Case Study Background: Union Pacific Railroad is the largest railroad in North A

Question

Case Study Background: Union Pacific Railroad is the largest railroad in North America, operating in the western two-thirds of the United States. The railroad serves 23 states, linking every major West Coast and Gulf Coast port, and provides service to the East through Chicago, Memphis, St. Louis and New Orleans. Additionally, Union Pacific operates key North/South corridors, connects with Canadian and Mexican rail systems, and is the only railroad to serve all six gateways to Mexico. The railroad transports a large number of products, including chemical, coal, food and food products, forest products, grain and grain products, metals and minerals, and automobiles and automobile parts. Union Pacific has been ranked first among railroads in the Fortune Magazine's published list of "America's Most Admired Companies".

In an attempt to improve its 70 percent rate of timeliness and accuracy of shipping to customers, Union Pacific plans to install computers and satellites on the railroad engines, which would give conductors a better ability to communicate and locate rail cars that need to be delivered.

Case Study Discussion Forum Question: How would you conduct a needs assessment to determine what types of training conductors need to effectively use the new system?

Assessment plans should be detailed and cover the 3 components of a Needs Assessment Process noted in the textbook in chapter 3.

Explanation / Answer

Needs Assessment:

Community demographics: Training related to understanding of local language or to communicate with local people or officials either face to face or through satellite.

Consumer leadership: Training related to understanding of the document related to transported materials, its delivery time etc. It also includes usage of new system and how to make entry or updates related to any cargo or to respond to any communication.

Service gaps: Training related to the advantage of timeliness and accuracy of shipping to customers and involved process. It also involves training regarding handling of exceptional cases.

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