Reflection - In regards to UPS, how do you define the last decade & Y2K?

[UPS Lifer]

As a nation and a world we have seen some dramatic changes over the last 10 years.

What is your take on how it affected UPS?

How has UPS changed the way it does business?

Do you have any interesting stories about Y2K?

How have YOU changed or transitioned, over the last 10 years? (The next question goes right along with this one)

How did you enter this last decade vs starting the next decade? (Goals - ambition - priorities - life and job changes.

I was reflecting back on Y2K and remembering how I got thrown into a whole new area for me. I was told to start as the hub manager on New Years Eve 1999 (which was Sunday) after helping the district put together the contingency plans in case of a major computer failure. Talk about being on edge. I kept waiting for the shoe to drop. I was very concerned about the extra responsibility. Especially one that includes major outbound & inbound flights and inbound feeds. One missed trailer could affect 4 districts. A late feeder or flight could do the same. I still get the heebee geebees thinking about it!

Anyway, this got me thinking of my questions above ...

Happy New Year!

 

[randomUPSISer]

First to mention the company selling its soul to wall street via the IPO

I went from moving boxes in the operations, to working for I.S. going stuff 100% UNRELATED to the operations entirely.

 

[lastoasis]

the decade "service" was removed from our name

 

[brownboy1]

Absolutely!!I had one customer say we're no better then PIZZA HUT. I've been package driver over 16 years...oh what a change/// Drop and go....no more service, heaven forbid, telamatics may say your taking too long.

 

[over9five]

Welcome to Brown Cafe, Brownboy1. I think we're better than Pizza Hut!!!!

 

[1989]

Absolutely!!I had one customer say we're no better then PIZZA HUT. I've been package driver over 16 years...oh what a change/// Drop and go....no more service, heaven forbid, telamatics may say your taking too long.

We were "The tightest ship in the shipping business" long before Y2K.

 

[helenofcalifornia]

UPS is chasing the bottom dollar now, which I can't really fault them for in these days and times. Competition is alot tougher, the American economy seems to be fumbling along the way, China is the new kid on the block, and experience appears to be giving way to "cheaper." Customer service, as a consequence, is losing out to these new trends. And UPS doesn't really seem to care too much anymore about the driver or worker, as much as how much faster can the job get done and at what cost. Bring back the 80's!!

 

[Jones]

I think I probably enjoyed the job more 10 years ago, I was more enthusiastic and cared more about UPS, and I think that was because we had a lot more flexibility to do things our own way. As long as you were getting the job done and weren't generating concerns you could run the route like your own little franchise. It made you feel like a contributor while remaining an individual. A lot of the technology that has been introduced since then has taken that away, bit by bit. SPARKS, EDD, GPS. Telematics will be the final piece in the puzzle that reduces this to an assembly line job, putting the square peg in the square hole under the unblinking gaze of the camera. I understand that from the company's perspective this is a good thing, but it's certainly made my job less fun. I'm going into this next decade very much looking forward to the day I can drop my papers.

 

[island1fox]

I know that there will be alot of disagreement with the point I am about to make.
I have been retired for a while now --but worked through the 70's 80's 90's and retired in 2005.
Ups people always have and always will work hard --I do not care what position you have or even if you are union or management. The same service vs performance will always be part of the game.
I will concede going public has changed a few things --but overall -when you retire and you have time to reflect --you look at some of the comments on Brown Cafe --and you realize that much of history just keeps repeating itself. Same old same old !!! Good and Bad !!!

 

[DS]

Definately technology is the biggest change at ups.I was browsing in a tiger direct store today and it occurred to me that 10-15 years ago anyone would be looking at this stuff and shaking thier heads wondering what the heck all this crap was for.Wireless routers,TV's and computers thinner than childrens books,it would seem like we were in some secret cia or kgb warehouse of espionage devices.I'm not sure that ups realizes that even with all the new scanners and such that they use to track things,the
main thing we do has not changed in over 100 years.The service part of ups has been reduced dramatically in the last 10 years and has been replaced with what the shareholders wrongly believe is more important,profit.
I'm no rocket scientist,but 10 years ago I somehow knew that the Y2k thing was just another way to scare people into spending money
on crap they did not need.I was right.The sun came up just like every other day,and my computer just like always,kept telling me I had performed an illegal operation.

 

[UPS Lifer]

First to mention the company selling its soul to wall street via the IPO

I went from moving boxes in the operations, to working for I.S. going stuff 100% UNRELATED to the operations entirely.

