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Communities of Leadership: Frederick Smith’s FedEx
No comments · Posted by Scott in Case Studies
Here are some comparative figures from Forbes list of the top 2000 global public companies (the overall ranking considers rankings by sales, profits, assets, and market values equally).
UPS
- Overall rank 139
- Sales $45.3 billion
- Profits $2.15 billion
- Market value $58.4 billion
Deutsche Post DHL
- Overall rank 193
- Sales $66.3 billion
- Profits $0.92 billion
- Market value $19.7
FedEx
- Overall rank 568
- Sales $32.6 billion
- Profits $0.25 billion loss
- Market value $26.9 billion
So FedEx is the smallest on most measures (second in market value). Nonetheless, I’m planning to follow it before the others as a community of leadership because of its culture. FedEx (Frederick W. Smith, CEO) placed ahead of its rivals in Fortune’s Most Admired Companies List (number 13, the others did not make the top 50). It also featured at number 91 in Fortune’s list of best companies to work for; the others didn’t feature.
Reading its online material and annual report, these are some of the statements I found:
“We consistently place at the top of customer service rankings, and we stay near the top of the most-admired and best places-to-work lists. Our philosophy is simple: Because FedEx is a great place to work, our people serve our customers very well, and our business succeeds as a result. Seeing the long future means understanding that our team members are the very heart of our business.”
“In the global logistic business, putting our team members’ interests first — and giving them the power to see and respond to what their customers need — was arguably the best business decision we ever made.”
“Every day, our team keeps our Purple Promise: to make every FedEx experience outstanding.”
“FedEx is committed to connecting people around the world with each other and what they need. We’re equally committed to getting the job done with fewer resources. That’s why we’ve launched our ’20 by 20′ initiative, aiming to reduce our our aircraft’s carbon emissions by 20 percent and increase our delivery vehicles’ fuel efficiency by 20 percent, all by 2020. Our new hub in Cologne, Germany, with its 1.4 megawatt solar power system, will be the latest in a growing list of on-site renewable energy investments. Seeing the long future means doing more with less. ”
As of its 2009 annual report, FedEx earns only 27% of its revenues from outside the U.S. That fraction will need to grow as the world continues to globalise and high-end logistics expands in markets like India, China, and Brazil; FedEx opened its largest hub outside the U. S. in Guanzhou, China in February 2009. In addition, transporting packages is inherently energy intensive, so the sustainability challenges and opportunities for companies like FedEx are substatntial.
I look forward to watching how the Purple Promise is fulfilled around the world over the next few years.
community · customers · FedEx · global · innovation · leadership · service · value · values
