Analysis of the Competitive Strategy of the Core Enterprises in Virtual Intermodal Freight-Transportation Enterprise

The formation of a virtual intermodal freight-transportation enterprise and the determination of the core enterprise strategy is the primary solution for the cooperation and competition between freight-transportation enterprises. This paper seeks maximization of business income in the core freight business through analysis of the economic benefits of the core freight-transportation business with virtual intermodal freight-transportation enterprise, individually and cooperatively. The paper seeks to establish a gain matrix based on Game Theory. In sum, when the business income of cooperatively-constructed enterprise is higher than the individual one, two enterprises will choose to construct cooperatively. When two enterprises with the same characteristics are in different cities, the optimal strategy is cooperative construction. When other enterprises are unwilling to develop an intermodal transportation business, the core enterprise should seize the opportunity to establish the virtual intermodal freight-transportation enterprise individually. The results of a computational example show that every enterprise can use the conclusion to make useful decisions.