Problem Solving and Decision Making in the Taxi Industry

This article discusses the complex problems faced by taxi drivers in the workplace, such as abusive customers, non-payment, and robbery. It provides alternative solutions, decision-making techniques, and plans for implementation. It also emphasizes the importance of communication with stakeholders.

Problem solving and
decision making

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Define a complex problem in the workplace including its scope and impact.............................1
Analyse information on the identified problem, to help inform the decision-making process...2
Propose a range of alternative solutions to the problem.............................................................2
Decision-making technique to evaluate a range of solutions to identify the most appropriate
option...........................................................................................................................................3
Develop a plan for implementing the solution............................................................................3
Communicate the plan to stakeholders.......................................................................................4
Assess appropriate monitoring and review techniques to ensure successful implementation of
the solution..................................................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Customers play an important role in decision making process it is used for making
choices by properly identifying the issues, and finding alternative solutions to it which will help
to resolve the problems. It helps in taking effective decisions to avoid the problems into future. It
also helps in problem solving by defining the correct solutions and prioritizing it and selecting it
for finding alternative solutions. Taxi driving is the most rewarding job into UK and is a popular
career choice for the people who are seeking for a challenging job. Thus faces many issues as
they meet different individuals in every day and help them to drop them to their defined
destinations safely on the specified time. (Proctor, 2018).It is the most challenging job they face
everyday conflicts with the customers during their ride. To avoid the problems preventive
measures shall be implemented to avoid the dispute between two of them. Customer apps shall
be applied and making cabs more environmentally friendly for the pleasant ride. Hence
providing a high quality services to the customers and having good interpersonal for standardised
services for increasing the profitability of business which will help to run business for the longer
period of time.
MAIN BODY
Define a complex problem in the workplace including its scope and impact
Taxi driver is a profitable job as meeting new people and help them to reach to their
specified destinations safely and on set time. (Funke, Fischer, and Holt, 2018).Statistics shows
it is a popular job most gainful job into UK but there are some key challenges and most frequent
problems faced by the taxi drivers at workplace are further elaborated below :
 Abusive Customers – Taxi drivers work for the odd timings and for extra hours and
sometimes work for unsociable hours to drop the customers at the specified destination
safely. They face a lot of abuse during working hours as sometimes get aggressive and
stressful customers.
 Non- Payment – They face this problem very frequently as sometimes customers go
without paying the fares. Preventive measures should be taken to avoid these types of
frauds at the workplace thus it will help to build a sustainable gainful business for the
long run.
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 Robbery – The most faced threat by taxi drivers is armed robbery which increases their
problems at the workplace. Thus drivers shall accept payments through debit or credit
cards to avoid these types of problems. Health issues and tiredness is also an important
factor faced these as they are working overtime.(Lassoued, Awad, and Guirat, 2020).
Analyse information on the identified problem, to help inform the decision-making process
Taxi drivers faces a lot of problems by road users into their daily lives as they get
engaged with different individuals every day which creates issues into their workplace. They
face a lot of abusive and aggressive customers during their working hours that causes problems
which makes the ride disagreeable for both of them. (Van Aken, and Berends, 2018).The cab
drivers takes certain initiatives to talk to individuals but other party restricts them which creates
conflicts and constraint which inadequately makes an impact on the performance of the drivers
and their decision-making. They take preventive steps like trying not to fight back and
maintaining a peaceful environment for a pleasant ride. The other highlighted problem which is
faced by them is non-payment as customers go without paying the fares and if they already know
well still fail to inform the drivers until the destination comes or journey ends which further
creates conflicts between two of them. Another important aspect which creates conflicts is the
mode of payment which further effects the decision- making process of them thus creates
complexity into the working process. They also face frauds and offences which shall be resolved
by taking preventive safety measures which will avoid it to reoccur the same problem in near
future and will be solved properly for the profitable business.
