Strategic Management Case Study: Ups in India

The United Parcels Service (UPS) has evolved over the years from working at Seattle basement running errands on for to a multinational entity with multiple business aspects. The core value of the corporation is innovation in all its endeavors. From the case study, it is indicated that throughout its early history the business had to innovate in response to the changing lifestyle of the customers and changes in shopping patterns. The corporation developed a unique service to meet the demands of customers including daily pick-ups and C. O. D payment. The case study further indicates that its previous CEO Mike Eschew presented the 'Four Quadrant' growth plan that emphases on innovation. The innovations of the enterprise focus on new entrepreneurial operations both internally and externally. It is a norm of UPS to compete with its rivals and establish its presence in the market. Serving the customers to their satisfaction is the driving force of the customer. From the case study, it is evident the enterprise has been transforming its services to meet the customer needs to be based on its commitment to reliability, courtesy, neatness, and high ethical standards. For instance, it is indicated that the corporation has adopted a synchronized commerce model where it has acquired businesses such as forwarders, customers, and suppliers in its bid to reach and serve its customer. The desire to expand its presence in India if informed by the need to serve customers.

UPS Structure

The management of UPS is centralized as depicted by the ability of the CEO, Scott to offer Ms. Page position of Chief Strategy Officer. UPS has specialized in delivering parcels to the customers within a night. This is the reason why the corporation has established companies such as Mail Boxes Etc. , and adoption of the hub and spoke model. However, the enterprise is diversifying its business as indicated in the case that the business mints its focus on service as its central trade while recurrently seeking new revenue resources; that’s why they’ve announced 'Four Quadrant' development scheme. The business has established a formal leadership, from the case study the CEO is Scott Davis, and Ms. Page is assuming the role of Chief Strategy Officer. The case states UPS had not established its footprint in India as Ms. Page and other managers hoped for. This indicates that there is a manager of the company led by the CEO and other managers. Delivery network adopted by UPS is a centralized and integrated method to logistics administration. The functions of the UPS are managed and controlled from Sandy Springs headquarters. This is evident because the case indicates that the CEO and CSO are working from the headquarters to determine how the business would expand its presence in India.

Alignment of Organizational Culture and Structure to UPS Strategies

The organizational culture and structure of UPS align with the strategies of the enterprise. This is because the corporation is striving to innovate in ways to reach its customers. The management is employing its resources to expand to a new market. It is collaborating and acquiring other business entities in its expansion program. The case study indicates that Ms. Page has been tasked with devising ways in which the corporation would compete with its rivals such as AFL, GATI, and Blue-DHL who are its competitors.

Globalization

Since its inception, UPS was destined for great things. The business was started in 1907 serving just a handful of customers by foot, by 1919 it rebranded to UPS to serve customers in other towns like Oakland and Los Angeles. It functioned as intra-city delivery service. In 1975, UPS started carrier rights and expanded its market to all 48 states. In 1978, UPS provided nationwide transport services where it flew packages in the days of a commercial airline. It started next-day air service delivery in 1985 after it bought cargo jet. 1988 saw the UPS Airlines officially recognized by FAA. Within a year, the business had set all the systems into place, this success prompted the business to shift from national delivery to a global footprint throughout the 1990s. The case study further indicates that UPS offers carriage services to more than 4 billion people in more than 200 countries. The business has more than 4, 800 locations in the U.S., Canada and India alone. Its bid to penetrate the interior of India and reach more customer is in line with its globalization and expansion agenda.

However, to successfully penetrate the Indian market on its expansion drive, the corporation needs to address the challenges of poor infrastructure if it needs to deliver cargo within a short time. It could borrow from its history where it used a mule train operator to reach the customers to the rocky final years. It delivers the letters at a loss to maintain its commitment. UPS should use its financial muscles to acquire bike and motorbikes that are flexible and capable of being used in harsh terrains to deliver packages to its clients.

Marketing

To reach most of the customers and control a large market segment, UPS has taken bold steps over the years since its inception. UPS redefined itself and pursued to become a solution corporation offering services personalized to the commercial development value chain of the customer. In 1995, the business established UPS Logistics Group with an aim of streamlining service operations over its customer base. To consolidate its market, the corporation made about 30 acquirements including freight forwarders, customer clearers and banks. The expansion drive saw the corporation modify its supply chain to restructure the flow of buyer and vendors. The marketing drive saw UPS acquire Mail Boxes Etc. enabling it to target smaller companies and rise their openness to the residential and home-office customer. The rebranding of the Mail Boxes Etc. to The UPS store was the largest rebranding campaign in history. The marketing drive of the corporation is targeting India due to its high populace of English speakers, which make it easier to enter the marketplace and convey with sellers. From the case study, it can be seen that UPS is marketing itself as a successful corporation that is capable of handling any package or any challenge to deliver the package of the client. In one of its marketing campaigns, David Abney, then UPS President of International said that UPS Store will provide its customers with a convenient channel to market throughout the world. It is therefore recommended that such marketing tactics should be employed to instill a sense of trust to the customers.

Management

The UPS has established customer loyalty as well as that of its employees. To ensure that the leadership role taken by the employee is successful, the corporation glooms its employees and promotes them from within. For instance, from the case study it is indicated that former CEO, Mike Eskew rose from the position of delivery worker and mail sorter through the ranks to the position of CEO. Eskew served the corporation for 30 years starting as an industrial engineer before rising to a CEO. It is further indicated in the case study that the corporation stress about employee ownership, and gets people to feel responsible and involved. That way at some point, the company ensures that the employee experiences a moment what it means to be a partner. Resource management at UPS has been effective over the years, that why the business has been expanding exponentially and attracting more customers.

However, human resource management has been an issue that has affected the company. In August 1997, the Teamster Union led about 185, 000 UPS workers on strike over the control of their pension fund. The effect of the strike for 15 days was $650 million. It is recommended that the corporation should maintain its current management system because of its effectiveness in managing the resources. It is also competently overseeing the expansion drive of the enterprise in the international market. The case study indicates that CSO, Ms. Page, has been tasked with coming up with ways of dealing with UPS rivals in India, this campaign should be expanded to other regions.

Financial Management

It is evident from the case study that UPS is financially stable and its finances have been spent well over the years. It is indicated from the case that the corporation has been expanding over the years. It's acquisition of other business such as Mail Boxes Etc. Its public offering, UPS IPO, was the largest public offering to date. This indicates that the corporation shares hold strong in share markets. It established UPS airline that continued to operate despite the financial crunch of 2007. The corporation financial muscle is demonstrated by the kind of business it is doing, the corporation has UPS Logistics Group that is tasked with streamlining service operations over its customer base and the UPS Logistics Group that provides financial product and services to help small businesses to grow. From the above analysis, it is advised that the business should allocate more of its financial resources to its expansion plan. The bid of the corporation is to expand its international market such as India, it is advisable the business should use its financial strength to facilitate entry into interior regions. Since the terrain of India is inaccessible due to bad infrastructure, and transportation accounts for over 40 percent of the total cost of production in India, growth in quality physical infrastructure is essential for improving the efficiency of the industry. The business should use its finances to acquire resources that would make movement and transportation of packages easier, fast and reliable.

Conclusion

UPS is a multinational corporation that has its presence in more than 200 countries. However, it has not penetrated to the interior of most of these countries. Its expansion to interior parts of India is constrained by elaborate bureaucracies by the government of India, poor infrastructure and stiff competition from its rivals. However, the Indian market is rapidly expanding due to an increase in its population, meaning that UPS market base at India would be expanded if the above challenges are decisively dealt with.