Australia Post Executive Summary

United Parcel Service, a logistics company has established itself through its strong corporate culture, continuous ability to innovate, and its far-reaching global network. The company has maintained a competitive advantage over the years by implementing continuous growth strategies—the first was geographic expansion, next the early adaptation of electronic tracking technologies, and then came a series of acquisitions. Although UPS is financially strong and is able to maintain its role in the courier and delivery industry—it is vital that UPS continue to act strategically as to strive for long-term success. UPS is heavily dependent on the U.S. economy and it is important that it find greater and more profitable ventures

The Five Competitive Forces model use Information Technology as a tool for implementing change but technology become sophisticated nowadays in today’s business world where Information Technology is seen as a factor for change. In the end, the Five Competitive Forces model cannot be considered as outdated because each company is operation in a micro-network of Buyers, Suppliers, Substitutes, New Entrants and Competitors. This idea is valid for each competition based economy. However, it is important that one cannot solely rely on Michael Porter’s model of five forces when forming a business strategy and examining business

As the world’s largest package delivery company and a leading global provider of specialized transportation and logistics services, UPS, continues to develop the frontiers of logistics, supply chain management and e-commerce combing the flow of goods, information and funds. This past October UPS Logistics Solutions was voted #1 logistics provider by Logistics Solutions. When conducting an industry analysis, it is important to explain the competitive forces model (CFM) of UPS. The first component of competitive forces model are the customers. Their customers consist of business organizations, and the general public. The second CFM component is competition. UPS have a lot of competition in its field, but the most competitive company is FedEx. Since FedEx provides the same services as UPS; both are neck to neck in competition, but UPS has an established history, and because of that, they have more loyal customers, and they are worldly known. They have established them-selves as the elite, with their commercial on television. Showing how they can deliver from one place to another with same day delivery and

For over two centuries, people relied on the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way to receive their letter and packages from people around the country. It is their only way where a person can obtain a parcel when there are no technologies to assist them. Nowadays, in the modern world, there are different kinds of ways where one can receive a package or a letter, from an email or other companies. This results in the USPS decreasing its values. In order for the USPS to keep up with the fast-paced society, it should consider changing their ways of working.

The United States Postal Service has existed for more than two centuries. As the people have grown into the new world of digital technology and electronic communication, the USPS continues to become more of a disservice to the American people. The USPS has still used the same rules and principles for more than two centuries, which does not intrigue any more customers. The USPS needs to be reconstructed in order to fit the needs of a changing world. As the world grows and develops into higher levels of thinking and technological advances, the USPS should grow with them, changing to become more useful to American people.

The Postal Service cannot continue to provide affordable, universal service to all areas of the country while maintaining mandated inflation-based prices without an increased ability to generate revenue and control costs. Therefore, bold changes to the business model are needed. All options – even those that have been dismissed in the past – need to be considered as part of the national discussion. In order to choose the best business model for the Postal Service, it is important first to establish the future role of the Postal Service and the mission the nation needs it to fill.

Operation leaders are tasked to identify the critical success factors and core competencies of their business functions and objectives in order to generate sustainable long-term growth. Critical success factors are actions essential for a business to reach its objectives. (Heizer & Render, p. 42, 2009). UPS’s key success factors are its efficiencies in scheduling, integrating the stream of goods, its ability to provide multiple solutions such as “harmonizing the flow of goods, information and funds across customer supply chains” while enabling consumers to “evolve in new and necessary ways” (Lewis, Forquer & Quinter, pg. 2, 2007). UPS’s environmental factors include their supply chain design and planning, competitors in logistics such as FedEx, distribution services, diversification in the global environment and focusing on differentiation. UPS is also an expert in its industry because the strategy is globally focused and is centered on diversification of its systems (See Appendix1.1)

The evolution of the express mail industry had become a quick on-time shipping and delivery of packages. The service had become effective, reliable, and prompt, which most of the top companies could deliver on these guaranteed promises 96-99% of the time. But, delivery services were only a portion of the services being offered to their customers. Carriers had mastered information management that they shared with their customers. Customers were now able to fill out labels, track the route of their package, and assisted in billing using both via carrier provided software or the Internet.

