Case Study: Communication GapThe Logistic Company Read the below case study carefully todiscuss following questions.

Most of the courier and cargo companies,w h e n t h e y s e n d t h e i r t o t a l c o n s i g n m e n t s ( l o a d i n t h e i r l a n g u a g e ) t o a p a r t i c u l a r station, they do it with advance intimationb y w a y o f s e n d i n g E - m a i l ( p r e - a l e r t message in their language). ABC Logistics w a s n o e x c e p t i o n t o t h i s p r o c e d u r e . Whenever they sent their load by evening f l i g h t to Mumbai, they sent pre-alert toM u m b a i g i v i n g d e t a i l s o f t h e l o a d l i k e flight number, total number of bags, totalweight of the bags etc. Night -duty AirportE x e c u t i v e a t M u m b a i A i r p o r t u s e t o r e t r i e v e t h e l o a d a n d u s e t o c o n f i r m t h e receipt of the load to the Bangalore office. T h e a r r a n g e m e n t w o r k e d f i n e f o r monthsa n d e v e n y e a r s . A i r p o r t E x e c u t i v e continued to get the pre-alert message a n d a f t e r r e t r i e v a l o f t h e l o a d , h e continued to confirm the r e c e i p t o f t h e load.

O n o n e f i n e n i g h t , S a t i s h w h o w a s o n night-duty at Mumbai airport observedt h a t n e i t h e r a n y p r e - a l e r t h a s b e e n r e c e i v e d f r o m B a n g a l o r e . N o r B a n g a l o r e office had sent any load to them. He triedc a l l i n g B a n g a l o r e o f f i c e . B u t i t w a s w e l l past midnight and there was no responsef r o m Bangalore office. Security guard ond u t y t o l d t o t h e A i r p o r t E x e c u t i v e t h a t nobody is available in the Bangalore officea n d s t a f f o n d u t y h a d l e f t a l r e a d y . S a t i s h k n e w t h a t generally Ravi works in then i g h t t i m e . H e t r i e d c a l l i n g o n R a v i s mobile number but it was switched off Satish had no other option except callingA s s t M a n a g e r O p e r a t i o n s o f B a n g a l o r e , Charles. Charles tried contacting Ravi

buth e o b s e r v e d s a m e h a d observed, that Ravis mobile was off.

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S a t i s h

T h i s w a s u n i q u e s i t u a t i o n . H e w a s concerned about what had happened.Charles tried calling other o p e r a t i o n s staffs to find out whether anybody knewh o m e o f R a v i . B u t n o n e o f t h e m k n e w w h e r e R a v i s h o u s e w a s . C h a r l e s w a s d i s a p p o i n t e d . T h o u g h h e h a d d i s t u r b e d couple of s t a f f s i n t h e d e a d o f t h e n i g h t , there was no much progress. Charles wason the dilemma. Should I defer (postpone)the matter for early morning or settle righta w a y ? A f t e r d e l i b e r a t i n g f o r c o u p l e o f minutes, he chose latter. A s a l a s t r e s o r t , C h a r l e s c a l l e d H a r i , H R Executive. Charles explained situation toh i m a n d t o l d h i m t o g o t o office and findo u t a d d r e s s o f R a v i f r o m t h e personaldocuments of Ravi. By the time it w a s 01:30 hours and Hari was aghast (amaze)to find out that he was told to go to officeat dead of the night. Anyway, Hari went to his office, pulled outpersonal documents of Ravi and noted hisa d d r e s s . L a t e r h e c o n f i r m e d t h e a d d r e s s to Charles.Charles had no option but to commute 15K M i n o r d e r t o g o t o h o u s e o f R a v i . H e reached Ravis home at 02:15 hours. For Ravi, it was a strange experience tofind out that his manager was knockingh i s d o o r a t w e l l p a s t m i d n i g h t . W h e n questioned why he did not s e n d t h e p r e - alert, he just told that very simple, todaythere was excess booking by other logisticc o m p a n i e s a n d t h e r e w a s n o s p a c e , s o cargo officials of all the airlines refused toa c c e p t o u r l o a d . A n d s i n c e n o l o a d w a s connected, I did not send pre-alert as

well.However, I have done booking for morningf l i g h t a n d l o a d w i l l b e c o n n e c t e d t h r o u g h morning flight. For Ravi, it was a strange experience tofind out that his manager was knockingh i s d o o r a t w e l l p a s t m i d n i g h t . W h e n questioned why he did not s e n d t h e p r e - alert, he just told that very simple, todaythere was excess booking by other logisticc o m p a n i e s a n d t h e r e w a s n o s p a c e , s o cargo officials of all the airlines refused toa c c e p t o u r l o a d . A n d s i n c e n o l o a d w a s connected, I did not send pre-alert as well.However, I have done booking for morningf l i g h t a n d l o a d w i l l b e c o n n e c t e d t h r o u g h morning flight. Charles was damn annoyed by his answer.B u t h i s f a t e h a d s t o r e d a l i t t l e m o r e f r u s t r a t i o n f o r h i m a s w h i l e r e t u r n i n g home from Ravis home, night duty patrolc o p s c a u g h t f o r h i m d r i v i n g h i s t w o - wheeler without driving license. ***

Questions for the discussion; What do you actually find the problem inthis case study? Whom do you think as the reason for thisproblem? What would be your solution to preventthe same problem to recur? What do you opine on Ravis decision inthis case?

Solution
Ravi the person who is in charge of sending good and intimating the Mumbaiairport executiveHari hr executive Satish- Night-duty Airport Executive atMumbai AirportCharles- Asst Manager Operations of Bangalore, 1>communication gap between theBangalore office of ABC logistics nMumbai airport executive

2>excess booking by other logisticcompanies and there was no space, socargo officials of all the airlines refused toaccept loadAnd ravi did not intimate the airportauthority abt the consignment , i.e. they llnot be able send the consignmentHe should send a pre alert msg. 3>strict guide lines should be issued tointimate the other side tat is the receiverof the consignment in both the cases. 4>Ravi took the situation as a normalissue and he dint inform the airportexecutive abt the consignment not beingsent.