Executing Strategies in a Global Environment: Examining the of Federal Express - Case Study Example

Executing Strategies in a Global Environment: Examining the Case of Federal Express By: Student name Course code + name University name Date of submission Executing Strategies in a Global Environment: Examining the Case of Federal Express Introduction As much as success and global access remains a necessary evil for business, strategic planning and strategy implementation holds as the best stand-along chance to curb the necessity. The latter entails the formulation and implementation of the major initiatives and goals engaged by the firm’s top management based on internal and external resource assessment. For this reason, different firms and entities have embraced different forms of business and marketing strategies and blueprints in order effectively to affect both their internal and external environments. A service blueprint emerges as the key too; to the designing of new services or even in the redesigning of the existing ones (Zeithaml et al., 2009).It provides a visual map to the identification of firm strategies, the primary building blocks of competitive advantage, and the specific aspects of individual product differentiation that consequently specifies the direction for the individual firm. The firm’s management is required to specify organization objectives, policies, and plans necessary to achieve these objectives, and then commencing resource allocation to implement the plans. It has to assess its business models, level them in regard to the existing global competition and marketing factors such that it can formulate new business-level strategies whose overall execution is effectual to the entire global context. The Firm Similarly, Federal Express (FedEx, established in 1973) operates along the same line to effect its daily small package delivery services. The firm is one of the three top-most international private companies in the packet express delivery services. The parallel implication of this fact is that the firm exists in the midst of a powerfully competitive tie. Normally, such ties will require lots of keenly designed strategy implementation if at all the specified firm has to survive the edges of the henceforth defined market.FedEx fits the query of this paper since recently had applied the rear advantages to initiate a major service innovation: The introduction of international, overnight small package delivery. Physical Evidence and Customer Experience Since entry of FedEx to global markets, the industry have been operating on the basis of four major business-level strategies to improve individual competitive advantage (Hill 2013). Price cutting spearheads the four, while service offering, global utilization of technology and information systems, and expansion to reach a global level of operations follow next in line respectively (Zeithaml et al., 2009). As a matter of fact, FedEx emerged vibrantly in effecting their strategies. The moment FedEx stepped into the courier industry, tremendous and revolutionary changes were witnessed. It revolutionized itself from being just a simple fast-service delivery United States-based company to a global logistic, supply-chain and value driven firm. It had to use all the four realms -customer responsiveness, innovation, quality and efficiency- vital in building of a competitive advantage in order to scope larger markets. Embracing service logistics allowed the firm to attend offer adequate customer responsiveness while accepting and evolving along the changing technologies and information systems allowed the offering of efficient and quality services. Similarly, it would improper not to mention that it is the firm’s innovative measures that saw the very beginning of the industry’s evolution.Indeed, the path have been wider for the firm. In 2010, the firm had taken a 54% market share in the overnight express deliveries while its major rival; United Parcel Service (UPS) had only 42% market share (Hill 2013). Potential Fail Points and Bottlenecks However, this is not enough success. The same 2010 United States Market Share report provide that FedEx took only 22% on the ground delivery services while UPS had a 61% market share (Hill 2013). The report implies that FedEx had been losing grip over customer access in the global context, and if the status quo hold, the firm is going to lose its current above-average profitability margin. Its strategic management team need to sit back and review not only the firm’s competitive advantage quotient, but also the product differentiation and capacity control techniques. Secondly, FedEx had had a major bottleneck in expansion of its ground networks. Even though the latter had moved mountains as of 2006-it acquired both the Caliber Systems and the Watkins Motor Lines and re-branded itself to FedEx National LTL- to ensure that it had a vast and immediate access to it national wide consumer paradigm, UPS and DHL were hitting even harder. The two firms had spearheaded the market ensuring immediate door-to-door service delivery to their customers, highly threatening FedEx expansion success. Thirdly, have a difficulty bottleneck with the repercussions of not meeting the network-service delivery requirements. The firm’s new online service operate on the basis of Business-to-Business and Business-to-Consumer antiques such that both the firm, the middle-lane retailers, and the consumers are logically interconnected. In a report made by a 2013 Wall Street Journal, FedEx’s CEO pointed fingers at the online retailers who threatened immediate delivery of service to their customers, rendering a fatal guarantee of the firm’s services (Stevens & Ng, 2014). Possible Solutions Maybe it is after the 2010 review that the firm’s management realized that the innovation antique is the cure to all its existing problems (Zeithaml et al., 2009). Putting and investing strongly in the innovative field allows the company to identify any slight changes that require an equivalent adjustment in the firm’s operation. Innovation paves way to differentiation (Gallego & Wang 2014). It is as a result of embracing new limited and innovative methods of business that the firm can achieve overall product differentiation and capacity control. Over from 2010, the firm’s embraced new measure to strategic measures to boost its competitive position. FedEx now recognizes transportation and offering of E-solutions (issuing of holistic solutions to consumers through adequate management of the supplying and selling chains) as the key competences (Raithel et al. 2010). The firm has invested in the Information Technology (IT) infrastructure, websites, and client-provided software in order to lay firm and enormous ground works for the highly potential future E-business. Nonetheless, industrial managements need to realize that core competencies are not always simple to implement. Indeed, they are never fixed: They are meant to change over time such that each new time the markets presents new-revolutionary forms of business, the firm can stand-along and upright. The same applies to