1. For designing a decision support system, Noreen Wasserman has to gather the entire available data regarding the operations system of Burlington from the existent reports, surveys, industry information about competition, field data from the company’s agents, or other employees working directly with the customers, from the customers themselves and also from the competitors. There are three important stakeholders that should be assessed in this case, for gathering the needed information for proposing an efficient decision support system: the internal stakeholders (employees), and the external ones: customers and competitors. Yet, just as important, the business partners represent a key stakeholder that could offer significant information. One thing that should be also mentioned is that competitors should be assessed also as business partners, as the Burlington Northern case indicated that the company’s competitors can become part of its supply chain (Burlington Northern, 1989).
Because the information in the case of Burlington Northern is incomplete and imprecise, the DSS system should allow a detailed answer to the indicated problem (Rippen, 2005). Complying with Burlington Northern’s needs, the specifications for a decision support system based on the collection of all the available relevant data should include comparative prices versus the services guaranteed between different players in the industry. When talking about the industry, the system should also include relevant data about the players on the industry, analyzing them in a Porter’s Five Competitive Forces model, wherein the substitute products (the trucks – for this case), represent the biggest threat (Hill & Jones, 2008).
Permanently following the objective of designing a decision support system, Wasserman should assess the company’s unique values that deliver its competitive advantage, and this should be analyzed against the unique competitive advantages of the competitors. This investigation should be implemented by analyzing the clients’ perception upon the competitors’ values and upon Burlington Northern’s values.
In addition to these, there should be evaluated the supply chain network, for determining how the connection and collaboration with suppliers can be strengthened in order to offer competitive prices for the company’s services. Improving the services while applying a cost – effective program should be the key strategy for acquiring the objective of making the Burlington Northern’s services attractive, and the supply chain cost effectiveness should be a tactic for achieving this strategy.
The attractiveness of the railroad company resides in its customer service, as this aspect becomes increasingly significant in the permanently changing business models. Equally important and a relevant aspect in the changing business environment is the adaptability. From this point of view, the company’s logistics is a key asset and the decision support system will be focused on how to improve them in order to adjust the company’s business to the increased competition coming from the truck carriers.
The existent regulations regarding the carriers’ activity should be included in the design of the decision support system and there should be considered adjusting these regulations to the needs of the railroad carriers, so that the safety and efficiency of the public transport of goods not to be impacted, but improved. The adjustments to the legal settlements should be accomplished through trade associations and syndicates, standing for an open trade environment, sustaining the free market and encouraging the competition.
2. The designed decision support system should be implemented in Burlington Northern on the vertical. First, it should be utilized by the top management, introduced to line managers and included as working procedures in the employees’ daily work. Likewise, as the company is part of a supply chain network, its suppliers should also be informed of its DSS. Nevertheless, considering the fact that some of the suppliers included in the chain are its direct competitors, Burlington Northern should design a level based visibility for this DSS, so that the competitive companies to lack the opportunity of proposing similar market strategies.
The company should use the envisioned system in their sales relation with their clients, to propose more advantageous packages for the existing customers, making them more loyal and developing a relationship based on flexibility and understanding of the customers’ needs. The system should also target new customers, proposing differentiated packages than the ones already existent on the market. This differentiation is a result of the thorough investigation implemented in the design phase of the decision support system and is based on the analysis of the competitors’ offers for different services and on the examination of the clients’ logistic needs in terms of flexibility, customer service, business relations.
Proposing and offering improved services and logistics, the sales agents can calculate the packages for different clients, depending on their needs and on the relationship that the Burlington Northern has with each client. The DSS should be meant to generate quick business strategies that the employees of the Burlington Northern should propose to the company’s partners, by calculating rapidly and efficiently what offers to propose (what logistics, what services, what additional services and for what prices).
The decision support system’s implementation in the organization as a working procedure for the employees should be designed by Doris Carter, hired in the company for designing the internal logistics educational program, working closely with Noreen Wasserman (Burlington Northern, 1989). Considering the complexity of utilizing this tool, it should be introduced to employees in a practical manner, combining the ludic spirit with the practicality, within a tailored training. The training session should be a hybrid, comprising also team building elements, having as purpose the learning of the applicability of the tool and the understanding of its usability in a playful manner. During the hybrid training – team building session, there should be created simulations, where the managers – who should already understand the DSS play roles illustrating the situations in which the tool is to be used and how should the employees utilize it for high efficiency.
