United Parcel Service

Founded in 1907 as a messenger company in the United States, United Parcel Service (UPS) has grown into a $36 billion corporation by clearly focusing on the goal of enabling commerce around the globe. Today UPS is a global company with one of the most recognized and admired brands in the world. They have become the world's largest package delivery company and a leading global provider of specialized transportation and logistics services. Every day, they manage the flow of goods, funds, and information in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide (UPS.com, 2006)

UPS, as the world's largest package delivery company and global leader in supply chain services, recognizes that optimizing business efficiency is essential for companies to cope with increasing management pressures. These expanded services are indicative of UPS's global strategy to offer its customers a convenient way to streamline their supply chain and improve business performance (UPS.com, 2006)

UPS first went international in 1975 when it offered services within the Canadian city of Toronto. Operations in Germany got underway the next year. However, the 1980s saw UPS enter the international shipping market in earnest, establishing a presence in a growing number of countries and territories in the Americas, Eastern and Western Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Pacific Rim. In 1985 UPS started international air service between the United States and six European countries. Then, in 1989, domestic air service was added in Germany (UPS.com, 2006)

Because UPS operates in most countries of the world, though, it realized it needed an international version. In 1998, it began working on one, conducting research and benchmarking with other companies (Ethikos, 2005)

UPS ability to capture and operate in an overseas market did not go without its pitfalls. From the start, the company displayed unusual cultural sensitivity, hoping to avoid imposition of an "American-centric" code on its overseas' businesses. Ethics Officer Association (EOA) conference presentations provided some guidance in this regard. UPS developed advisory committees in different regions, including Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Committee members represented not only different countries, but also different job functions. Not all were human resources professionals.

The U.S. code of conduct became the centerpiece of employee focus group sessions that were conducted around the world--16 in Europe, ten in Asia, four in Canada, and five in the Americas--in the third and fourth quarters of 1998 (Ethikos, 2005).

What did employees like about the code? What did they not like? In the course of these sessions, training gaps were revealed. An Irish employee, for example, asked, "What is the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act?" (Even though it is a U.S. statute, the FCPA applies to UPS's foreign employees.) Above all they found that "employees wanted the code translated into their own language (Ethikos, 2005).

Another difficulty concerned the Help-line posters. How does one make a '800' telephone number available overseas--given that one can't