Needs Assement (revised)

In the cabbie case study, assessing it using a problem-solving model, there are three problems in the case.
The taxi drivers break traffic rules.
The taxi drivers are rude to the commuters.
The taxi drivers overcharge the commuters.

The errant driving habits can be due to following two reasons.
The taxi drivers have forgotten the basic driving rules.

The taxi drivers choose to compromise their knowledge due to intense competition and the company’s customer policies (to provide excellent service). An example would be the act of dropping off passengers illegally at double yellow zig-zag lines.
Despite the regulations governing road safety, the taxi driver most probably stopped at the yellow lines upon customer’s request for convenience (in alighting or flagging a cab in sight from their current location disregarding the road safety regulations). This can be further supported by the case study as they mentioned, “in the first place, people should not be flagging taxis in bus lanes or double yellow lines and at traffic junctions. If they do, then it is not fair to blame the taxi drivers who stop to pick them up.”
We believe that this problem is related to the employee’s performance. This is because if the drivers under-perform in customer service (ie. Ignoring customers’ requests), they may face complaints from their customers, which may affect their work performance ratings. The solution to this problem can be resolved through learning. This can be done by conducting lessons to teach drivers on how they can deal with some unreasonable requests of customers without offending them. For instance, the company could provide instructions on how to respond to customers’ request to stop at illegal areas such as the bus lanes. According to the case study, there is a picture depicting taxi driver dropping off passenger illegally along Paterson Road despite police warning not to do so. A good response from the taxi driver in this case would be to explain why he could not stop at the requested spot and suggest another nearest drop off point. For example, instead of saying “Cannot lah. Cannot stop here lah.”, the taxi drivers could politely suggest to the customer, “Dear Sir/Madam, I cannot stop here because it’s the double yellow lines and it is against the road regulations. If it’s alright with you, I could drop you off at the taxi stand after this traffic light.” However, in situations where customers are un-receptive to the explanations, the taxi drivers should not lose their temper, but instead they should remain polite and explain that this is against traffic rules, or it is a regulation stated by the company. A plausible reply would be, “Sorry Sir/Madam, I would drop you off here if I could, but it is a regulation stated by my company and I can only drop you off at the taxi stand. I’m really sorry about the inconvenience caused.”
Despite the presence of the problem, instructions have been offered for errant taxi drivers in the form of Road Safety Training Programme as mentioned in the case study. Therefore, we can move on to the next step of needs analysis, to use the discrepancy model.

Discrepancy model
The goal of the instructional system is as followed,
The taxi driver upholds good driving habits when discharging his/her duty as taxi driver.
However, this goal is not well achieved. Although there is a road safety course for the drivers, the number of drivers who received warning letters remained high. As mentioned in the article, Comfort gave out 900 warning letters last year but they sent merely 150 drivers for the road safety course.


Curricular Map

Recognize traffic instructions


Recognize correct/incorrect Identify correct/incorrect driving
driving skills and habits skills and habits


……………………………………………………………………………………………...
Picking up passengers safely


Familiar with road directions

Operate a car

Innovation-based model
The nature of this innovation (road safety cum customer service course) is instructional. This is because drivers receive verbal instructions on how to deal with customers’ request and observe road regulations at the same time. Here is the learning goal to be achieved,
The taxi driver upholds customer service values without compromising traffic rules.
The behavioral objective for the goal will be,
Using the new innovation (road safety cum customer service course), the taxi drivers do not flout road safety regulations and receive less than 3 complaints from customers per month.
We find this learning goal to be appropriate and vital in this learning system. This is because in teaching them how to respond appropriately to customers’ requests, it avoids situations where they are forced to drop passengers off at illegal points or speeding (e.g.Customers request taxi drivers to speed up as they are “in a hurry”).
In addition, these learning goals also reinforce good road safety habits for the taxi drivers as it refreshes their memory of all road regulations. After conducting such lessons, taxi companies can also implement regular tests or checks to evaluate and ensure that these learning goals are kept up with. For instance, they can have evaluative practical exams to test how drivers’ respond to customers’ requests as well as their road safety practices. A reward and punishment system (Behaviorism) could be used in the form of merit/demerit points in this case. As mentioned in the case study, demerit points are given to cab drivers who violated the road regulations, hence in this reward and punishment system, merit points could be given to them as rewards for improvement in their performance.
The second problem on rudeness of taxi drivers can be related to the first problem. Due to intense competition or a bad day on the road, the taxi drivers may be feeling jaded and thus they tend to forget the need to practice courtesy. It can also be due to the poor attitudes of the passengers (e.g indecisiveness in where they want to go or speaking rudely to the drivers), which may irritate the drivers and thus being rude to them. This problem can be solved through learning; however there is no past instructions stated in the case. Therefore, we can proceed on to the innovation model.
Innovation based model
The nature of this innovation is instructional, whereby drivers are taught the proper etiquette when handling customers and how they can control their own emotions. The learning goal for this innovation is
The taxi driver upholds good manner when discharging his/her duty as a taxi driver.
The behavioral objective accompanying this goal will be,
The taxi driver can display good manner using the knowledge learnt in the course.
This goal is appropriate and essential to the learning system. It is important for the taxi drivers to practice good courtesy while carrying his/her duty as this will help avoid unnecessary problems.
Instructional learning is not sufficient to solve the problem. Similar to the first problem, we can adopt behaviorism by giving awards to taxi drivers who provide the best customer service.
Lastly, we address the problem of taxi drivers overcharging the commuters. The occurrence of this problem could be due to financial issues or dishonesty. This problem however cannot be solved through learning; hence an alternative non-instructional solution has to be sought. Current laws and fines (rewards and punishment system) will have to be made stricter to prevent taxi drivers from overcharging. Brochures containing information on taxi charges should also be made available on the taxis.
Therefore, in this case study, we can proceed with the next step of our learning design to solve the problem of taxi drivers having errant driving habits and poor courtesy.