Recruiting Recreational Vehicle Surveyors

Recruiting Recreational Vehicle Surveyors

Katie English

Kellie White

East Carolina University

Executive Summary

Background

Liberty Engineering Co. was founded during the 1940s in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. The company specializes in drafting and design work for the major automotive companies and their suppliers. The workload tends to be rather unstable and unpredictable. The company experiences a significant volume of work when sales in the auto industry are high; however, there is a sharp decrease in work when recessions hit the automotive marketplace. Therefore, the president of Liberty Engineering sought to diversify the company by bidding on government contracts in an effort to stabilize revenues.

Despite little experience in this regard and previously bidding on and losing two contracts, a third bid pertaining to the safety and use of recreational vehicles proved successful. The contract is for several hundred thousand dollars, granted on a cost-plus basis. The purpose of the study is to obtain information regarding how people actually use recreational vehicles, such as motor homes, pick-up truck campers, and various kinds of recreational trailers. The government seeks to determine what additional safety rules, if any, should be established in regards to the manufacture and use of recreational vehicles. The study will collect information such as how much weight the owners place in their recreational vehicles, whether recreational vehicles have proper suspension systems, what kinds of trailer hitches are in use, and to what extent owners are aware of the safety features of their recreational vehicles.

Problem Identification

Recruiting is going to be the most difficult problem due to unpaid travel, lodging, and food expenses. It will be a hard sell to find employees who are willing to pay for their own travel to the training location as well as to their work locations. They will also need to be able to pay for all their own food...