Several firms had formed 'crisis teams' which met daily in most cases to co-ordinate the most pressing matters of the day. Some did this in pursuance of an emergency plan whereas others formed such groups in an ad hoc way. 3.2 Difficulties getting into work Nearly two thirds of firms said their staff had experienced difficulties getting into work. Those that did not tended to be urban firms well served with public transport. The assessment of 'highly car dependent' indicates that a business' core functions are critically dependent upon staff travelling by car.
Car dependency can come about in different ways.
Sometimes car dependency can be 'designed in', where the location of the business makes it inaccessible except by car, yet Mobile working may not be feasible because of the nature of the work. Here the business requires staff to travel to a particular location, and in the absence of a works bus or similar, it is building in car commuting. Another typical form of car dependency is where the sales force is only able to perform to the company's requirements by extensive car travel. But car dependency can arise in more subtle ways, even in local authorities, where budgetary constraints combine with high levels of environmental awareness to encourage a reduction in the need to travel by car. The problem is that organisational goals do not necessarily match individual manager's expectations of their staff, who in turn may receive mixed messages from the organisation about travel as a result.