29718001066800
English for International Students Unit
Business Management English Presessional 2014
BME COVER SHEET AND DECLARATION
STUDENT ID. No. & FULL NAME
1425908 Wang Yankai
BME GROUP No.
9 Assessment Group 3
ASSESSMENT TYPE (e.g.: Assessed Case; Assessed Essay; Feasibility Report…) Assessed Case Study
ASSIGNMENT TITLE
Problem-Solution Case Report: Parcelforce Worldwide
HOME TEACHER
Michael Tooke
SECOND TEACHER
Emilia
DATE OF SUBMISSION
August 14
TOTAL WORD COUNT
1159
FIRST/FINAL SUBMISSION
August 14
D E C L A R A T I O N
By completing the above, I declare that this submission is my work; that it has been written in my own words; and that all references, direct or indirect, to other published or unpublished sources have been accurately acknowledged using the Harvard Referencing System.
Problem-Solution Case Report
Problem Statement.
Parcelforce Worldwide, one of the express industry giants, provides a variety of parcel delivery services to every address in the UK and 99.6% of the world’s population. Despite their aim to be the UK’s most worldwide trusted express carries, the company is confronting some basic problems.A recent customer survey has shown that the product portfolio does not satisfy the customers’ needs. The tracking system and continuing quality appraisal scheme, which are essential for providing high-quality services, are inadequate, and the pricing and promotion strategies are out of date. The purpose of this essay, therefore, is to analyze the causes and results of these problems, and give some suggestion to improve the situation.
Analysis of Data
According to the research conducted by Parcelforce, and In order to better satisfy customer’s needs and deal with the competition, several problems in their marketing process should be resolved.
Product/ Service
Parcelforce provide a wide range of services in three different markets, but their services are unable to meet the current needs of the consumers. In fact, different consumers in the three targeted markets (B2B, B2C, and C2C) might want various combinations of services. Some consumers in B2B market may consider the stability of delivery to be the most important consideration while others in C2C market are more price sensitive when they choose the express suppliers. However, Parcelforcealso ignored the fact that most consumers do not only care about the price and speed, but regard a number of other factors ( such as reliability, good customer service, effective management reporting and the tracking system) as important when they make their decisions; thus, Parcelforce failed to balance all the factors required by the consumers.Besides, it did not pay attention to the quality appraisal, which may result in thequality of their services being unreliable and inconsistent. As a consequence, they will probably lose customers and lose their present predominant position in the express industry in the future.
Price
Given that the logistics industry is price sensitive, it is essential for Parcelforce to design a targeted pricing strategy especially as there are numerous new entrants in the market. Unfortunately, Parcelforce has not launched a new pricing strategy to deal with the fierce competition, which may give rise to their losing out to their rivals.
Place and tracking system
It is generally known that a tracking system is very convenient for customers and enable them to follow their parcels. For this reasons, it has been established by many express suppliers. As a consequence of poor technological support in express points, Parcelforce, however, is still not providing such a helpful service. Given that the tracking system is popular in this industry, Parcelforcehave are thus lagging behind their competitors. Moreover, the access points of Parcelforce are less than its competitors, and it will lead to the inefficient delivering process. Evidently, if it continues in this way, the current consumers will move to their