Free Custom «Strategic Management: FED Ex Corporation» Essay Paper

Understanding of Whittington's Classical and Evolutionary schoolOf thought in the context of strategy development at Fed Ex Corporation from 1973 to 2000.Strategic managementThe paper seek to explain my understanding of Whittington's Classical and Evolutionary school of thought in the context of strategy development at Fed Ex Corporation from 1973 to 2000. The essay also critically evaluates application of the two schools of thoughts to Fed EX Corporation and an explanation and exploration of a preferred school of thought is also given (FedEx Corporation, 2005).Strategic management has been defined as an organized move toward a certain position that relates to the firm and its environment in a manner that will ensure it continues to succeed and secured from all kind of surprises (Ansoff, 1985).The classical approach stresses that formation of strategies opt to be controlled process and gives managers great confidence in the rediness and capacity of them to adopt profit oriented strategies through a well thought long term planning. The idea in this though is that when wise leaders are equipped with vital information as well as other necessary resources they will come up with a successful strategy. On the other hand, evolutionary approach states that the methods adopted by managers do not matter, those that will be the best in this competitive world are the only guaranteed survivors. Whittington said that it is the market and not the managers that determine the prevailing strategies in a particular environment, in short, the approach is simply referred to as 'survival for the fittest' (Skaik, 2009).FedEx founded in 1971 is an international courier, and was very successful in 1970s till it faced stiff competition in 1990s. FedEx began service in 25 cities with 14 aircraft and 389 employees. In 1975, smith the founder begun to actively advertise and did direct mail campaign incurring a loss of $29million, it later gained $43.5 million. His investors wanted to remove him from the position but smith was backed by the company president, two years down the line FedEx served 130 cities and had 31,000 regular customers.

 

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The airline deregulation in 1977 fuel growth gave the company an important boost, the stiff competition in 1980s made the company introduce a new product, buy more planes and opened up small package sorting center, later in 1983, it made an annual revenue of $1 billion. Between 1984 and 1989, the company expanded by making acquisition and opening up new hubs as well as increasing number of times in a day in service delivery.In 1990s, its competitors started wooing some of its customers, it responded by instituting a customer by customer review of its own pricing. It further adopted a new technology in which customers electronically prepared all shipping documents. In 2000, the company unleashed the power of its brand to further intergrate its portifolio of services by changing the name to FedEx Express. All these were done for the company to survive in the competitive market although it encountered a myriad of challenges.

Application of Classical and EvolutionaryBoth Classical and Evolutionary were two of the generic categories of strategy which Whittington proposed for sound strategic management. I would propose use of classical approach to be adopted by FED Ex Corporation. Classical approach is a strategy which requires deliberate calculations and analysis to be able to maximize operations and advantages of the organization.FED Ex Corporation experiences different challenges which include political, social, economical and technological advancement. For the organization to have a competitive advantage in the market it requires to analyze on the political influence of legislations, controls and regulations which are done in the market and relate it to its operations. According to Ansoff, (1985) economical treads are also factors to be taken in to considerations as they affect how business is being done. Hence, it is important to factor in how the economical treads in different geographical regions which the company serves would affect operations of the company in short and long term effects.The social aspect of different cultures and business communities which are being served is also essential to be factored in development and structuring of the company operations to be able to strategize on how to meet the diversified changing needs of its clients over a given period.Marketing is the key factor which will determine if the company will be sustainable in the business. It is therefore, important for the company to implement use of classical approach by analyzing its product, prices, place and promotions which they conduct. Products and services which are being offered by the organization needs to be continually improved and added value as its compared to those of the competitors. Marketing places are also impertinent as the company will be able to capture new market segments. Analysis of prices would enable the company to prices its goods and services competitively to be able to capture more market and retain its clientele. It should also do its promotions regularly but as well selectively to ensure that it's being done the appropriate target market.