At the recent Fortune Brainstorm: Green conference, the subject of the famous FedEx overnight envelope came up. One of my fellow panelists said he was surprised to still see those envelopes, implying that the contents could easily be transmitted electronically, and that somehow this service was environmentally "wasteful."
If you're looking for insight into the global economy, Fred Smith is a pretty good place to start. As CEO of Memphis-based package-delivery giant FedEx, he oversees an army of some 290,000 workers who collectively move 7.6 million parcels daily to more than 220 countries.
Dear FSB: I own an executive-search firm that works with clients and job candidates worldwide. Meeting in person isn't always practical, so we use phone conferencing to introduce clients and candidates long distance. We think videoconferencing would work better. What are our options?
Stocks were volatile Thursday morning as investors weighed strong corporate earnings against more bad news from the banking sector.
Stocks were volatile Thursday morning as investors weighed strong corporate earnings against more bad news from the banking sector.
Big tech makers such as Cisco, Hewlett-Packard and others are rolling out spiffy new videoconferencing products. I recently tested Cisco's latest, called TelePresence. And my verdict? It is impressive. Utterly so. But at $299,000 per setup - and a minimum of two setups per conversation - it had better be. And even with this pristine video quality, videoconferencing may still not get over the mainstream hump.
Working from home can be as or more productive than renting yourself out daily, but only if you have the right equipment.
Package delivery company FedEx Corp. said Thursday its fiscal 2008 first-quarter earnings rose 4 percent to beat Wall Street's expectations on strong international growth.
After midnight, it's dark and nearly silent in the Klock Werks Kustom Cycles shop (kustomcycles.com) in Mitchell, S.D. The only sound is the low hum emanating from a box that looks like a cross between a dormitory fridge and a Xerox machine. Behind a compartment of clear glass, the device - a Stratasys Prodigy 3-D printer - is constructing a complex shape, all curves and spaces, out of plastic.
After midnight, it's dark and nearly silent in the Klock Werks Kustom Cycles shop in Mitchell, S.D. The only sound is the low hum emanating from a box that looks like a cross between a dormitory fridge and a Xerox machine.
Package delivery company FedEx Corp. on Wednesday reported a disappointing profit and said earnings growth would fall short of expectations due to continued softness in the U.S. economy.
HOOVER, Ala. (AP) -- Seve Ballesteros got off to a terrible start in his Champions Tour debut Friday, opening with a double bogey and finishing with a 6-over 78 to fall 13 strokes behind leader Scott Hoch in the Regions Charity Classic.
LAKEWAY, Texas (AP) -- Scott Hoch fired a final-round 68 Sunday to capture his first Champions Tour victory, winning by two shots over D.A. Weibring at the FedEx Kinko's Classic.
LAKEWAY, Texas (AP) -- Scott Hoch moved into position for his first Champions Tour victory, shooting a 6-under 66 on Saturday to take a three-stroke lead over D.A. Weibring into the final round of the FedEx Kinko's Classic.
LAKEWAY, Texas (AP) -- Leonard Thompson shot a tournament-record 8-under 64 on Friday to take two-stroke lead in the FedEx Kinko's Classic, making the 60-year-old player the Champions Tour's oldest first-round leader of the year.
Five years ago Kinko's CEO Gary Kusin tried to poach Ken May from FedEx to serve as his chief operating officer. Happy working for the global shipping giant, May declined, but as fate would have it, he ended up in that role anyway after FedEx bought Kinko's in February 2004.
Santa isn't the only one working feverishly - package and mail carriers are due to have their busiest days of the year this week.
Santa isn't the only one busy around this season - mail carriers are putting in extra effort with two weeks left for holiday shopping.
As the blue-chip stock indexes rally, many big high-quality growth stocks are perking up. As they do, investors have to determine which stocks still have substantial room to advance.
Using new tools, even the tiniest companies can compete with the big boys.
On a rainy morning in Charlotte, Mike and Kathy Butler, founders of the PRstore, are hunkered down in a conference room, teaching the intricacies of logos, letterheads, and lamination to some new f...
Securities analysts may pull down huge salaries and bonuses, but there's little evidence that their buy, sell and hold recommendations on big blue chips do any better than the S&P 500 index.
The habit started seemingly innocent enough, buying scratch tickets at local liquor stores and gas stations 10 years ago. But a few years later, he would find himself -- night after night -- in a Kinko's FedEx store. He wasn't there for the copiers, but for the Internet connection. And he was in trouble.
On a June morning in Hoboken, N.J., Ron Shaich, CEO of Panera Bread, is deep in conversation with a tattooed man about why he comes to Panera's bakery cafés.
Global economic growth is providing the air beneath the wings of FedEx, the leading air express shipper.
This January, sneaker history repeated itself. Nike announced that it was replacing CEO William Perez, whom it had hired from S.C. Johnson & Son just 13 months earlier, with 27-year company veteran...
A couple of hundred yards from the practice green at Eisenhower Park Golf Course in East Meadow, N.Y., Guerin Rife holds up his latest brainchild, the Two Bar putter, and points it toward the sky l...
Your boss stops by to check on a project you're late on and catches you shopping online.
This is the season for companies to deliver presents -- and also take back gifts that are being returned. So it's not surprising that shares of overnight shipper FedEx often perform well between Labor Day and Christmas.
FedEx Corp. Wednesday delivered better than expected earnings and improved guidance to its investors Wednesday.
Watching TV in Memphis, Mike Mitchell didn't get it. Day after day, the FedEx Express senior technical advisor heard reporters describe how desperately New Orleans rescuers needed communications. N...
IT'S ONE THING FOR FORTUNE'S Fastest-Growing Companies--with median annual sales of just $582 million--to increase revenues and profits by double-digit percentages. It's quite another for the giant...
