Essay about CP's strategy

Words: 2483
Pages: 10

The other teams mostly follow the structure of the midterm, individual case study and the strategy in the news.
They all include at least 1 slide of financial analysis
They provided 3~5 alternatives, analyzed them and recommend over the analysis

Key factors for competitive success (both internal factors and external factors): 1 new CEO Harrison, the former CEO of CN, since June 2012 has a strong track record of “service reliability, efficient asset utilization and strategic capital expenditure”3, and he is planning “precise scheduling, controlling costs and a war on bureaucracy”1. He is very confident in CP that he bought 5 million worth of CP stock in February 20121.
“Precision railroading — where trains are regularly scheduled
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Unlike CP, whose network stretches from Vancouver to Montreal and down through the American Midwest, CN has evolved to become more of a continent-wide player, with tracks that stretch from coast-to-coast in Canada and all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico. That means a significant chunk of CN operations is spared the extra costs associated with operating in Canadian winters—a lesson CP learned the hard way earlier this year when a series of winter storms in Western Canada hammered its operations and led it to post a 67 per cent drop in first-quarter earnings.”2
Share price comparison over CN: “CP’s shares, which have been stuck in neutral for the past five years. Meanwhile, CN has enjoyed a nearly 50 per cent gain over the same period.” 2
Ackman’s possible next step “Next steps could include a shakeup of senior management, sale of non-core assets and more aggressive pricing.” But others, like RBC’s Walter Spracklin, question whether Pershing will run up against a brick wall that consists of a stiff Canadian regulatory environment, CP’s roughly $9 billion in employee pension obligations, and a highly unionized workforce.” 2
Opportunity: “James Nolan, an associate professor of agricultural economics at the University of Saskatchewan, says Pershing could also be positioning itself to take advantage of Ottawa’s proposed dismantling of the Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly over grain marketing. He says the move to a free market system could also signal the end