Case Study: Analysis of Competitive Operations at FedEx Singapore

This case study provides a comprehensive analysis of FedEx's operations in Singapore, examining its competitive strategies within the courier and logistics industry. The analysis begins with an overview of FedEx's market presence and its adaptation to the Singaporean market. It identifies key stakeholders, including internal (employees, board of directors) and external (customers, partners, investors, government). The study delves into FedEx's customer base, which primarily consists of business organizations involved in shipping goods, and details the activities and processes within its value chain, including inbound and outbound logistics, operations, and firm infrastructure. The analysis further explores FedEx's product-service strategy, value proposition, and how value is delivered to customers and other stakeholders (investors, partners, government). It also assesses the company's return on investment, major suppliers, and the overall structure and performance of its value chain network. The study concludes with recommendations for improvement and performance measurement methods employed by FedEx.

Analysis of Competitive Operations
Case Study of FedEx Singapore

Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
FedEx Operation in Singapore.....................................................................................................................3
Stakeholders of the organisation..............................................................................................................3
Customers of the organisation.................................................................................................................4
Activities and Processes in the value chain network................................................................................5
Understanding product-SERVICE...........................................................................................................6
Value Proposition and delivery to customers...........................................................................................7
Value delivered to other stakeholders......................................................................................................7
Return on Investment and risks...............................................................................................................7
Major Suppliers of FedEx........................................................................................................................8
Overall structure of organisational value chain........................................................................................8
Performance measurement by FedEx......................................................................................................9
Recommendations for the improvement of the network........................................................................10
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................10
References.................................................................................................................................................11

Introduction
FedEx is one of the leading American multinational courier delivery services. The organisation
was founded in the year 1971 and has been providing courier services all across the world since
then. FedEx has consistently grown its business different markets through its quality service and
customer coordination which has helped the company to generate significant revenue and
customer satisfaction. Singapore is one of the rapidly growing nations in the Asia and the
demand of courier service is extremely high in this country. Analysing the constantly rising
market demand FedEx started its Singapore wing and since then the organisation has been able
to capture significant market share in the country (Birla, 2012).
FedEx Operation in Singapore
FedEx operation started in the Asia Pacific over 35 years ago in the year 1984 purchasing an
organisation named Gelco. Since then the organisation has been able to expand its operations in
China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea. The company has different subsidiaries all
across the Asia which has helped to capture the maximum market share. Singapore is a small
country but its courier service demands have grown exponentially over the years providing an
effective platform for the organisation to expand its market (Bichou, 2014). It is important to
note that with the inception of its operation in Singapore its main focus was to meet customer
demand and expectations that has helped to achieve competitive advantage in the market.
However, it is essential to mention that with the rise in competition it becomes extremely
important for the organisation to understand the market and customer demands in the best
possible way to compete in the market. While doing this the organisation has to understand a
number of aspects which would help them to sustain in the market (Świtała, 2013).
Stakeholders of the organisation
Stakeholders are extremely important for an organisation. The stakeholders play an important
role in the overall operations of an organisation. Stakeholders are categorically divided into two
parts internal and external. These stakeholders play a vital role in the success of the stakeholders.
The internal stakeholders and external stakeholders are both important for FedEx. The
organisation serves all across Singapore and hence considers stakeholders as important part of
the organisation. The organisation considers the employees, board of directors as important

internal stakeholders of the organisation. The employees and board of directors play a vital part
for the effective operation of the organisation. The employees of FedEx are extremely essential
for the effective running of the organisational activities. FedEx has around 1000 employees
working in the country who are responsible for effective planning, customer service, logistics
maintenance and delivery services (Izzah, Rifai and Yao, 2016). Without efficient employees the
organisation would not be able to compete in the global environment as well as in the Singapore
market. Hence, all the employees of FedEx together form a core part of the stakeholder group.
Apart from that the board of directors is extremely important because they mainly are
responsible for effective corporate governance. The corporate governance plan helps to control
each and every stakeholder attached with the organisation in the best possible manner. For
instance, managing the organisational reporting and making organisational operational plan is
important and the boards of directors take these important decisions that help the organisation to
run in the most effective manner. The internal stakeholders strive to serve the organisation in the
most effective manner which helps the organisation to achieve all the stakeholder related
objectives properly. The external stakeholders like customers, partners and suppliers, investors
and governments are seen as important stakeholders for the organisation (Bektas, Crainic and
Van Woensel, 2015). FedEx’s main motive to operate in the market is to provide logistics and
courier services to the consumers hence, consumers play an important role in the overall growth
and development of the organisation in the Singapore market. As stated earlier there is
significant competition in the market for the organisation which means consumers do have high
choices. In this scenario the main focus of the organisation is to satisfy the main external
stakeholders that is consumers. Apart from that the investors in the Singapore market helps the
organisation to perform their duties effectively and provide better returns to them. The
government of Singapore has stretched its hands to FedEx that has helped the organisation to
operate in the market and enjoy high market share which means if the government is not
supportive the organisation would not be able to sustain in the market. So, the government,
consumers, investors are also considered important stakeholders for FedEx (Wang, Jie and
Abareshi, 2015).
Customers of the organisation
Talking from the organisational point of view the organisation needs to assess its target
customers which would help the organisation to serve better. Analysing the market and

