National Rail Station Case Study: Decision-Making and Planning

This case study examines the National Rail Station, focusing on a proposed $20 million revamp due to staff shortages. The analysis, from a Services Manager's perspective, explores management information systems, the relevance of top, middle, and frontline management in decision-making, and the application of the Administrative Man or Bounded Rationality model. The report highlights contingency planning for potential issues and evaluates the decision-making process. The study emphasizes the active involvement of all management levels in organizational decisions and the importance of contingency plans for addressing commuter issues during emergencies. The case underscores the station's significance as a tourist hub and connector to various attractions, justifying the investment in the station's upgrade.

Running head: CASE STUDY NATIONAL RAIL STATION
CASE STUDY ON NATIONAL RAIL STATION
Name of the Student
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Author Note

1CASE STUDY ON NATIONAL RAIL STATION
Executive Summary
This report is based on the case study of National Rail station, which serves the village area of
Dove. The issue is that the station had faced a lack of staff in the year 1967, due to which the
authorities had to think of revamping the station that involves an investment of 20 million
dollars.
The analysis is based on identification of the management information that is required to take the
decisions related to the project. The involvement of the levels of management in the decision
making process is analyzed. The most relevant model that can be used for this decision-making
is discussed. The contingency plan of the authorities to address the situation is taken into
consideration.
The report is concluded with the learning that the levels of management are involved actively in
the decision making of an organization. The contingency planning is done based on the issues
faced by the commuters in during any type emergency. This analysis is done from the point of
view of a Services Manager of National Rail station.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Management information required for successful completion of the project..................................4
Importance and relevance of levels of management in the decision making process.....................6
Decision making model used to plan the revamp of National Rail Station.....................................8
Reasons behind the choice of this model.....................................................................................9
Contingency planning of the organization based on three possible issues....................................10
Evaluation of methods used to examine decision making and planning process..........................11
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................14

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Introduction
This report is based on the case study of National Rail Station, which mainly serves the
village area of Dove. The problem to be addressed in this case study is that the station has faced
a problem regarding staff in the year 1967 (Cheshirebytrain.co.uk 2017). The station has two
platforms along with a footbridge or level crossing. The passengers can change platforms with
the help of an underpass that is located adjacent to the road located in the village.
A plan for the up gradation of the station is designed from the point of view of a Service
Manager at National Rail Station. According to the available information, this is the best possible
option for the National rail station and the adjacent area where it is located. The popular tourist
attraction of Seven Way begins from this station. Due to this reason, closing down is not a
feasible option for the area. Closing down the station will also increase the pressure of
commuters in other stations in that area. This can also cause a delay on the important route that
leads to Sheffield. The cost that is estimated for the up gradation of the station is around 20
million dollars. In spite of this, the up gradation will be cost-effective for the station (Anderson
et al. 2015).
The plan is designed based on the information regarding the management in the
organization. The levels of management that are involved in the decision-making are also
examined in detail. Further, a particular decision making model is be implemented and the
justification behind the selection of this decision making model is provided. The contingency
plans required by National rail station are provided. Two types of contingencies that can occur in
this station is discussed. Further, a critical analysis of the methods used to examine the decision
making and planning process in relation to the up gradation of National rail station is provided.

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Management information required for successful completion of the project
Information regarding the management is provided by the management information
system in an organization. The management information system in an organization aims to
provide up to date and accurate information so that this can used analytical purposes by the
decision makers of the company (Antonacopoulou and Sheaffer 2014). The management
information system provides structured information related to the operations of the company and
the records. This information helps the managers or decision makers to plan for any process that
is to be implemented in the organization.
The decisions of the managers are based on the information available in the management
information system available in the company. These decisions are based on the information that
is derived from the operations in the company. This information contains data related to the
expenses, sales figures, workforce data and investments. The information that is provided by the
management information system of an organization should be easily accessible by the managers
of the organization (Bateh, Castaneda and Farah 2013).
Management information system collects data from various sources and collaborates the
information in such a way that it is easily understandable by the managers or the decision
makers. The interpretation of this information and using it for decision-making is the job of the
managers. The managers then have to present the decisions related to this information in such a
way so that it is useful for the organization or any other third party.
In this case, of National Rail Station the decision of the Services Manager is based on the
information that is collected from the management information system of the organization. The
information that is required for the implementation of the plan for up gradation of the station is

