Networking as the basis for value proposition of transport companies in the railway transit market

Abstract

The article considers the issues of transport companies’ value proposition in the sphere of railway transit transportation. The methodological basis of the study includes strategic marketing theory, the concepts of value proposition and inter-firm networking. The authors detect the dominant trends in transport services within international transport corridors applying data analysis of international trade flows, railway transportation volumes and the main shifts in the industry. The research results emphasize that there exists multidimensional space of alternative management decisions, where a company’s choice made in accordance with the actions of other actors in the market constructs a particular scenario of business development. The paper finds that Russia is a key country in the field of inland container transportation among economies of Europe and Asia. Improvements in transport services provided have a significant positive impact on the position of partner countries in cross-border relationships. The research results justify the network nature of relationships between market stakeholders and unveil key factors in improving the value proposition for customer. These factors embrace ensuring supply reliability, reducing delivery time, increasing delivery time predictability, providing a more flexible service delivery system with a focus on the end customer interests, as well as offering a faster solution to emerging issues due to established relations with foreign partners.

Keywords

• transit freight market
• transport company
• value proposition
• network relations
• stakeholder
• competitive advantage