UPS may be among the more underestimated and misunderstood companies of all time–and it’s no accident. Its founder pursued a reclusive and Spartan business philosophy, emphasizing drab uniforms and reliability over flash. This bias persists to this day, and the discipline and loyalty of UPS employee culture can seem like a throwback to an earlier age. Drivers who lose a uniform uniform can be disciplined, and can even be written up for wrapping their vehicle key around the wrong finger (it must be right pinky). Yet the drivers of UPS have one of the strongest unions–and rates of job satisfaction–in corporate America. Just in time for UPS’ centennial celebrations, consummate insider Greg Niemann lays bare all the seeming paradoxes about UPS–its old-fashioned management coupled with strong relations to labor; its “anti-marketing” bias (why brown, anyway?) with its sterling brand loyalty and reputation for quality. Most of all, Niemann shows the story of UPS is also the story of one of the greatest unknown capitalists of the 20th century–Jim Casey–who created a company that arguably dwarfs the remains of J.P. Morgan’s and Andrew Carnegie’s empires. Every business reader of BIG BROWN will come away with a fistful of tested management ideas and principles for creating consistent growth, customer loyalty, and a bulletproof corporate culture.
Book Details:
- Author: Greg Niemann
- ISBN: 9780470469606
- Year Published: 2007
- Pages: 256
- BISAC: BUS000000, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS/General
About the Book and Topic:
UPS may be among the more underestimated and misunderstood companies of all time–and it’s no accident. Its founder pursued a reclusive and Spartan business philosophy, emphasizing drab uniforms and reliability over flash. This bias persists to this day, and the discipline and loyalty of UPS employee culture can seem like a throwback to an earlier age. Drivers who lose a uniform uniform can be disciplined, and can even be written up for wrapping their vehicle key around the wrong finger (it must be right pinky). Yet the drivers of UPS have one of the strongest unions–and rates of job satisfaction–in corporate America. Just in time for UPS’ centennial celebrations, consummate insider Greg Niemann lays bare all the seeming paradoxes about UPS–its old-fashioned management coupled with strong relations to labor; its “anti-marketing” bias (why brown, anyway?) with its sterling brand loyalty and reputation for quality. Most of all, Niemann shows the story of UPS is also the story of one of the greatest unknown capitalists of the 20th century–Jim Casey–who created a company that arguably dwarfs the remains of J.P. Morgan’s and Andrew Carnegie’s empires. Every business reader of BIG BROWN will come away with a fistful of tested management ideas and principles for creating consistent growth, customer loyalty, and a bulletproof corporate culture.
*On the cusp of the UPS 100th Anniversary (August 28,2007), Niemann (formerly editor and of the company’s premier internal magazine) will be able to get the book featured in the dozens of official and unofficial UPS newsletters, magazines, websites, and retiree groups. There are approximately 500,000 UPS employees and retirees. *Niemann is an engaging and media-savvy speaker with experience in PR. He will agressively pursue publicity opportunities that reveal the little-known secrets about UPS he gathered during his time as an insider–from the origins of the famous UPS shorts to the story of the ubiquitous “package cars”–it’s against company policy to call them trucks! Although a largely adulatory treatment, Niemann does not gloss over some startling tales of the company’s founding in Seattle, including drug shipments and the murder of a business partner. *UPS will publish an “official” anniversary book with Hyperion in July or August of 2007, but that book will focus more on the UPS strategic vision and logistical prowess, less on its culture and history. Our book will be the first ever trade book about Big Brown (and sold in before the Hyperion book), and its sales will only receive a boost when reviewers inevitably compare the two books. Though not a tell-all, our book will avoid a “canned” feel.
About the Author
Greg Neimann, currently a travel writer (San Clemente Journal), followed the classic UPS career for 35 years, rising from truck loader, to driver, to management. He edited various West Coast editions of the UPS monthly, The Big Idea and served as unofficial company historian–in this role, he became close to UPS founder Jim Casey before his death in 1983, and he maintains ties to the Casey family and other current-day UPS managers. While at UPS, Niemann was named Communicator of the Year by the International Association of Business Communicators. Niemann still aspires to be worthy of the highest compliment any UPSer can offer another: “He bleeds brown.”