Propose a range of alternative solutions to the problem
Suggesting alternative solutions to the problems which are helpful in taking proper
decision making which are explained in brief for a better understanding. Taxi drivers can keep a
eye contact with the riders to maintain a interpersonal relation with them for a friendly ride. They
shall not fight back with the aggressive and rude customers to avoid any constraint between
them. Thus adding CCTV into the cab and using a plastic partitions with a lockable windows.
Drivers shall ask for payments by the customers at the first place to avoid the situation of not
paying at the time of ending the destination. (Rahman, 2019).They shall start taking payments by
credit and debit cards and implement new mode of payments to ignore any kind of disputes
which will effect the credibility and the goodwill of the taxi driver. Hence shall follow strict
rules of working hours to avoid the health issues and tiredness.
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Decision-making technique to evaluate a range of solutions to identify the most appropriate
option
Taxi drivers need several skills to get more and more success into this profession and for
increasing their profitability by give satisfactory rides to its customers. They shall have up-to-
date knowledge of health and safety regulations and safeguarding legislation. Drivers must
ensure to have acceptable standard physical appearance thus can also wear uniforms to convey a
classic corporate identity. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to able to
communicate to the customers properly to respond them in a pleasant manner to make an
impression. Warm and approachable manner to greet the customers in a satisfying manner to
make their ride more enjoyable and pleasurable to have potential repeat of customers. They must
have competent driving skills and must follow all the road safety rules and regulations to avoid
unnecessary risk which will help in reducing the number of claims as well. Good geographical
knowledge to operate into unfamiliar locations and having shortest routes. The most appropriate
skill to be into a taxi driver to have excellent communication skills to deliver them best customer
services and to maintain their credibility which make an appropriate impression on the
customers.
Develop a plan for implementing the solution
By developing different plans for implementing solution in context to a taxi providing
company helps the company the company to fulfil their requirements and to survive in the
market. Before developing a plan it is necessary for the company to to define the problem. When
the problem is defined then the verification of the understanding of the problem is done by
having the problem analysis and prioritizing which ones to address first. When the problem is
defined then the next step is to make decisions by developing different action plans and
implementing them. (Kammen and Hassenzahl, 2018).In context to a taxi company there are
different key areas in which plans can be developed and implemented. The certain key areas are:
 Innovating the business plans: By constantly innovating the business plans it is helpful
for the company to develop a brand image in the market. By establishing the details for
the regions in which the company operate it will solve the problem.
 Establish route plans and tariffs: By having clearance in the tariffs and route plans it
will be beneficial for the company to deal with different types of problems in the market
and maintaining a healthy competition.
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 Planning for vehicle acquisition and driver hiring: There should be planning done
prior for the vehicle acquisition through hiring from different sources.
 Establishing and fixing the funding: For solving the problems and developing action
plans there should be clear idea about the the capital requirements, identifying the
different sources from where the funds to be arranged.(Fischer, 2019)
Communicate the plan to stakeholders
For the well functioning of the company it is essential for the company to communicate
with the stakeholders and the customers.(Bardach and Patashnik, 2019). The ways in which the
plans can be communicated to the stakeholders which are as follows:
 For the well functioning of the taxi company, the company can recognize the
stakeholders by fulfilling their demands. The company ensures that the interests of the
stakeholders is provided.
 For having better communication plan it is necessary to develop the operators and
regulators which focuses on managing change instead of going same in the organisation
that results in having the good communication among the company staffs and their
customers.
 To cover the uncover segments in taxi providing industry in some cities which have the
right target audience for the company according to their geographically distributed
segments in the city that improves the communication level among the stakeholders.
 To gain the customer 's attention and to communicate with them, the company can
communicate through the market by having substantial portion of their provided trips in
large cities and also in the medium and small size area and communities to have high
rates of the ownership of their company.(Alkhatib, 2019).
Assess appropriate monitoring and review techniques to ensure successful implementation
of the solution
As when there is any disruptive innovation challenge and having problems in the
company. As there is an increase in the foreign drivers as its key competitors, the revenue and
competition of the taxi industry industry market is constantly increasing in the business market.