Australia has several ties with other countries. These ties are established in several ways, one of which is through trade. The nature of trade includes exporting and importing goods and services which form trade links with partner countries. Trade comes with its advantages and disadvantages. Australia also takes part in multilateral agreements, such as APEC, to be able to strengthen trade links.

The US express mail industry is highly consolidated. 85% of the market is served by 3 service providers. There are six second tier players who serve the remaining 15%. FedEx and UPS lead the industry in services and innovation. The following trends have been observed in this Industry.

In the article, “The Five Competitive Forces that Shape Strategy,” Michael Porter argues that the five forces are an important element for managers and investors in the business industry. Porter stated that it is important to “understand the competitive forces, and their underlying causes” which many companies will use to determine if they will gain profit or not (Porter 80). Companies determine their profitability of the industry through the level of the force that they face. For instance, when the forces are favorable, most companies will be profitable. Porter gives a detail description of the five forces and explains the importance of each force. The five forces are the threats of new entrants, the power of the buyers, the power of the suppliers, the threats of substitute for products or services, and the rivalry among existing competitors. Porter believes that “a company strategist who understands the competition extends well beyond existing rivals will detect wider competitive threats and be better equipped to address them” (Porter 93). In other words, when strategists understand the different forces it will benefit them to make better decisions and to be ready to face the different challenges between competitors. In the article, Porter’s main goal is to present the importance of the five forces to the audience.

Trends and opportunities of the parcel service industry include globalization, e-commerce, and supply-chain management. Internet logistics was FedEx and UPS’s fastest growing business. The internet enabled customers to link directly to retailers and their manufacturers. In 2001, parcel carriers served almost all of the online market. They were able to provide information on packages to customers through tracking systems on the web. This allowed customers to plan ahead and decrease delays in deliveries. It also allowed for faster transactions and lower communication costs. Parcel companies created partnerships with large Internet retailers. These partnerships allowed parcel service companies to expand its overall delivery volume. Parcel companies improved tracking by implementing several technological innovations. These included “laser scanners and bar codes, state of the art software programs, satellite and cell phone communication equipment, electronic information interchanges, and the Internet.”

UPS has been in the package delivery business for 95 years, providing services to businesses and consumers worldwide in more than 200 countries. In 1994, UPS began to investigate the potential of e-commerce and started an internal group focused on enabling e-commerce. UPS redefined its core business and found ways to change its structure and processes, forming new businesses to take advantage of new opportunities. UPS was interested in finding ways to leverage their extensive infrastructure and expertise in basic transportation of goods, services, and

Delivering goods such as gifts, files, and documents has always been essential for businesses and personal purposes. Before internet marketing and technological innovations, sending parcels to another location wasn 't so simple. However now days, there is a constant increase of internet users which according to The World Bank, around 38.1 billion people surf on the cyberspace. This boosts online shopping and services increasing companies to aim to send their products to different places. Because sending packages, nationally or internationally, have been a consumption of great time and money, both enterprises and clients hope for faster and affordable ways which lead to the popularity of courier

Porter's Five Forces can be applied to particular companies, market segments and industries with the step-by-step analysis of market structure and competitive situation. First of all, when implementing this module in organizations, it is necessary to determine the scope of the market to be analyzed. Following, all relevant forces for this market analyzed and key forces are identified (Gerry and Kevan, P.117). Actually some organizational strategy and the longer-term goals are mainly based on or consistent with the key forces. Hence, it is not necessary to analyze all elements of all competitive forces with the same depth. Moreover, the key forces in the competitive environment will vary in different industry. Different forces take on prominence in shaping competition in each industry (Porter,