United Parcel Service, Inc.: The Challenge of Protecting Organizational DNA

Abstract

This case explores the nature and strength of the UPS organization and presents the following question: With the increasing speed of change and competition in today's global, digital economy, can UPS continue to pursue its dual strategies of operational excellence and adaptation while maintaining adherence to the employee-centric cultural policies that have been the foundation of its success for so long? Excerpt UVA-S-0238 Feb. 25, 2014 UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC.: THE CHALLENGE OF PROTECTING ORGANIZATIONAL DNA You are by nature, a man of inquiring mind, and you see much in your job and elsewhere in the company that should be improved. You are impatient to have these defects corrected. You are far more interested in improving what is bad than in crowing about what is good. You are, in a word, constructively dissatisfied. —Jim Casey, founder of United Parcel Service, Inc. . . .