Based on the examples illustrated, next it will be the turn of the employees to play roles, simulating real situations. This will give them a great visibility upon how the tool is to be used, and to require for more information regarding the aspects that they comprehend less.
This practical session should be accompanied by a work manual explaining the technicality and the usability of the tool. In addition, an instructional guide should be created, under the format of a clip, showing real situations in which the tool is to be utilized and indicating to the employees how they should act and how they should use the DSS in different situations. Moreover, in the first year of the implementation of support DSS a team should be assigned for answering the potential inquiries that might arise from the employees who use the tool.
3. The Decision support system is designed as a management tool, comprising the managerial objectives of analyzing the logistics of the company. At each hierarchical level, the system should be applied in the activities of the employees, each having their defined objectives to follow and achieve. From this point of view, the DSS is an organizational tool, with internal use, designed for creating coherence and unity in the tasks of the company’s internal stakeholders – the employees. This tool is meant to enhance the operability, the efficiency and the productivity of the Burlington Northern teams, integrating their joined efforts towards achieving the organizational goals.
But is the DSS a marketing tool? Considering the fact that it offers real time solutions, proposing the best fitted services and assuring the customers’ logistical needs in a professional manner it can be considered that it enhances the customer service of the company, which contributes to its marketing activity.
Moreover, the tool encompasses market analyses, sales figures of Burlington Northern and its competitors, statistics, and should also be able to forecast predictions regarding the future trends in the market in which the company activates, as well as predictions regarding the business strategies that the competitors might adapt. Likewise, it should also be designed to predict the customers’ changing habits regarding their carrier needs, considering the economical, political, legal, social or technological shifts.
Comprising PESTLE model, Five Competitive Forces Model or a 4Ps Marketing Mix and a SWOT analyses, permanently adapted to the current trends and connected to the real context, the design support system should apply these analyses in various occasions, being a reliable tool for the company’s internal use, with visible external results.
Choffray and Lilien consider that a DSS can forecast the industrial sales rate of products (1986). Applied to Burlington Northern’s case, the DSS can forecast, as mentioned above, the effectiveness of applying logistics in the services of the company (such as the adaptability of the company to carry the goods on railway and on railroad, or supplementing the logistics by acquiring trucks, competing directly on the railroad).
Forecasting and predicting the market’s trends based on the available, existent data, is a relevant marketing function which contributes to further deciding on the business’ operations and strategies to approach the changes on the market. For Burlington Northern, the DSS can be a very useful marketing tool, assuring its competitive advantage from the perspective that it is designed to predict, determining the company’s management to make the necessary adjustments to successfully play on a competing market.
Nonetheless, the DSS tool can enhance the visibility and brand recognition of Burlington Northern, due to its functionality. Satisfying the customers and proposing the best solutions for their business will generate awareness within the market. In the end, satisfied customers represent the best marketing tool, possessing the potential of creating positive word – of – mouth that could promote the company’s professionalism, attracting like this new clientele and retaining satisfied customers, while enhancing the brand commitment (East, Wright & Vanhuele, 2013).
Therefore, besides being an efficient management tool and a tool that strengthens the corporate values of Burlington Northern such as unity, coherence and joined efforts, contributing to defining an organizational culture, the design support system is also a marketing tool, comprising relevant market analyses instruments that generate effectiveness for the internal operations, market predictions for the external applicability of the decision – makings meant to strengthen the productivity of Burlington Northern through brand equity and brand awareness, generated through the quality of its services and logistics, to customers and potential customers.
References
“Burlington Northern (A)” (1989) Harvard Business School. August, no. 1, pp. 1 – 15.
Choffray, J., M. & Lilien, G., L. (1986) Launch strategies for new products. Elsevier Science
Publishing Co., Inc. Industrial Marketing Management, Inc. vol. 15, pp. 75 – 85.
East, Ro. Wright, M. & Vanhuele, M. (2013) Consumer behavior: applications in marketing.
Sage: Los Angeles, London, Delhi.
Hill, C., W., L., & Jones, G., R. (2008) Strategic management: an integrated approach.
Houghton Mifflin Company: Boston.
Rippen, M. (2005) Decision support systems. Tessalla Support Services plc: Oxon.
