FedEx Office Case Study Analysis Submit Assignment

Read the

FedEx Office Case Study (PDF)

and review the FedEx Office Case Study Template_Fall 2020-1  before you begin this exercise. The written submission is an internal report using professional business writing skills. The analysis should be in a business format with clearly identified sections and headings for each of the required evaluation areas as presented by your instructor in class.

SECTION 1 – SITUATION

• Relevant facts – specify all of the relevant facts associated with the situation as outlined in the case study. Include facts for both the seller (FedEx Office) and the buyer (Global Training Associates). For FedEx Office this includes two parts – background and potential solutions. For Global Training Associates, this includes two parts – background and complete process for producing and shipping materials.
• Situation Questions – After analyzing the relevant facts, submit four (4) or more Situation Questions which would uncover those facts in the sales call role play.

SECTION 2 – PROBLEMS

1. Problems Analysis – identify and fully analyze  a minimum of four problems that the seller can solve.
2. Problem Questions- After fully analyzing the problems, submit four (4) or more Problems Questions which would uncover those problems/needs in the sales call role play.

SECTION 3 – IMPLICATIONS

1. Analysis of the Implications – specify and fully analyze a minimum of four implications related to the four problems analyzed in the previous section. Implications must be the future, more severe implications that will occur if the problems are not solved.
2. Implication Questions- After fully analyzing the implications, submit four (4) or more Implication Questions which would uncover those future, more severe implications in the sales call role play.

SECTION 4  – FEDEX OFFICE SOLUTIONS

• Potential FedEx Office solutions to the Global Training Associates’ problems – present and explain a minimum of four solutions that FedEx Office can offer to solve the Global Training Associates’ problems. Each solution must fully explain how it solves the problem and be supported with specific FedEx Office features.

SECTION 5  – BENEFITS

1. Benefits of the potential FedEx Office solutions – Identify and fully explain a minimum of four benefits that the Global Training Associates will experience as a result of implementing the FedEx Office’s solutions. Identify the benefiting party – Global Training Associates company, Global Training Associates corporate employees, Global Training Associates trainers, or Global Training Associates clients.
2. Need-Payoff Questions – After fully presenting the solutions and benefits, submit four (4) or more Need-Payoff Questions which would move the customer towards agreement to the solutions in the sales call role play.

SECTION 6 –  Current Revenue Loss and Quantify Future Revenue Loss

1. Calculate the total revenue loss in 2019 from the historical revenue (using historical number of seminars and total number of seminars in 2019)
2. Calculate the potential loss of revenue if: 10% of the core trainers quit and take their portion of the training seminars with them to a competitor.

HELPFUL TIPS

1. Assumptions – list any assumptions that you make that are not included in the case. .
2. SPIN Questions –  Do not create your SPIN questions until after you have completed the analysis.

The required file format is Word ( x) or PDF ( ) and the file must be uploaded to this assignment. Do not email the file to your instructor. The file must be uploaded to Canvas to be graded.

FedEx Office Case Study Analysis (FORMAT EXAMPLE FOR REFERENCE ONLY)

Student First and Last Name (update with your name)

MKTG 3010.001 (update for your section)

SECTION 1: SITUATION

I. FedEx Office Relevant Facts

A. Background

As an Account Representative at FedEx Office, my job is to understand the needs, present and future. FedEx Office provides a vast variety of services that range from
(continue with your background description)

B. Potential Solutions

1. FedEx Office has the ability to
(continue with your presentation of the potential solutions)

II. Global Training Associates Relevant Facts

A. Background

(UPDATE THIS SECTION with your background description. Answer the following questions: What does the company do and what industry do they compete in? How did it start and who is the founder/leader? Where do they operate geographically? What is the product or service they provide? Who are their customers and how many training sessions do they have? What makes them unique? What kind of materials do they produce? How large is the company in terms of territory and products? How many employees do they have? Plus, any other relevant facts.)

B. Process for Producing and Shipping Materials

(UPDATE THIS SECTION with your process description. Answer the following questions: What happens from the first point of contact with a potei9al customer to the final delivery of the product or service? We have provided the first step in the process.)

