Case | HBS Case Collection | April 1989 (Revised August 1989)

Burlington Northern (A)

by Janice H. Hammond

Abstract

Describes the forces that led to the development of a logistics analysis program by the Burlington Northern Railroad. The first half of the case describes changes in industrial structure, technology, demographics, shipper practices, and government regulation that led to the general decline of the railroad industry following World War II. The remainder contains the Burlington Northern's competitive response to its changing environment, including the company's decision to develop a logistics analysis program to improve their employees' and their customers' understanding of logistics. Also contains an example of logistics cost tradeoffs.

Keywords: Change Management; Rail Transportation; Logistics; Rail Industry; United States;

Format: Print 15 pages EducatorsPurchase

Citation:

Hammond, Janice H. "Burlington Northern (A)." Harvard Business School Case 689-081, April 1989. (Revised August 1989.)

Related Work

  1. Case | HBS Case Collection | April 1989 (Revised March 1990)

    Burlington Northern (B)

    Janice H. Hammond

    Describes the experiences of a seasoned Burlington Northern (BN) sales representative after the introduction of ShipSmart, a decision support system developed by the BN to help its employees and customers analyze logistics problems. After a brief description of a logistics training program for sales representatives, the case describes an opportunity for new business for the BN (shipping beer from a brewery to beer distributors by rail, rather than truck) identified by the sales representative. Realizing the new business will require the coordination of logistics channel partners (the brewery, the distributors, and the railroad) as well as interfunctional coordination (between marketing, engineering, and operations) within the railroad. The sales representative weighs the complexities of the problem and considers the use of ShipSmart to demonstrate the value of switching to rail transport to the distributors and the brewery.

    Keywords: Change Management; Expansion; Rail Transportation; Logistics; Distribution Channels; Truck Transportation; Innovation and Invention; Sales; Rail Industry; United States;

    Citation:

    Hammond, Janice H. "Burlington Northern (B)." Harvard Business School Case 689-083, April 1989. (Revised March 1990.)  View Details
    CiteView DetailsEducatorsPurchase Related

About the Author

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Janice H. Hammond
Jesse Philips Professor of Manufacturing
Senior Associate Dean for Culture and Community
Technology and Operations Management

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