United Parcel Service (UPS) Strategic Alignment Model
Business Strategy

United Parcel Service (UPS) is one of the leading shipment and logistic company admired for its cargo and package delivery services around the globe. The company has remained as one of the top-package delivery service providers because of the diversity of its services to the public. The company has enjoyed high profits because of the good brand image that it has attained in its market. The good brand name has also enabled the company to maintain a high level of stability in its revenue and profit growth. This has been a remarkable achievement considering that the parcel and cargo industry are one of the most competitive industries in the United States.

The company's headquarters is in Atlanta (Sandy Springs) Georgia, but it has spread its routes to different parts of the world. The diversity of the routes that the UPS Company uses have been…...

mla

References

Boulton, W. (1999). United Parcel Service: Moving at the Speed of Business. USW Building

Success.

Colombo, M.G., Delmastro, M., and Rabbiosi, L. (2007). "High performance" work practices, decentralization and profitability: evidence from panel data. Industrial and Corporate

Change, 16(6), 1037-1067.

UPS has a culture that sizes intelligence and attempts to transform it into a service, which is one of the primary factors in their profitable performance despite a global economic recession. More and more manufacturers are turning to outsourcing to alleviate the higher costs of running supply chains, and UPS has been able to quickly benefit from this trend.
Lessons learned in air freight optimization at UPS have also made a significant impact on revenue management and supply chain optimization in their Supplier and Vendor Management service as well (Armacost, Barnhart, Ware, Wilson, 2004). Using the analytics, business intelligence and data mining to better understand how supply chains can be improved is ample evidence of how successful UPS is in using technologies to translate their expertise into value for clients (Garrow, Ferguson, 2008). All of these aspects of UPS and its expertise with it have also made it possible for…...

mla

References

Nabil Alghalith. (2005). Competing with it: The UPS Case. Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge, 7(2), 7-15.

Andrew P. Armacost, Cynthia Barnhart, Keith a Ware, & Alysia M. Wilson. (2004). UPS Optimizes Its Air Network. Interfaces, 34(1), 15-25.

Garrow, L., & Ferguson, M.. (2008). Revenue management and the analytics explosion: Perspectives from industry experts. Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, 7(2), 219-229.

UPS (United Parcel Service)
Porter's five forces

ivalry: there is intense competition within the courier industry. The stiff competition stems from the low number of firms in the industry. The major two competitors control almost sixty percent of the market share with the remaining minor competitors controlling the remaining percentage.

Buyer power: the bargaining power of consumers in this industry is low. Producers have a tendency of threatening companies through forward integration. Producers might take their own retailing and distribution. The industry has many buyers and no single buyer controls the price of products (Khanna & Bullock, 2010).

Threat of new entrants: the courier business is challenging to enter. Entry barriers in the industry are steady and low. Companies operating in this industry rely on skilled personnel. Employees in the delivery department must have a commercial driver's license while delivery systems require high-level capital investment to confirm deliveries and track packages. Such mechanisms are…...

mla

References

Khanna, T. & Bullock, R.J. (2010). Winning in emerging markets: A road map for strategy and execution. Boston, Mass: Harvard Business Press.

Lussier, R.N. (2012). Management fundamentals: Concepts, applications, skill development. Mason, Ohio: South-Western.

Strengths
The number and location of stores is a tremendous strength, and the same-stores strategy has worked effectively for years as a means of expanding market share ("Growth strategy," 2002).

Starbucks offers a wide variety of products which are sold in its coffee shops, in grocery stores, in other retail outlets, and through its Website ("Schultz return," 2008).

Loyal customers visit Starbucks stores an average of 18 times per month, illustrating the strong loyalty and affinity experienced by the brand ("Schultz return," 2008).

Starbucks introduced The Third Place to its public -- a place for gathering that is not work and is not home, yet plays a prominent place in customers' lives, or especially in their work lives (Mitchelli, 2010).