1. Clients contact Global Training Associates via the Internet, telephone or email.

2. Global Training Associates then______________________________________

3. Global Training Associates then______________________________________

4. Global Training Associates then______________________________________

5. Global Training Associates then______________________________________

III. SPIN Situation Questions
(UPDATE WITH YOUR SITUATION QUESTIONS)

A. Situation Question #1

B. Situation Question #2

C. Situation Question #3

D. Situation Question #4

SECTION 2: GLOBAL TRAINING ASSOCIATES PROBLEMS

I. Global Training Associates Problems Analysis

(UPDATE THIS SECTION with your problem analysis. Answer the following questions to develop your analysis: What is specifically happening? Is it part of the production and shipping process? Is it caused by the production or shipping process? Who or what is causing it? Is it related to staffing? Is it related to the training session? How often does it happen? What is the current impact of the problem? Is the problem the direct result of another problem? And any other relevant analysis.)

A. Problem #1 Analysis

B. Problem #2 Analysis

C. Problem #3 Analysis

D. Problem #4 Analysis

II. SPIN Problem Questions
(UPDATE WITH YOUR PROBLEM QUESTIONS)

A. Problem Question #1

B. Problem Question #2

C. Problem Question #3

D. Problem Question #4

SECTION 3: IMPLICATIONS TO GLOBAL TRAINING ASSOCIATES

I. Global Training Associates Implications Analysis

(UPDATE THIS SECTION with the future, more severe consequences that will occur if the problems are not solved Think in terms of financial, operations/process, human resources/employees or trainers, customers/trainees, reputation, etc. What is the problem? What is the current impact? What will be the more severe impact in the future if the problem is not solved now? Who or what will it impact? And any other relevant analysis.)

A. Implication #1 Analysis related to Problem #1

B. Implication # 3 Analysis related Problem #3

C. Implication #4 Analysis related to Problem #4

II. SPIN Implication Questions
(UPDATE WITH YOUR IMPLICATION QUESTIONS)

A. Implication Question #1 related to Problem #1

B. Implication Question #2 related to Problem #2

C. Implication Question #3 related to Problem #3

D. Implication Question #4 related to Problem #4

SECTION 4: FEDEX OFFICE SOLUTIONS

I. FedEx Office Solutions to Global Training Associates Problems

(UPDATE THIS SECTION by restating the Global Training Associates problem, provide the FedEx Office solution, describe the features and advantages of the FedEx Office solution in detail and demonstrate how it will solve the specific Global Training Associates problem.)

A. FedEx Office Solution #1 related to Global Training Associates Problem #1

B. FedEx Office Solution #2 related to Global Training Associates Problem #2

C. FedEx Office Solution #3 related to Global Training Associates Problem #3

D. FedEx Office Solution #4 related to Global Training Associates Problem #4

SECTION 5: BENEFITS TO GLOBAL TRAINING ASSOCIATES

I. Benefits of the Identified FedEx Office Solutions

(UPDATE THIS SECTION by restating the FedEx Office solution and then continue with an explanation of the benefit in detail referencing who it benefits (Global Training Associates company, Global Training Associates employees, Global Training Associates trainers, Global Training Associates clients, or the trainees at the training session. Remember to demonstrate how the features support the benefit.)

A. Benefit (to Global Training Associates) of FedEx Office Solution #1

B. Benefit (to Global Training Associates) of FedEx Office Solution #2

C. Benefit (to Global Training Associates) of FedEx Office Solution #3

D. Benefit (to Global Training Associates) of FedEx Office Solution #4

III. SPIN Needs-Payoff Questions
(UPDATE WITH YOUR Needs-Payoff QUESTIONS)

E. Needs-Payoff Question #1 related to Problem #1

F. Needs-Payoff Question #2 related to Problem #2

G. Needs-Payoff Question #3 related to Problem #3

H. Needs-Payoff Question #4 related to Problem #4

SECTION 6: Current Revenue Loss and Quantify Future Revenue Loss

I. Calculate the total revenue loss in 2019 from the historical revenue (using historical number of seminars and total number of seminars in 2019)

II. Calculate the potential loss of revenue if: 10% of the core trainers quit and take their portion of the training seminars with them to a competitor.

