Case Study Evaluation – Oklahoma State School Transportation office

CASE STUDY EVALUATION – OKLAHOMA STATE SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION OFFICE

KEY POINTS

1. Oklahoma City School Corporation is facing the crisis of urban poverty and unemployment; to counter it they have offered a Magnet School Program, which would help students to pursue a career they want in other areas and they help them by providing Safe transportation to the students to and from school, efficient routing software services using GPS and engaging parents to provide accurate information.
2. This is not working as planned and expected so many parents are worried regarding the safety of their children also the entire Operation is affected with limited unskilled staff, technological barriers and a lone wolf expert.

PROBLEMS

1. Major problem is faced by Sharon Jackson as she has to handle the situation almost single handedly and it looks worse when she has to drive the transportation vehicle herself. (Less Men at work)
2. Due to change in address every year transportation is disturbed and transportation office is unable to deliver the promise of efficient transportation though safety has not been an issue as per the information but this can be another major issue if not sorted out.
3. Temporary workers have no knowledge of the software or work procedures; they only answer the call which is almost of no use to the angry parents. Even the routers have no knowledge about it.
4. Moreover, the school authorities lack technical skills or they are negligent.

SOLUTIONS

Looking at the situation and constraints related to it, I have following suggestions,

1. First of all, temporary workers who are responsible to receive the calls should call the parents once in a month as a courtesy call to check if they are fine and ask them about the change of plans, this would certainly help in getting the right information about the change in address as they are concerned about their children. This should not be difficult as the case suggests it happens once a year so they have ample amount of time to cover the entire set of concerned population.
2. Trainers should be hired which is very important, technically strong candidates, who can grasp the working of the system quickly and can transfer the knowledge to the temporary workers. These things can be learnt in a week and later once a week they can have a revision session by group meeting. This will help to solve the problem of school authorities as these staff can help them to lessen the pressure on Sharon. Also if they are well versed they can help in the router’s communication of mechanical failure flow towards the parents as it is not reflected in the GPS system.
3. We cannot control the school authorities but the routers are the employees so we can certainly motivate them to learn the system as they are the part of it, if not everything at least some parts which they use like EZ-Tans. As they would be busy transporting it would be difficult to force them but motivation can be given as using a same thing more and more makes you understand it well.
4. Thus, the most important problem is less man power, urgent requirement seems to have a person who can share Sharon’s duties quickly and keeping few back up routers available in case of immediate requirement.

These are some simple solutions to the problem, the problem seems adverse but if these simple solutions are applied effectively it will smoothen the system. No system works perfectly but having a backup or plan B is necessary.

MY INVOLVEMENT

1. Having a diverse 6 years in industry and academia along with a Master’s Degree I can be one of the person who could assist Sharon in her duties. Understanding the system and try to inculcate it in the people involved so that lack of knowledge is not a barrier in the Operation.
2. Scheduling the work process effectively and distributing the time lines to all the concerned people including the School authorities and the Parents will keep the process transparent and avoid glitches.

This will certainly help reduce the tension for parents as well as enFocus as an organization.

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