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related to the cost effectiveness of the project. The station in Dove Holes serves a huge number
of commuters in the route (Cheshirebytrain.co.uk 2017). The trains that are available from this
station include,
 Train to Buxton Railway station where the visitors can enjoy the Poole’s Cavern
and Buxton Opera House.
 Train to Furness Vale Railway Station where the Transpeak Guided Walks can be
enjoyed.
 Train to Manchester Piccadilly Railway station where the Museum of Science and
Industry is located.
 Train to Middlewood Railway Station where the visitors can enjoy the Anson
Engine Musuem.
 Train to Stockport Railway station where the major attractions are, Stockport Art
Gallery, the Stockport Air Raid Shelters, the Staircase House, the Stockport
Museum and the Hat Works Museum.
As is evident from the provided information, the National Rail station in Dove acts as a
connector for a large of number of tourist attractions. This proves the importance of the station in
the area. Keeping this in mind the investment that is required for the up gradation of the station is
totally sensible and justified (Bateman and Snell 2013). The information related to the
management of the station and the schedule or route of the trains helps the managers to decide
the ways related to the successful implementation of the project. The other information that is
relevant in this case is the facilities available in the station premises for the commuters and many
more.

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Importance and relevance of levels of management in the decision making process
The management levels are mainly of three types, which includes, Top-level
management, Middle-level management and Frontline management (Baubion 2013). All three
levels of management are actively involved in the decision making process of the organization.
 The top-level management consists of the high-level managers of the
organization. The managers working in this level have a considerable volume of
experience related to variety of functions of the organization. The top-level
managers become an important part of the organization, when they become
members of the executive team of the organization, which includes the Chief
Marketing Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operations Officer, Chief
Technology Officer. This level mainly consists of the people who are experts in
the industry (Coombs 2014).
They are powerful communicators, are confident, charismatic and do not
avoid taking risk. The responsibility of the top executives is to have a holistic
view of the organization and design plans regarding the strategies that are being
used in the organization. The policies of the company, management of the
stakeholders, financial investments that prove to be substantial, and there are
other tasks related to the top management. The top-level managers are the most
important part of the decision making process (Crandall, Parnell and Spillann
2013).
The decisions related to the policies of the organization or the top
management takes any type of investment. The top management has the
responsibility regarding the risks related to the decision taken by them. The

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decision regarding the procedures of that are to be implemented in the
organization is taken by the top management. It can be rightly said that the top
management plays the most important role in the decision making process in the
organization (Eden and Ackermann 2013).
 The next level is the middle level management of the organization. Middle level
managers act as a bridge between the top level and frontline managers. This is an
intermediate level of leadership in the hierarchy of an organization. They are
subordinates of the top-level managers and act as the seniors of the frontline
managers. The supervisors of the operations of an organization are considered as
the middle level of management. The middle level management comprises of
branch managers, departmental managers and general managers. The managers in
this level are answerable to the managers in the top-level management (Fang et al.
2013).
The role of the middle level managers mainly consists of various
functions, which include the execution of the policies and procedures formulated
by the top management. The managers in this level also provide guidance to the
low-level managers regarding the execution of the plans and procedures. The role
of the middle-level managers in the decision making process is mainly executing
the decisions made by the top-level management and further guide the frontline
managers regarding the fruitful execution of the plans. They also communicate
with top-level managers and provide them the feedback related to the execution of
the plans (Fast et al. 2012).

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 Frontline management – The frontline managers have high level of skills and are
specialists in specific functions related to their domain knowledge. The front line
management mainly comprises of the line managers, team leaders, project
managers and supervisors. The front line managers possess interpersonal skills,
which are required to manage the employees working under them in an
organization. They are also technical experts of the organization. Some of the
skills that are necessary for front line managers are, listening actively,
communicating, prioritizing, alignment of resources and organizing tasks and
processes (Fleisher and Bensoussan 2015).
The frontline managers need to be experts in their own field and thereby
managing their subordinates and trying to increase efficiency. The role of the
frontline managers in the process of decision-making is the implementation of the
processes related to the decision of the top-level and middle-level managers. The
frontline managers are responsible for the execution of the tasks related to the
policy and procedures of the organization (Galliers and Leidner 2014).
Decision making model used to plan the revamp of National Rail Station
The decision making model that is most suitable for the revamp of National Rail Station
is the Administrative Man or Bounded Rationality model. This type of decision-making process
is targeted towards the achievement of a particular goal or objective. The decision maker needs
to understand the different courses of action so that the target can be achieved. The decision-
makers analyze all the possible solutions to a problem and accordingly use the best possible
solution (Goetsch and Davis 2014). This model is based on some basic concepts, which are,

