Frederick W. Smith - The Entrepreneur who Created an Industry
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Case Details:
Case Code : LDEN023
Case Length : 15 Pages
Period : 2003
Pub Date : 2003
Teaching Note :Not Available
Organization : FedEx Corp.
Industry : Logistics
Countries : USA
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This case study was compiled from published sources, and is intended to be used as a basis for class discussion. It is not intended to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a management situation. Nor is it a primary information source.
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Excerpts
The First Decade
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Soon after floating FedEx, Smith was confronted with the enormous task of
building a nationwide network of mail delivery.
The task involved developing an
organizational framework to deliver express mail in quick time and in addition,
arrange for the necessary finances to run the business on a large scale.
Smith
built the organizational framework on a very unique, yet practical system - the
hub and spoke system (Refer Exhibit III), which originated from a mathematical
science called Topology. Smith also hired some managers from its competitor UPS8
to assist him in building the system...
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Emphasis on Information Technology
Since the very beginning, FedEx had been renowned as a technologically driven
company. Smith stipulated three goals, which he believed would form the
critical success factors of FedEx's business in future - speed, reliability
and customer service. In order to achieve these goals, Smith invested
heavily on IT. Smith strongly believed that for an express industry, it was
necessary to use IT to provide customers with real-time information about
the movement of their documents/packages...
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Commitment Towards Employees
Smith believed that in a service oriented organization like FedEx, it was
very important to have highly committed employees, failing which; it was not
possible to deliver the kind of service that the customers expected. FedEx's
employees were made to believe that they were not merely performing their
duties but were solving the transportation problems of the customers. In the
initial years at FedEx, there were several occasions when the employees did
not receive salaries in time. Still, they had no complains, instead they
continued to support Smith... |
Excerpts Contd...>>
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