Amtrak is a passenger railroad service in the US and Canada that was founded in 1971. It serves business, leisure, and student travelers with trains like the Acela Express and programs like the Student Advantage Card. Amtrak's mission is to provide efficient and effective intercity passenger rail mobility. Its vision is to increase ridership and revenue through growth and efficiency while ensuring safety. The document recommends Amtrak adopt a formal strategic planning process that establishes a clear mission and vision, assesses strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and sets goals and plans to achieve its vision.
2. Introduction
• The National Railroad Passenger Corporation,
doing business as Amtrak is a passenger railroad
service that provides medium- and long-distance
intercity service in the contiguous United States
and to three Canadian cities.
• Founded 47 years ago in 1971 as a quasi-public
corporation to operate many U.S. passenger rail
services.
• Receives a combination of state and federal
subsidies but is managed as a for-profit
organization.
• Amtrak's headquarters is located in Union
Station in Washington, D.C.
3. Target Segment
Serves three specific markets:
Business,
leisure,
and student travelers
Acela Express = business class
Student Advantage Card = college students
4. Brand Value
• Brand Statement:
• “ Simply a smarter way to travel”.
• “Amtrak’s new brand campaign speaks to the
uniquely enjoyable experience of rail travel.”
“Darlene Abubakar, Amtrak acting vice president
brand management and marketing”.
5. Cont..........
1. SAFETY: We focus our efforts to reduce risk and increase safety for our
employees and customers.
2. INTEGRITY: We are a trustworthy and trusted partner in all matters.
3. CUSTOMER FOCUS: We continuously strive to anticipate our customers’
needs.
4. CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT: We improve business processes
continuously to support our mission and vision.
5. TEAMWORK: We respect and value each other as contributing individuals.
We value constructive ideas, and work for common alignment on goals so
that teamwork results.
6. EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT: Every job well done deserves respect. We
take the time for employees to have a say in what and how they do their
work.
7. EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT: We focus on human capital planning for our
future.
8. INNOVATION: We encourage and develop good ideas.
9. GOODWILL: We value humor and perspective. They keep us in balance.
6. Mission Statement
• provide efficient and effective intercity passenger
rail mobility consisting of high quality service that
is trip-time competitive with other intercity travel
options, and provide additional or complementary
intercity transportation service to ensure mobility
in times of national disaster or other instances
where other travel options are not adequately
available.
7. Vision Statement
• Increase ridership
• Increase revenue through increased ridership and
improved revenue management
• Contain cost growth through productivity and efficiency
improvements
• Improve financial transparency
• Provide a safe and secure environment for passengers
and employees
• Improve management of human capital
• Improve environmental stewardship
32. Recommendations
Amtrak should revise the Leadership Team Charter to
incorporate a strategic planning process that includes
the key elements of an effective strategic planning
process. Specifically:
Develop a Mission statement that clearly states the
fundamental purpose of Amtrak’s existence.
Develop a Vision (realistic desired future state) for the
corporation to provide direction as to where it wants to
go and what results it seeks.
Perform a thorough assessment of the current
environment to help develop Goals and Strategies that
are aligned to its newly developed Vision.
33. Cont..........
Develop Goals that clearly define what must change
(strategically) to achieve the Vision that are clear,
outcome oriented, time-bound and measurable.d, time-
bound and measurable.
Develop detailed Programs and Activities identifying
who
does what, when, etc., during the planning process to
help
allocate resources, track and coordinate activities, and
ensure success of the plan.
Continually communicate the plan throughout the
organization to build commitment and ensure effective
coordination of efforts toward successful plan execution
34. Conclusion
Amtrak has struggled over the last several years to
implement an effective strategic planning process.
It has recently embarked on an attempt to develop and
articulate a future state vision and new organization for
Amtrak.
Based on our observations, Amtrak could benefit from
adopting a strategic planning process that incorporates
these key elements.