Five years later, the Kinko's name was eliminated, FedEx took a huge charge on that transaction, and the deal was officially labeled a bust. Among the many operating problems was that margins fell, revenue flatlined and turnover increased dramatically (Deutsch, 2007), Kinko's Kinko's was started in California by Paul Orfalea, who lent his nickname to the company
The customers of Kinko's tended to be small businesses, many of which overlapped with FedEx's own customer base. As such, the idea that traffic could be driven from Kinko's to FedEx, and vice versa, was one of the key strategic considerations behind the acquisition (Flanigan, 2003)
Such perfection can only be delivered if employees are exacting and have highly regimented days. Post-Acquisition Kinko's When Orfalea sold Kinko's to the private equity firm, that firm began the process of making Kinko's stores more uniformly run, and FedEx accelerated that practice (Goldgeier, 2007)
Strategically, the move was made primarily to counter the Mailboxes purchase by UPS. Fred Smith even said at the time of the purchase that he thought the two companies "shared a similar heritage, culture and commitment to superior service" (Palmeri, 2008)
The corporate culture at FedEx was built around the culture in the Marines, with whom Smith served in Vietnam. The company's leadership training program is based on principles borrowed from the Marines (Smith, 2008)
The company's first networks were analog, but they quickly moved to a digital system. This early system was known as DADS, which was a text messaging system for dispatchers and couriers that also allowed for barcode information to be transmitted back to the central information center (Dubie, 2002)
This is then available from any information point internally, but it is also made available to the customer on the company's website. The integrated nature of the data at FedEx is considered to be a source of competitive advantage and is a model for other companies (Viswanath et al
The company is organized into the divisions of FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, and FedEx Services, Uniting all of these diverse divisions into a single unified identity has been possible through the use of world class branding and marketing. FedEx has one of the strongest brand images globally today, instantly recognized and considered a global leader in brand management (Murphy, 2011)
FedEx has one of the strongest brand images globally today, instantly recognized and considered a global leader in brand management (Murphy, 2011). In addition their strength in branding, they have been able to attain a very large scale operation in logistics and supply chain management that is comparable to WalMart and globally-based mass merchandisers and retailers (Oster, Rubin, Strong, 1997)
It's core strengths in logistics and supply chain management continually lead the U.S. And global air express industry (Pettus, 2006)
The second strategic opportunity is the commercialization of the Boeing 777F freight aircraft that FedEx will be pioneering the use of later this decade. A third strategy opportunity is the continual build-out of global supply chain services and the use of information technologies to automate them (Viaene, De Hertogh, 2010)
Using a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis framework, insights can be gained into the future direction of FedEx from a strategic standpoint as well. SWOT Analysis Strengths FedEx has concentrated on creating unique competencies and strengths in the areas of logistics and supply chain expertise (Bhardwaj, Momaya, 2006); optimizing their routing systems through effective use of IT systems and strategies (Novack, Thomas, 2004); continual investment in brand equity to ensure market leadership; build-out of alternative channels for small and medium businesses (SMB) and the B2C market (Gordon, 1992); and a corporate culture that rewards and recognizes exceptional customer service (Spence, Essoussi, 2010)
The use of balanced Scorecards (BSC) to measure the price elasticity of each specific marketing promotion and pricing change is also assessed (Cecere, Martin, 2006). The Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems are integrated with FedEx Distributed Order Management (DOM) and Supply Chain Management (SCM) systems so marketing executives, strategists and pricing experts can get an immediate 360-degree view of each of their business accounts (Johnson, 2003)
The distribution strategies of FedEx are highly reliant on effective Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) strategies being executed over time as well. Part 9: Integrated Marketing Communications Decisions At the center of FedEx's marketing strategies and the foundation of their integrated marketing campaigns (IMC) is the need to continually reinforce their position and role as a trusted advisor for courier, local delivery and global shipping services (Kelly, 2010)
The findings in this section build the foundation for the next, which is on how FedEx makes the most of their innate strengths overall. Part 3: Strategic Marketing Planning The strategic market planning process seeks to find those markets were the company can excel at service or disruptive innovation while also drastically re-ordering process efficiencies in the markets and industries they choose to enter (Varadarajan, 2010)
pdf A system of inquiry is a series of questions that are used to determine the ethics of a situation. The system of inquiry covers a wide range of subjects including decision-making, problem solving and behavior in a business setting (Ganly, 2010)
Purpose The purpose of this dissertation is to use the techniques of financial statement analysis to determine the future direction of FedEx. These techniques systematically break down the financial statements to determine the company's accounting policies, the degree to which management is bound by these policies, the recent changes that the company has made in its accounting policies, the quality of the firm's disclosure, and to identify red flags (Palepu, no date)
The change process is therefore slow. The centralized planning process and slow diffusion of ideas and technology result in multi-year timeframes for relatively simple updates such as modernizing the tracking devices that the couriers use (Hesseldahl, 2002)
One of the significant ways for the company to deal with global competition is strategy innovation, which is the development of new value for customers. Strategy innovation can basically entail creating new products and services or restructuring the conventional business models (Bate & Johnston, 2013)
This strategy would help sustain competitive advantages and enhance its profitability through enabling the Federal Express to determine and control the cost. Generally, a cost leadership business -- level strategy helps in maintaining competitive advantages even during increased rivalry, emergence of new entrants, and presence of substitute products (Beard & Dess, 1981)