Inside Fedex Express
(unclassified paper)
Secretary of Defense Fellowship Program
2005-2006
Inside FedEx Express
By
Captain Gary Peterson
12 May 2006
Edited by
Ms. Gerry Yemen
Inside FedEx Express
Introduction
As a Secretary of Defense Corporate Fellow during 2005-2006, I was assigned to work at FedEx Express located in Memphis, Tennessee. FedEx Express provides time-critical delivery services and associated information assistance globally. It is one of several Operating Companies (OPCO) within FedEx Corporation. Other OPCOs include: FedEx Custom Critical, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, and FedEx Kinko’s. Each OPCO operates independently, competes collectively, and manages collaboratively. FedEx Services, FedEx Trade Networks, and FedEx Supply Chain Solutions are separate corporations that interface with the OPCOs. The company continues to operate under the company founder, Fred Smith’s, original 1973 business plan, adding improvements as global competition and opportunities have emerged.
Summary of Findings
The organizational capacity to successfully adapt and effectively compete at FedEx Express is enhanced through the influence of their leadership culture. The fundamental elements of the culture are: identity, information exchange, learning ability, freedom of action, and participation. These elements are company attributes supported by a set of strategic processes. I call this assembly of processes the Leadership Supporting Process (LSP), and it underpins and enhances cultural capacity. This paper uses FedEx Express as a case study to illustrate that leadership supported by LSP allows an organization to nurture a workforce more open to the idea of adopting positive changes and improvement to compete more effectively. The main points are:
• leadership and management are different practices, and FedEx Express’sthe leadership culture is the company’s single greatest strengthFedEx Express’s single greatest strength. • it’s
Secretary of Defense Fellowship Program
2005-2006
Inside FedEx Express
By
Captain Gary Peterson
12 May 2006
Edited by
Ms. Gerry Yemen
Inside FedEx Express
Introduction
As a Secretary of Defense Corporate Fellow during 2005-2006, I was assigned to work at FedEx Express located in Memphis, Tennessee. FedEx Express provides time-critical delivery services and associated information assistance globally. It is one of several Operating Companies (OPCO) within FedEx Corporation. Other OPCOs include: FedEx Custom Critical, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, and FedEx Kinko’s. Each OPCO operates independently, competes collectively, and manages collaboratively. FedEx Services, FedEx Trade Networks, and FedEx Supply Chain Solutions are separate corporations that interface with the OPCOs. The company continues to operate under the company founder, Fred Smith’s, original 1973 business plan, adding improvements as global competition and opportunities have emerged.
Summary of Findings
The organizational capacity to successfully adapt and effectively compete at FedEx Express is enhanced through the influence of their leadership culture. The fundamental elements of the culture are: identity, information exchange, learning ability, freedom of action, and participation. These elements are company attributes supported by a set of strategic processes. I call this assembly of processes the Leadership Supporting Process (LSP), and it underpins and enhances cultural capacity. This paper uses FedEx Express as a case study to illustrate that leadership supported by LSP allows an organization to nurture a workforce more open to the idea of adopting positive changes and improvement to compete more effectively. The main points are:
• leadership and management are different practices, and FedEx Express’sthe leadership culture is the company’s single greatest strengthFedEx Express’s single greatest strength. • it’s
Bibliography: FedEx Leadership Institute, Manager’s Guide USA, unpublished 1986-2002 Friedman, Thomas L., The World is Flat; A Brief History of the 21st Century, New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2005 Kotter, John P., Leading Change, Cambridge: Harvard Business School Press, 1996 Wheatley, Margaret J., Leadership and the New Science; Discovering Order in the Chaotic World, San Francisco: Berett-Koehler, 1999