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MKTG 3010 Fall 2020
Critical Thinking Skills – FedEx Office Exercise

ASSIGNMENT OVERVIEW

I.

The purpose of this exercise is to help you develop and understand your empirical and

quantitative skills, your critical thinking skills, and your business writing skills.
To those ends, aspects of the exercise tap your abilities in the following areas:

1. Your ability to discern relevant facts or data.
2. Your ability to evaluate (process, synthesize, or manipulate) relevant facts or data.
3. Your ability to deduce conclusions (interpret) or contextual information from relevant facts or data.
4. Your ability to identify primary problems or needs from a situation or set of information.
5. Your ability to interpret data, needs, problems, and parameters associated with a situation.
6. Your ability to elucidate assumptions you make as well as to identify contextual

characteristics and limitations associated with the data you used to evaluate the situation.
7. Your ability to construct a presentation that advocates a solution to a key problem or need.
8. Your ability to project the benefits of suggested solutions—its effects on parties involved

II. How the FedEx Office Exercise works: Read the case study carefully before you begin this

exercise.
You will be given a case to read. Be sure to read the exercise carefully—taking as much time as
you believe is necessary. The case will:

• Specify your role; who your client is; and contain data as to the situation your client
faces.

• Then, determine the relevant facts or data from the description of the situation.
• Drawing from the facts you have selected, specify the problems that your client, its

employees, or to your client’s customers are facing, remembering to focus only on the
problems that your product or service can solve.

• Considering the facts or situational parameters you selected and the problems you have
deduced from those facts or situational parameters, estimate the larger implications
associated with the problems the client presently faces.

• Present solutions that your product or service can offer and provide detailed
explanations on how the solution applies.

• Relate the benefits of your solution to the specific beneficiary – your client, its
employees, or the client’s customers.

You will have to organize the analysis based on the format presented in class by the instructor. You
will present your analysis with the following sections:

1. SITUATION: Relevant Facts (separate section for seller and buyer)
2. PROBLEMS: Analysis of Global Training Associates’ Problems
3. IMPLICATIONS: Larger, Future Implications if Problems Are Not Solved
4. SOLUTIONS: FedEx Office Solutions for the Specified Global Training Associates Problems
5. BENEFITS: Benefits of the FedEx Office Solutions to Global Training Associates

SPIN questions are included at the end of the Situation, Problems, and Implications sections
but should only be created after the analysis for each of these sections has been completed.

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Remember – it is not enough to identify facts, problems, implication, solutions and benefits;
you must analyze them in detail.

SECTION 1: SITUATION

I. Relevant facts – specify all of the relevant facts associated with the situation as outlined in the
case study. Include facts for both the seller (FedEx Office) and the buyer (Global Training
Associates) and utilize the format provided by your instructor.

The first part of your exercise, related above, is to help you develop your skills in evaluating a
situation faced by another. You will specify the relevant data associated with the situation. As
you determine the relevancy of the data, start to evaluate the impact of the data or situational
parameters on parties involved and consider the potential outcomes of the problems on the
parties involved (client, client’s employees, customers, and others).

II. Situation questions – write and present a minimum of four (4) Situation Questions the will
uncover the relevant facts that are needed to understand the Global Training Associates
background and the complete Global Training Associates process for producing and shipping
materials.

SECTION 2: GLOBAL TRAINING ASSOCIATES PROBLEMS

I. Analyze Global Training Associates’ problems – identify and completely analyze a minimum of
four problems that the seller can solve. Do not include internal human resource problems that have
no relevance to the potential solutions that the seller may provide.

II. Problem questions – Write and present a minimum of four (4) Problem Questions that will
uncover four different problems that FedEx Office can solve that relate to Global Training
Associates’ process for producing and shipping materials

SECTION 3: IMPLICATIONS TO GLOBAL TRAINING ASSOCIATES

I. Implications of the problems – specify and completely analyze a minimum of four (4)
implications related to the four problems. Each implication must relate to one of the four identified
problems and demonstrate the larger effect that will occur without a resolution to the problem.

II. Implication questions – Write and present a minimum of four (4) Implication Questions that
would reinforce the larger, more painful, and future implications that could occur if the problems
are not solved.

