Fedex

Case study questions

1. How do the standards set by Fred Smith for FedEx teams improve organizational performance?

The company’s owner has set industry-leading standards within the FedEx sub-culture. This has improved organizational performance significantly over the years. Because of competition from the marketplace, Smith had to restructure internal concepts of operations from the original construct. They improved organizational performance by letting small teams tackle problems that are within their scope, that way you have more than one person trying to solve a problem instead of a single manager. The Circle of Excellence award is given to a group rather than a single manager. This promotes the idea of working groups and problem solving teams. It is also apparent by the “golden package” idea that the goal of the company is to achieve on time delivery, no matter the situation. Individual performance is less important than reaching company goals.

2. What motivates the members of FedEx to remain highly engaged in their teams?

FedEx philosophy has leaned towards a team-centered leadership approach. Managers are creating an environment that encourages employees to offer up ideas that would boost productivity. Fred Smith encourages his team members to think creatively and fosters innovation in the workplace, along with creating a “job-secure environment”. Employees know they have the freedom to come up with new ideas even though they may not work. The company knows that not every idea is a good one.

3. Describe the role FedEx managers play in facilitating team effectiveness.

Smith has redefined the manager position from a leader-centered to a team-centered leadership approach. The FedEx managers have been tasked to formulate clear and attainable goals for their teams, ensure the ideas from employees are solicited, and most importantly act on the ideas of the team. A good example from the reading is when it says that senior managers have...