| Course | MGT 362 Change Management and Implementation (MGT/362) |
|---|---|
| Week | 1 |
| Paper type | Change analysis using data |
| Length | about 1,065 words, 4 double-spaced pages plus title page and references |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | University of Phoenix |
| Program | BS in Business |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MGT 362 Week 1
Why a Regional Trucking Company Must Change How It Dispatches 1,100 Trucks, and What Its Data Say About Where to Start
[Student Name]
University of Phoenix
MGT/362: Change Management and Implementation
Week 1 Assignment
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Cardinal Freight Lines and all operating data are composites written for a model paper.
Cardinal Freight Lines, a composite less-than-truckload carrier headquartered in Indianapolis, moves shipments of 150 to 10,000 pounds for about 9,000 business customers across Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and Kentucky. It employs 1,800 people, including 1,150 drivers and 64 dispatchers at 14 terminals, and runs 1,100 trucks. Dispatchers assign pickups and deliveries using experience, whiteboards and phone calls with drivers. Operating margins fell from 9 to 5 percent in two years. Organizations often sense they must change long before they can say exactly what should change, and data turn that unease into a problem that can be defined and measured. This paper examines why Cardinal must change and what its data show about where to begin.
External Forces for Change
Several outside forces press on Cardinal. Diesel prices remain volatile, and fuel is about a fifth of operating costs. The driver market is tight, and wages have risen. Large shippers now expect real-time tracking and accurate delivery windows, which competitors with modern systems provide. National carriers with sophisticated routing compete for Cardinal's best customers.
Internal Forces for Change
Inside the company, 18 of the 64 dispatchers plan to retire within five years, taking decades of route knowledge with them. Costs have grown faster than revenue. Customer complaints about missed windows have increased. Leadership's new strategy aims to grow with large regional shippers, which require service levels Cardinal cannot consistently meet.
Types of Change
Changes range from incremental improvements in existing processes to transformational changes in how work is done. Adjusting a terminal's start times is incremental. Moving dispatch from personal judgment to a system that optimizes routes and shows drivers and customers live information is transformational, because it changes roles, skills and daily routines.
What the Data Show: Empty Miles
Twelve months of fuel, mileage and dispatch records show that 19 percent of miles were driven empty, compared with about 12 percent at carriers using routing software, according to industry benchmarks. At Cardinal's volume, each percentage point of empty miles costs about $850,000 a year in fuel, wages and wear.
What the Data Show: On-Time Delivery
On-time delivery averaged 91 percent but ranged from 96 percent at three terminals to 84 percent at two others. The best terminals have dispatchers with more than 20 years of experience who plan routes carefully the night before. The weakest have newer dispatchers and higher volumes.
What the Data Show: Dispatcher Workload
Dispatchers at busy terminals handle up to 180 calls a day with drivers and customers, mostly to answer questions about where a truck is. Tracking would remove much of this work and allow dispatchers to focus on planning and exceptions.
What the Data Do Not Show
Data have limits. Records do not capture why experienced dispatchers succeed, such as knowing which customers' docks close early or which roads flood. Some records were incomplete at smaller terminals. The analysis should be checked with dispatchers and drivers before conclusions are drawn.
How Data-Driven Decisions Spread
Brynjolfsson and McElheran (2016) found that the share of U.S. manufacturing plants using data-driven decision making nearly tripled between 2005 and 2010 and that adopters had higher productivity. Trucking has followed a similar path. Cardinal's competitors that adopted routing and tracking earlier have gained customers and reduced costs.
Technology Acceptance
Analytics only helps if people use it. Davis (1989) showed that people accept new technology when they find it useful and easy to use. Dispatchers who see a routing system as replacing their judgment, or as hard to use, may resist or work around it, which would waste the investment.
Why Urgency Matters
Kotter (2012) names the first and most common error in organizational change: starting without a strong enough sense of urgency, leaving employees comfortable with the current way of working. At Cardinal, most employees see the company as stable and the dispatch system as something that works well enough. The data on margins, empty miles and terminal differences can help create urgency without causing panic, by showing employees concrete problems and their costs. Sharing the data openly with dispatchers and drivers, rather than only with executives, is the first step.
Learning From the Best Terminals
The three terminals with 96 percent on-time delivery offer lessons. Their dispatchers plan the next day's routes the evening before, group deliveries by neighborhood, call customers with tight dock hours in advance and keep notes on problem locations. A routing system should build these practices in rather than replace them. Interviewing these dispatchers before choosing a system would capture knowledge that might otherwise retire with them.
The Driver's View
Drivers are also affected. Interviews with 20 drivers found frustration with empty return trips, long waits at docks and late changes to their routes. Many welcomed tracking that would reduce calls from dispatchers, while some worried that it would be used to monitor them too closely. Their concerns will shape how the change is introduced.
