course material

1. (Mt) – In this assignment, you are to use the same corporation
1 Running head: AMTRAK Amtrak Name: Yamileth Lawes Course: BUS 499 Instructor: Dr. S.
Stanley Date: 07/18/2019 2 AMTRAK Amtrak Introduction The National Railroad
Passenger Corporation, more famously known as Amtrak, was founded in 1971 based on
the Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970 which provided the mandate for a countrywide
system of passenger transport. The federal government owns the company’s stock through
the Secretary of the U.S Department of Transport (Amtrak, 2018). The organization’s
primary business is providing the transportation by rail in major intercity travel areas of
the U.S. Additionally, and the company also runs commuter rail services on behalf of 15
states as well as four transport agencies, provision of equipment, services for maintaining
the fleets, as well as leasing operations (Amtrak, 2018). The organization’s operations are
made possible with the help of over 20,000 employees and 300 trains operating daily that
cover more than 20,000 miles in more than 45 states and the District of Columbia together
and an additional 3 provinces in Canada (Amtrak, 2019). Impact of Globalization and
Technology A major impact of technology in Amtrak was the development of the high-speed
intercity transport with speed of up to 150 miles per hour in some of its fleets while nearly
half of the trains operating at high speeds of 100 miles per hour or more (Amtrak, n.d). The
company is the country’s only railroad that maintains the right-of-way services for speeds
of more than 125 miles per hour. The Acela Express is Amtrak’s premier service and
considered the fastest train in of all its fleet in and around the region with a maximum
speed of approximately 150 miles per hour on certain sections of the route. (Amtrak, n.d).
The new Acela Express, considered as the next generation trains, are projected to be
introduced in 2021 (Amtrak, n.d). Amtrak also pioneered the use of a safety program known
as the Safety Management System (SMS) in the 3 AMTRAK railroad industry. The system’s
core driver is data derived from the operations, and it is used in many industries, including
aviation (Amtrak, 2019). Also, Amtrak has moved to increase the capacity of the Northeast
Corridor (NEC) transport system. NEC is a busy and complex transport system that
connects up to eight states and the District of Colombia. This will be achieved by doing a
refresh of the Acela train interiors and modernizing station facilities to improve customer
experience. Major stations like the Baltimore Penn and New York Penn will be expanded,
while also doubling passenger space like on the Washington Union Station rail course. The
Gateway program in New York has also been marked for extensive infrastructure
improvements. (NEC Amtrak, n.d). Lastly, Amtrak is a champion for the Travel Green
initiative – the 2019 US Department of Energy Data Book claims travelling by Amtrak has

2. greater efficiency compared to road travel ranked at 47% while air travel was placed at
33% efficiency (Amtrak, 2019 b). The company also records low carbon footprints through
efficiency upgrades and improved the handling of the engines (Amtrak, 2019 b). Industrial
Organization and Resource-based Revenue Model In the financial year 2018, Amtrak posted
revenues of $3.4 billion, a rise of 2.5 percent over the previous period and adjusted
operating earnings of $170.6 million, an 11.9 percent improvement over the FY 2017. This
was with a capital investment of $1.46 (Amtrak, n.d). The company holds and runs
hundreds of miles of track including more than 360 miles of the total 457 miles Northeast
Corridor (NEC) spine joining Washington and Boston, lines outside the NEC in cities of
Harrisburg, Michigan, Springfield, among others. Amtrak also owns 18 tunnels, which
enables the firm to run nine commuter rails services on the NEC translating to
approximately 820,000 commuter trips every weekday. 4 AMTRAK There were about 18.3
million customer trips recorded in FY 2018 (Amtrak, n.d). Additionally, the company is also
in ownership of three massive maintenance facilities. Funding is also received from 18
states through 21 agencies as required by Section 209 of the Passenger Rail Investment and
Improvement Act of 2008 (PRIIA) (Amtrak, n.d). Amtrak also offers contract commuter
services for state or regional authorities and commuter agencies (Amtrak, n.d). Impact of
