Sinceits founding in 1923, Yellow Corporation has been a leader in the transport-组卷网

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Since its founding in 1923, Yellow Corporation has been a leader in the transportation industry, using trucks to transport goods between points in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. For decades, Yellow achieved success by concentrating virtually all of its attention on increasing efficiency at every turn. Yellow has long been a master at ensuring that trucks are full before they have a warehouse, and it has also developed precisely time delivery schedules.

Unfortunately, Yellow eventually fell victim to its own success. As operational efficiency increased, customer service received less and less attention, and before long, newer and more responsive companies were taking away the firm’s customers. Accompanying this problem was the fact that the customers most likely to seek a more service-oriented transportation provider were also the ones willing to pay high prices for the extra service. As a result, Yellow’s financial performance began to decline, slowly at first, but then more dramatically. Naturally, the decline in profit led to even worse across-the-board service.

To help turn Yellow around, the board of directors offered Bill Zollars the position of CEO. Already a highly respected manager, Zollars was attracted by the opportunity to revitalize the carrier. Zollars quickly learned that organizational change at Yellow would have to be fundamental. Over a period of decades, people throughout the company were often willing to do only the minimal amount necessary to get their jobs done. Zollars knew that he had to alter the attitudes, behavior, and performance of 30,000 employees. He began by improving communication. The CEO spent 18 months traveling to several hundred locations, and at each site, he talked face-to-face with customers and with employees at all levels. He asked for opinions and provided his own message---namely, that enhanced customer service was to become the firm’s new focus.

Zollars’s plan consisted of more than promises and motivational speeches. While previous leaders often didn’t focus on problems and refused to reveal information about the firm’s performance, Zollars openly acknowledged the company’s defect rate---the percentage of shipments that were late, wrong, or damaged. Employees were shocked to find that the rate was 40 percent, but that knowledge was necessary to enhance motivation and set a benchmark for improvement. Zollars also instituted the company’s first ongoing program for surveying customer satisfaction, and the results were reported openly throughout the company. Zollars made a real effort to listen to employees, gave them authority to make decisions, and developed an enviable reputation for honesty and commitment. “If people doing the work don’t believe what’s coming from the leadership,” says Zollars, “it doesn’t get implemented.”

【小题1】What caused Yellow Corporation’s financial performance to decline?

A．There was suddenly some difficulty finding enough warehouses.

B．Fewer customers were willing to pay high prices for extra services.

C．More transportation providers emerged with the market expanding.

D．It put more emphasis on operational efficiency than on customer service.

【小题2】What did Zollars do to facilitate the fundamental changes in Yellow Corporation?

A．He communicated with customers in person.

B．He employed some highly respected managers.

C．He reevaluated all the employee’s performance.

D．He estimated the minimal amount of job each should do.

【小题3】It can be inferred from the last paragraph that it was ______ that contributed to the success of Zollars’s plan.

A．the precise calculation of the company’s defect rate