The fiscal crisis in 2009 resulted in reduced in-store sales so a less expensive Starbucks coffee product was needed. The home-brewed, thermos toting practices of the newly frugal were eroding market share. Starbucks introduced Via®…...

mla

References

Coffee is hot: Green Mountain goes to moon on Starbucks partnership. (2011, March 3) Forbes.com. Retrieved  http://www.forbes.com/2011/03/10/starbucks-green-mountain-partner-on-kcups-marketnewsvideo.html 

Mitchelli, J. (2007). The Starbucks experience: Five principles for turning ordinary into extraordinary. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Mitchelli, J. (2010, May 14). The Starbucks Experience. Podbean. Retrieved  http://drjosephm.podbean.com/2010/05/14/how-to-be-an-innovator/ 

Starbucks' growth strategy: Locations, locations, locations. (2002, September 3). Washington Post. Retrieved  http://www.sptimes.com/2002/09/03/

One global business mentioned in the report as a technology leader with high brand equity was at&T. Customer equity is that value of future business purchased by the customer based on brand equity, which in turn means consumer acceptance of the product, customer relationships and customer perception of the value. The postal service would encounter both retention and value problems and would be viewed as difficult to do business with, bureaucratic and would provide less value than its competitors. If there were no competitors, these would not present as problems under a stable and unchanging environment. However, that would not be the case, as the environment was quite susceptible to change. The Commission report said that consumer experiences registered relatively low customer equity according to his or her perceptions of low value, slow deliveries and inability to meet consumer expectations. The Commission is obligated to provide a strong and…...

mla

Bibliography

1. Bozman, C. (2003). United Parcel Service. http://www.scs.unr.edu/~bcynthia/UPS.pdf#search='United%20Parcel%20Sercies'

2. Postal Rate Commission. (2001). Report of Consumer Advocate on Quality of Services Provided by the Postal Service to the Public. Postal Rate Commission. http://www.prc.gov/oca/papers/quality/summary.doc

3. Puscas, D and Girard, R. (2003). United Parcel Services. Polar Institute. http://www.polarinstitute.org/corp-profiles/public_services_gate_pdfs/UPS.pdf

4. Sivy, M. (2006). Fed-Ex: Flying Even Higher. Cable News Network LP, LLP.   htmhttp://money.cnn.com/2006/06/27/commentary/sivy/sivy.moneymag/index ,

There is a separate page for tracking shipments, packages, and delivery services through a "Log in" link. Apart from ensuring security, this feature also allows FedEx to keep track of its return customers and patrons, who usually use FedEx's services. The lack of security measures within the web site is a disadvantage for UPS. Not only do they compromise the confidentiality and security of important information that customers may want to know through the site, UPS also forfeits the opportunity to track down and create a database for customers who usually use UPS services and products.
The same analysis is used when looking into the privacy of information in each company's web site, of which FedEx has outdistanced UPS. It is evident that FedEx has strategically considered in its web site the importance of privacy of information and customer accounts through its account management software. Contained in its "Manage my…...

Parcel Industry
History of FedEx:

The attempts at using airplanes for commercial transportation of goods started when the air planes started flying. One of the first air freight carriages took place in 1910 when a department store sent a bolt of silk by air from Dayton to Columbus, Ohio. This transport was studied by the local newspapers and they said that it had beaten the railroad transport that was the normal mode of carriage between the two cities. The volume of goods sent by air continued increasing regularly and in 1927, the total volume lifted by air became a total of 45,900 pounds and this grew in 1929 to a total of 257,000 pounds. The quantity lifted by air became more than a million pounds in 1931 a year. (A History of Commercial Air Freight)

The possibilities of lifting goods by air had been noted, yet the possibilities of the level of service…...

mla

References

"A History of Commercial Air Freight." Retrieved from Accessed on 24 May, 2005http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Commercial_Aviation/AirFreight/Tran10.htm

"Air Express & Parcel Shipments Case Study: How we reduced a Client's Express Shipment Costs." Retrieved from Accessed on 24 May, 2005http://www.buslog.com/air-express-parcel-shipments/case-study1.html

Egan, David. "Comparison Shopping for Shipping." Retrieved from Accessed on 24 May, 2005http://www.craftsreport.com/june99/businessbasics.html

"Federal Express." (3 December, 1999) Retrieved from   Accessed on 24 May, 2005http://parkercenter.johnson.cornell.edu/docs/other_research/1999_fall/fdx.pdf 

49% which shows that the company is able to earn $22 by investing $100 which is certainly a sign of financial healthy company. After analyzing the profitability ratio, let's now examine the efficiency ratios of the company.
Efficiency atio Analysis

Efficiency ratios (E) are the ratios which used to assess the effectiveness of a company. The specific rations come under the ambit of E are eturn on Asset (OA) and eturn on Equity (OE) (Daniel, 1992). Let's examine both the ratios.

