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In July 1995, J.C. Penney announced the award to United Parcel Service (UPS) of a billion-dollar, five-year contract for delivery services. This was the largest distribution contract ever awarded and represented a dramatic concentration of Penney's business with one carrier. Invites students to assess the financial performance of Federal Express and UPS. The two firms have competed intensely for dominance of the overnight express package industry. Requires no numerical computations of the students; rather, their tasks include interpretation of the results and reflection on the result's implications.

Set in July 1995, this case invites students to assess the financial performance of Federal Express and United Parcel Service, two close competitors in the U.S. overnight express package-delivery industry. Although the case requires no numerical computations, it does ask students to interpret results and reflect on the implications. The contrasting financial records of the two firms afford a platform for exploring several important issues, including (1) the definition and use of "economic value added" (EVA) as a measure of corporate performance; (2) a comparison of EVA with other classic approaches of historical performance analysis; (3) the exercise of skills in business-segment analysis; (4) the exploration of the financial implications of intense competition and corporate transformation; and (5) the definition of "excellence" from a corporate-finance point of view.