QA Fred Smith CEO of the FDX holding company that includes FedEx :: GCSE Business Marketing Coursework

QA Fred Smith CEO of the FDX holding company that includes FedExFederal evidence Corp. started introduce portions electronically well before the commercial Internet emerged. Now, that home has been firmly plugged into the Internet, letting customers track shipments in real time and even pull reams of shipping data into their internal systems.Meantime, the shipping freak is taking those lessons into new territory. It has launched a consulting practice that helps manufacturers tighten their own try chains and reduce inventory requirements by more closely tracking the movement of supplies and finished products.Related Story FedEx Delivers On CEOs IT Vision supernumerary Transforming Business Strategy StoriesTransformation Of The Enterprise Home Page Colleagues and outsiders opine it was all part of founder Fred Smiths vision, well before the commercial Internet, that the knowledge about the package would become as important as the package itself.Smith, now CEO of the FDX holdi ng company that includes FedEx, spoke with editor in chief Robert Preston and managing editor David Joachim at FDX headquarters in Memphis. Excerpts followInternetWeek How hand on are you when it comes to FDXs Internet outline?Smith Im in truth substantially involved with our strategies as they apply to information and telecommunications. Im not an expert in them, but I think I work a very good understanding of what they can do and the respective trends under flair in those fields.InternetWeek How vital is CEO involvement in the Internet strategy of a company?Smith I think its vital in almost every industry I know of. I mean, I dont know many industries as well as I do my own, but I am constantly amazed at the information of IT and the Internet in almost every field and human endeavor, whether its medicine, farming, the military, or any other thing that I brush up against. Its skillful all pervasive, its changing the face of everything. And those that are not involved in it d o so at their peril, in my opinion.InternetWeek What advice do you deport to IT executives who get laid their own company as an Internet laggard but have trouble convincing upper management that there will be serious consequences to that?Smith I guess my advice to them would be to either dispose them or get out. Theyre going to be toast if they dont.Big businesses, peculiarly big businesses that are involved in lots of different activities, have a very difficult time dealing with qualitative issues and, I guess as Wayne Gretzky would say, skating to where the puck is going to be or else than where it is now.