The drivers of the company has to face fights to retain its customer and to gain market share to
survive in the market.(Daher and Anabousy, 2020). The review techniques that can be used to
solve the problem and having a better decision making in the company can use the ways like
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improving the recruitment and retention of the taxi drivers, by improving and developing the
lowering costs and increasing service standards etc. The evaluation can be critically examined by
analysing the strategic issue analysis in which different problem of strategic policies can be
solved and according to that different action plans can be implemented. (Wichert, 2020).By
examining the competitive cost of service of the company to perform the duties and utilises it to
solve different claims on the vehicles. When the cost of service is identified and analysed it will
be helpful for the company to set up their operational costs of the vehicle and day to day
operations of the company. As the operational costs are constantly increasing because of
following the meter price policy it will be beneficial for the drivers to carry their daily routes
effectively.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that problem solving and decision making is
considered to be the essential part of a company. And also the customers play a vital role in
decision making process which relates to identifying the key issues and according to that
different action plans are implemented according to the issues. The report is based on the
problem solving and decision making in context to taxi industry in foreign sector. There are
different complex problems that arises in the workplace by facing different types of customers
and different issues and according to that problems are identifies by measures. There is a critical
analysis that can perform to resolve the problems of the taxi drivers in taxi industry. According
to the problem identified there are certain communication strategies that is to used to
communicate with the stakeholders. There are various review techniques that can be used to to
monitor the performance of the company. It helps in dealing with the issues that is faced by the
company.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Alkhatib, O.J., 2019, March. A Framework for Implementing Higher-Order Thinking Skills
(Problem-Solving, Critical Thinking, Creative Thinking, and Decision-Making) in Engineering
& Humanities. In 2019 Advances in Science and Engineering Technology International
Conferences (ASET) (pp. 1-8). IEEE.
Bardach, E. and Patashnik, E.M., 2019. A practical guide for policy analysis: The eightfold path
to more effective problem solving. CQ press.
Daher, W. and Anabousy, A., 2020. Flexibility Processes of Pre-Service Teachers in Problem
Solving with Technology. International Journal of Technology in Education and
Science .4 (3). pp.247-255.
Fischer, A., 2019. A new orientation for research on problem solving and competencies in any
domain. Journal of Dynamic Decision Making, pp.9-1.
Funke, J., Fischer, A. and Holt, D.V., 2018. Competencies for complexity: problem solving in
the twenty-first century. In Assessment and teaching of 21st century skills (pp. 41-53).
Springer, Cham.
Harms, M., Reiter-Palmon, R. and Derrick, D.C., 2018. The role of information search in
creative problem solving. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts.
Huo, M.L. and Boxall, P., 2018. Are all aspects of lean production bad for workers? An analysis
of how problem‐solving demands affect employee well‐being.Human Resource
Management Journal .28 (4). pp.569-584.
Kammen, D.M. and Hassenzahl, D.M., 2018. Should we risk it?: Exploring environmental,
health, and technological problem solving. Princeton University Press.
Kim, B. and Bastani, R., 2018. Game design literacy as a problem-solving disposition.
International Society of the Learning Sciences, Inc.[ISLS]..
Lassoued, K., Awad, A. and Guirat, R., 2020. The impact of managerial empowerment on
problem solving and decision making skills: the case of Abu Dhabi University.
Management Science Letters .10 (4). pp.769-780.
Proctor, T., 2018. Creative problem solving for managers: developing skills for decision making
and innovation. Routledge.
Rahman, M., 2019. 21st Century Skill" Problem Solving": Defining the Concept. Online
Submission .2 (1). pp.71-81.
Van Aken, J.E. and Berends, H., 2018. Problem solving in organizations. Cambridge university
press.
Wichert, A.M., 2020.Principles Of Quantum Artificial Intelligence: Quantum Problem Solving
And Machine Learning. World scientific.
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