United Parcel Service

United Parcel Service
Introduction
Package delivery has followed a somewhat different line of development from mail delivery because of the special quality of competition offered mail service by UPS, Federal Express, Airborne Express and others. These operations are widely noted for their emphasis on efficiency in operations. They base their competitive strategy almost wholly on efficiency andcost control. UPS, self-proclaimed as "the tightest ship in the shipping business," employs commodity operations methods on a level with the most advanced factory production lines. The core of its service is fast, low-cost delivery of packages. Work performance standards are strict. But UPS customer contact is typically also pleasant, courteous and helpful. That has not prevented competitorslike Federal Express and Airborne Express from cutting into UPS's market with more individualized service in the form of pick-up, package monitoring or speed of delivery. UPS has been hard-pressed to retain its super emphasis on commodity-style operations efficiency while responding to the accelerating expectation for service among its customers. UPS has been criticized for not being aggressiveenough in communicating its position on the issues. It is a legitimate criticism.

United Parcel Service
United Parcel Service of America Inc. has stood as a model of corporate efficiency. It knows exactly how many workers it needs to deliver its 10 million packages a day. It tells drivers how fast to walk (three feet per second), how many packages to pick up and deliver a day (400, on average),even how to hold their keys (teeth up, third finger). This attention to detail has always been at the core of Big Brown's success. . . . UPS, though, like much of the rest of corporate America, has been pushing to get even more productive. In recent months, it has rolled out a slew of new products and services: computerized tracking systems, bulk discounts on large shipments, higher limits onpackage weights and earlier "guaranteed arrival" times. Customers love the changes. But inside UPS, the overhaul is causing problems, especially with the company's heavily unionized workers. (Frank, 1994)
United Parcel Service, with its brown trucks and its own airline (the ninth largest fleet in the United States), is a familiar player in the high-stakes game of rapid package-distributionservices. UPS's 285,000 employees in 185 nations and territories worldwide operate a system that makes use of sophisticated electronic-tracking technology to ensure the timely pickup and delivery of everything from business documents to birthday presents.
Though its business is directly involved with the movement of objects, UPS also thinks seriously about people development. This management-ownedcompany sees customer satisfaction, service quality, and the ongoing development of its people as crucial and interrelated elements of success.
In the mid-1980s, the company was facing powerful competitors and economic pressures, particularly those brought on by the deregulation of the trucking industry. That was when UPS made the all-important move from pen-and-paper to electronic package-trackingtechnologies. But the company recognized that its competitive advantage lay not only in technology, but also in a strong customer orientation.
By the end of the decade, the company had decided to take major steps to ensure that all UPS employees would have the skills, knowledge, and experience needed to perform well in increasingly complex jobs and to handle any upcoming changes.
The company's1991 mission statement redirected the business strategy by placing the focus squarely on four areas, including its people and its customers. In so doing, UPS was forced to reckon with a crucial issue: the development of its managerial ranks, which includes roughly 49,000 people worldwide. UPS's leaders confronted the challenging task of designing a management development system that would keep...