SECTION 4: FEDEX OFFICE SOLUTIONS

Potential seller solutions to the buyer’s problems – present and explain in detail with supporting
FedEx Office features a minimum of four solutions that the seller can offer to solve the buyer’s
problems. Do not offer internal human resource solutions unique to the buyer’s company.

This part of your exercise is intended to help you develop your ability to amass, consolidate, and
present a solution to a complex set of problems or situation. Using the data gleaned from the exercise,
you will develop potential solutions to the problems. To support the solutions, you will need to specify
and support your solutions with specific features and benefits. To underpin the problem and sub
problems, you will need to relate relevant data and specify implications of those facts, data, or
situational parameters. Essentially, you are stating and justifying your interpretation of the situation—
drawn from the data presented or evident.

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SECTION 5: BENEFITS OF THE FEDEX OFFICE SOLUTIOSN TO GLOBAL TRAINING
ASSOCIATES

Benefits of the potential solutions – identify and explain in detail a minimum of four benefits that the
buyer will experience resulting from the implementation of the seller’s solutions. The benefits should
clearly identify the specific beneficiary related to the buyer – overall company, employees, clients,
trainers, etc.

Assumptions – list any that you are making (implied or unstated facts). For example, it is reasonable
to assume that a client seeks to grow revenue and profit.

Okay. Take a breath. Keep in mind that you are simply trying to help your client and your client’s
customers achieve their goals. Rather than simply blurting out random ideas, you are going through a
thought-driven process. Chances are good that you have done such things at work or in personal
problem solving.

Your written submission is an internal report. Therefore, write it as professional business document
with clarity and conciseness. Use full descriptive sentences that analyze the facts from the case.
Format the document with clearly identified sections and headings for each of the required analysis
areas. Remember that you will create SPIN questions only for the Situation, Problems, and
Implications sections and the SPIN questions are created after your thorough analysis.

The required file format is Word ( x) or PDF ( ) and upload the file to the Canvas assignment.
Do not email the file to your instructor. It must be uploaded to Canvas to be graded.

Okay. Given your assignment, go ahead and read carefully through the data presented in the following
section. Take your time. Read through the situation several times. You will glean different bits of
information each time. Then, initiate the analytical structure related in the previous paragraph.

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MKTG 3010 Fall 2020
Critical Thinking Skills – FedEx Office Exercise

CASE STUDY OVERVIEW

Your Employer – FedEx Office

You are an account representative with FedEx Office. Your job is to secure relationships with client
organizations. Your company melds the parcel moving capabilities of FedEx with printing and data
capabilities. Your customers are businesses that need to distribute information to their clients or internal
users (e.g., training information, product information, manuals). Unlike main line UPS or FedEx, your
employer does not move parcels or freight. Instead, your company helps clients disseminate data to users.
In most cases, the data and information disseminated are non-routine (i.e. specific to a certain product,
project, or program). An example would be copying, packaging, and shipping training materials and
operating manuals to sixty-four hospitals and other facilities owned by Trinity Health group.

FedEx Office can print, store, disseminate, package, and otherwise prepare documented materials. Its
facilities are located in all U.S. cities with populations in excess of 20,000. The firm ships to any location
that can be reached by road. Data can be transferred between any of the 2,150 FedEx Office locations.
All locations feature printing, binding, cd, DVD or flash drive burning and other data packaging
capabilities. All locations are served by FedEx pickup and delivery. All locations offer a range of
delivery options (next day, same day, two business days) very similar to those offered by UPS.

FedEx Office can ship across the world. In some nations, agents of FedEx Office (other firms) engage in
delivery. FedEx Office facilities are located only in the United States (all fifty states) and across Canada.

Your Prospect – Global Training Associates

Global Training Associates contacted you by telephone. Global Training Associates is a global training
services company that provides an array of packaged training programs to businesses across the United
States and in 50 other countries. The company headquarters is in Chicago, IL. It has sub-offices in Dallas,
TX and Burbank, CA.

Global Training Associates has been in business since 2005. Alex Barber and Jordan Johnson started the
company as co-founders. Barber focused on developing “Voice of the Customer” program that has
enabled Global Training Associates to provide tailored solutions and services to a wide variety of
industries including finance, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, logistics, retail and energy. Barber is a
professional IT resources trainer and holds several national standards certifications in the IT area. Barber
earned an MBA from Rice University.

