Strategy and the Operating Environment of Ups

Examining the Corporate and Business Level Strategy and the Operating Environment of UPS and its Effectiveness in the Marketplace

Wesley Chase

Abstract

The following examines the effectiveness and efficiency of the corporate and business strategy of United Parcel Service (UPS). This paper will also review the operating environment and the approaches to human resource management that UPS is implementing. Sources include the case study and learning objectives in the Human Resource Management textbook as well as online (Internet) sources.

Examining the Corporate Strategy and its Effectiveness

An overall goal of businesses is to be effective in their marketplace and efficiently serve their customer base. The leaders of companies must come up with a combination of business practices and guidelines that help to achieve the goals that the company sets within the marketplace. The management of the product or service in combination with the management of human capital and resources is critical to the success or failure of a company. This paper will examine the practices and policies that are promoted by UPS throughout its business structure.

UPS is using a Cost Leadership Strategy for their corporate strategy. The goal of the company is to become highly efficient. There are several areas that UPS focuses on that exhibit the direct traits of the Cost Leadership Strategy. The first is the aspect of group contribution. UPS uses a team building approach to work. Similar to the Southwest example in an earlier case, UPS workers will manage a few different tasks that help the company reduce costs. Drivers are not simply drivers at UPS. They help catalog, organize, deliver, and load/unload the packages for customers. UPS reduces its costs by not having a separate team for each related task.

Next, the company invests in a method of continually improving processes. UPS is not alone in its market and must compete with both the regular postal service as...