company, it is seen that the transportation manager’s responsibilities are important as the company operates in the automotive industry, where transferring the vehicles play a great role, in meeting the company objectives. The critical decisions that have been selected are crucial for the decisions related to the operations management as it deals in areas such as supply chain management, inventory management, job design, quality, location, and goods design. Each of these decisions is undertaken by the Dodge Company to attain their mission statement. Apart from this, three strategies have been determined which focuses on teamwork, customer enthusiasm and continuous improvement that also helps the company to gain a competitive advantage.   

References

Dodge. (2018, September). COMPARE VEHICLES. Retrieved September 1, 2018, from https://www.dodge.ca/en/compare/

Dodge. (2018, September). Dodge Brothers Motor Car Company History. Retrieved September 1, 2018, from https://dodgemotorcar.com/history/index.php

Dodge. (2018, September). Dodge Motors - The Chrysler Era. Retrieved September 1, 2018, from https://dodgemotorcar.com/history/chrysler.php

Dodge. (2018, September). Our Mission. Retrieved September 1, 2018, from https://www.hendrickdodge.com/our-mission.htm

FCA Canada Inc. (2018). RECALL INFORMATION. Retrieved Sept 01, 2018, from https://www.mopar.com/en-ca/my-vehicle/recalls/search.html

Glassdoor Inc. (2018). Transportation Manager Salaries. Retrieved September 01, 2018, from https://www.glassdoor.ca/Salaries/transportation-manager-salary-SRCH_KO0,22.htm

Kwanten, A. (2017). Managing parts inventory gets tougher. Retrieved September 1, 2018, from https://www.autonews.com/article/20171023/RETAIL05/171029997/managing-parts-inventory-gets-tougher

Salary Expert. (2018). Salary Calculator - Transportation Manager. Retrieved September 01, 2018, from https://www.salaryexpert.com/salarycalculator/researcher

Salary Wizard. (2018). Transportation ManagerCanada, KY. Retrieved September 01, 2018, from https://swz.salary.com/SalaryWizard/transportation-Manager-Salary-Details-Canada-KY.aspx

Supply Chain Canada. (2014). OCCUPATIONAL STANDARD. Retrieved Sept 01, 2018, from https://www.supplychaincanada.org/assets/u/CSCSCOSFinalTransportationManager.pdf