In 2006, Barber convinced four fellow IT trainers to form a co-operative. The trainers began training IT
managers in the technology area. Over the years, Barber and the partners built relationships with trainers
from other disciplines (e.g., LMS, Oracle, SAP, QuickBooks and other areas where business often job out
training.

Word of mouth and positive experience allowed Barber and the partners to establish an extended
network of 350 contractor trainers across the U.S. and Canada. Global Training Associates offers
training solutions for more than 22 specific applications.

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Situational and Context-based Information

You have a video conference call with Alex Barber. It lasts for about forty minutes. During the visit,
Barber shares information with you and responds to several questions you ask. The following are notes
and observations you log during the visit.

Clients contact Global Training Associates via the internet or telephone. Based on client needs, Global
Training Associates devises a training plan and generates a bid. If the bid is accepted, Global Training
Associates notifies a trainer or training team and schedules the session. Then, the Global Training
Associates staff confirms the printed materials specifications and any online requirements. (Global
Training Associates has learned over time that companies want to provide employees with both electronic
and hard copies of all training materials.) The step is materials preparation including printing, collating
and shipping. Occasionally, the client generates the materials. Next, the training site is established and
trainees are registered, contacted and sent preparation instructions. Finally, training execution takes place
on the designated site.

Global Training Associates has 32 full-time employees. Fifteen (15) full-time staff work at the Chicago
office. Ten (10) full-time staff work at the Dallas office and seven (7) full-time staff work at the Burbank
office. At each office, training materials are prepared from documents proprietary to Global Training
Associates. Preparation usually involves customization (e.g., inserting the client’s logo, date, and
producing any mandatory materials such as document numbers or certificates).

Global Training Associates produces the materials in the quantities specified, prepares and labels flash
drives or other ancillaries, and packages and labels the shipment according to the delivery instructions.

The Global Training Associates full-time staff includes a mix of male/female employees and range in age
from 22 to 55. The full-time staff primarily works forty hours per week. All of the full-time staff are
capable of running duplication equipment, handling document management tasks, and carrying out other
office tasks. One employee at each location, the site manager, handles scheduling and billing of the
training seminars. Barber and the original partners select and arrange compensation for the contractors
who carry out the training.

Global Training Associates materials ship to training locations via all the major package carriers USPS,
UPS, FedEx, DHL, and others as needed. The training location or hotel holds the materials and the
contract trainer (i.e. not a full-time employee) picks them up.

Status of Global Training Associates 2019

Global Training Associates’ revenues have fluctuated over the past few years. Historically, Global
Training Associates carried out more than 3,700 seminars. Each location dispatched approximately 25
seminars per week over a 50-week training year (fiscal year). Base price for any seminar (net of
materials) is $4500. Base price covers a three-day seminar (including trainer travel time). Base price
covers training for five trainees net of materials with an additional $500 for each additional trainee. In
2010, the average seminar serviced 15 trainees.

Global Training Associates has an excellent reputation as a provider of training for human resources,
Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics, SAP, QuickBooks and PeopleSoft. Barber knows that the core of
225 contract trainers, who conduct slightly over sixty percent of the classes offered each year, are the key
to Global Training Associates’ success. The core trainers average 15 three-day sessions per year.

Contract trainers are nationally recognized experts in their fields. Most trainers once worked for large
corporations (e.g., Oracle, AT&T and Microsoft) and some trainers hold advanced degrees. All trainers

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hold specific certifications that make the courses acceptable to certification bodies.

In 2019, Global Training Associates ran 3,200 sessions with an average billing of $12,000 per session for
a gross revenue of $38.4 million. The declining revenue in 2019 has prompted Global Training
Associates to change pricing.

Barber explained the Global Training Associates had cancellations between 2018 and 2019 and conceded
that several long-time clients had cancelled training because of delays. One client indicated that his
trainer was unprepared. “The guy used a white board for the first two days of training. We paid for
professional training. I had several trainees complain that they could not follow the material and had to
take copious notes by hand.”

