STRATEGIC AUDIT OF UNION PACIFIC CORPORATION

Seven analysis areas are examined in the strategic audit of Union Pacific Corporation. The analysis areas are (a) background; (b) external environment analysis; (c) internal environment analysis; (d) strategy; (e) structure of the organization and control; (f) past performance analysis; and (g) future performance prediction.

Union Pacific was formed in 1862, early in the Civil War. The company became an icon when it linked the eastern and western states via rail. The company was an early day participant in corporate financial scandals (it began in 1872 when top Union Pacific executives feathered their own nests at the expense of shareholders, contractors, and the public ("Union Pacific Corporation History", 2004). Neither the company nor corporate America has changed a great deal since that time with respect to ethical behavior,

Over the years since its founding, Union Pacific has become bankrupt, purchased by capital rich investors, beset by changing transportation preferences and technologies, and taken advantage of numerous opportunities to profit. In spite of everything, the company is still around 142 years later. The railroad has been involved in several mergers in recent years. In some of these mergers, the company has been acquired, while in others it was the acquirer. In the end, however, the Union Pacific name has survived, and today the Union Pacific Corporation is

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, air, water, rail ù to complete a single long-distance movement of freight. The savings that can be achieved are at least partially responsible for the increasing use of intermodal shipping. A familiar form of intermodal shipping was introduced in the late-1950s, when trucking companies began placing loaded trailers piggyback-style on railroad flat cars. Eventually, the industry began using special containers that are lifted onto railroad cars, trucks, or steamships. In the early years of the 21st century, intermodal transportation accounts for approximately 15 percent of trailer load shipments moving 500 miles or more. Services that specialize in intermodal shipping are known as intermodal marketing companies. Union Pacific offers intermodal marketing services as well as the actual transportation of freight. Many intermodal marketing companies accept only fully loaded trailers or containers for shipment. Some intermodal shippers, however, do handle smaller shipments. Such shippers take smaller loads and consolidate them with goods from other businesses going to the same destination via intermodal or truck Shipment. Intermodal marketing companies use trailers, containers, and overhead cranes owned by the railroads,
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Approximate Word count = 2392
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)

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