Discussion: View Thread

Wendy,

I heard that FederalExpress was presented as a new business case in class
and almost got the student to flunk the class, the business was deemed as
impractical... So the student resolved to follow the BC and we all know
what kind of a company that created... Is this an urban legend or a true
story based on facts I do not know...

Cordially,

Esteban





"W.J.Gregory" <W.J.Gregory@hull.ac.uk>
Sent by: Management Education and Development Discussion
<MG-ED-DV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU>
11/24/2002 06:08 AM
Please respond to Management Education and Development Discussion


To: MG-ED-DV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
cc: (bcc: ESTEBAN TREVIÑO MUGUERZA/Cemtec/Cemex)
Subject: Re: Seeking help


Dear all,
some time ago I recall seeing an e-mail that commented on the number of
Nobel prize winners who had had papers rejected by publishers, and am
giving a class later this semester on 'getting published' in which I
would like to use that reference. If anyone can provide me with this,
or other information about important ideas that were nearly lost
because of critical reviews, I would be very pleased to receive them.
If others are interested, I will collate replies and post to the list
later.
Many thanks,
Wendy

***************************************************************

Dr Wendy Gregory
Research Director
Business School
The University of Hull
Hull HU6 7RX
Britain.

Telephone: (+44)(0)1482-465960
Mobile: 0790 410 6818
Fax: (+44)(0)1482-466637

w.j.gregory@hull.ac.uk
wj.gregory@virgin.net

Research website: http://www.hull.ac.uk/hubs/research/index.htm
****************************************************************



____________________________________________________________________________
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Wendy and Esteban,
Although the story of Federal Express has taken on a sort of urban legend
air, it is true. When Fred Smith, the president of FedEx was in graduate
school, he presented a paper on the concept of using a hub, similar to a
telephone system switching hub, for a package handling and delivery company.
He based it on the fact that all call go through a central switch so that
every phone owner would not have to have miles of copper wire running from
theirs to every other phone. The package hub would work much the same way
with all package going though the central hub and being re-directed to their
destination. The paper was deemed sub-standard and he received a C on it.

Ken

Ken Rossi, Ed.D.
Asst. Professor of Information Systems
Hawaii Pacific University
Honolulu, Hawaii
(808) 544-1412
rossik001@hawaii.rr.com
krossi@hpu.edu
----- Original Message -----
From: "Esteban Trevino" <esteban.trevino@neoris.com>
To: <MG-ED-DV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU>
Sent: Monday, November 25, 2002 4:44 AM
Subject: Re: Seeking help


Wendy,

I heard that FederalExpress was presented as a new business case in class
and almost got the student to flunk the class, the business was deemed as
impractical... So the student resolved to follow the BC and we all know
what kind of a company that created... Is this an urban legend or a true
story based on facts I do not know...

Cordially,

Esteban





"W.J.Gregory" <W.J.Gregory@hull.ac.uk>
Sent by: Management Education and Development Discussion
<MG-ED-DV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU>
11/24/2002 06:08 AM
Please respond to Management Education and Development Discussion


To: MG-ED-DV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
cc: (bcc: ESTEBAN TREVI�O MUGUERZA/Cemtec/Cemex)
Subject: Re: Seeking help


Dear all,
some time ago I recall seeing an e-mail that commented on the number of
Nobel prize winners who had had papers rejected by publishers, and am
giving a class later this semester on 'getting published' in which I
would like to use that reference. If anyone can provide me with this,
or other information about important ideas that were nearly lost
because of critical reviews, I would be very pleased to receive them.
If others are interested, I will collate replies and post to the list
later.
Many thanks,
Wendy

***************************************************************

Dr Wendy Gregory
Research Director
Business School
The University of Hull
Hull HU6 7RX
Britain.

Telephone: (+44)(0)1482-465960
Mobile: 0790 410 6818
Fax: (+44)(0)1482-466637

w.j.gregory@hull.ac.uk
wj.gregory@virgin.net

Research website: http://www.hull.ac.uk/hubs/research/index.htm
****************************************************************



____________________________________________________________________________
For your protection, this e-mail message has been scanned for viruses.
Visit us at http://www.neoris.com/

Esteban,
Fred Smith founder of FedEx discusses the "C" at:
http://www.fortune.com/sitelets/innovators/smith.html

"FedEx was actually developed in two stages: The first was recognizing
that there was a demand for the service; I didn't start the second
stage, actually launching the business, until some years later. The
first phase really started when I was an undergraduate at Yale in 1965.
I wrote a term paper for an economics class in which I simply observed
that as society became more automated, companies like IBM and Xerox that
sold early computer devices needed to make sure that their products were
dependable. They had to be 100% reliable, or the efficacy of the device
was in question.