I am pretty sure we went IPO in 1999.... but the effects certainly affected the last 10 years!

 

[Anonymous 10]

. I think we're better than Pizza Hut!!!!

Were not even as good as microwave.

 

[randomUPSISer]

I am pretty sure we went IPO in 1999.... but the effects certainly affected the last 10 years!

You are correct about 1999. However, the change to a public company culture didn't happen until the 2000's. In fact, I'd say the complete transformation didn't occur until the last year or so. Yes, the IPO didn't occur in the last 10 years, but I think more than anything it determined what happened in the last 10 years for better or for worse.

 

[UPS Lifer]

You are correct about 1999. However, the change to a public company culture didn't happen until the 2000's. In fact, I'd say the complete transformation didn't occur until the last year or so. Yes, the IPO didn't occur in the last 10 years, but I think more than anything it determined what happened in the last 10 years for better or for worse.

Don't you think that what happened last year was more of a reaction to the economic depression than the IPO??

 

[CharleyHustle]

I think in some sense many of the changes are customer driven. In a world economy the price point is more important than the service point. Companys facing stronger competition or bankruptcy care more about how much than when. It has changed UPS with the higher labor costs. They have to be more productive to compete on price.

The flip side is with the down economy, UPS new hires over the last few and into the next few years should be the pick of the litter with the compensation packages they can offer.

For me, the extra work and expections are becoming increasingly harder to deal with the more I age. The closer that retirement date comes, the further away it looks.

 

[Brown Wrench]

The further we get away from Jim Casey walking our floors, the further we get from being the company we used to be. We have broken and battered many of his fundamental beliefs, such as;
Money
"Are we working for money alone? If so, there is no surer way not to get it." James Casey 1947
Good Management
"Good management is not just organization. It is an attitude inspired by the will to do right.
Good management is taking a sincere interest in the welfare of the people you work with. It is the ability to make people feel that you and they are the company - not merely employees of it. Good management is your worthiness to have and hold the confidence of others." James Casey 1949

These are just a couple of his quotes that show us how he was able to build this company. He never lost sight that it was through honest leadership, listening to our people, doing the right thing, and not riding on our reputation but continuing to build it, that would make our company special.
The fundamentals of our business will never change so much that Jim's thoughts and quotes will not apply to us daily. We need to embrace his genius and continue to build our legacy.

 

[randomUPSISer]

Don't you think that what happened last year was more of a reaction to the economic depression than the IPO??

My interpretation is that "it was going to happen anyway". It might have just happened a bit quicker than previously planned.

 

[whiskey]

The further we get away from Jim Casey walking our floors, the further we get from being the company we used to be. We have broken and battered many of his fundamental beliefs, such as;
Money
"Are we working for money alone? If so, there is no surer way not to get it." James Casey 1947
Good Management
"Good management is not just organization. It is an attitude inspired by the will to do right.
Good management is taking a sincere interest in the welfare of the people you work with. It is the ability to make people feel that you and they are the company - not merely employees of it. Good management is your worthiness to have and hold the confidence of others." James Casey 1949

These are just a couple of his quotes that show us how he was able to build this company. He never lost sight that it was through honest leadership, listening to our people, doing the right thing, and not riding on our reputation but continuing to build it, that would make our company special.
The fundamentals of our business will never change so much that Jim's thoughts and quotes will not apply to us daily. We need to embrace his genius and continue to build our legacy.

I saw a movie last night, "Up in the Air", starring George Clooney. It was a reflection of our current economic times. Many large companies hired Clooney to do their dirty work, to tell the employee's face to face that their jobs were being eliminated. But somehow Clooney's character managed to do this and keep the dignity of the person being fired intact. I won't give away any more of the plot, but my message is, that UPS is a brand. And in the last ten years, since the IPO, the brand has been taking a huge hit. And that does not give me a warm fuzzy feeling.

 

[Old Man Jingles]

I saw a movie last night, "Up in the Air", starring George Clooney. It was a reflection of our current economic times. Many large companies hired Clooney to do their dirty work, to tell the employee's face to face that their jobs were being eliminated. But somehow Clooney's character managed to do this and keep the dignity of the person being fired intact. I won't give away any more of the plot, but my message is, that UPS is a brand. And in the last ten years, since the IPO, the brand has been taking a huge hit. And that does not give me a warm fuzzy feeling.

Actually the brand is as strong as it ever was.
I think you are letting internal perceptions of the company bleed over into the external perceptions of the company.
Brand is a external perception of a company.