UPS Mission Statement Explained

The United Parcel Services or UPS is a Fortune 500 company that offers shipping and delivery services to businesses and consumers worldwide. It has its corporate headquarters in Sandy Springs, Georgia in the United States. It is the world’s largest parcel delivery company with revenues to the tune of US $84.4 billion as of the year 2020.

The history of UPS began in Seattle in the year 1907 when James Casey and Claude Ryan founded the American Messenger Company (AMC). The business was renamed United Parcel Services in 1919 after its first expansion to Oakland, California. The company employs more than 400,000 people globally, has more than 300 aircraft, and offers global ground and air package delivery services.
This article will explain how UPS’s mission statement affects its daily operations, employees, customers, and society.

What is the UPS mission statement?

A business mission statement is a slogan that defines the values, beliefs, and principles that guides a company. It also helps provide a sound direction for the future and is the guiding force that brings the employees together.
The UPS company mission statement is clear and concise. It identifies its core values, what they stand for, how they drive success, inspires employees, suppliers, the public, investors, and stakeholders.

The UPS mission statement is as follows, “Grow our global business by serving the logistics needs of customers, offering excellence and value in all that we do. Maintain a financially strong company with broad employee ownership that provides a long-term competitive return to our shareowners. Inspire our people and business partners to do their best, offering opportunities for personal development and success. Lead by example as a responsible, caring, and sustainable company making a difference in the communities we serve.” Check out our guide on Enduring Business Mission and Values Statements here for the best examples of mission statements.

From the mission statement, we can point out some fundamental values that guide the company. Below are some of them.

Offering excellence and value

The company takes care of its customers in various ways. One way is by guaranteeing timely deliveries, efficient handling of packages, and a well-connected delivery channel to keep customers updated on the status of their parcels. This way, they can plan and know when they’ll receive their items. With the UPS my choice service, customers can keep track of their deliveries in real-time promoting excellence in service delivery.

Values its employees

The company has a discounted stock purchase plan for its employees, allowing them to own a part of the company they work for. UPS believes that a team of dedicated employees is central to its future success. That is why, in addition to competitive compensation and benefits, the company offers employees the chance to own shares of the business through an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). By participating in the company’s ownership, these employees are rewarded for supporting the business’s long-term interests.

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Improving communities and corporate social responsibility

UPS grows its business by using sustainable practices. Whether it’s its commitment to diversity in the workplace, its programs that protect the environment, or its focus on community involvement, UPS is dedicated to making a positive impact in the world around it. Everything that UPS does is linked to some element of sustainability, so they believe in the power of more.

This means that rather than simply providing logistics and trading services, UPS is an empowerment company that uses much of its resources to drive initiatives in society. As part of this, the company cares about the sustainability of the environment and directs significant resources towards conserving it. Check out our guide on the Most Famous Business Competitor Case Studies Of All Time for more info.

Being a market leader

UPS inspires other businesses, setting the pace for competitors with its unparalleled shipping and logistics management approach. With tracking tools, package visibility, optimized routes, and secure payment platforms at home stations, UPS is easily one of the most innovative companies in its space.
Today’s business environment is competitive, but it’s also more global than ever before. With its leadership position in package delivery, UPS continues to be a forerunner in shaping the future of logistics services.

How does the UPS mission statement guide their daily operations?

According to their mission statement, UPS seeks to provide safe, reliable, efficient, and innovative transportation solutions that support the global economy. Further, it also outlines the processes used to achieve this mission along with their target customers. The mission statement of UPS guides the company in the following ways.

To improve performance

The mission statement of UPS provides the basis of the company’s work and helps employees keep its long-term goals in mind. A mission statement has the power to improve employee performance, as it gives workers a plan to follow. It also helps employees understand what they need to do to help the company grow, primarily through evaluation and feedback. Though short, a mission statement has a profound impact on a business.

It gives the company a purpose

A mission statement is an inspirational and motivational tool. By having a well-structured and inspiring mission statement, UPS and its employees can see the bigger picture, clarifying why the business exists and how it makes a difference. Inspirational mission statements bring meaning and purpose to the work people do every day. It also lifts their spirits creating long-term employee engagement.

Creating identity

A mission statement is the foundation of any brand, giving it a sense of direction that separates it from its competitors. The UPS mission statement gives employees an idea of their duties and helps the company create a positive image in customers’ eyes. The statement is concise but detailed enough to encompass essential aspects of an organization’s identity. A good mission statement is also flexible enough in scope to cover every facet of the company.

Planning for the future

The mission statement concisely describes the organization’s purpose and direction that guides employees on impacting future business success. The UPS mission statement encourages positive company culture, as it provides an ideal vision for its future.
A good mission statement can significantly impact employee actions, as it describes how those actions will help the organization grow and improve over time.

To induct new employees

Employees should all be on the same page — and a clear company mission statement can help make sure they are. By telling their story and outlining the company’s vision, UPS can attract and retain talented employees. These employees, in turn, provide excellent customer service and build relationships with customers. A clearly defined mission statement also helps inform new hires about what they can expect when they join your company — which in the long run translates into better effectiveness and efficiency.

Community engagement

The mission of UPS is to connect people and businesses around the world — positively. The company’s goals and values serve as an echo of that purpose: to help people do more, work better, and live better. UPS believes in its employees’ ability to be their best. By doing so, they can empower those around them to be their best as well. When the community feels like they know and understand your business and its goals, they’re more likely to support your business.