For instance, if you were a computer manufacturer like Burroughs or
Speary or IBM or Univac -- all the people in those days who were
competing for bank business -- you'd go in and talk to, say, a banker in
Amarillo and tell him he really ought to get rid of all his clerks and
replace them with computers, which would be able to do the work much
more cheaply, quickly, accurately, and so forth. And the argument was
totally compelling except for one fact: The minute that computer went
dark, the bank couldn't function anymore. When you automate a human
function, either that device has to work all the time or you have to be
able to fix it rapidly. It was that simple an observation.

So to build dependability into the product, you'd need to have a vastly
different type of logistics and delivery system to keep that type of
installed computer base running. IBM made its computers in Armonk, N.Y.,
which made it very easy for it to get repairmen and parts to Chase
Manhattan in New York City. But what if you're the First National Bank
of Amarillo? How do you get your computer parts quickly when your system
goes down? You couldn't depend on the post office. I believed you'd need
a faster, more dependable, and more far-reaching kind of delivery
system. That was what the paper was about; it was not a full-blown
business plan.

Today that paper is kind of famous, and it's because of a careless
comment I once made. I was asked what grade I got on it, and I stupidly
said, 'I guess I got my usual gentlemanly C.' That stuck, and it's
become a well-known story because everybody likes to flout authority.
But to be honest, I don't really remember what grade I got. I probably
didn't get a very good one, though, because it wasn't a well-thought-out
paper."

Cybercollegially,
Charles Wankel

-----Original Message-----


I heard that FederalExpress was presented as a new business case in
class
and almost got the student to flunk the class, the business was deemed
as
impractical... So the student resolved to follow the BC and we all know
what kind of a company that created... Is this an urban legend or a true

story based on facts I do not know...

Esteban

If it is really true, I'm sure a search / query to Fed Ex will confirm it.

I've heard the story since shortly after Fed Ex started.
Jay

Esteban Trevino wrote:

> Wendy,
>
> I heard that FederalExpress was presented as a new business case in class
> and almost got the student to flunk the class, the business was deemed as
> impractical... So the student resolved to follow the BC and we all know
> what kind of a company that created... Is this an urban legend or a true
> story based on facts I do not know...
>
> Cordially,
>
> Esteban
>
> "W.J.Gregory" <W.J.Gregory@hull.ac.uk>
> Sent by: Management Education and Development Discussion
> <MG-ED-DV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU>
> 11/24/2002 06:08 AM
> Please respond to Management Education and Development Discussion
>
>
> To: MG-ED-DV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
> cc: (bcc: ESTEBAN TREVI�O MUGUERZA/Cemtec/Cemex)
> Subject: Re: Seeking help
>
> Dear all,
> some time ago I recall seeing an e-mail that commented on the number of
> Nobel prize winners who had had papers rejected by publishers, and am
> giving a class later this semester on 'getting published' in which I
> would like to use that reference. If anyone can provide me with this,
> or other information about important ideas that were nearly lost
> because of critical reviews, I would be very pleased to receive them.
> If others are interested, I will collate replies and post to the list
> later.
> Many thanks,
> Wendy
>
> ***************************************************************
>
> Dr Wendy Gregory
> Research Director
> Business School
> The University of Hull
> Hull HU6 7RX
> Britain.
>
> Telephone: (+44)(0)1482-465960
> Mobile: 0790 410 6818
> Fax: (+44)(0)1482-466637
>
> w.j.gregory@hull.ac.uk
> wj.gregory@virgin.net
>
> Research website: http://www.hull.ac.uk/hubs/research/index.htm
> ****************************************************************
>
> ____________________________________________________________________________
> For your protection, this e-mail message has been scanned for viruses.
> Visit us at http://www.neoris.com/

--
Jay Warner
Principal Scientist
Warner Consulting, Inc.
4444 North Green Bay Road
Racine, WI 53404-1216
USA

Ph: (262) 634-9100
FAX: (262) 681-1133
email: quality@a2q.com
web: http://www.a2q.com

The A2Q Method (tm) -- What do you want to improve today?

