Mental mindset paper Essay

Assume you work in Human Resources as a part of the management team for AAA Transportation in Waukegan, WI, which has recently been acquired. AAA Transportation is an interstate trucking company that specializes in transporting wholesale produce in refrigerated trailers throughout the Midwest. The new owners want to make some sweeping changes in the services offered. One of the things that they would like to do is add delivery of nonperishable products, such as canned foods, to their delivery routes, allowing AAA to expand the area they cover and to provide expanded service to their existing customers. They think that, because many of the routes do not require a full load on the trucks, there is room to add the nonperishable goods and provide delivery at a lower rate than the customers are now paying. Two of your coworkers, Vernon and Bud, are resistant to the changes proposed by the new owners. Vernon supervises the company’s drivers and Bud works in the corporate offices. Vernon does not think that it is a good idea to expand out of their core business, while Bud thinks that AAA is not strong enough to compete with existing companies that service the nonperishable foods market (several of whom AAA has had a long history of mutually respecting each others customers and routes); they risk alienating long-term customers; and transporting nonperishable goods in refrigerated trailers is inefficient. Both employees have been with the company for more than 20 years and have much influence among the rest of the employees. Management does not want to terminate such long-term and  influential employees but need for Vernon and Bud to join the effort to make the company successful  Write a 1,050- to 1,400-word paper in which you define and discuss mental model/mindsets and their impact on you and your two  coworkers. Identify the four steps to changing mental models/mind sets and how you could use them to bring Vernon and Bud onto the team.  Identify the five forces that influence those mental model/mindsets of your coworkers and discuss how those forces might affect your coworkers’ mindsets. Include examples of what mental models/mindsets are possibly affecting Vernon and Bud’s decision-making processes and affecting their relationship with the company. Analyze your most commonly used mental models/mindsets that  guide your decision making in the workplace. How do these models influence your decision making?  Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines and how  Identify the four steps to changing mental models/mind sets and how you could use them to bring Vernon and Bud onto the team The first step is to recognize the power and limits of the models. The second step is to test the relevance of the mental models against changing environment and to generate new models. The third step is to overcome inhibitors such as lack of information, lack of trust, desire to hold on to old patterns, and the expectations of the others. The final step is to implement the model, assess the model and continuously strengthen the model (Crook, Wind, Gunther, 2005, p. xxiv). Identify the five forces that influence those mental model/mindsets of your coworkers and discuss how those forces might affect your coworkers’ mindsets The Porter Five Forces model helps to simplify the business decision-making process by breaking down business situations into five key areas, which include Supplier Power, Buyer Power, Competitive Rivalry, Threat of Substitution and Threat of New Entry (Mind Tools, 2011). By using this model to identify the strengths and weaknesses of a business and its competitors, aspects of risk, planning and decisions for a course of action can be clarified. However, an incorrect perception in any of the five areas could create a mindset that limits decision-making process (Malone-Kline, 2008). For example, a known weakness in the areas of Buyer Power, Supplier Power or Threat of Substitution could create the mindset of vulnerability to a Threat of New Entry without recognizing that an extremely high cost of entry (hence high risk) places any new entry in a more vulnerable position (Mind Tools, 2011). A large number of suppliers can result in a mindset of relative strength in the area of supplier power, a mental model that could prove disastrous if a sudden shortage occurred (such as was the case when Japanese  silicon chip manufacturers closed down after the recent earthquakes, causing a worldwide shortage of certain high quality chips). The inverse could also be true as was the case for Buyer Power in the U.S. housing market when the low buyer power mindset for many was not in line with the sudden drop in housing prices. For many computer manufacturers, a Threat of Substitution position of power mindset resulted in their demise because they did not recognize the fact that the market was oversaturated. A mindset or mental model of weakness in the area of Competitive Rivalry has resulted in many new inventions not being introduced to market when in fact the invention technology was superior to rivals. Apple is a great example of a company that has recently been successful through a change in mindset in a market where their Competitive Rivalry position and mindset was not favorable only thirteen years ago (Business Insider, 2010). Include examples of what mental models/mindsets are possibly affecting Vernon and Bud’s decision-making processes and affecting their relationship with the company Analyze your most commonly used mental models/mindsets that  guide your decision making in the workplace. How do these models influence your decision making How might mental models and mindsets limit the decision making process. Education, training, influence from others, rewards or incentives and personal experience all help to create our mental model and mindset of the world around us. These factors can shape our expectations such that we make decisions based upon our mental model rather than based upon the information presented to us. For example, if we have a high level of faith in the truth of the information learned through the education process and information to the contrary is presented as a decision factor, because the information is contrary to the mental model created through our education, the new but contrary information is set aside as invalid and decisions are made based upon the mental model. Another example would be making the decision to enter a market where competition is high and so it the power of substitution. If your mental model shaped by personal experience leads you to believe that substitution is less of a factor than it really is, you may opt to take the  risk and enter that market, ignoring the substitution factor entirely, resulting in a failed venture.