Custom «Environmental factors» Essay Paper

United Parcel Service (UPS) is a global giant in parcel delivery service. The company is based in USA but has branches that span dozens of countries across the globe. The paper presents an evaluation of an article published on the company’s sustainability stratagem on both local and international fronts. The paper will be made up of evaluations of the manner in which issues are presented. Issues focused on are; the impact of domestic and international environmental factors affect the company, the forecast on how technological change may affect the company, maters of social responsibility and ethics and how these influence the company’s domestic and international thrusts. The article in focus aimed to highlight means employed by UPS to ensure global markets penetration success. This is against the background that multinationals face inhibiting challenges in penetrating global markets owing to cultural variances. In an interview with the researcher Principal Lecturer of International Strategy at Anglia Ruskin University and published author Jonathan Knowles envisages that UPS faces a few cultural barriers owing to its nature of service. He notes, “It depends on how culturally sensitive a product or service, some companies transcend cultural easily barriers others don’t. Leisure activities for example such as eating out would have cultural barriers to their free and unlimited movement although of course cultural barriers do affect the types of products that might be shipped within a country. However I think UPS is a company with very few cultural barriers. In others words a parcel service is the same in China as it is in Argentina.” On the other dimensions Hak (2007) holds that any company plying global markets in bound to encounter cultural hindrances in one way or another. He asserts, “Yes because they need to contextualize their operational to what the locals demand, in India for example they have many more local collection points which operate on a commission basis but that model does not exist in the UK as the country is smaller and has a different culture. So they have to recognize local needs to provide a truly global service. I believe that UPS is and can continue to be successful at this” This is an illumination of the flexibility and dynamism wielded by UPS in implementing its global growth and expansion stratagem. Cultural variances and other environmental factors have resulted in failure in many companies attempting global expansion. UPS service in 185 countries testifies to the company’s success in weathering cultural challenges and other unique environment factors through the merits of agility and adaptation. The article evaluated also entails that one of the declared goals of UPS in the recent dispensations is that of the company’s endeavor to be a feasible eCommerce enabler. Owing to that, the article constitutes forecasts that UPS will intensify its thrust in tapping the merits of technological advancements to enhance its operations, cut costs and enable customers to manage their shipments as well as trace them anywhere and anytime in the world. The company’s “My UPS” is a cyber facility that enables the customers to manage their shipment purchases. The company website has description of the “MY UPS” facility for the company customers as the following. “My UPS is your point of entry to the services offered within UPS.com, giving you access to more online content and functionality. When you register, you can take advantage of these time-saving features:

Among other things the facility offers the customers the following

%uF0D8 Ship and track packages all in the same place. %uF0D8 Void shipments and store international shipping documents. %uF0D8 Save tracking numbers and addresses online. %uF0D8 Create and print UPS shipping labels from your computer. %uF0D8 Pay for shipping by credit card, or charge to a UPS shipping account. %uF0D8 Access saved shipping and tracking information for up to 90 days. %uF0D8 Save shipping preferences, such as origin address, payment method, and more. %uF0D8 Request tracking notifications by e-mail, wireless phone, or PDA According to the article the company cashes in on the aspect of using technology to provide information businesses need: UPS presents Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) with the information they need in their attempts to keep ahead in their global expansion strategies. By using the technological interfaces that UPS has set up UPS businesses can trace the location of their purchased orders. The facilities also enable customers, both businesses and individuals to research international markets and business costs as well as calculate total shipping costs. By extension the provided services also include the enabling of customers to calculate duties and taxes as well as transportation charges and according to forecasts included in the article the footprints of UPS in the use technology are bound to expand. The foregoing captures the difficulty to be encountered in trying to establish whether or not UPS growth can be sustained for the next five years. Bradshaw has stated aptly that the growth achieved can only be sustained if the conditions that have enabled its attainment remain conducive. She adds, “I have confidence in UPS’s staff to be able to meet the ever changing market in which we operate and respond to threats from both the economy and our competitors as we have done for over a century, UPS will continue to grow whether it will be at the rate it has for the past five years I cannot say, but in the long run it will grow and continue to build on the successes and accomplishments it has already attained.” The financial statistical evaluations and forecasts have painted a bright future on the prospects of UPS growth five years into the future. It must be noted that financial calculation present variables in a black and white and technical way which is exclusive and independent of the influence of other inalienable and critical factors that have pervasive bearing on the company’s growth sustainability prospects. It can be stated that, conditions remaining the same UPS will continue to grow at unpredictable levels though. The conducive conditions needed for the sustenance of UPS growth are not likely to remain the same. On a macro scale the recessionary trends in the US economy, the global oil prices crisis among other factors compound the difficulty in predicting UPS growth five years into the future. Statics included in the article indicate that UPS will continue to grow in the forecast time span of this study of five years into the future but the growth level of 13,10 % in the past five years is highly unlikely to be sustained. It is clearly imperative that any growth or sustainability strategy to be crafted and implemented by UPS must entail feasible and adequate growth consolidation measures. The author of the article perceives that social responsibility and eth commitment to physical environmental soundness is the key factor of influence to UPS global and local marketing strategy. The author cites that upon stressing on the importance of ethics, gender and racial equity UPS is forthright in fostering sustainable development illuminated by its recent “Green Truck’ campaign. Hill (2007) concurs that the future appears pretty unpredictable given the volatility of the global oil prices, the unpredictability of the US economy among other factors. UPS has an impressive growth and sustainability record over the past years which it must consolidate prior to considering further growth strategies.