Very interesting, Ken. Taking your observation as a working hypothesis, it makes sense to look at educations of top executives of a given railroad to get a sense of their ability to handle change.
Union Pacific is easy to check. Of the folks listed, CEO has an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg, one of the top five nationally. Beyond him, eight others have various degrees, but only one of comparable excellence.
An MBA or other post-bachelors degree is no guarantee of excellence, but it is a decent predictor. My prediction would be that very few graduates of top MBA programs ( for instance, NU, Chicago, Wharton, Stanford, MIT, Harvard, Berkeley, etc.) would even consider a railroad position.
I’ve seen terminal leaders afriad to change something - becuase they’re afraid of the backlash if it doesn’t work. Instead they just sit in their office and blame the operating guys becuase the plan that doesn’t work isn’t working.
They’re response is always “you just have to try harder!”
The problem then becomes ‘when is change necessary or desirable’ vs. improving based on what is in experience.
We have noted again and again that even as ‘skilled’ a practitioner as EHH has repeatedly missed common-sense things from experience that make a mockery of practical implementation of bright ‘ideas4Brad’ bold new theories.
Something I noted with some interest was when I went down to Louisiana to ‘reform’ the B&S construction methods. I was all abubble with bright ideas to do things better… and then started looking through the company records. Almost everything I was working toward implementing had been imagined in some detail by the company’s founder sometimes several decades earlier – and was unworkable or unprofitable at that time, or with available technologies. I’d expect this to be true of many of the ‘old heads’ rising, at least partly through merit, to reach responsible positions: the key is to blend experience and modern management and technical methods … and be prepared to assess the difference between unworkability and ‘needing more time or resources to work’.
An interesting point was made by Bill Sword when he was telling my father who the top candidates for Morgan Stanley positions in the '60s would be. He noted the absolute worst were Stanford MBAs … who were absolutely certain they knew everything, and functionally knew virtually nothing applicable to the culture at the time. Of course this came up at about the same time with railroad ‘management’ premised on the idea that it was possible to teach ‘business administration’ that would always give best results implemented in any management situation. In some respects, that’s true;
charlie hebdo
it makes sense to look at educations of top executives of a given railroad to get a sense of their ability to handle change.
The problem then becomes ‘when is change necessary or desirable’ vs. improving based on what is in experience.
We have noted again and again that even as ‘skilled’ a practitioner as EHH has repeatedly missed common-sense things from experience that make a mockery of practical implementation of bright ‘ideas4Brad’ bold new theories.
Something I noted with some interest was when I went down to Louisiana to ‘reform’ the B&S construction methods. I was all abubble with bright ideas to do things better… and then started looking through the company records. Almost everything I was working toward implementing had been imagined in some detail by the company’s founder sometimes several decades earlier – and was unworkable or unprofitable at that time, or with available technologies. I’d expect this to be true of many of the ‘old heads’ rising, at least partly through merit, to reach responsible positions: the key is to blend experience and modern management and technical methods … and be prepared to assess the difference between unworkability and ‘needing more time or resources to work’.
An interesting point was made by Bill Sword when he was telling my father who the top candidates for Morgan Stanley positions in the '60s would be. He noted the absolute worst were Stanford MBAs … who were absolutely certain they knew everything, and functionally knew virtually nothing applicable to the culture at the time. Of course this came up at about the same time with railroad ‘management’
Here’s a very good way to do it. Forget the fact that she’s a woman. That has no relevance to her skills or ability. It’s the brain that counts, not the gender.
The link doesn’t address her education. A well-run company will encourage promising employees to further their education though graduate school by at least paying the tuition and fees. Some folks will put down education, I’ve sure seen and experienced that. But it isn’t going to hurt. Education will help people understand and deal with things beyond their experiences and that’s critical. If a railroad has difficulty recruiting people from top business schools, there is nothing to keep them from sending current employees to attend those schools. Such actions tend to be good investments.
Kathryn Farmer has been intentionally placed in positions of authority in operations, marketing, and finance. So, she’s gained experience (28 years total) in various areas to blend with whatever education she has.
We could have used many like her at the ICG. Instead we had the good ole’ boys.
I tried to post yesterday and got distracted, by the time I returned to computer, my post had vaporized…hope this is not a duplicate.
A few years ago I was driving south on I57 at Rantoul and the branch line to the west had a train approaching. I pulled off and watched it…big grain train. The elevator is located about 8 miles west at Dewey. Interestingly the current Illinois IDOT Highway Map does not show the line. Perhaps it has been abandoned. Google Maps satelite view shows the line.
Ken, I never could figure out the Iowa line repurchase. That is an interesting theory…but sure doesnt make much sense. I have had a very good customer in Dubuque and would make the trip (back in pre Covid days!) once or twice a year. Always enjoyed following IC west of Freeport, but there were seldom any trains. Nice ROW, no trains. I think CN runs one train each way on that line plus grain or ethanol trains.
There is an ethanol plant near Lena. It was always an interesting piece of railroad…there were wig wag crossing signal at Galena, the tunnel and crossing of Mississippi at East Dubuque, and a yard operation in Dubuque. I always wanted to catch an EB exiting the tunnel…never did.
BNSF provided good action. Also, wanted to hike to try to find the old Chicago Great Western tunnel. Not sure if there are roads to reach that area or not, or where the CN and BNSF hook up south of East Dubuque.
Perhaps IC bought the line really cheap, or perhaps there is enough grain and merchandise to make the line profitable. It is surprizing that CN kept it during the EHH days instead of spinning it off again. Must be some meat on the Iowa bone.
Out here in Iowa, many feel IC bought back the CC&P because of the success CC was having in regaining business. Once back in the fold the class one mentality returns and customers leave the rails.
I once talked to a guy who did some consulting work for a few businesses that were customers of the CC. It was around the time IC bought them back. He said CC was willing to do business with his clients, all of whom were small volume companies. CC provided them with good service even though they were small. Once IC had the Iowa lines back, those small customers were again pushed out of the way, in favor of the large volume customers.
Those so-called strategies for marketing sure weren’t made by operating crews or dispatchers. Retrenchment to serve only the easy, low-hanging fruit is a decision made by middle management up to the top. “Penny wise, pound foolish.”
For the 1987 wheat harvest, Santa Fe was caught short of grain cars to move the crop (when country grain still moved by rail). About 400 cars (and some from the CSX family) were short termed leased. The standard ICG/IC orange cars and some gray ones began to be used as an actual SF car. The cars stayed around until the fall until being released. In 1989 again SF was caught short and returned back to ICG to borrow cars for harvest. This time, the cars stayed around only about 60 days and by Labor day were all gone. These two summers were memorable times in everyday seeing the foreign equipment. Only time I ever got to photographed ICG/IC grain hops and in KS of all places
