Efficient Communication within Transport Operations

Abstract

Electronic mail is one of the traditional tools anchored in many organisations, and due to this, email communication takes up many working hours, and people feel overloaded with electronic mail. The purpose of the study is to analyse the usage of electronic mail and identify potential improvements by using other communication tools. A case study was conducted at Transport Operations Europe, TOE, an operational function within Volvo Group that communicates through email to perform their operational tasks. The study performed interviews and focus groups and analysed data from mailboxes to understand the effects of using email. Further, benchmarking and focus groups were performed to investigate and evaluate additional communication tools applicable for businesses. A literature study was conducted to extract existing information around communication and communication tools. The analysis was done in two phases due to the extensive data collected. The study found that there were two different types of mailboxes used; personal and shared. The effects of using email were increased possibility of information overflow and email overload, and consequently, it is hard to keep control over all the emails due to manual handling. It was also found that email had limited accessibility, visibility, and traceability of information. The study found that phones, SMARP, and ticket systems were applicable tools for business communication. The ticket system was the only communication tool that showed promising improvements to the issues found with using email. The ticket system decreased information overflow and email overload. Further, it enabled more control due to the high automation level and increased the accessibility, visibility, and traceability of information.