Communication in Trucking Companies

Running head: COMMUNICATION IN TRUCKING COMPANIES
Communication in Trucking Companies
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Assessment 1:
Part A.
Answer 1.
An analysis of the case study shows that JKL Industries was an Australian company
which operated in the trucking industry for 12 years. The main areas of business of the company
was selling forklifts, small trucks and ancillary parts. The company, taking advantage of its
market performance acquired sales right to sell medium and large sized trucks from a foreign
supplier. The company besides moving into the large and medium scale truck market was also
exiting of the truck renting market. These two shift in the business necessitated the company to
undergo restructuring of its operations. The apex management of the company in order to bring
about career growth among its present workforce engaged of its truck rental line of business,
emphasized on up-skilling or re-skilling them instead of laying them off. This showed that the
company was employee centric. However, JKL had suffered from employee grievances
pertaining to remunerations and its planned operational restructuring. The company also suffered
from poor communication in between employees from different designations and there were
conflicts in between managers over achievement of organizational goals. The current
communication strategy in the company experienced very low use technology and the managers
did not accept feedback from lower level employees including the front office employees
interacting with consumers on regular basis. The analysis of current operations of JKL Industry
shows that the apex management of the company did not consult with the employees and was
resistant to changes which would come over the company as the outcome of the implementation
of the new communication strategies. However, the management of the company in order to

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implement a more dynamic communication strategy to cater to the new business requirements
mentioned above, hired a communication consultant.
Answer 2.
A review of the simulated business of JKL Industries reveals that the company operated
forklifts, small sized trucks and ancillary component markets. The company owing to its strong
business performance for 12 years in the trucking industry was able to acquire dealership of
medium and large sized trucks from an overseas supplier. The strategic goals of the company
were to strengthen its position in the middle and large sized trucking industry and exiting the
truck rental market. The operational plans of the company consisted of restructuring the job
responsibilities of the employees involved in rental segment and strengthening the weak
communication structure of the company by employing a communication consultant. The apex
management of the company aimed to attain these objectives adopted the strategy of
strengthening the communication between the employees holding superior and subordinate
positions. The stakeholders of the company consisted of both internal and external stakeholders.
The external stakeholders of the company consisted of government of Australia, the business
customers, investors, consultant companies, suppliers of trucks including the newly acquired
foreign supplier and the society in general. The internal stakeholders of the company consisted of
the management of the company and the employees. The external customers of the company
consisted of business customers which consisted of companies buying small, medium and large
sized trucks from it. The employees of JKL Industries were also its internal customers.

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Answer 3.
Part a.
The following were the three communication objectives of JKL Industries:
1. Strengthening the communication between the employees holding different positions.
2. Strengthening the flow of feedback from lower level employees to the apex management to
strengthen decision making.
3. Curb conflict between the apex management and the subordinate employees.
Part b.
The two different audiences of the new communication strategy were customers and
employees.
Part c.
The two methods of communication which the management of JKL Industries could
implement in order to adopt the new communication strategy were classroom training and on-job
training.
Part d.
The following are the two provision which the company can implement to facilitate
bottom-up consultation process:
1. Consultation with a risk management firm to provide WHS training to employees of all
designations (Safeworkaustralia.gov.au. 2019)).