eturn on Assets (OA) Analysis

An indicator of how profitable a company is relative to its total assets. OA gives an idea as to how helpful management is at using its assets to produce profit (Groves & Edward, 2004). Calculated by dividing a company's annual wages by its total assets, OA is displayed as a percentage. The computed OA figure and its graph is mentioned below,

UPS OA

Years

Total Assets

Net Profit

OA

in million U.S.$

in million U.S.$

2006

33,210

4,202

12.65

2007

39,042

14,014

35.89

2008

31,879

13,545

42.49

2009

31,883

10,838

33.99

2010

33,597

12,478

37.14

Mean…...

mla

References

Anthony, G & Cornyn, D (1982), Company Analysis, Pearson Group Publications

Alexander, J (2007), Value Creation and Analysis, Pearson Group Publications

Archand, T (2003), Strategic Company Analysis, John Wiley & Sons Professional Publications

David, P & Hussey, E (2001), Company Analysis: Determining Strategic Capability, McGraw Hill Publications

United Parcel Service (UPS)
Foundational facts

Current financials

Prospective assessment

Tough competition and soaring costs

Suggestions

United Parcel Service (UPS)

United Parcel Service (UPS) is an American multinational corporation that operates in three major industry sectors i.e. logistics service, freight forwarding service, and courier express service. UPS is services-based company and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The company has worldwide operations. Being a public limited company, it is traded on New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) having the ticker symbol UPS. Scott Davis currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company. The company operates through a structure of several subsidiaries operating worldwide. Some of the main subsidiaries of the company are The UPS Store, UPS Capital, UPS Logistics, UPS Express Critical, UPS Professional Solutions, and UPS Supply Chain Solutions. Total revenues of UPS for the fiscal year FY 2012 were $54.1 billion with an operating income of $5.874 billion. Net income of the company in…...

mla

References

Barr, A. (2013, Jul). Analysis: New e-commerce strategies threaten UPS, FedEx. Yahoo Finance. Retrieved from:  http://finance.yahoo.com/news/analysis-e-commerce-strategies-threaten-130257773.html 

Levitz, J. & Sechler, B. (2012, Mar). FedEx's European Dilemma. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from:  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303812904577293863574322698.html 

MSN Money. (2013). United Parcel Service Inc. CI B (NYSE: UPS). Retrieved from:  http://investing.money.msn.com/investments/stock-price/?symbol=UPS 

NASDAQ. (2013). UPS Company Financials. Retrieved from: http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/ups/financials?query=ratios

United Parcel Service (UPS) and DELL
The United Parcel Service

The United Parcel Service is America's leading parcel delivery organization in the country. It has come a long way given the competition that had been there for long. This is a case where people in the country are known to have been so much in need of services of this kind. However, the business is fluctuating according to seasons that are targeted. The highest season is that where the country is mostly at a stable and progressive growth (Nanang, 2009). This affects the way in which the company does its financial planning and reporting. In this case, the finances must be handled as they come so that reporting can be done immediately.

Since the revenue collected fluctuates depending on seasons, the management must plan the business operations so that it can capitalize on the most productive periods. Financial expenditures and planning are done…...

mla

References

Daft, R. (2010). The Rise Of Dell Company (fourth Ed.). Fort Worth: Dryden Press.

Nanang, D. (2009). Management of Postal Services. Hauppauge, N.Y.: Nova Science.

Because of the newer mobility of a significant amount of suburban America, driving to national parks was even more an option. The more people visited the Parks, it seemed, the more of a synergistic effect upon their funding and use (Jensen and Guthrie, 2006).
By the Johnson Administration in the 1960s, coupled with more media attention, there was increased public awareness of America's natural treasures. This was now that "Parks for People" Campaign. During this period there was also a fairly significant new awareness about ecology and the natural environment. The mission of the National Parks Service was called into question. eacting to this, Congress passed the General Authorities Acts of 1970, which became known as the "edwood Amendment," since a large part of the Act was devoted to conserving edwood National Park. Based on political pressure from citizens, Congress was also forced to provide a rather significant funding increase…...

mla

REFERENCES

The National Park Service. (2002, March). Retrieved October 2010, from U.S. History.com:  http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1605.html 

National Park Services Almanac. (2008). Washington, DC: National Parks Service, GPO.

Blackburn, S. (2007). Plato's Republic. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press.

Brown and Pozner. (2001). Exploring the Relationship Between Learning and Leadership. Leadership and Organizational Develpment, 68(2), 274-80.