Barber elaborated that in the situation the trainer arrived at his hotel on Monday expecting that the
training materials would be there. Because of delays in processing at one of the offices, the training
materials could not be shipped until late the previous Friday. The training materials arrived Wednesday
afternoon—two days into the training. Barber further explained that three of the staff in the office
involved were ill due to a flu outbreak —causing a backup in processing. So, the materials were shipped
out ASAP to the hotel rather than the training site—a restaurant chain.

Not only did Global Training Associates lose the restaurant chain as a client–the trainer involved, who
was one of the core, went to another training company. “That fellow took about $500,000 annual
revenue with him,” Barber conceded.

Barber observed that, although Global Training Associates can schedule sessions, it was getting more
difficult to prepare materials. Most of the clients – restaurant chains, banks, insurance companies, and
certain types of manufacturing companies, were small to mid-size. Therefore, they want Global Training
Associates to prepare the training materials rather than having to print, bind, and package the materials
themselves.

Sometimes the larger companies (clients) choose to prepare the materials themselves and then processing
disasters occurred. PowerPoint slides were missing or out of order. Training binders were incomplete or
not available. Production of training materials occurred at the last minute which led to misspelled words
and format errors. In all cases, trainees assumed it was Global Training Associates’ fault and the contract
trainers became very frustrated handling the complaints and receiving poor evaluations for something
that they had no control over.

Barber noted that the trainers were responsible for getting the materials onto the training site. That
protocol had been in place since the inception of Global Training Associates in 2005. Barber conceded
that several of the core trainers were frustrated with having to secure the materials and haul them to the
site. One fellow noted that a competing firm shipped direct to the site and texted or called its trainers
regarding arrival time and location of materials. Barber conceded that ‘something needs to be done soon
or we will be out of business within 6-7 years.”

When asked why Global Training Associates did not ship direct to the training site, Barber sighed and
explained that most of the restaurant chains, banks, and manufacturing companies that the trainers deal
with have large, extensive facilities. In one case, a shipment delivery to a manufacturing office, the
receptionist set the shipment with boxes of equipment manuals and mail that had come into the office.
The trainer arrived at the corporate conference room, the designated training site. It took fifteen
telephone calls to the carrier, the human resource department, and the central manufacturing office to
locate the training materials. “That is why I hold the trainers accountable for shipping materials.”

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When asked if the materials are customized to the client, Barber proudly stated, “You bet. That is a
strength of our programs.” Barber then noted that in two cases, the wrong organization name ended up on
the materials. Oracle materials prepared for the IT staff at Toyota Motor North America office in Plano,
TX were mislabeled with materials to be shipped to the IT staff at Kubota Tractor Corporation in
Grapevine, Texas. Fortunately, the parties saw the irony in that situation.

Barber admitted that, “our office staff is well-trained and compensated but still staff productivity is
declining.” Sometimes the office staff has family obligations that interrupt attendance at work. However,
Barber noted that replacing and training reliable, literate, staff for such positions is expensive. Global
Training Associates pays the average staff member $55,000 per year with $20,000 per year in benefits
costs. Therefore, staff costs are more than $2.4 million per year. Barber estimates that replacing a staff
member will run closer to $65,000 with $25,000 in benefits and other costs of employment. Last year,
Barber paid out $150,000 in overtime bonuses to staff attributable to rush jobs and business flux.

Goals for Global Training Associates
You ask Alex Barber why Global Training Associates seeks to continue in this business in light of labor
and support problems. Barber indicates that there is increased demand for outsourced training for
technology needs with anticipated growth of 10% (percent) per year for the next five years. “I really
need to ramp up our operations and growth,” Barber observes.

So what other problems exist, aside from delivery and preparation issues? Barber indicates that Training
Design Corporation, a company started by a former Global Training Associates contractor, had begun to
eke away at Global Training Associates’ client base. Taylor Blake, founder of Training Design, had lured
away several of Global Training Associates’ core trainers with more lucrative compensation and better
support. “Oh,” you utter. You ask Barber if Global Training Associates can sue Training Design for
pirating materials. Barber glares at you. “The trainer is the key asset here. Any expert can develop
materials. If I sue, core trainers will leave us like there’s a plague.”