Essay Example on Planning for Holiday Shipping at FedEx

The planning process can be of vital help for FedEx and help it meet its goals. As observed in the case study, the current goal of the company is to meet its on-time delivery promises as this would provide the idea regarding the uncertainty in the environment. The company was not able to deliver all the packages within the previous years. Any failure to plan at all would imply more failures to meet the deadline of Christmas. If the orders had not accumulated due to the last-minute sales, they would be fine with getting all orders out on time. A closer look at the case reveals that the retailers also played a big role in the last-minute orders, particularly advising their consumers that they would be able to get the orders for the holidays.

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FedEx's current mission, goals, and strategies

The current mission and vision of the organization have been a vital factor for its success. The FedEx Corporation will generate superior financial revenue for the shareholders through the provision of a high-value-added logistics, transportation as well as the related business services through the operating companies. Notably, the customer demand will be accomplished in the highest priority manner to each market served (Dhir 2019). As part of its mission, FedEx will strive to establish a mutual relationship with its employees, partners and suppliers. The company prioritizes safety in all its operations. The company conducts all its activities in line with the highest ethical and professional standards. This forms a fundamental aspect of its strategy. The company strives to grow package business, grow internationally, supply chain capabilities, develop through e-commerce and technology and grow new services and alliances. All these strategies are aimed at making the company more competitive.

Opportunities and threats

Various opportunities and threats exist about the operation of the company. The customer’s willingness to pay a higher price for on-time delivery is a major opportunity. It implies that the company will be able to make more returns and revenue if at all, it can conduct its shipments on time. The online sales within the US for companies such as Amazon still rely on companies such as the FedEx to guarantee the customer satisfaction through the on-time delivery.

Two major threats exist as part of the company’s operation. Primarily, the new regulations under the Paris Agreement (2016) could pose a tremendous threat to certain existing product categories. Additionally, the rising level, particularly of the income per hour as well as the increasing prices of products, can mount huge pressure on the company’s profitability.

Strength and Weaknesses

The strengths are part of the FedEx's success and competitive advantage. Notably, the automation of the transactions and activities enhanced consistency as well as the quality of the FedEx products. In this way, the company has been able to perform the scale-up and scale-down based on the demand conditions within the market. The high level of customer retention is another vital element that has constituted the company’s strength. Ideally, FedEx, with its dedicated customer relationship management unit, has accomplished a high customer level among prospective customers (Manimaran et al., 2020).

The major weakness associated with the FedEx. Ideally, the weaknesses refer to the areas where the company can improve upon. It is critical to note that the strategy involves making the appropriate choices. Notably, financial planning forms the primary weakness in this company. The planning is not performed properly and efficiently. The analysis of both the current and liquid assets reveals that the company can utilize cash more efficiently than its existing assets.

SWOT Analysis Table

Strengths

• Automation of the transactions and activities leading to consistency
• High level of customer retention Weaknesses
• Poor financial planning
• Overspending more than the current assets

Threats

• New regulation posing threats in the product category
• rising level on the income per hour puts pressure on the company’s profitability
• Opportunities
• Customer’s willingness to pay a higher price
• Increased online sales leading to high profitability
• Strategies to achieve competitive advantages

FedEx can adopt various strategies to achieve its competitive advantage. Primarily, the company can open up new markers based on government agreement (Dhir 2019). The adoption of the new technology standard and government will avail the opportunity to enter a new emerging market. Additionally, reduction of the transportation costs will be critical because reduced shipping prices will also enhance the product reduction for the company (Manimaran et al., 2020). This strategy will offer a valuable opportunity to boost revenue and transfer the benefits to the customers.

References

Dhir, S. (2019). Federal Express. In Cases in Strategic Management (pp. 91-105). Springer, Singapore.

Manimaran, S., Pandian, T. M., & Rajaram, K. B. (2020). A Study on Competitive Advantage of Aligning Information Technology/Information System with Business Strategy of Fedex. Studies in Indian Place Names, 40(60), 4317-4328.