competition it could be said that the target consumers of the organisation at the present moment
is mostly the business organisations. It is also important to note that direct consumers are
comparatively less as compared to the business organisations as the business houses are involved
in shipping large documents or items to reach the final customer on time. FedEx ensures that the
final consumers or the users receive these goods at the right time. Hence, the company mainly
focuses on companies who are involved in manufacturing and shipping products in different
regions to sell them. For instance, large scale cloth transport from one country to another is done
by the top clothing multinational organisations as well as the manufacturing organisations like
automobile companies also avail the use of logistics services and FedEx does that job for them
(Bowen, 2012). The organisation serves more than one customer. Organisations like Accenture
Plc, FedEx Singapore is providing services to Amazon as well, companies like AstraZeneca, GM
Motors et cetera are some of the important customers of FedEx. Apart from that it also serves
domestic customers in Singapore. Hence, it could be said that FedEx targets the business houses
for surviving in the global market. Apart from that FedEx has bought different smaller courier
organisations those are involved in sending small items directly to the consumers which
constitutes 5% of the overall income of FedEx Singapore. So it could be said that the
organisation targets mostly business consumers but also serves to the domestic customer as well.
Retail business of FedEx is spread all over the world but the Singapore market has expanded in
the last decade or so showing the need to emphasise on this segment as well which has forced the
organisation to spend more on their advertisement to reach domestic consumers (Zhang et al.,
2016).
Activities and Processes in the value chain network
In this highly competitive market environment it is extremely important for an organisation like
FedEx to understand how they can create value for the consumers and hence, it is important to
analyse the value chain network for better service provision. FedEx’s value chain’s key part is
inbound and outbound logistics and operations and firm infrastructure. The inbound logistics in
FedEx involves the procurement of the package from the customer and the organisation does this
just about anywhere. The supply chain of the organisation is extremely strong that has a lean and
customer oriented approach and hence, helps the organisation develop a strong framework for
effective customer service. The outbound logistics is mainly reaching the end customer with the
help of effective distribution. FedEx Singapore has a strong self developed distribution channel

that involves airplanes, ships, road transport that largely helps to reach the end client at the right
time (Hillier, 2012). In the supporting segment the firm infrastructure stands to be extremely
important activity as the organisation needs to oversee the development of firm infrastructure in
order to sustain in this highly competitive market in the best possible manner.
Fig 1: value Chain system (Reid and Sanders, 2015)
Efficiency in employee training and development stands to be effective for the company to
constantly improve the customer support across Singapore. Hence, it could be said that the
human resource management is extremely important for the organisation as well. FedEx has
invested significant amount of money in advertising and promotion of services to create brand
image that has not only helped the organisation to reach the consumers in the effective manner
but has also helped in promoting its services which makes this attribute an important part of the
value chain network (Reid and Sanders, 2015). The service part of the organisation wouldn’t
have been possible without effective infrastructure (assets like large fleets and ships and trucks)
that is effectively regulated with the help of technology. The organisation uses the best tracking
support developed by Google and invests significantly on the development of online service
system and other key software for better provision of services leading to effective management
of operations (Kornienko, 2013).
Understanding product-SERVICE
FedEx has strategically handled its products and services and prepared an effective framework
where it sells the services as a product. Hence, the organisation follows product-SERVICE
strategy. The main product of the organisation is to provide logistics, warehouse, courier services
which are extremely important for most business customers. The business customers need to

manufacture products, store them effectively and also transport them in the best possible manner
to reach the consumers effectively. In this case FedEx develops its services in the form of
products to reach the consumers and help them make aware of the services. The organisation
creates effective advertisements which help the consumers to understand its services which are
logistics, warehousing and courier and accordingly avail the services based on the pricing slabs.
Overall it could be said that FedEx effectively places its product SERVICE strategy so that they
are able to address the needs and wants of the consumers in the Singapore market in the best
possible manner (Reid and Sanders, 2015).
Value Proposition and delivery to customers
As an organisation FedEx needs to ensure that value creation is done for the consumers in the
best possible manner. Value proposition and its delivery is important for the organisation. FedEx
is quite focused on delivering value to the consumers. Value proposition is defined as the
innovative and effective feature of a product that attracts consumers. For FedEx delivering fast
and reliable service is extremely important. The value proposition of FedEx is understandable
through its slogan “when it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight”. The organisation
emphasises on faster and reliable delivery of packages and is done with the help of its strong
infrastructure (its fleet, trucks, cars, ships et cetera). The organisation also has several offers for
the consumers which has helped the organisation to provide effective services (Lin et al., 2014).
Value delivered to other stakeholders
The other stakeholders receive effective returns especially the investors and the governments
who look to support the organisation in its operations. Apart from that FedEx is able to support
its partners through regular orders and consignments. FedEx is one of the largest logistics
businesses in the world and has provided effective dividends to its investors leading to the
creation of effective relationship between them.
Return on Investment and risks
The organisation is an established one and even under this excessive global competition FedEx
has been able to manage effective return on investment not only on its shares and debentures but
also on its assets which are invested on minimum of six months to one year and maximum up to
ten years. It is important to note that the organisation provides returns to the investors on the
basis of slabs and could go high up with investment (Ninikas et al., 2014). The risks related with

