Csx Transportation Marketing Strategy

railroad has allowed the rail industry to provide a more tailored service to its customers. It has also

CSX Corporation “engages in the provision of rail-based transportation services including traditional rail service and the transport of intermodal containers and trailers.” (The Wall Street Journal, 2016). The company began in 1827 and started with horse-drawn rail cars covering only 13 miles in one state. Present day, the corporation command electric locomotives is capable of moving tons of cargo on a daily basis. The main headquarters is in Jacksonville, Florida. CSX Corporation, together with all its subsidiaries, is one of the nation's leading transportation suppliers.

Marketers of the F-150 truck line traditionally target the construction industry with heavy towing capabilities and large carrying capacities. In January of 2015, “Ford starts most comprehensive truck marketing campaign to introduce the toughest, smartest, most capable F-150 ever” (Ford Motor Company, 2014). Marketers again target the working class men who depend on reliability, durability, and capability. Ford bombards the television ads, radio talk shows, consumer websites, print ads, and Hispanic sports competitions with information promising toughness. On the first day of the campaign, Ford placed three television commercials during a nationally televised college playoff football game showcasing the 2016 F-150. The first commercial, forward march, introduced the F-150 as being tougher, smarter, and more capable than the competition. The second advertisement, what’s next, concentrated on innovations such as a remote releasing tailgate, LED lighting, and a three hundred sixty degree exterior camera. The third commercial, move it, let consumers know that the 2015 F-150 has the best-in-class, six ton capacity payload (Ford Motor Company, 2014). The official Ford website has various videos informing the consumer on various topics including: road handling, an aluminum body that reduces the truck weight by seven hundred pounds, six ton load capacity, back up turning knob control and camera, safety, fuel efficiency, strength, and innovation (2014).

Third, there is resistant to across-the-board employee cuts. Many offices were already operating with a very tight staff whereas other offices were allotted a larger employee budget. Fourth, there was strong perception among line workers within the organization that senior management, who were generously rewarded, would not effected by the difficult decisions that had to be made. Last, the CEO of Broadway Brokers was proposing to release a memo to all employees explaining the decisions that had been made. The management teams was asked to look over both the concerns highlighted above as well as consider and prioritize a list of suggestions for change. The team would meeting for the next few days and needed to have a tentative plan in place for top management in three days.

CSX railroad is a monopoly therefore creating a lot of revenue which is rarely available to other railroads. CSX has the ability to repair its railroad whereas most competitors strain. Therefore, CSX enjoys temporary competitive advantage. Transportation of freight is a major CSX railroad product. However, the service has been imitated by trucks which transport the freight by road.

The recommendation I would suggest to Marchionne is to focus on providing leadership training for executives and developing a strong clan value environment. For example, Marchionne restructured the organization’s goals, as his focus was more on profit that job satisfaction for Chrysler employees. This approach eliminated current executives and replaced with new employees. The current employees can succeed as Marchionne can demonstrate positive feedback, motivation, and encouragement.

The freight rail industry in the U.S. is so healthy now, that a comparison of U.S. freight rates to those in other industrialized nations shows the U.S. to have the lowest rates in the world, as depicted in the chart above. In order to continue this trend, however, the country must make

This movement is critical to the facilitation of trade between persons, companies, regions, and countries. As might be expected this industry’s growth and health is tied strongly to that of the Economy. “The industry tends to be a leading indicator for the overall economy. During the early stages of an economic upswing, customers begin to ship more goods in anticipation of strong business conditions” (http://www.valueline.com/Stocks/Industries/Industry_Analysis__Trucking.aspx#.VZwC1lL6Wiw)

The massive global conglomerate known as ITT Industries has undergone a number of fundamental changes during the firm's century of continuous operation, growing from a humble family-run company known as International Telephone & Telegraph into the multifaceted worldwide corporate entity that exists today. Along the way, executives and upper management at ITT Industries elected to use a vast array of transportation options, consisting primarily of overseas shipping and railway/roadway freight distribution to facilitate the movement of supplies, equipment, and products throughout its network of interrelated industrial holdings. With much of ITT Industries' current portfolio consisting of aerospace/defense contractors, automotive manufacturers, railroads, and other industrial pursuits, building and sustaining a viable transportation structure to deliver items as efficiently and effectively as possible has become one of the company's paramount priorities. The added external pressures applied by governmental bodies and regulatory agencies, which are increasingly concerned with legislating environmentally sustainable corporate conduct, has also motivated ITT Industries to reassess the functionality of its transportation structure from a progressive perspective. When the diversity of ITT Industries' vast array of worldwide holdings is considered, it becomes clear that the firm's current reliance on the traditional model of overseas shipping and freight trucking distribution

SUGGESTED QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. What are root causes for inventory variance? 2. How to motivate employees after the merger? 3. What management approaches will lead two different supply organizations work well together? Actions:  Recommend John to develop systematical educational programs  Improve forecasting systems to in turn eliminate inventory variance o Incorporate qualitative and quantitative forecasting techniques o Collaborate planning, forecasting, and replenishment (CPFR)  Inventory control o Assign a special staff to update inventory records as soon as possible o Determine order quantities and inventory levels; analyze related costs o Reduce in inventories investment; then lower

In an industry beset by limited options to consolidate domestic rail traffic, CSX looked at Conrail as an avenue to increase market share and gain access to the North East rail network. With air travel, road travel and trucking taking an increasing share, significant revenue growth became difficult. As Conrail became profitable, Congress explored ways of privatizing it, giving CSX an opportunity to acquire Conrail. Though Conrail suffered from performance inefficiencies it had certain strengths relative to CSX and Norfolk with respect to highest revenue per mile of track operated, per carload originated etc. Conrail with operating revenue of $3,686

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6. In your opinion, what are the key lessons from this case study for supply chain managers?

By December 2015, Uber has raised total equity funding of $6.61 billion in 12 rounds from 52 investors (Exhibit 2: Uber’s Investment Rounds) (CrunchBase, 2015). Compared to its seed capital of $200,000, the company has expanded enormously in these few years. Besides its evolving service lines, Uber is actively investing and developing marketing campaigns. This is highly related to Uber’s success in attracting customers, which is the most important revenue stream of the company.

The article goes on to talk about one portion of the rail network increasingly recognized as not being myopic: the small railroads (called "regionals" if they are more than a few hundred miles long). Since 1970, shortlines and regionals have demonstrated that they are in the transportation or logistics business; they know they cannot survive with the mentality of simply running trains. Many of them offer value-added services, including learning customers ' supply chain needs to the point of being able to act as logistics consultants providing solutions.