vol. XVII no. 2

				Page 3 Page 1 2 3 While failure may be a necessary part of healthy, innovative developments, the UPS approach is to fail small, fast. "We fail in such a way that it never touches the customer," Eskew says. In analyzing the company, he divides UPS into four quadrants. At the top are innovations driven through existing businesses, including how to develop, roll out and serve the needs of customers and take packages around the world. Also at the top are mergers and acquisitions with other companies that have developed a product or service UPS can use in its core businesses. UPS cannot afford failure in either of these areas. "We don't make mistakes in the top two quadrants," Eskew says. "There it has to work every time with every package." The bottom quadrants, however, allow room for mistakes. These include innovations driven through entrepreneurial ventures, such as financing or the UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund. The fund has examined some 20,000 business plans, offering small start-up assistance for 13, including a package materials company with solutions for transporting hazardous materials and a fuel-cell battery company that helps operate vehicles economically in a manner friendly to the environment. "We don't plan to ever enter the packaging materials business," says Eskew, "but we need to be aware of developing trends. When solutions exist to ship ice cream or skin grafts, we'll be ready to take advantage of those developments." PEOPLE PROGRAMS Innovation doesn't stop at products or with customers at UPS, according to Eskew. It extends to the people in its ranks and in the communities it serves. Beginning in 1995, UPS has offered a stock purchase program allowing all full- and part-time employees to purchase company stock, a benefit previously available only to management. UPS also supports its people by offering educational assistance programs such as Earn and Learn, where part-time employees can receive $3,000 in tuition assistance and $2,000 in forgivable loans per calendar year to help pay for education. The company invests in communities as well. In 1997, it was a founding member of the Welfare to Work Partnership, and it has been active in hiring welfare recipients-to date some 52,000 across the United States - and in encouraging other businesses to get involved in the initiative. Since 1968, it has offered the Community Internship Program, which sends top-level managers to live and volunteer in communities for four weeks, exposing them to the social and economic challenges facing today's workforce. Innovations like these are important to the future of not only UPS but also American business in general. Whereas many fear the U.S. workforce will be supplanted by cheap labor from abroad, Eskew begs to differ. "Our innovative side has always kept us on top," he says. "The success of American business lies in an innovative spirit." And at UPS, that innovative spirit keeps Brown on top and doing for you. Previous Page | Top

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