Tuesday, November 23, 2010

more on corporate culture

The discussion below from website http://www.vault.com/wps/portal/usa/companies/company-profile/FedEx-Corporation?companyId=783
reinforces the concept described in the text book for Perpetuating the Culture by screening new hires for fit with the culture:

Ship shape


Sources describe the interviews at FedEx as "intensive." One says, "I had three rounds of interviews and they followed up with my references as well as outside sources. Drug testing. A lot of "scenario" questions and what I thought FedEx was about. It is a really good idea to do a lot of research on the company before the interview and talk to current employees in the position you are interviewing for in advance." His colleague adds that he had "three rounds of interviews with managers, directors and potential co-workers. Behavioral interview questions were prepared and distributed to the interviewers prior to the interview."

 

Stock Price Update

86.14, down 1.20

http://fedex.com/us/investorrelations/stockinfo/

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Assignment 12 Corporate Culture

Chapter 12 actually included a specific example for the FedEx culture, in the section where they give examples of heroic acts that have become part of the folklore of different companies. For FedEx, the example was a delivery man who went to great efforts to ensure that items in a drop box were processed and delivered on time, despite the challenge of not having the right key for the drop box. I think this example fits with the predominant image of FedEx, as an extremely reliable service with dedicated workers. There seems to be a strong culture, and with founder Fred Smith still the Chairman and CEO there is probably a "founder effect".
FedEx Chairman Fred Smith to Receive the Aero Club of Southern California’s 2010 Howard Hughes Memorial Award Business Wire  from previous posting

The gleaming image is not the only one out there though. There are the views that the FedEx is shirking responsibility to the workers by continuing to use a large number of contract employees and do what they can to avoid the organization of labor unions.

Stock Price Update

86.48, up 0.97

http://fedex.com/us/investorrelations/stockinfo/

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Stock Price Update

87.32, down 0.66

http://fedex.com/us/investorrelations/stockinfo/

Looking forward to holiday shopping season?

I would say yes. I have been hearing about fierce competition from retailers like Wal-Mart and Target offering free shipping during the holidays to match deals from Amazon, etc., so maybe will be even more shipping this year than usual.

Chapter 11

FedEx is mentioned in the Information Systems section of Chapter 11, noted for its internal communication systems that aid in coordinating "76,000-plus vehicles in handling an average of 5.5 million packages a day". This section also mentions their sophisticated flight operation system and e-business tools for customers.
The article in the link below expands on the IT at FedEx and touches upon ISO certification and six sigma. Sounds like they don't exactly have a six sigma program overall, but have found some concepts to apply.
http://www.enterpriseleadership.org/blogs/Articles/2007/08/27/interview-rob-carter--fedex-cio-says-it-matters