UPS Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

UPS Case Study - Essay Example There are very few companies operating in the Packaged Express industry and one of them is UPS. In 2008, the packaged express industry was dominated by FedEx which accounted for 58.2% of the market share from delivering overnight letters. UPS earned a revenue of 15.6% and United States Postal service accounted for 12.2%. The Packaged Express industry comprises three segments: Overnight letters, Courier service and Small parcels. UPS had a firm and strong background. UPS was one of the dominant firms in the â€Å"Small parcel† segment. UPS and FedEx ranked internationally as one of the worlds best packaged delivery sytem. Apart from its long standing history and firm background, the company UPS has always maintained an efficient distribution network (White and Belman, 2005). In the late 1980s the company faced certain challenges that any shipping corporation would have faced. These included shipping errors like delivering the package at the wrong address or loading the delivery package in the wrong bus. These kinds of errors occurred frequently. At that time UPS relied on manual data but gradually it started investing in technology because it realized that internet and technology acted like a catalyst which improved the distribution network of the company (Motiwalla and Thompson, 2008). The company conducted a SWOT analysis immediately to identify its threats and weakness. Cost cutting was their major initiative. They laid off 2000 employees working in the Washington headquarter in the year 1971. This policy was continued by the other branches of UPS. The company realized that reduced staff and increased machinery would double their productivity levels. However, there was a negative impact on the employees and the company profits. The faulty machineries and the reduced number of staff could not cope up with the sudden pressures. Moreover, the existing staff could not recreate the charm of the old staff. Many employees were forced to take a voluntary