Read the case below and answer the questions that follow.
UPS is unrivaled in its use of programmed decision making. Practically all the motions, behaviors, and actions that its drivers perform each day have been carefully honed to maximize efficiency and minimize strain and injuries while delivering high-quality customer service. For example, a 12-step process prescribes how drivers should park their trucks, locate the package they are about to deliver, and step off the truck in 15.5 seconds (a process called "selection" at UPS). Rules and routines such as these are carefully detailed in UPS's "340 Methods" manual (UPS actually has far more than 340 methods). Programmed decision making dictates where drivers should stop to get gas, how they should hold their keys in their hands, and how to lift and lower packages.
When programmed decision making is so heavily relied on, ensuring that new employees learn tried-and-true routines is essential. UPS traditionally taught new employees with a two-week period of lectures followed by practice. However, managers began to wonder if they needed to alter their training methods to suit their new Generation Y trainees (Generation Y typically refers to people born after 1980), who were not so keen on memorization and drills. Generation Y trainees seemed to require more training time to become effective drivers (90–180 days compared to a typical average of 30–45 days), and turnover of new drivers was higher than before.
Given the fundamental importance of performance programs for UPS operations, managers decided to alter new driver training to be better received by Generation Y trainees. In September 2007, UPS opened a new Landover, Maryland, training center called UPS Integrad. The center covers over 11,000 square feet and cost over $30 million to build and equip. Integrad was developed over a three-year period through a collaborative effort of more than 170 people, including UPS top managers (many of whom started their careers with UPS as drivers), teams from Virginia Tech and MIT, animators from the Indian company Brain visa, and forecasters from the Institute for the Future. The program was supported by a $1.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. The pilot program at Landover was so successful, UPS opened six more sites across the country.
UPS Integrad training centers model the philosophy of “teach me, show me, let me.” Drivers learn the UPS driving and service methods, are shown how the methods work, and then practice them in a realistic, hands-on fashion. UPS Integrad training uses a mixture of 3-D computer simulations, webcast learning modules and traditional classroom instruction to complement activity in a controlled environment to reinforce safety, delivery and customer service training. One of Integrad’s more notable features is an outside course designed to mimic a small town. Arrayed with small houses and street signs, “Clarkville USA” provides drivers with challenges they will confront in their daily pickup and delivery activity.
Trainees can try different movements and see, with the help of computer diagrams and simulations, how following UPS routines will help protect them from injury and how debilitating their jobs can be if they do not follow routines. Video recorders track and document what trainees do correctly and incorrectly so they can see it for themselves, rather than relying on feedback from an instructor.
“Helping new UPS drivers to meet our high standards requires that we adapt new training techniques and tools,” said Joe Finamore, UPS vice president of Global Leadership and Talent Development. “Since the first UPS Integrad site opened in Landover, UPS has seen dramatic improvements in safety, production and service indices, as well as workforce retention.
1. The decision to build the Integrad training facility resulted from which of the following?
a threat presented by different training requirements for Gen Y employees
the nonprogrammed decision to hire Gen X drivers
the opportunity to train new drivers using new technology
the threat to traditional driver training from new technology
a programmed decision to change training methods for each generation
2. UPS has over 340 rules, regulations, and procedures for drivers to follow. This insures that drivers have no trouble making ______ decisions.
programmed
unplanned
forecast
nonprogrammed
managerial
3. The decisions that led to the opening of Integrad took over three years and involved over 170 people. This suggests that UPS used ______ to develop this program.
bottom-up decision making
reasoned judgment
programmed decision making
intuition
benchmarking
4. Which of the following statements represents the correct reason why UPS emphasizes programmed decision making when training their drivers?
A driver will encounter many uncertainties.
It is the least expensive method.
Virtually all situations that a driver will face can be solved by following the correct procedure or rule.
This is the way FedEx teaches their employees.
Government regulations demand this type of training.
5. If data showed that drivers were consistently delayed by traffic jams in one part of town, UPS would most likely
eliminate use of the Integrad facilities because this method of teaching was flawed.
encourage nonprogrammed decision making by drivers.
eliminate the use of programmed decision by the drivers.
study the situation carefully and develop new rules for driving in or avoiding that section of town at times when delays are most common.
tell drivers to use their intuition in these situations.
6. In terms of the material covered in this case, UPS’s success is based largely on
micro-managing by supervisory personnel.
the use of programmed decisions by drivers.
the use of intuition by drivers.
the use of reasoned judgment by drivers.
the use of nonprogrammed decisions by drivers.