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 Alternative solution or sequential attention – In this case the decision-maker
analyzes all the possible solutions instead of stopping the search as soon as an
acceptable solution is found.
 Heuristic – This concept leads the search in such a way that the alternatives with
high chances of success are considered.
 Satisficing – This tendency leads the decision maker to choose the first course
action that satisfies minimum requirements of the solution (Laudon and Laudon
2016).
The bounded rationality model of decision making mainly helps in recognizing the
limitations of the process of decision-making. The managers who take decisions based on this
model have set of options and need to choose the alternative which the best for the problem,
without performing an analysis regarding the other alternatives. The most important part of this
approach is the inclination to satisfice , or choose the alternative which meets the minimum
levels of requirement of the decision-making (Mikes and Kaplan 2013). The decision-maker
following this model tends to choose the first possible alternative and saves time by not
analyzing the other alternatives that are available.
In this case, the sequential attention tendency of the decision makers is the most suitable
model for decision-making. The decision-maker or the manager of the organization analyzes the
alternatives and following this, he chooses the best possible solution suitable for the situation.
Reasons behind the choice of this model
The reason behind choosing this decision making model for the decision made by the
manager of National Rail station, is that this is the most suitable way of decision making in this

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case. The manager has a goal related to his decision, which is mainly the revival of the National
Rail station. The manager also has a time constraint in this case. The station is located in a busy
area that act as the connection with many other important stations which have some important
tourist attractions. Due to this reason, the project of up gradation of the station has to be
implemented and completed in a short span of time (Nooraie 2012). The load of commuters is
also high in this station, so the renovation related activities have to complete in a swift manner. It
can therefore be concluded that the model of administrative decision-making is best-suited
method of decision making in this case.
Contingency planning of the organization based on three possible issues
Contingency planning is the process related planning of possible solutions at the time of
risks. This type of planning can be referred to as ‘Plan B’, which is devised by the organization
so that it can be implemented during a sudden condition of risk. These risk situations refer to
natural calamities or accidents or any other type of unforeseen or unfortunate incidents. The
manager needs to assess the type of situation that can occur in the due course and accordingly
make contingency plans for the same (Scott and Davis 2015). The identification and the
prioritization of the risks is the main job of the manager.
The types of issues that can occur with relation to National Railway station and the
contingency plans for the same are as follows,
 The most common incident that can occur in this context is the accident due to
derailment of the train. This can lead to huge number of casualties in the station
area. The authorities of the station area should be able to provide medical
facilities to the affected commuters as early as possible. Preventive measures

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should be taken by the authorities, which includes keeping a check on the tracks
and doing repair works as and when required.
 The other issue in this case can be the commuters trying to reach the other
platform by crossing the railway line. The authorities need to keep a strict check
on this type of commuters and this type of offence should be penalised without
any delay.
 The third issue could be signalling problems by the stationmaster, due to which
again a huge accident can take place and cause a large number of casualties. This
issue can be resolved by keeping a check on the performance of the station master
and take appropriate steps to solve the issue (Taneja et al. 2014).
Evaluation of methods used to examine decision making and planning process
Decision making process in an organization involves many steps, which are,
 Creating an environment that is constructive- The environment needs to be
created which is constructive so the situation can be explored and the options can
be weighed.
 The situation should be analyzed in detail – Analysis of the situation related to the
decision is important. The understanding of the situation is necessary to take the
correct decision (Thamhain 2013).
 Generation of suitable alternatives is important – All the alternatives available
regarding the decision should be taken into consideration.
 The options related to the decision are explored – The options that are related to
the decisions are explored and analyzed in detail.

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 The best solution is then selected – The analysis of the options leads to the
selection of the correct alternative for the situation.
 The plan needs to be evaluated- The plans that are made after evaluating all the
possible alternatives are analyzed properly before implementation.
 The decision needs to be communicated to the staff and suitable actions are taken-
The decision that has been finally made by the manager is then communicated to
the staff and appropriate action is taken (Thiel et al 2012).
The planning process of the managers is analyzed based on the situation related to the
decision. The problems or the issues in the situation are analyzed and further the planning of
alternative solution is performed (Ulmer, Sellnow and Seeger 2013). After the analysis of all the
possible alternatives, the best possible plan for the organization is implemented. In this manner,
the planning process in the organization is completed.
Conclusion
The report is a detailed analysis of the decision making process of an organization. The
discussion is based on the analysis of the information system of the organization. The
management information that is required by the managers to take the decisions related to various
aspects of the organization is discussed in the report. It can be said that all types of information
related to the operations of the organization as well as the other aspects are required to take
management decisions. Every level of management in the organization plays an important role in
the decision making process of the organization.
The top-level managers implement the policies, the middle level managers communicate
these policies to the frontline managers and the frontline managers use their expertise to execute

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the policies or procedures communicated by the middle level managers and instruct their
subordinates about their duties. The decision making process is based on some models. The most
appropriate model is selected from the point of view of the Services manager and accordingly
this model is implemented in the decision-making process. The next issue that is addressed is the
plan for contingency situations. Three types of contingencies are taken into consideration and
suitable plans are suggested to address these issues. Therefore, it can be concluded that decision-
making and planning involves all the departments and management levels of the organization.

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