How the UPS mission statement reflects on the company’s employees

The UPS mission statement is more than just an articulation of its vision. Every element of the organization, including its customers and employees, can see how it contributes to its success. Customers can see the business’s values come through in every aspect of their experience with the company.
Employees also use the mission statement as a guide to building better products, improving customer satisfaction, and making informed decisions in the course of their work. UPS employees enhance the company’s mission statement in the following ways.

Working to deliver services in a reliable and efficient manner

When employees are engaged, they feel a sense of ownership over the work they do and the goal they’re trying to achieve. Which in turn makes them perfect at delivering excellent services to the customers.

Striving to be catalysts for change and part of the solutions

UPS employees are well aware that they are capable of bringing about positive changes in their workplace. By offering feedback and suggestions, they do their part in improving the efficiency of the company. This creates a work environment where everybody feels respected and inspired to work harder to produce better results.

Dedication towards the growth and prosperity of the company

Being one of the shareholders motivates staff to work hard for the success of UPS. Motivation is essential when it comes to business, and employee ownership manifests this in many ways. When employees become empowered by ownership, they feel like vital members of a team that is challenging itself daily — and that translates into the quality and quantity of their work.

Impact of United Parcel Services on customers

Delivery companies have a significant impact on their customers, and it’s not only on the volume of packages delivered. UPS makes their customer’s life easier by providing products or services they need regularly or that they can’t get anywhere else. So, how do they ensure that they keep the customer happy and make them keep coming back? Here are a few ways the company does that.

Excellent after-sale services

Every product is only as good as its customer support. Whether your aftersales service are in-person, on-site, or through an e-commerce Chatbot, it’s crucial to help customers solve their problems and live up to their needs after they’ve purchased your product. An exemplary service can be a great source of profit — whether that means selling more products through word-of-mouth referrals or retaining repeat customers with excellent service.

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A simple returns process

A smooth returns process can do wonders for customer retention. UPS has a seamless, simplified returns policy that ensures that customers can ship back products quickly. The shipping giant works with many e-commerce outlets to provide the best customer experience. A streamlined returns process increases brand loyalty and keeps customers happy with your products.

Focus on each customer

UPS understands that each customer is unique. One of the essential parts of having a successful business is making sure each customer feels like your only client. Each person that walks into your business needs to feel special. To ensure that happens, make sure that you keep the employees happy, engaged, and trained on treating customers well.

Providing just what the customer needs

At UPS, they know that customers require more than just a delivery service. They want custom-tailored solutions for their needs. And they know that UPS is ready with the most innovative tools and strategies, developed by the best minds in logistics, to help them do their jobs better.

How does the UPS mission statement impact the general public?

UPS has been around for a long time, and it has helped improve the lives of millions of people. Below are a few examples of how the company has had a positive impact on the general public.

Working towards reducing harmful carbon emissions

UPS has a team of dedicated engineers, scientists, and researchers working to create fuel-efficient methods of transportation that deliver exceptional customer service. As a green business, they have invested a lot of money into alternative fuel vehicles and technologies to help reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
Their fleet of alternative fuel vehicles includes electric, hybrid, and pure-electric. In addition, they work hard towards having an alternative source or renewable sources of energy

Giving and delivering humanitarian relief

The company helps improve the well-being and happiness of communities and people worldwide by assisting them to access health and humanitarian services easily. It does this by finding partners who enable it to access underserved, marginalized, and vulnerable communities.

Help in planting trees

The United Parcel Service (UPS), the world’s largest package delivery company, plans to plant over 50 million trees around the globe by the year 2030. This will help increase the forest cover and provide a safe habitat for wildlife. UPS wants to protect its employees, customers, businesses, and communities from climate change impacts with this initiative.

Economic empowerment

The UPS Foundation works to create educational opportunities for underserved youth, women, and marginalized communities worldwide. The foundation focuses on investing in organizations working to address educational barriers in developing countries, helping to build up local economies, and projects focused on restoring and empowering individuals economically to improve their quality of life.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question: What are UPS goals?

Answer: UPS is committed to sustaining a track record of industry-leading employee health, safety, and wellness programs across a growing workforce.

Question: What is UPS culture?

Answer: UPS aims to attract people who fit the company culture that encourages high energy, hard work, fairness, teamwork, inclusiveness, and sharing the wealth. The people that work at the company are more than employees as they are considered business partners. Most promotions come from within the company.

Question: Who are UPS’s biggest customers?

Answer: Amazon. In 2020, Amazon paid UPS 11.3 billion dollars, making up 13.3% of all revenue for the entire year. No other customer contributes more than 10% to UPS’s top line.

Conclusion

UPS’s mission statement is to be the best provider of global supply chain and logistics services and solutions in the world. The company works together with its employees to create a better working environment and produce quality work.
Its mission statement is the cornerstone that guides the company and its employees to be innovative and always striving for perfection. It inspires employees and makes them stand out as they try to fulfill the goal to put their best effort forward to reach the ultimate goal.

Further Read:

References

https://fortune.com/global500/2021/search/

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/missionstatement.asp#:~:text=A%20company’s%20mission%20statement%20defines,%2C%20fundamental%20goals%2C%20and%20agenda.&text=The%20statement%20reveals%20what%20the,the%20company%20align%20with%20theirs.

https://about.ups.com/us/en/social-impact/the-ups-foundation.html

https://www.statista.com/statistics/263938/revenue-worldwide-leading-transportation-companies-in-the-shipping-industry/