FedEx. The firm could have embraces lots of strategies that ensured it survived through the changing markets over the years, but it still need to embrace new strategies –competitive ones- if it is going to survive the international markets in the coming future.As such, the best survival strategy recommendable to FedEx is “embracing modern technology.” The rationale to this strategy and its applicability in the overall global context is more practical than theoretical. Take a look at FedEx’s rising history. The firm had pioneered a number of logistic solutions that helped it thrive and achieve better economies of scale over its competitors (Hill 2013). However then, how comes all these competences importance have eroded over time? It is due to changing technologies. Technology results into powerful and less expensive operational antiques. The current global context operates on an ‘evolutionary perspective’ where all of the weaker members of the population are at risk of perishing in difficult situations. On the other hand, FedEx holds mercy to the wider environment where its prime priority becomes scanning the surroundings in check for threats and opportunities. Therefore, if the firm gets to embrace the modern technology with the proper grip, it becomes entirely vigilant and vibrant and gets a better view and analysis of its market characteristics (Steffens & Burgers, 2009). Simply, the overall outcome is danger protection with adequate survival measures in all of its marketing niches. FedEx’s Service Blueprint Service Blueprint: The case for FedEx Inc. Web Kiosk (Style Change) Service Point Improvements Product and Process-Line Extensions Major Service Innovations Physical Evidence (Communication channels) Physical kiosks with reservations systems. Online and website scheduling system. Bookable equipment – airplanes- for check-out. On-point service people. On-time door-to-door client delivery system. Technical documentation on capabilities. Use policies. Use tutorials for capturing and connecting content. Appraisal systems with effective product promotion strategies. Introduction of a national wide delivery system. Overnight small package delivery system. Customer Actions (The journey map) Scheduled room and conferencing technology. View schedule activities. View the options for conferencing. Participate in live content. Checkout auxiliary equipment. Assistance with choosing technology and booking room. Way-finding. Getting assistance on conferencing problems. Ask follow-up questions related to policies and procedures. Access tutorials and documentation. Quick check-outs. Vigilant differentiation and capacity control techniques. Redesigning the website portal. Front-line Staff Actions (Public Services) Maintain profitable collaboration. Maintain marketing. Respond to setup and help requests. Schedule collaboration and conferencing user-assistance. Assist customer booking issues. Troubleshooting of connection problems. Manage tickets and breakdown sequences. Maintain policies and procedures. Tier 1 troubleshooting to connection issues. Basic technology reset. Immediate and secure customer attendance. Guaranteed parcel and package delivery and on time. Basic tech resetting. Backstage Staff Actions (IT and facilities staff) Maintain request and scheduling systems. Assist through call for complicated setups. Respond to escalated tickets from Tier 1 service stuff for troubleshooting. Maintain portal for tutorials. Specialized or customs collar setups and conferencing. Tier II and Tier III connection and support equipment. Ensure that all consumer services are logistic, supply-chain and value driven. Maintain utmost connection with suppliers and middle-level retailers. Support and systems (stuff) Support to post-production problems. Overall equipment maintenance. Video conferencing systems. Support to post-production complications with captured content. Service Blueprints and the various Organizational Departments Given that a service blueprint will always object to propel the entire organization into the most profitable ground, it will always modify and reset all organs of the given firm.Acting on the human resources department, the latter ensures that the overall human element is empowered through adequate implementation of appraisal systems, fair and just selection criteria, and even higher job descriptions. It the reconfigures that operations management organ and ensures that the rendering and provision of services flow as promised while it manages all the fail points through employment of training systems and vivid quality control procedures. To the marketing organ, service blueprints ensure creation of realistic customer expectations and a service system design that allows proper consumer attraction and promotion. Similarly, the service blueprints ensure that the system technology organ of FedEx provides the utmost support systems. This allows proper system specification with personal preference databases. In conclusion, getting to learn and understand service blueprints puts both individual and firm based managers at a better strategic position to understand local and global markets. Given that creation of an efficient and successful corporate strategy requires that managers clearly understand both the success and failure fields of the business, then learning service blueprints becomes the number one corporate dose recommendable to all firms.Such as in the case for FedEx, just using prescriptive models, tools, and methodologies will not be enough. In-depth conceptual knowledge is required such that new strategy creation and implementation is accompanied with uniqueness and absoluteness.It is at the essence of such a strategy that the firm can achieve not only strong and highly viable competitive advantage, but also be able to attain product differentiation and capacity control. References Gallego, G. & Wang, R., 2014, Multiproduct Price Optimization and Competition under the Nested Logit Model with Product-Differentiated Price Sensitivities. Operations Research, 62(2), pp.450--461 Hill, C. W., 2013, Case 7: The evolution of small package express delivery industry, 1973-2010. University of Washington: Cengage Learning Hill, C. W., and Jones, G. R., 2013,Strategic management theory. Cengage Learning Hsu, T., August 13, 2012,"FedEx offers buyouts to cut costs."Los Angeles Times. Raithel, S., Sarstedt, M., Scharf, S., andSchwaiger, M., 2010,On the value relevance of customer satisfaction: Multiple drivers and multiple markets. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 22(3) Steffens, P. R. and Burgers, H., 2009, Building for competitive advantage in early stage start-ups: the role of entrepreneurial capabilities. In Solomon, George (Ed.) Proceedings of the 2009 Academy of Management Annual Meeting: Green Management Matters, 7–11 August 2009, Chicago, Illinois. Stevens, L. and Ng, S. March, 2014,FedEx Takes Sloppy E-Tailers to Task. The Wall Street Journal. Zeithaml Z. A.,Bitner V. A., Gremler M. J., and Dwayne D., 2008,Services Marketing: Integrating Customers Focus across the Firm, Glasgow. pp. 203-206. Read More