...United Parcel Service (UPS) begins with a general overview of the company’s information technology (IT) environment to establish awareness of the size and complexity of this corporation. It includes a macro-level breakdown of the technology infrastructure of UPS ranging from the data centers to the PCs currently in operation. The study also more closely analyzes the software and database structure of UPS along with an analysis of the company’s E-commerce activities. It includes an interview with Tom Creech, the North Florida District E-commerce manager at UPS. Finally, research was conducted to evaluate the emerging technologies that UPS is implementing and employing to support the business strategy and maintain its competitive edge. OVERVIEW nfrastructure, data and proprietary e-commerce software elements are the foundation of UPS’s technology success. These tools work together to support its e-commerce strategy, which in turn supports the company’s business strategy. The company’s ongoing investment and research in emerging technologies gives UPS its competitive advantage according to Tom Creech, North Florida District E-commerce Manager. “UPS is always interested in current and emerging technologies that can assist our business and improve our efficiency” (Creech, 2004). Several awards have been presented to UPS for its application and innovativeness in e-commerce technology. InternetWeek’s lists UPS in its 2004 top 100 companies. Infoworld ranked UPS seventh in its annual...
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...United Parcel Service (UPS) begins with a general overview of the company’s information technology (IT) environment to establish awareness of the size and complexity of this corporation. It includes a macro-level breakdown of the technology infrastructure of UPS ranging from the data centers to the PCs currently in operation. The study also more closely analyzes the software and database structure of UPS along with an analysis of the company’s E-commerce activities. It includes an interview with Tom Creech, the North Florida District E-commerce manager at UPS. Finally, research was conducted to evaluate the emerging technologies that UPS is implementing and employing to support the business strategy and maintain its competitive edge. OVERVIEW I nfrastructure, data and proprietary e-commerce software elements are the foundation of UPS’s technology success. These tools work together to support its e-commerce strategy, which in turn supports the company’s business strategy. The company’s ongoing investment and research in emerging technologies gives UPS its competitive advantage according to Tom Creech, North Florida District E-commerce Manager. “UPS is always interested in current and emerging technologies that can assist our business and improve our efficiency” (Creech, 2004). Several awards have been presented to UPS for its application and innovativeness in e-commerce technology. InternetWeek’s lists UPS in its 2004 top 100 companies. Infoworld ranked UPS seventh...
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...companies such as Federal Express and new technological advancements it sparked an opportunity for a much needed change. United Parcel Services saw what was happening and decided to take a step in a new direction. In 1994, UPS announced the major changes it would undergo, which turned into a company-wide initiative to improve its total quality management system. From this, the corporate managers began to seek out the differences between its original management structure and the new management structure. One major characteristic of UPS being a company-wide goal is customer satisfaction achieved through eighteen quality initiatives. This was not an easy change and the transition down the "Road to Quality" proved to be successful at the completion. “UPS has been ranked No. 1 in its industry in 27 of the 31 ‘Most Admired’ surveys conducted by FORTUNE, and was also rated among the best in the world as a long-term investment value and for its innovativeness, employee talent, social responsibility, quality of management, financial soundness, and quality of products and services.” (Russia) The forces that drove the company into success and continuous improvement were simply the powers of Total Quality Management. The aspects that were implemented to improve the UPS’ Total Quality Management include: 1. Technology Innovativeness 2. Transportation Programs 3. Employee Empowerment 4. Quality of Service 5. Customer Management United Parcel Service is the world's...
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...The Battle for Value, 2004 FedEx Corp. vs. UPS, Inc. FedEx was form in economic class by Fred Smith in Yale University. In 1971, Smith invested 4 million dollars of his own capital and raises an addition of 91 million dollars to launch the firm. His key innovation was a hub and spoke distribution pattern. By 2003, FedEx owned 50,000 ground vehicles, 625 aircraft, 216500 employees and shipped more than 5.4 million packages daily. The company had $15.4 billion in assets, $830 million net income, and generated $22.5 billion revenues. UPS was founded in 1907 by Jim Casey. He started a bicycle messenger called American Messenger Company and changed its name to United Parcel Service of America in 1929. The success key of UPS was efficiency. UPS was the largest package-delivery company in the world. Both ground and air parcel delivery was the primary business. Gradually, the company offered more specialized transportation and logistics service. By 2003, UPS owned 88,000 ground trucks, 583 planes and 360,000 employees. | FedEx | UPS | Ground Vehicles | 50,000 | 88,000 | Aircraft | 625 | 583 | Employees | 216,000 | 360,000 | Packages shipped/ day | 5.4 million | 13 million | Assets | $15.4 billion | $28.9 billion | Net Income | $830 million | $2.9 billion | Revenue | $22.5 billion | $33.4 billion | Problem: Market observers of the air-package delivery industry considered how FedEx and UPS would develop. Was the performance of the companies in recent years predictive...
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...CASE STUDY FOR FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT CASE 4: The Battle for Value, 2004: FedEx Corp. vs. United Parcel Service, Inc. VALUE CREATION AND ECONOMIC PROFIT I. OUTLOOK OF CASE 4 Case 4 mentions about the competition between two leading companies in package- delivery market. FedEx which is the largest foreign presence in China, with 11 weekly flights, serving 220 Chinese cities, so the company’s volumes in China had grown by more than 50% between 2003 and 2004. UPS which is the world’s largest package-delivery company and dominant parcel carrier in US, serving 200 cities in 2003. FedEx had virtually invented customer logistical management, and was widely perceived as innovative. Historically, UPS had reputation for being big, bureaucratic and an industry follower. Two companies have their own market, an individual characteristics, and inconclusive. Thus, not only based on the development and operation of the two companies, the analysis also relied on the special purpose financial ratios ( especially Economic Value Added (EVA), an effective measure and rapid for firm within an industry) to find which company has more competitive advantage. II. INTRODUCTION 1. FedEx corporation: [pic] FedEx, formally known as Federal Express, started delivering packages and freight on April 17, 1973. The company was...
