Introduction
The company to be considered in this paper is FedEx. FedEx is a company that specializes in “overnight delivery of high-priority packages, documents, and heavy freight” (FedEx Corporation, Par. 2). This company is considered to be “the leading transportation company in the world that provides fast and reliable delivery to each and every US address” (Denton, 1992, p.12). This paper is going to consider operations management at FedEx and its global strategy.
Operations management at FedEx
The FedEx Company has been making the necessary efforts to ensure it effectively carries out its operations without much inconveniences (Operations Management – FedEx 2011),. The company has realized that delays in delivery can bring in detrimental effects. For instance, in the year 2002, the company went in to partnership with NASA in order to offer its ramp tower facility for “Metron Aviation’s Surface Management system, in an effort to reduce delays and optimize its operations in Memphis” (Customer case Study, n.d, p.1).
On basis of the ‘surface Management System’ performance, this company carried out its operations with Metron Aviation to organize and boost the system to offer a wider scope, which encompassed the inclusion of “new data feeds like TMA (‘Traffic Management Advisor’) for sequencing arrivals” (Customer case Study, n.d ,p.1).
The surface system of Metron Aviation offered the FedEx Company with, as pointed out, “real-time and forward-looking information that improved surface resource allocation, allowing strategic decisions to be made for arriving aircraft as much as 30 minutes prior to touchdown” (Customer case Study, n.d p.2).
Beginning from the year 2004, a time when the system was deployed at the ‘FedEx Ramp Tower’, this system has gone up to the level that offers support to the “Memphis airport Authority” and a large number of other FedEx users. These include, “the Hub Control Room, Aircraft Service Attendant, Global Operations Center, Gate Desk, Line Maintenance, Crew Bus Dispatch, Flight Coordination and Corporate Aviation” (Customer case Study, n.d, p.2).
FedEx Global Strategy
This company pursues a global strategy. This strategy matches the company’s operations since they offer delivery services worldwide. “The FedEx global network spans 210 countries, broken down in to four express networks”( FedEx, 2010, Para. 1). The company does not necessarily have to engage in customizing its service and this is because it is standardized. This is in line with the company’s “low cost structure approach that ties in to a typical global strategy” (FedEx, 2010, Para 1).
For the reason that the company doesn’t have to increase the costs for service customization, this makes it possible for the company to utilize the cost advantage it has for an aggressive pricing strategy in which success is attained. FedEx is in a position to; instead, engage in the spending of the resources on technology, keeping focus on “the cutting edge and ability to deliver, rather than on customization” (FedEx, 2010, para. 1).
This company is making use of the global strategy in the right way and this is for the reason that it has a “a low cost structure, global standardized services, and a few key locations in 210 countries” (FedEx, 2010, Para. 1).
Conclusion
The FedEx Company provides delivery services to various parts of the world. It is considered a leading company in this industry. The company has been carrying out appropriate measures in regard to operations management in order to avoid delays. It pursues a global strategy and it does this correctly following it low cost structure, ‘global standardized services’, and a few key locations in more than two hundred nations.
References
Customer case Study. Surface operations management. Web.
Denton, K., (1992). Keeping employees: The Federal express approach. SAM Advanced Management Journal, 57 (3), pp. 10 – 13.
FedEx, (2010). Global strategies. Web.
FedEx Corporation, (2011). Company perspectives. Web.
Operations Management – FedEx, (2011). Web.