ximize the benefit of the resulting higher margins.
The charts below show the industry environment for oil during 1996 --97. The third chart shows that UDS enjoyed continued growth through this period. Successful information management was in large part responsible for this achievement.
19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 20 20
90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01
http:// www. economagic. com/ May 9 2000
Value of$1O~OOO invested - Ultramar Diamond Shamrock Corporation
10,200 Jan Apr Jul Oct
1996 1996 1996 1996
The success of UDS in the use of market information to make operating decisions has not lowered the company's awareness of the risks involved in operating in a sometime unpredictable industry. This realization hit home during the extreme drop in crude prices during 1997 and 1998. At that time, UDS began a restructuring campaign that resulted in a streamlined management (Ultramar Shamrock Corp. announcesa, 1999). The effect of that restructuring was to eliminate one level of management through which vital information had to pass.
In addition, the company was able to shift its focus to retail product sales in its convenience stores to cover the losses on gasoline sales. This was made possible in large part due to innovative point of sale technology the company had already begun to integrate into its store locations. The use of this technology as an information management tool will be discussed in more detail below, but it is important to note here that the ready availability of sales data was a key element in the decision to restructure operations.
Another category of external information vital to UDS is legal regulations and requirements. Domestically, the company is directly e
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