the investment mainly relate to the possibility of loss especially in case of market downturn and
changes in the economic and fiscal policies of the Singapore Government which is naturally
stable.
Major Suppliers of FedEx
FedEx’s some of the major suppliers in automobile division are General Motors and Ford Motor
Company who are considered pioneers in the car industry. These organisations provide trucks
and vehicles for the delivery of the services to the consumers. On the other hand packaging
materials stand to be an essential resource for the operation of the organisation. For this an US
based organisation Ball Corporation helps the organisation. They provide metal packaging
products to the organisation; Sealed Air Corp. is referred for sustainable and innovative
packaging solutions. On the other hand Boeing provides the air transport facilities for the
organisation. The supplier diversity program of FedEx has been extremely effective to procure
resources and supplies even from small scale companies. In the last five years FedEx has
procured resources from all women businesses promoting women entrepreneurs (Karcz and
Ślusarczyk, 2016).
Overall structure of organisational value chain
The supply chain of the organisation is global in nature and all these organisations come at
different levels of the supply chain. When the transport companies come in logistics level then
the packaging service providing organisations come in the initial level of warehousing and
packaging system followed by transportation (da Mota Pedrosa, 2012).

Fig 2: FedEx Value Chain (McFarlane, Giannikas and Lu, 2016)
The value chain of FedEx Singapore is wisely prepared which helps the organisation to move
chronologically. There are significant steps that the organisation follows for effective operation
of the value chain. The value is created for the consumers at every step of the system. One of the
most effective procedures that FedEx Singapore follows is the processing of the package
delivery. It is done very fast so that the delivery could be done faster and in an effective manner.
Most of the other companies are not able to process the customs procedure faster but FedEx has
been able to manage that in the best possible manner. So, there are lesser layers with equal
security. Hence, it could be said that with the smaller value chain steps the organisation has been
able to manage its service provision procedure in the best possible manner (Krajewski, Ritzman
and Malhotra, 2013).
Performance measurement by FedEx
From the above analysis it is clear that FedEx has been able to manage its business in an
effective manner but with the competition increasing the organisation has to constantly analyse
and measure the overall performance of the organisation. The organisation implements the
quality driven performance management system (Fiat et al., 2016). The quality parameters are set

by the organisation for instance, delivery on time basis which helps the organisation to assess the
efficiency of operations. The 360 degree feedback system helps the organisation to constantly
assess the abilities and loopholes of the employees effectively. On the other hand the value chain
network is assessed with the help of rate of dispatch and time taken for the final delivery
(McFarlane, Giannikas and Lu, 2016).
Recommendations for the improvement of the network
FedEx has expanded and grown within a very short period of time but every organisation has
room for improvement. Improving the loopholes and cashing in on the improvement areas would
help the organisation meet customer expectations in a better manner and be more sustainable in
terms of competition. Firstly the organisation should integrate the RFID system in order to
provide more accurate and effective tracking system for the consumers which would help them
to increase the loyalty. The operational performance would also improve with the integration of
high end IT systems. With improving infrastructure the organisation will be able to improve its
operations. FedEx should emphasise more on its warehousing and security solutions which
would strengthen the faith of the stakeholders on the company (Stevenson and Sum, 2014).
Tying up with small scale logistics and courier organisations in the new markets would help the
organisation to capture the market. In the new markets the organisation has to keep on investing
heavily on advertising strategies and promotion through mass media and business to business
marketing. Inviting new investors and implementing penetrative pricing strategy would help the
organisation to ensure success in the international market. The Singapore market is an emerging
one and hence it would be effective for the organisation to come up with personalised pricing
packages which would increase sales and will improve the economic performance of the
organisation (Sheffi, 2013).
Conclusion
FedEx Singapore is one of the leading logistics nations in the country. It has been able to
generate effective sales and revenue of the organisation. The present study has discussed the key
aspects related to stakeholders and performance management. Effective implementation of the
recommendations would help the organisation to achieve success in the market.

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