How I Delivered the Goods
by Fred Smith

"I guess you could say that business is in my blood. My father was an
entrepreneur and an executive. He was in the bus business shortly
after World War I, and then he diversified into restaurants. He
started a nationwide chain called Tottlehouse, which was one of the
very first short-order fast-food restaurants, really the predecessor
of McDonald's. But my father died when I was only 4, so when I
started Federal Express, I wasn't able to get any entrepreneurial
advice from him.

FedEx was actually developed in two stages: The first was recognizing
that there was a demand for the service; I didn't start the second
stage, actually launching the business, until some years later. The
first phase really started when I was an undergraduate at Yale in
1965. I wrote a term paper for an economics class in which I simply
observed that as society became more automated, companies like IBM
and Xerox that sold early computer devices needed to make sure that
their products were dependable. They had to be 100% reliable, or the
efficacy of the device was in question.

Today that paper is kind of famous, and it's because of a careless
comment I once made. I was asked what grade I got on it, and I
stupidly said, 'I guess I got my usual gentlemanly C.' That stuck,
and it's become a well-known story because everybody likes to flout
authority. But to be honest, I don't really remember what grade I
got. I probably didn't get a very good one, though, because it wasn't
a well-thought-out paper.

From: http://www.fortune.com/sitelets/innovators/smith.html

>If it is really true, I'm sure a search / query to Fed Ex will confirm it.
>
>I've heard the story since shortly after Fed Ex started.
>Jay
>
>Esteban Trevino wrote:
>
>> Wendy,
>>
>> I heard that FederalExpress was presented as a new business case in class
>> and almost got the student to flunk the class, the business was deemed as
>> impractical... So the student resolved to follow the BC and we all know
>> what kind of a company that created... Is this an urban legend or a true
>> story based on facts I do not know...
>>
>> Cordially,
>>
>> Esteban
>>
>> "W.J.Gregory" <W.J.Gregory@hull.ac.uk>
>> Sent by: Management Education and Development Discussion
>> <MG-ED-DV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU>
>> 11/24/2002 06:08 AM
>> Please respond to Management Education and Development Discussion
>>
>>
>> To: MG-ED-DV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
>> cc: (bcc: ESTEBAN TREVIÑO MUGUERZA/Cemtec/Cemex)
>> Subject: Re: Seeking help
>>
>> Dear all,
>> some time ago I recall seeing an e-mail that commented on the number of
>> Nobel prize winners who had had papers rejected by publishers, and am
>> giving a class later this semester on 'getting published' in which I
>> would like to use that reference. If anyone can provide me with this,
>> or other information about important ideas that were nearly lost
>> because of critical reviews, I would be very pleased to receive them.
>> If others are interested, I will collate replies and post to the list
>> later.
>> Many thanks,
>> Wendy
>>
>> ***************************************************************
>>
>> Dr Wendy Gregory
>> Research Director
>> Business School
>> The University of Hull
>> Hull HU6 7RX
>> Britain.
>>
>> Telephone: (+44)(0)1482-465960
>> Mobile: 0790 410 6818
>> Fax: (+44)(0)1482-466637
>>
>> w.j.gregory@hull.ac.uk
>> wj.gregory@virgin.net
>>
>> Research website: http://www.hull.ac.uk/hubs/research/index.htm
>> ****************************************************************
>>
>> ____________________________________________________________________________
>> For your protection, this e-mail message has been scanned for viruses.
>> Visit us at http://www.neoris.com/
>
>--
>Jay Warner
>Principal Scientist
>Warner Consulting, Inc.
>4444 North Green Bay Road
>Racine, WI 53404-1216
>USA
>
>Ph: (262) 634-9100
>FAX: (262) 681-1133
>email: quality@a2q.com
>web: http://www.a2q.com
>
>The A2Q Method (tm) -- What do you want to improve today?


--
===========================
Chris Poulson
Professor of Management and Human Resources
California State Polytechnic University Pomona
Pomona, CA 91768

Mail: P.O. Box 339, Claremont, CA 91711-0339

cfpoulson@csupomona.edu
909-869-2415 office
909-869-4353 office fax
909-624-0874 home

http://www.csupomona.edu/~cfpoulson/

"Seeing Time" Photo Essay as exhibited at the Academy of Management 2000:
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