Defining the Change
The change Cardinal should pursue is a routing and dispatch system that plans routes using shipment data, tracks trucks in real time and gives customers live updates, used by dispatchers who review and adjust plans using their local knowledge. The goal is fewer empty miles, more consistent on-time delivery and dispatchers freed for planning.
Targets From the Data
Baseline data allow measurable targets: reduce empty miles from 19 to 14 percent, raise on-time delivery to 95 percent at every terminal and cut status calls by half within 18 months. These targets will be used to measure the change in Week 5.
Why This Is Planned Change
Cardinal can still choose how to change. Waiting until margins fall further or key dispatchers retire would force rushed change. Planning now allows the company to capture experienced dispatchers' knowledge and involve them in shaping the system.
Risks of the Change
Risks include cost, about $2.8 million over three years; resistance from dispatchers and drivers; data quality problems; and disruption during the switch. Each will be addressed in later weeks.
Conclusion
External pressures from fuel, labor, customers and competitors, along with internal pressures from retirements and costs, make change necessary. Data on empty miles, uneven delivery and dispatcher workload show where to start. The change is transformational, so it must combine analytics with the knowledge and acceptance of the people who will use it.
References
Brynjolfsson, E., & McElheran, K. (2016). The rapid adoption of data-driven decision-making. American Economic Review, 106(5), 133-139. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.p20161016
Davis, F. D. (1989). Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Quarterly, 13(3), 319-340. https://doi.org/10.2307/249008
Kotter, J. P. (2012). Leading change. Harvard Business Review Press.
What the MGT 362 Week 1 instructions ask
The opening MGT 362 assignment typically asks students to describe why organizations need to change and how data and analytics inform change decisions. Common requirements include identifying internal and external forces for change, distinguishing types of change such as incremental and transformational, explaining how analytics can define problems and measure progress, applying the ideas to an organization and stating the change that is needed. Some prompts ask for a short data analysis. Use specific numbers from the organization, explain what the data show and do not show, define the change clearly and cite sources in APA format.
How this MGT 362 Week 1 example is built
A trucking company whose dispatchers plan routes on whiteboards and phone calls faces rising costs and customers who want tracking, and the paper uses data to show why change is needed. It identifies external forces, such as fuel costs, a tight driver market and shippers' demands for real-time updates, and internal ones, such as retiring dispatchers and empty miles. It analyzes 12 months of operating data, which show that 19 percent of miles run empty and that on-time delivery varies widely by terminal. Research shows that firms adopting data-driven decisions gain productivity. The paper defines the change: a routing and dispatch system supported by analytics, introduced with dispatchers' expertise, and sets baseline targets for empty miles, on-time delivery and status calls that later weeks will use to measure progress.
MGT 362 Week 1 grading rubric: where the points go
Strong opening papers in change management identify specific forces for change and use data to define the problem rather than asserting it. Instructors credit a clear distinction between internal and external forces, an explanation of the type of change needed, a short but correct analysis of data and recognition of the limits of the data. Connecting analytics to how the change will be measured later shows foresight. A precise statement of the change to be made, written in plain terms, gives the rest of the course a foundation. Organized writing and APA citations complete the work. Instructors also reward papers that respect what employees already know, since data often miss the reasons experienced people succeed, and papers that set baselines that later weeks can use to show whether the change worked.
MGT 362 Week 1 help: mistakes to avoid
Students often write that an organization must change without showing why. Use data and named forces. Another gap is treating analytics as a technology purchase instead of a way of defining problems and measuring results. Explain the difference. Students also describe the change vaguely, such as improving efficiency. State exactly what will change. Avoid ignoring people's knowledge; experienced employees often understand problems the data miss. Note what the data cannot tell you. Choose a few measures that matter. Finally, connect the problem to the type of change, since transformational change needs more preparation than small improvements. Set baselines now so you can measure progress later.
Related MGT 362 sample papers
Other MGT 362 week samples
- MGT 362 Week 2: Applying Change Management Models
- MGT 362 Week 3: Change and Project Management
- MGT 362 Week 4: Stakeholders and Change Communication
- MGT 362 Week 5: Measuring and Sustaining Change
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MGT 362 Week 1 questions, answered
What does MGT 362 Week 1 usually cover?
It usually covers why organizations change, internal and external forces for change, types of change and how data and analytics help define problems and measure progress.
Where can I find a free MGT 362 Week 1 sample paper?
A complete change analysis of a trucking company's dispatch operation, with data tables and notes beside each section, appears above. Students who share their MGT 362 prompt can receive a free draft.
What are forces for change in organizations?
External forces include competition, technology, customer expectations, regulation and the economy. Internal forces include costs, performance problems, workforce changes and new strategies.
How does analytics support change management?
Analytics helps define the problem with evidence, find where it is concentrated, set baselines and targets and track whether the change produces results.
What is the difference between incremental and transformational change?
Incremental change improves existing ways of working step by step. Transformational change alters how work is fundamentally done, often requiring new systems, skills and roles.
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