Analysis of Tesla PUBH6013 Qualitative Research Methods

Introduction

Tesla has been the most predominant clean electric company which focuses on sustainability. However, it is no stranger to major quality issues with their range of electric vehicles with the previous issues seen in the Model X and Model 3 (Crothers, 2020). Tesla has pushed its production due to it being the end of the quarter and the recent pandemic has also increased the production line issues this resulted into some issues which have been storming the media (Lambert, 2020) where consumers expect flawless delivery with a premium product they have been receiving a product which is not up to the expected mark which has led to consumers refusing the delivery (Eisenstein, 2020). The point to ponder here that there is still a majority of consumers who have been silent over the product quality this audit by media especially social media has led to negative perceptions for the company and its delivery. The issue may be of the production in few models, however, this paper seeks to use system thinking tools like Rich picture and CATOWE for complete and comprehensive system analysis of Tesla and recommend the actions to mitigate the issue.

Systems Thinking

Systems thinking is a holistic approach to perceive information from the individuals, procedures, and technologies that are performing in an interconnected manner to achieve desired outcomes (Checkland, 1976) which in case of tesla is to provide customers with a favorable experience in the usage of the product, this approach will assist to help visualize the system’s network which is connected to the interdependent system as they influence the issues as a whole (Checkland & Scholes, 1990) resulting in identifying many probable solutions to the stated issue.

Rich Picture

The rich picture is a tool for Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) which was introduced by Checkland and Scholes (1990) and has been evolving the concept of the methodology by widening the scope and much more sophisticated. Rich picture refers to an actual visual representation which would validate the point presented by Ackoff (1974) that all probable stakeholders are to be involved and incorporated in this visualization to understand the issue in a holistic manner the efficiency and progress of the business can only be viewed as a system issue, and only by reviewing and advising key stakes and putting their priorities into line will the main mechanisms be tackled in reshaping them. Tesla needs to adopt this approach in understanding how to counter the issues of quality in a production presented in the media.

CATWOE

CATWOE assists in understanding the stakeholder perspectives with a combination of six perspectives that are taken towards a deeper understanding of an issue (Checkland, 1981). This was created in context with the understanding of roots definition which was introduced by Smyth and Checkland (1976). The six perspectives are customers, actors, transformation, worldview, owner, and environment. The customers of tesla are complaining about the quality of the car, where the actors are the shareholders and employees which are impacted by the company performance. The transformation process is presenting the information of dissatisfied customers by the media, and how the world is viewing this information considering previous known issues of the company, tesla being the owner of the problem here and a huge generic competitive market looms over. The elements are to be analyzed to develop a root definition for which a solution can be presented.

Recommendation

The recommendation is to increase PR activities which would boost a positive media presence by way of testimonials from the current receivers of the car and also pinpointing the production line issues and resolving them to eliminate the problem from its roots.

References

Ackoff, R. L. (1974). The systems revolution. Long range planning, 7(6), 2-20.

Checkland, P. (1976). Systems thinking, systems practice. In: Wiley Chichester.

Checkland, P. (1981). Systems thinking, systems practice Wiley. In: Chichester.

Checkland, P., & Scholes, J. (1990). Soft Systems Methodology in Action Chichester. In: John Wiley and Sons England.

Crothers, B. (2020). Media Dings Tesla On Model Y Quality Issues. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/brookecrothers/2020/06/21/media-signals-tesla-model-y-quality-issues/#5649f1b54065

Eisenstein, P. A. (2020). Tesla Model Y Hammered by Quality Problems. Retrieved from https://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2020/06/tesla-model-y-hammered-by-quality-problems/

Lambert, F. (2020). Tesla has some major Model Y quality issues. Retrieved from https://electrek.co/2020/06/16/tesla-model-y-quality-issues/#:~:text=In%20more%20worrying%20cases%2C%20Tesla,Y%20vehicles%20with%20significant%20defects.&text=One%20of%20the%20biggest%20problems,over%20the%20last%20few%20weeks.

Smyth, D., & Checkland, P. B. (1976). Using a systems approach: the structure of root definitions. Journal of Applied Systems Analysis, 5(1), 75-83.