Vision and Mission Statement on Company Overall Success Amtrak’s mission is in the
provision of efficient and effective passenger rail across major cities and enhancing mobility
characterized by high-quality service considered to be time and trip competitive and feature
additional intercity travel alternatives (Amtrak, 2018). The Amtrak Vision is, “Amtrak’s
vision is to be America’s leading and choice service for intercity travel that would link
between the country’s major metropolitan regions and give customer-oriented services that
are safe, energy-efficient, green, sustainable, and linked across various modes of service to
passengers, their communities and partners (Amtrak, 2011). The vision statement brings
out five key strategic themes in the company’s operations, which are: to make Amtrak safe
and secure, enhance customer service, improve Amtrak’s connectivity, promote sustainable
environmental practices and improve profitability through sound financial and
organizational management. This is supported by Amtrak’s values and leadership
philosophy, which includes: building a highly effective team, promoting a highperformance
culture and environment and finally creating a people-centric organization. Stakeholders’
Impact The customers are an important stakeholder group that helps the organization
achieve its goals. In the 2018 financial year, Amtrak managed to carry out more than 30
million trips and AMTRAK 5 with a daily average of 87,000 trips being made by the
customers in over 300 Amtrak trains (Amtrak, n.d). The company’s operations are made
possible by the customers that have made it possible for it to have a nationwide coverage
serving in over 500 destinations within 46 states, the District of Columbia, and three
Canadian provinces (Amtrak, n.d). Another important stakeholder group is the employees;
the company has employed approximately 20,000 employees working in various levels of
the company (Amtrak, n.d). The highly skilled workers help the company meet its
organizational goals through the services that they provide to the customers. The
employees are also an integral part of the company’s maintenance activities in three heavy
maintenance facilities being the Wilmington and Bear, Beech Grove Industries, with others

3. in Washington, D.C, New York City and other major cities throughout the U.S. Amtrak
partners also play a vital role in the organization’s operations. For example, the company
relies on approximately 72 percent of host railroads, which are tracks that are owned by
other railroads (Amtrak, n.d). The railroad partners are comprised of local government
agencies, smaller business, as well as state agencies and, are paid by Amtrak for operations
of the trains. Some of the top host railroads in miles travelled by Amtrak include the BNSF
Railway with 6.9 million miles, Union Pacific Railroad with 6.2 million miles, and CSX
Transportation at over 5 million miles (Amtrak, n.d). Another key stakeholder is the 18
states that the company works with through 21 agencies that provide the organization with
finances for operations. The partnership with those states was targeted at short-distance
commute of below 750 miles (Amtrak, n.d). The agreement was based on the 2008 Section
209 of the Passenger Rail Investment, and Improvement Act (PRIIA) that called Amtrak and
the various state government partners work together and develop AMTRAK a countrywide,
standardized cost-sharing agreement that would charging states for intercity rail travel for
their citizens (Amtrak, n.d). 6 7 AMTRAK References Amtrak (2018). Consolidated Financial
Statements, National Railroad Passenger Corporation, and Subsidiaries (Amtrak). Retrieved
from
https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/projects/dotcom/english/public/documents/corp
ora te/financial/Amtrak-Audited-Consolidated-Financial-Statements-FY2018.pdf Amtrak
(2019). Amtrak Facts. Retrieved from https://www.amtrak.com/about-
amtrak/amtrakfacts.html Amtrak (2019) b. Travel Green with Amtrak. Retrieved from
https://www.amtrak.com/aboutamtrak/sustainability/travel-green.html Amtrak (n.d). FY
2018 Company Profile For the Period of October 1, 2017- September 30, 2018. Retrieved
from
https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/projects/dotcom/english/public/documents/corp
ora te/nationalfactsheets/Amtrak-Corporate-Profile-FY2018-0319.pdf Amtrak (2011).
