Executive Summary
United Parcel Service (UPS) and Hewlett Packard (HP), both global leaders in their industries, strategically aligned themselves to capitalize on their ability to competitively provide superior services to their customers. UPS, a global distribution company and HP an information technology firm signed a contract solidifying a three year partnership in the early 2000s enabling them to capitalize on both company’s core competitive competencies already in place. UPS and HP recognized their competitive strengths and abilities in domestic and international territories as they continued to seek opportunities to improve their current systems, innovate through groundbreaking technologies and utilize the competitive aptitude found in each other. The partnership was a result of HP’s operation leaders identifying potential turbulent market conditions stemming from changes in the industry and their potential lack of capturing new market opportunities. The partnership originated from HP’s lack of a tactical supply chain services and strategic goals to attain such systems and UPS’s business outlook of attaining more sophisticated technological capabilities. Leveraging an existing supply chain service allowed HP to focus on technological innovations rather than logistics and transportation. UPS’s services such as supply chain design, planning, logistics and distribution services, transportation and freight and international trade management are strengths HP identified as crucial for growth and expansion. In 2004, Pat Grace of UPS Supply Chain Solutions and Mark Colaluca of Hewlett Packard (HP) met for a quarterly business review when they both addressed a percolating issue centered around the their original strategic objectives. The original partnership objectives anchored in the strategic goal of growth was declining due to lack
Cited: Lewis, M., Rai, A., Forquer, D., & Quinter, D. (2007). UPS and HP: Value Creations through Supply Chain Partnerships. Richard Ivey School of Business, A, 1-14 Appendix 1.1 UPS Critical Success Factors and Core Competencies [pic] 1.2 HP Critical Success Factors and Core Competencies[pic]