The industry operates under critical control of the activities of the firms within it. There are certain principles that it defines in trying to control how the companies operate. The industry insists on the safety of the customers. Therefore, the company must meet the specific standards set by the industry. The industry insists that there should be no delays for customers. Therefore, timeliness becomes vital for the organization (Mitchell, 2011).
Competition
The industry allows different companies to operate railway services. There are no strict measures on the entry to the industry. As a result, there are various companies operating in the railway industry. The companies brought in massive issues of competition. One of the factors that they use as an element of competition is price. There is significance in considering the activities of the competitors to define the best strategies to use. The main competitors of the Canadian Pacific Railways are American Railcar Industries incorporation and the Canadian National Railway Company (Mitchell, 2011).
Key success factors
Technology
The company has excellent technological platform that allows easy execution of its services or processes. Technology eases the activities of the organization. There would be massive automation that would make customers enjoy the services following the speed of service. Technology enhances safety within the organization thus, boosting customer’s trust on the business (Canadian Pacific, 2013).
Competitive employees
Employees form a critical part of the business. They enhance excellence through proper service delivery. They are employees with competitive skills in different fields, and they are useful in defining success of the organization. The company has reliable employees for technical and professional jobs. Therefore, the company commands exclusive respect following the competitive nature of its employees (Canadian Pacific, 2013).
Generic strategies
Cost leadership strategy
The company attempts to become the railroads industry’s lowest cost producer. This refers to the cost leadership strategy. The lower the cost that the company of production the higher the profit. In this industry, the operations of the Canadian Pacific and its competitors are undifferentiated (CP, 2013). As a result, cost reduction would be an outstanding strategy for the organization to fetch massive profit from the standardized prices. The management of the company vows to cut on cost through saving time during the transportation. Mr. Creel suggested reduction of intermodal shipments from Montreal by allowing the trains to carry on instead of waiting to link up with more goods in Toronto yard. In addition, the company targets to reduce its employees as a cost-cutting strategy (Deveau, 2013). Since the company emphasizes on quality services even within the process of cutting costs, it will fetch massive profits.
Differentiation
The differentiation of company’s products assists the company to charge premium price for its services. An example of differentiation is better levels of services to customers in comparison with the competitors. In most cases, the differentiation strategy attracts extra costs. Such costs may include high advertising spending. The Canadian Pacific considers this as one of its generic strategies to define its excellence in a highly competitive industry. The company vows to make its operations known to the customers. Since 2012, the company has been keen on enhancing its sales through advertisement. In 2012, the company launched a new brand platform, which has been a major stronghold for the productivity of the company. This campaign is extremely useful in attracting new customers (Horn, 2012). This is because the campaign ensures all the customers have accurate information concerning the activities of the organization.
Focus
The Canadian Pacific employs in the execution of its activities this essentially significant generic strategy. The strategy aims at identifying the opportunities in a competitive industry. As a result, the strategy may also be referred to like the niche strategy. The company would acquire competitive advantage if the focus strategy became a critical element in the management of its operations. Focus strategy would combine easily with the cost leadership or differentiation approach (Deveau, 2013). As a result, company using the cost focus approach would focus on cost advantage in its target segment only.
The Canadian Pacific company insists on operations that many companies in the industry do not find value. Although, the company is famous of its railway transport of passengers, it is emphasizing on delivery of goods. Many companies ignore this opportunity. However, following the changes that are occurring in different sectors as energy and agriculture, in the United States, delivery services would be highly profitable (Deveau, 2013). Therefore, there is a need for the Canadian Pacific to emphasize on the opportunity for it to acquire extensive or massive gains following dominance of the opportunity.
Discussion and recommendations
The operations strategies of the Canadian Pacific Company are critical, and they remain paramount in the execution of the duties of the organization. The company, which operates under exclusive talents in different departments, requires massive concern of the strategies in place. The leaders have been at the forefront to fight for exclusive strategies that would ensure massive benefits for the organization. The uniqueness in service delivery is critical in fashioning exclusive strategies for all the activities within the organization. Therefore, it would be advisable for the company to stick to the current operations strategies (CP, 2013).
Competition is a significant element in measuring the effectiveness of operations strategies. A close look at the competitive strategies of the company would show the prowess of the company in comparison to its competitors. The company remains a substantial player in the railroads industry since it is classified as the best railway services company in the United States. The company embarks on customers’ satisfaction as an operations strategy. This happens through delivery of high quality services to customers (Deveau, 2013).Whenever, customers are satisfied, the business must thrive. Customers are the main asset of an organization, and they must remain as such.
The company also invests in highly competitive employees who are able to identify various issues as they occur and come up with conclusive counter to the problems. This strategy is reliable since it would ensure proper arrest of the difficult situations. The pool of experts gathers excellent ideas that help the company in achieving excellence in different fields (Mitchell, 2011). Depending on one’s ability, the management allocates duties and define the most reliable or reasonable code of behavior at the position to influence success in the sector.
Technology is a fundamental element in driving the success of the company. There are unique strategies within the system of the company that makes it outstanding in its operations. The company controls its logistics activities through excellent technological system. This is an operation strategy where the company incurs a high cost while installing the necessary system. However, the company reaps massive benefits from the expensive system that it laid (Deveau, 2013). Therefore, it would be erroneous for the company to campaign for a strategy that will reduce its level of operations causing reduction in income.
For Canadian Pacific Railway to remain relevant in the industry and reap massive profits from their operations, several undertakings may be vital. There are strategic objectives and generic strategy that it ought to undertake.
The strategic objective that would be recommendable to the organization is retaining of current customers and recruitment of new ones. Customers’ satisfaction is the basic call in any company. The management must identify the needs of the customers and match them accordingly. This will help in attracting more customers and retaining the old ones following the benefits that they gather from the organization (Mitchell, 2011). Customers will stick with the company that satisfies their needs.
On the other hand, the focus generic strategy would be wise recommendation for the continuity of the business. Within the railroads industry, there are unique opportunities, which many companies have been ignorant of for a long time. The company should not only emphasize on the delivery niche that it has identified. It should focus on other opportunities within the transport sector to ensure there are massive benefits in its business continuity.
References
CP. (2013). Innovation and Technology .Canadian Pacific. Retrieved June 12, 2014, from http://www.cpr.ca/en/about-cp/innovation-and-technology/Pages/default.aspx
Canadian Pacific. (2013). Canadian Pacific Railway | SWOT Analysis | BrandGuide | MBA Skool-Study.Learn.Share.. Canadian Pacific Railway | SWOT Analysis | BrandGuide | MBA Skool-Study.Learn.Share.. Retrieved June 11, 2014, from http://www.mbaskool.com/brandguide/transport-and-logistics/4467-canadian-pacific-railway.html
Deveau, S. (2013, May 16). CP Rail's new leadership unearths opportunities for efficiencies as company review begins.Financial Post Business CP Rails new leadership unearths opportunities for efficiencies as company reviewbegins Comments. Retrieved June 11, 2014, from http://business.financialpost.com/2013/05/16/canadian-pacific-new-leadership-wraps-up-first-session-of-comprehensive-review-more-to-come/
Horn, J. (2012, January 6). Canadian Pacific launches a new brand platform. » strategy. Retrieved June 12, 2014, from http://strategyonline.ca/2012/01/06/canadian-pacific-launches-a-new-brand-platform/
Mitchell, J. (2011). U.S. Considers Rules to Spur Freight-Rail Competition. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 12, 2014, from http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1000