Strategic Plan FY2011 – FY2015. Retrieved from https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CPRT-
112HPRT76324/…/CPRT-112HPRT76324.pdf NEC Amtrak (n.d). About the NEC Retrieved
from https://nec.amtrak.com/ 8 AMTRAK Outline Amtrak I. Introduction • Overview of the
company • History • Operations II. Impact of Globalization and Technology • Advances in
technology; speed trains, sustainability • Globalization impacts; movement, sourcing III.
Industrial Organization and Resource-based Revenue Model • Operations • Capital
investments • Revenue streams IV. Impact of Vision and Mission Statement on Company
Overall Success • Vision • Mission statement Stakeholders’ Impact V. VI. • Customers •
Partners • States and local government References Running head: AMTRAK 1 Amtrak Name
Course University Professor Date AMTRAK 2 Introduction Amtrak is a railroad service for
passengers (Cornillie, 2015). It provides both medium and long-distance express services in
the United States, including nine cities in Canada. It was developed in the year 1971 to
function as United States rail service informs of the quasi-public corporation. Its
headquarters is found in Washington. In the 2018 fiscal year, the corporation served 31.7
million people, and it produced revenue of $3.4 billion, providing jobs for twenty thousand
people. Opinion on the corporation’s greatest strengths and most significant weaknesses.
Strength It serves over 500 destinations in three Canadian provinces as well as 46 states in

4. the U.S. The Corporation functions with over 300 trains each day for over 34,000 kilometers
(Cornillie, 2015). Moreover, Amtrak owns approximately 623 miles tracks, not to mention
and added 132 miles. The cooperation also provides both medium and long-distance direct
services. Furthermore, it receives both federal and states subsidies to keep it functioning,
although it functions as a profit organization. Additionally, daily, 87,000 passengers travel
with over 300 trains, and two-thirds of its passengers originate from 10 largest
metropolitan Ares. Amtrak needs to utilize the funds received from the federal and states to
increase the infrastructure of the company to increase the miles covered by the company in
long distance. Moreover, the corporation organizational changes need to be conducted to
reinforce the employees to promote financial excellence and service. As a result, the
corporation will provide improved customer satisfaction hence more clients. AMTRAK 3
Weakness Three-quarter of the corporation’s passengers travel for short distances almost
645km. The infrastructure is limited as a result of small bridges and tunnels (Fiedel, 2005).
Moreover, Amtrak depends on the federal government for its survival; if the government
reduces its grants to the corporation, then it will fail. Most of the corporation’s employees
belong to unions, and this makes Amtrak spend over half of its annual budget on wages,
salaries, pensions, and other benefits (Fiedel, 2005). Amstrad is facing significant stiff
competition from the stiff regional companies, domestic bus companies as well as the
airlines. As a result, the corporation has not been able to achieve its objective of financial
independence. To overcome the competitions, Amtrak needs to control the unfamiliarity of
the brand by its customers. This can be done by good market strategy. The good market
strategy will ensure the corporations get more customers to also achieve financial
dependency without relying on the federal government. Additionally, the company needs to
reduce the employees to minimize the cost of the employees. Amtrak also needs to expand
its tunnels and bridges to increase its ridership. The company’s tangible and intangible
resources, core capabilities, and core competencies. Resources refer to the inputs put into
the production process of the firm. The Tangible resources involve the assets quantified and
observed. They are hard to leverage into added value. Intangible resources are invisible,
and the unquantifiable. Such assets are challenging to be analyzed and imitated by
competitors. The intangible AMTRAK 4 Financial resources The company generated 3.4
billion dollars revenue in the 2018 fiscal year Amtrak making it able to employ over
200,000 (Fiedel, 2005). It services more than 85,000 passengers every day in 500 stations
Organizational Resources The value of Amtrak is intergraded and clustered business units
underscored by the guiding principles, support functions, cross-functional processes and
teams, and the decision making systems. Tangible Physical resources Amtrak operates over
300 trains every day on 21,400 miles track, but it owns 623 miles of the track (Fiedel,
