Book details

Book description

An inside look at leadership practices that enabled the world's leading shipping company to outthink and outperform its competition

Using firsthand accounts from top leaders at FedEx, FedEx Delivers explains how the company became an international powerhouse and one of the most trusted global brands by using leadership practices that tapped into the creativity and commitment of its employees.

Both a compelling business story and a prescription for business success, FedEx Delivers presents a model to show how these practices created and sustained an innovation culture. Readers will learn how to apply this model to their organizations for developing a culture of innovation that evolves with the times and offers fresh solutions to new challenges.

Innovative thinking and disciplined execution are what made FedEx a market leader, and they can help any business in any industry do the same. Each chapter covers a different aspect of innovation with real-life stories that highlight its effectiveness, and offers valuable ideas that lead managers through the process of implementing those practices.

By breaking innovation down to its three simplest steps-generation, acceptance, and implementation of ideas-and offering proven leadership practices that really work, FedEx Delivers offers unique insight and invaluable advice on building an organization that can adapt to any challenge and meet any goal in today's highly competitive global economy. Madan Birla is a veteran of the “hard” side of business. In his 22 years at FedEx, he was Managing Director of System Form Engineering (Long-Range Operations and Facilities Planning) and Materials and Resource Planning before being named Managing Director and Preceptor in the company's Leadership Institute. For eight years as a member of the Long-Range Planning Committee, he worked closely with Fred Smith and the senior management team in evaluating strategic what-ifs. At the FedEx Leadership Institute, he was a facilitator of Innovation, Leadership, and Life Balance courses for all levels of management throughout the world.
For the past three years, he has been advising executives on how to encourage employee creativity and commitment to build a culture of innovation and performance.
His life experiences in two rich cultures, East and West, and his broad educational background have prepared him to meld ideas from engineering, business, and psychology to develop comprehensive Leading for Innovation models. He completed his undergraduate work in mechanical engineering at the Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani, India. Following that, he enrolled at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chicago, Illinois, where he received his master of science degree in industrial engineering. After graduating, he joined RCA Records in Indianapolis, Indiana. While in Indianapolis, he did graduate work in business at Butler University. After moving to Memphis to join FedEx, he received a master of science degree in counseling from the University of Memphis.