Assignment:

Assume you work in Human Resources as a part of the management team for AAA Transportation in Waukegan, WI, which has recently been acquired. AAA Transportation is an interstate trucking company that specializes in transporting wholesale produce in refrigerated trailers throughout the Midwest. The new owners want to make some sweeping changes in the services offered. One of the things that they would like to do is add delivery of nonperishable products, such as canned foods, to their delivery routes, allowing AAA to expand the area they cover and to provide expanded service to their existing customers. They think that, because many of the routes do not require a full load on the trucks, there is room to add the nonperishable goods and provide delivery at a lower rate than the customers are now paying.

Two of your coworkers, Vernon and Bud, are resistant to the changes proposed by the new owners. Vernon supervises the company's drivers and Bud works in the corporate offices. Vernon does not think that it is a good idea to expand out of their core business, while Bud thinks that AAA is not strong enough to compete with existing companies that service the nonperishable foods market (several of whom AAA has had a long history of mutually respecting each others' customers and routes); they risk alienating long-term customers; and transporting nonperishable goods in refrigerated trailers is inefficient. Both employees have been with the company for more than 20 years and have much influence among the rest of the employees. Management does not want to terminate such long-term and influential employees but need for Vernon and Bud to join the effort to make the company successful.

Question 1: Develop and Present a 7- to 10-slide presentation in which you define and discuss mental model/mindsets and their impact on you and your two coworkers.

Question 2: Identify the four steps to changing mental models/mind sets and how you could use them to bring Vernon and Bud onto the team.

Question 3: Identify the five forces that influence those mental model/mindsets of your coworkers and discuss how those forces might affect your coworkers' mindsets.

Question 4: Include examples of what mental models/mindsets are possibly affecting Vernon and Bud's decision-making processes and affecting their relationship with the company.

Question 5: Analyze your most commonly used mental models/mindsets that guide your decision making in the workplace. How do these models influence your decision making?