INFORMATION SYSTEMS: GLOBAL MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES AND TECHNOLOGIES

Information Systems: Global Management Strategies and Technologies

Information Systems: Global Management Strategies and Technologies

Introduction

United Parcel Service, Inc., (UPS) is a global company with one of the most recognized and admired brands in the world. UPS is well known for its brown trucks, internally known as package cars (hence the company nickname "Big Brown", and sometimes, because of its NASCAR-related commercials, "The #88 Car"). The brown color that UPS uses on its vehicles and uniforms is called Pullman brown, after the railroad sleeper cars created by George Pullman, which used the same color. UPS also operates its own airline. UPS has become the world's largest package delivery company and a leading global provider of specialized transportation and logistics services. Every day, they manage the flow of goods, funds, and information in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. (Leppaniemi & Karjaluoto, 2005)

Mike Eskew, serves as the chairman and chief executive officer for (UPS), the world's largest package delivery company and a global leader in supply chain services, Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The following twelve (12) people make up the management committee, which oversee the day-to-day operation of the company: (Lam & Xu, 1999)

David Abney, president of UPS International; he is responsible for the strategic development and management of UPS's international package division. Abney is also responsible for overseeing UPS's international package services within the United States.

Core Business

United Parcel Service is in the transportation industry. They move goods, information, and funds between individuals and companies. Their operations provide delivery by land and by air, and they offer services at customer shipping centers, as well as online through www.ups.com. They operate in more than 200 countries worldwide, do business in 15 different languages and dialects, and deliver an average of 14 million packages per day. UPS's Parcel Network system is based on a hub and spoke model. UPS operates centers, which feed parcels to hubs where parcels are then sorted and forwarded to their destinations. Centers typically are the point of entry for parcels and send the parcels to one or more hubs. A hub is a location where many centers send packages to be sorted and sent back out to other centers or hubs. (King, 1998)

Competition

The major competitors include United States Postal Service (USPS), FedEx, and DHL. Historically, UPS only faced competition from USPS for the inexpensive ground based delivery market. However, FedEx recently expanded into the ground market by acquiring RPS (originally Roadway Package System) and re-branded it as FedEx Ground. In addition, DHL acquired Airborne Express. This acquisition significantly increases DHL's presence in the U.S., which will add more competition to the ground delivery market. (Huang & Lin, 2005) The company DHL, formerly known as Deutsche Post Global Mail, provides mail handling and parcel delivery services. Deutsche Post, which does business as Deutsche Post World Net, remains Europe's largest postal service provider. Also known as the "Yellow Giant," it provides traditional and same-day letter delivery, online bulk mail management, and mail process ...