Hundreds of thousands of refugees from Hurricane Katrina holed up with friends and family across the South probably have one question foremost on their minds: When can I go home?
Analysts were downgrading Federal Express last fall. But since December, four firms have upped their ratings. This change in sentiment has yet to be reflected in the stock price, however. At a current $90 a share, Federal Express is nearly 12 percent below its 2005 high.
The Postal Service Friday proposed a sweeping rate increase that would boost the price of a first-class stamp from 37 to 39 cents.
Don't let your job become routine. Make a few changes here and there and see if you can't give your career a jolt.
It's always on your mind: the next business trip. But what you're thinking about is closing the next deal--not the mundane details of your travel arrangements. So we've done that for you. Our down-...
What business are we really in? After Steve Greenbaum and Brian Spindel broadened the answer to that question from mostly mail to business services, the entrepreneurs, based in Henderson, Nev., boo...
One of the world's largest relief efforts gained momentum Tuesday as countries and aid organizations made more donations of money, supplies and personnel to areas ravaged by earthquake-triggered tsunamis.
You're in a strange city with an hour between meetings. If only you could find a place to check your e-mail. You can always hit a Kinko's, Starbucks, or UPS Store—all Wi-Fi-equipped—provided there'...
ORACLE Analysts predict second-quarter earnings of 14 cents per share when results are released in mid-December, up 2 cents from last year. If Oracle can complete the PeopleSoft acquisition quickly...
If you ever find yourself up in Anchorage, make a right turn off Minnesota Drive onto Northern Lights Boulevard as you leave downtown. The road dips and twists for two miles, skirting Lake Hood and...
Most CEOs couldn't find Qingdao on a map, but the coastal city in China's northern Shandong province has been in Fred Smith's cross hairs for some time. Smith, founder and CEO of express-delivery k...
FedEx Corp. said Wednesday it expects to beat first-quarter and full fiscal year forecasts, as broad-based economic improvement across many sectors in the U.S. and world economies should help shipment volumes.
FedEx Corp. said Thursday that it expects fiscal fourth quarter earnings to come in better than its earlier guidance and current Wall Street forecasts.
Redwood Shores, Calif. Founded 1996
FedEx Corp. delivered a surprising jump in quarterly earnings and made a bullish forecast for the current quarter, sparking Wednesday's rally in the stock of the leading overnight package delivery company.
"I Have a Cast-Iron Stomach"
FedEx
Sure, you could decide whom to vote for by listening to the candidates speak and reading their position papers, but wouldn't it be easier if there were armies of political-science majors who did all the sorting and thinking for you?
Bright Move Running off juice from your laptop's battery, this portable lamp lets you work on a darkened plane or in a dimly lit hotel room. Kensington FlyLight USB Notebook Light: $23; www.kensing...
Is Dad a traveling man? This Father's Day, remember your favorite road warrior--and make sure he remembers you--with one of these gifts designed to take the stumbles out of his trips. Our ideas sta...
THE HEADLINES 1 San Francisco Becomes First City to Outlaw the Segway
Outside, the Gentle Giant Studios is an unprepossessing warehouse on a stretch of uncharming highway they tell me is in Burbank. Inside, however, it's Wonderland. It's Toontown, teeming with imagin...
BetterManagement.com Pop quiz! Under the tenure of Jack Welch, before any GE employee could reach executive level, he had to be trained to black-belt status in what? If all you can think of is kara...
Consider the following four dead-end kids.
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Before I discovered the High Line, it was my job to travel to five-star resorts for glossy magazines, critiquing the tropical drinks that were brought to me by pool attendants whose smiles were as ...
Let's forget for a minute that there are dot-coms out there (or recently deceased) that overpromised and underdelivered when it came to business services. The truth is that the Internet has allowed...
We need heroes. This is an old-fashioned, even quaint, notion in our cynical age, but it is true. We want to know that there are those among us who have succeeded against all odds. We long for stor...
We need heroes. This is an old-fashioned, even quaint, notion in our cynical age, but it is true. We want to know that there are those among us who have succeeded against all odds. We long for stor...
Boo.com. CraftShop.com. Toysmart.com. Violet.com. Brandwise.com. The ever lengthening list of failed Internet startups is by now a familiar one. The new conventional wisdom is that stock market inv...
It's almost five, you need that report printed and bound on your client's desk by tomorrow morning--or even later tonight--and she's a thousand miles away. Do you (a) rush to Kinko's, seethe quietl...
This fall a new inhabitant will take its place among the theaters and theme parks of Times Square--the easyEverything Internet cafe. This temple of interactivity, billed as the largest of its kind,...
For most of his career, Sam Hill walked the corridors--and sat in the boardrooms--of big corporations, most recently at ad agency D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles. When he opened his own consultancy, ...
For most of his career, Sam Hill walked the corridors--and sat in the boardrooms--of big corporations, most recently at ad agency D'Arcy, Masius, Benton & Bowles. When he opened his own consultancy...
We are the music-makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams, Wandering by lone sea breakers, And sitting by desolate streams; World-losers and world-forsakers, On whom the pale moon gleams: Yet we a...
Even in the stable, branded world of cosmetics, the whipsawing stock market spells mayhem for managers. Consider Avon Products. Like most companies, it enthusiastically endorses the use of stock op...
VENTURA, CA. Founded 1970 Revenues: N.A. Employees: 22,000 Private www.kinkos.com
DELIVERING GROWTH
Leon Leonwood Bean, that taciturn merchant from Maine, would have shuddered at being called trendy. But he was the standard-bearer for the 24-hour economy--nonstop commerce by and for those who can...
Like a rain shower during a drought, the Iowa Caucus will bring some relief to the battered farm economy of the Hawkeye State. Some $25 million will be pumped into Iowa by February 8, when citizens...
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