Emily Vogelsang
Case 4 Fedex/UPS

1. FedEx and UPS are very different in their corporate cultures. Fred Smith, founder of FedEx, emphasizes importance of the employees and customers. FedEx also focuses on total quality management, attitude surveying, promoting from within, and emphasis on personal responsibility. UPS, however, has dealt with employee strikes. The strike gave changes to the employees and it cost the company $700 million dollars. In 1999, UPS initiated a series of acquisitions, beginning with a Miami-based freight carrier operating in Latin America. Then, they also opened a chain of stores that later became known as the UPS stores. These stores provide packing, shipping, and mail services. UPS also invested heavily in Information Technology and aircraft. FedEx on the other hand, invested more in international companies and projects. They wanted to become the global company. FedEx went after previous customers of UPS. FedEx deregulated the domestic airline industry which permitted larger planes to replace smaller ones.
2. I would prefer to use FedEx. I feel that they are more reliable overall. I’ve had an experience with UPS where they have left a package at my apartment door where anyone could take it. When I have used FedEx, they always leave it at the office if necessary. In my opinion they are both great companies.
3. It seems that since UPS went public in 1999, they have received extraordinary returns, even more than FedEx. They both have outperformed the S&P 500 on a regular basis, with just a couple of exceptions before 1999.
4. These numbers reveal that FedEx has more costs than profits, considering they have had negative EVA. UPS has had very small EVA, yet it shows that they are still making profits.
5. From my understanding, UPS is the more operationally excellent company, yet they were not the one to dominate. UPS had had greater