2005). It has station structures not to mention parking facilities close to the 526 stations it
attends. The firm provides services to 523 destinations in three Canadian provinces and 43
states in U.S. Core competencies Amtrak has put efforts in engaging in a forward-thinking
approach to a mission immersed in scale, safety not to mention a quality customer
experience. Its investment in innovation is centered on its mission and customers. Co-
capabilities The company offers railroad services that provide both medium and long-
distance intercity service in the nine Canadian cities as and the contiguous U.S. Two

5. segments of the general environment that would rank highest in their influence on the
corporation you chose AMTRAK 5 Social, cultural segment The employees of Amtrak have
diversity. The diversity creates a working environment whereby everybody contributes and
adds value to the business (Cornillie, 2015). The diversity in recruiting strategy has helped
the representation of all ethnic groups to participate in improving, engaging customers,
onboarding, and welcoming all ethnic customers. By embracing diverse employees and
styles, the firm demonstrates respect for all, and this enables customers in all ethnic groups
to feel important hence attracting more customers in the company. Technological segment
Amtrak has implemented “New Acela Express Trains.” This involves the launching of high-
speed electric trains traveling up to 150mph (Cornillie, 2015). They are the fastest trains in
the western hemisphere. This train provides a competitive advantage against road and air
transportation. Two forces of competition that you estimate are the most significant for the
corporation you chose Competition Amtrak experienced stiff competition from the regional
train companies, interstate bus companies, and the airlines (Purdy, 2007). These
transportation modes provided a various stumbling blog for the firm’s goal of achieving
financial independence. Regardless of being more costly than trains, many people preferred
the airlines. The bus, as well as the regional and the local train services, provided lower
costs than the Amtrak. These trains used the same track utilized by the Amtrak trains.
AMTRAK 6 In handling the competition, Amtrak decided to keep the prices down lower than
buses, private cars, and air travel. Moreover, the firm extended its reach in the more
developed areas in the U.S. Threat of substitution The growth of express coach lines has
threatened to substitute Amtrak rail lines services. The express coach lines such as the
Megabus and BoltBus have developed dramatically in recent years (Cornillie, 2015). It is
now providing millions of people in the U.S. with new mobility choices leaving Amtrak
significantly threatened. In order to win this substitution, Amtrak should focus on trips less
than 125 miles because the passengers desire to stay flexible in short distances. Use of bus
in short trips, they are characterized by traffic, and most of the passengers do not like
unpredictable traveling times; hence, in this case, Amtrak would win. What to consider to be
the most significant external threat to this corporation Among the most significant threats
in Amtrak include dangerous goods (Fiedel, 2005. There have been rising cases of railways
being used to transport hazardous goods such as petrol, chemicals, nuclear wastes, and
liquefied gasses. These goods have been witnessed as causing big accidents. These kinds of
products require special trains; otherwise, international laws should be used to stop this
transportation. What you consider to be the most significant opportunity presented to the
corporation, and discuss how the corporation should take advantage of this opportunity.
Justify your explanation The greatest opportunity for Amtrak is that the prices of oil are
increasing, making the travel through coach line expensive (Fiedel, 2005. When the oil
prices rise the cost of travel will AMTRAK 7 also go up, this would mean that people would
prefer to use the rail lines. Amtrak should take advantage of this opportunity to improve its
services to attract and sustain more customers than their competitors’ bus travel. AMTRAK
8 References Cornillie, T. C. (2015). Amtrak after PRIIA – New opportunities for continuing
the revitalization of intercity passenger rail. Journal of Rail Transport Planning &
Management, 5(4), 263–273. doi: 10.1016/j.jrtpm.2015.11.002 Fiedel, G. (2005). End of the

6. line: the failure of Amtrak reform and the future of Americas passenger trains. Choice
Reviews Online, 42(09). doi: 10.5860/choice.42-5384 Purdy, E. R. National Railroad
Passenger Corporation/Amtrak. Encyclopedia of Transportation: Social Science and Policy.
doi: 10.4135/9781483346526.n343