United States Army Corps of Engineers issued a report in 2012 that was known as the Human Capital Strategic Plan. It was meant to serve as a benchmark and projection for what was to come from 2012 through 2017. Of course, the United States Army Corps of Engineers is a public safety-oriented organization and their plan will be analyzed in terms of resource allocation, budgeting efficacy and overall quality. The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a very competent organization but no organization's plans, especially those organizations whose funding involves taxpayer dollars in whole or in part, is beyond reproach.
Strategic Plan Analysis

The author of this report has been charged with the analyzing the Human Capital Strategic Plan for 2012-2017 as issued by the United States Army Corps of Engineers in April 2012. The report is about fifty pages in length and will be analyzed cover to cover. As…...

mla

References

CDC. (2015). Products - Vital Statistics of the U.S. - Homepage. Cdc.gov. Retrieved 5 June 2015, from  http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/vsus.htm 

Census.gov. (2015). FFF: Hispanic Heritage Month 2014: Sept. 15 -- "Oct. 15. Census.gov. Retrieved 5 June 2015, from  http://www.census.gov/newsroom/facts-for-features/2014/cb14-ff22.html 

Kessler, G. (2015). Do 10,000 baby boomers retire every day?. Washington Post. Retrieved 5 June 2015, from  http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2014/07/24/do-10000-baby-boomers-retire-every-day/ 

Krumrie, M. (2014). How To Incorporate Diversity Hiring Goals and Strategies. ZipRecruiter. Retrieved 5 June 2015, from  https://www.ziprecruiter.com/blog/the-right-way-to-incorporate-diversity-hiring-goals-and-strategies/

The potential of the Internet has been acknowledged by UPS and the company has made a commitment to enable global commerce via the Internet. This challenge and the changing needs in terms of customer due to the e-business evolution has UPS looking a variety of business solutions.
Analysis

Present systems and services are as follows:

1. UPS e-Ventures: A "corporate incubator for UPS that "explores ideas and takes the great ones and makes them reality. UPS e-Ventures does the research and development, tests and launches ideas and places products as well as services into place. Finally UPS e-Ventures manages the supply chain from the warehouse to transit. The stated objectives of UPS e-Ventures are:

Helps companies put the "E" in their businesses

Identify and rapidly develop entirely new businesses related to supply chain management and e-commerce.

Provides complete, end-to-end business solutions for the rapid, low-cost launch of e-commerce startups.

Create UPS's electronic commerce strategy for providing…...

mla

References

Algahalith, Nabil (2005) led "Competing with it: The UPS Case" Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge in September 2005 Volume 7 Number 2,.

Technology and Management of United Parcel Service

inventory control "system" consists of orders for stock replenishment being made by the stockroom foreman, the purchasing manager, or the manufacturing manager whenever one of them notices that the inventory is low. An order for replenishment of inventory is also placed whenever someone (either a customer or an employee in the assembly area) wants an item and it is not in stock.
I would recommend that the company spend time ahead of the year, scrupulously planning the projects that they will undertake the coming year and resources needed for those projects. By planning in advance, they will be able to limit their cost and expense by selecting the cheapest items to procure. These items need not lose out on quality. The company will merely decide the suppliers best for them and the items that will best meet their needs whilst being simultaneously cheap. Indeed, "there were 973 different part numbers…...

Both courts found that way because the fact that UPS believed that Crone lacked the necessary confrontational skills for the position in question was a non-discriminatory, non-pretextual reason to refuse to promote her.
In fact, Crone's own testimony supported the idea that UPS's reason was non-pretextual, since she testified that she did not believe the ultimate decision-maker had engaged in sex-based discrimination, that she had problems in confrontational situations, and that she was aware that confrontation skills were necessary for the supervisory position.

Some critics would suggest that this decision opened the door to sex-based and other types of discrimination. However, these critics base their criticism on gender stereotyping that suggests that women are generally not well-suited for dealing with confrontation. While there may be legitimate sex-based differences in approaches to confrontation, the fact that women may be more open to negotiation and less likely to escalate a confrontational situation may…...

mla

References

Arkansas Civil Rights Act, Ark. Code Ann. 16-123-107(a).

Crone v. United States, No. 01-3595, (8th Cir. Aug. 30, 2002). Retrieved March 15, 2009 from Findlaw. Web site:  http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/8th/013595p.pdf ,

Sex-Based discrimination. (2009). Retrieved March 15, 2009 from the Equal Employment

Opportunity Commission. Web site:  http://eeoc.gov/types/sex.html