Introduction
Today, the business environment is characterized by intensifying market entrants, rapid business environment dynamics, and technological innovations. This situation has continued to render the orthodox business models obsolete.
Organizations that offer mailing and tracking services have experienced numerous challenges as they are a required to change their strategies periodically to align them with new technological means. Establishing a robust value chain guides the organization in integrating its primary and support activities to enhance customer satisfaction, loyalty, and retention.
To achieve this strategic goal, organizations have embraced the use of integrated systems for both core and support activities. This paper presents the value chain analysis of the United States Postal Services by providing an in-depth analysis of its information systems used in the realization of its strategy.
Value Chain Analysis
Value chain analysis entails evaluating the contribution of each business activity that underpins the creation of product and service value in the organization (Laudon & Laudon, 2010). According to Porter, there is a distinction between the primary and support activities of the organization.
The primary activities encompass inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing, and sales. On the other hand, the support services facilitate the improvement of the efficiency and effectiveness of the primary services.
They entail procurement, technology, human resource management, and infrastructure development (Laudon & Laudon, 2010). In a bid to execute the primary and support activities seamlessly, there is a need to employ integrated information systems that link the different activities together with a view of promoting the creation of value for products and services.
Primary Activities for UPS and Systems used
The primary activities of the UPS comprise the core involvement in transforming the raw materials into the desired finished products and services. Inbound logistics entails material handling and warehousing. Operations include the manufacturing processes that entail turning inputs into outputs (Rapp & Subramanian, 2010).
Outbound logistics is concerned with the processing of customer orders and distribution of the ordered finished products to the customers. Marketing and sales activities encompass the dissemination of information to the customers.
Such information concerns the product and service promotions, pricing, and channel management. Services include various installations, repairs, and accessories. The UPS’s inbound and outbound logistics include the packaging of the customers’ mails, dropping, and delivery (Rapp & Subramanian, 2010).
The primary operation of the UPS entails planning various schedules including routes, courier requirements, time, and safe delivery of the mails to the customers. The marketing function of the UPS involves frequent customer deals and aggressive branding.
The company prints logos on their trucking vehicles and uniforms for the mail delivery staff as a part of the marketing campaign. Additionally, it undertakes both electronic and outdoor advertising. Additional customer services include online interactions to take care of complaints, follow-ups, repairs, and suggestions (Rapp & Subramanian, 2010).
Support Activities for the UPS
According to Rapp and Subramanian (2010), the support activities offered by the UPS include firm infrastructure, human resource management, technology development, and procurement. Porter posits that the support activities are meant for complementing the core activities of the organization.
The infrastructure activities handle matters relating to finance, accounts preparation, and social affairs. The human resource (HR) for the UPS entails training, recruitment, and performance appraisal to promote a positive corporate culture of value creation and dedication.
The UPS uses information technology (IT) to offer different delivery choices for the customers as a part of its prime competencies for developing a competitive edge against its rivals such as FedEx and the US Postal Services. The company’s information technology is integrated into its various segments including air, water, and land delivery services to provide reliable and timely distribution of packages.
Information Systems for Primary and Support Activities
The chief operations of the UPS include package delivery. To ensure an improved delivery of products and services, the company utilizes an end-to-end tracking system that involves more than ten scan events on shipments from pickup to delivery.
In addition, the company has proactive information systems that provide customers with real-time status of their deliveries (Rapp & Subramanian, 2010). Customers also get text alerts concerning the routes, shipment status, and timeline of the progress of their packages. They can select the type of alerts that provide enough information about the status of their deliveries.
Moreover, the United Postal Service provides various information systems to improve its value chain including the Delivery Sequence File (CDS), Electronic Verification System (eVS), Carrier Route Information System File, Bar-coding and Address Standardization (BAS), Delivery Point Validation (DVP), and Enhanced Line of Travel (eLOT) among others (Rapp & Subramanian, 2010).
For the support activities, the UPS has embraced a robust education system to provide training for its workforce whose tasks entail mail handling, packaging, and distribution. The educational system seeks to instill skills to improve customer delivery services and provide optimum management training for effective practice (Laudon & Laudon, 2010).
Alignment of the Information Systems with the UPS Strategy
The mission and vision statements guide the strategic goals and objectives of the United Postal Services. They outline the company’s goals of developing core competencies with a view of building competitive approaches to catapult the organization to success and customer value creation. The integrated systems embraced by the UPS align with its strategic objectives.
The tracking information system seeks to attain particular goals including customer communication concerning the delivery status of their packages, mode of payment, and shipment schedules among others. The educational system provides relevant training for the UPS personnel in a bid to map the way towards establishing core competencies in product and service delivery. Training provides the employees with knowledge that upgrades their skills to remain abreast with the ever-changing industrial landscape due to shifts in technology and customer behavior (Laudon & Laudon, 2010)
Conclusion
The essay has discussed the core and secondary activities that constitute the business of the United Postal Services. The nature of the business has posed a major challenge to the company owing to the ever-advancing, proactive, and innovative culture.
For instance, the advancement of the Internet has rendered most postal services obsolete. In light of e-transformation, the United States Postal Services has embraced technology to diversify and enhance its operations in a bid to meet new customer needs. To execute its package handling and delivery services among other services efficiently, the UPS has adopted a tech-savvy information system that conveys real-time information to its customers.
This situation enables the customers gain access to the delivery status information about their shipments packages, schedules, and routes. The UPS also has an educational system that offers relevant training to upgrade its staff’s skills. The practice promotes relevance and competence among its workforce. These systems correspond to the company’s strategic objectives.
Reference List
Laudon, K., & Laudon, J. (2010). Information Systems, Organizations, and Strategy. Web.
Rapp, W., & Subramanian, H. (2010). Leveraging IT as a core competency to enter new businesses: The UPS case. New Jersey, NJ: New Jersey Institute of Technology.