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...Chapter 1 Information Systems in Global Business Today ( OPENING CASE: SMART SYSTEMS AND SMART WAYS OF WORKING HELP TOYOTA BECOME NUMBER ONE Toyota has flourished in a highly competitive environment because it has created a set of finely-tuned business processes and information systems that simultaneously promote agility, efficiency, and quality. It can respond instantly to customers and changes in the marketplace as events unfold, while working closely with suppliers and retailers. The experience of Toyota and other companies described in this text will help you learn how to make your own business more competitive, efficient, and profitable. As part of its ongoing effort to monitor quality, efficiency and costs, Toyota management saw there was an opportunity to use information systems to improve business performance. Technology alone would not have provided a solution. Toyota had to carefully revise its business processes to support a build-to-order production model that based vehicle production on actual customer orders rather than “best guesses” of customer demand. Once that was accomplished, Oracle e-business software was useful for coordinating the flow of information among disparate internal production, ordering, and invoicing systems within the company and with systems of retailers and suppliers. By helping Toyota build only the cars customers have ordered, its vehicle order management system reduces inventory costs, because the company and...
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... Contents How the World Became Flat One: While I Was Sleeping / 3 Two: The Ten Forces That Flattened the World / 48 Flattener#l. 11/9/89 Flattener #2. 8/9/95 Flattener #3. Work Flow Software Flattener #4. Open-Sourcing Flattener #5. Outsourcing Flattener #6. Offshoring Flattener #7. Supply-Chaining Flattener #8. Insourcing Flattener #9. In-forming Flattener #10. The Steroids Three: The Triple Convergence / 173 Four: The Great Sorting Out / 201 America and the Flat World Five: America and Free Trade / 225 Six: The Untouchables / 237 Seven: The Quiet Crisis / 250 Eight: This Is Not a Test / 276 Developing Countries and the Flat World Nine: The Virgin of Guadalupe / 309 Companies and the Flat World Geopolitics and the Flat World Eleven: The Unflat World / 371 Twelve: The Dell Theory of Conflict Prevention / 414 Conclusion: Imagination Thirteen: 11/9 Versus 9/11 / 441 Acknowledgments I 471 Index I 475 Kq p K :::::How the World Became Flat ::::: ONE While I Was Sleeping Your Highnesses, as Catholic Christians, and princes who love and promote the holy Christian faith, and are enemies of the doctrine of Mahomet, and of all idolatry and heresy, determined to send me, Christopher Columbus, to the above-mentioned countries of India, to see the said princes, people, and territories, and to learn their disposition and the proper method of converting them to our holy faith; and furthermore directed that I should not proceed by land to the East, as is customary...
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...HR THE INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF MANAGEMENT WINDHOEK-NAMIBIA STUDY MANUAL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS CODE: BIS - 3315 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE NUMBER 1. WHY INFORMATION SYSTEMS………………………………………….6 2. Strategic role of information systems…………………..21 3. Information systems in organizations…………………..26 4. Computer and information processing…………………42 5. Managing data resources………………………………………..60 6. Networking and information systems…………………..81 7. Systems development…………………………………………………90 8. Implementation of information systems……………….97 9. Managing knowledge……………………………………………….106 10. Decision support systems………………………………………….129 THE STRUCTURE OF THIS STUDY MODULE The Module has margin icons that show the student the objectives, activities, in-text questions, feedback, further reading, key words and terms, stop and reflex signs. Chapter One covers the importance of Information Systems in running today’s organizations. Chapter Two looks at the strategic role played by information systems in today’s organizations. Chapter Three focuses on the impact of Information Systems on the organizational structure and how information systems help managers improve their decision making. Chapter Four looks at the hardware and software requirements for organizations to be able to implement information systems structures Chapter Five looks at the traditional file environments and the rise of the database...
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...Chapter 4 Ethical and Social Issues in Information Systems LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading this chapter, you will be able to: 1. Analyze the relationships among ethical, social, and political issues that are raised by information systems. 2. Identify the main moral dimensions of an information society and specific principles for conduct that can be used to guide ethical decisions. 3. Evaluate the impact of contemporary information systems and the Internet on the protection of individual privacy and intellectual property. 4. Assess how information systems have affected everyday life. CHAPTER OUTLINE 4.1 UNDERSTANDING ETHICAL AND SOCIAL ISSUES RELATED TO SYSTEMS A Model for Thinking About Ethical, Social, and Political Issues Five Moral Dimensions of the Information Age Key Technology Trends that Raise Ethical Issues ETHICS IN AN INFORMATION SOCIETY Basic Concepts: Responsibility, Accountability, and Liability Ethical Analysis Candidate Ethical Principles Professional Codes of Conduct Some Real-World Ethical Dilemmas THE MORAL DIMENSIONS OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS Information Rights: Privacy and Freedom in the Internet Age Property Rights: Intellectual Property Accountability, Liability, and Control System Quality: Data Quality and System Errors Quality of Life: Equity, Access, and Boundaries HANDS-ON MIS Developing a Web Site Privacy Policy: Dirt Bikes USA Achieving Operational Excellence: Creating a Simple Web Site Using Web Page Development Tools Improving Decision Making: Using...
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