3. 弗雷德?史密斯

公司名稱：聯(lián)邦快遞

銷售額：393億美元

市值：300億美元

員工人數(shù)：255,573

建議：依賴“第一級(jí)”經(jīng)理

????據(jù)稱弗雷德?史密斯是在耶魯大學(xué)（Yale University）某堂課的學(xué)期論文中首次提出聯(lián)邦快遞（Federal Express）的設(shè)想,，但最終讓史密斯瞥見未來的卻是他在越南戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)（the Vietnam War）期間的經(jīng)歷。1967年到1969年之間,，他兩次被派駐海外服役,，第一次是美國(guó)海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)的步槍排排長(zhǎng)，第二次是航空管制官,。

????這兩段經(jīng)歷對(duì)他產(chǎn)生了深遠(yuǎn)影響。首先,，史密斯得以近距離地看到了軍隊(duì)物流的驚人效率,，有效運(yùn)輸超過50萬人的軍隊(duì)和幾百萬噸物資。紀(jì)律,、訓(xùn)練和管理經(jīng)驗(yàn)在這位海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)排長(zhǎng)身上留下了深深的烙印,。“人們問我,，自多年前我創(chuàng)立聯(lián)邦快遞以來一直是什么原則在指導(dǎo)著我,，”他說?！拔业幕卮鹜屗麄兏械匠泽@：就是我在越南服役期間從美國(guó)海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)學(xué)到的管理原則,。”

????海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)里的陸地部隊(duì)和航空部隊(duì)經(jīng)常會(huì)在一起,?！坝玫顷懲习稌r(shí),，不會(huì)攜帶大炮，因此海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)發(fā)明了近距離空中支援,，將軍械大炮等輜重空投到附近地點(diǎn),。我把聯(lián)邦快遞也打造成了一體化的陸空體系。它有自己的地面接送和運(yùn)輸業(yè)務(wù),，與軸幅式航空業(yè)務(wù)合為一體,。”

????史密斯的管理手冊(cè)很多都取自其海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)經(jīng)驗(yàn),?！拔覀兏嬖V管理人員，成功的關(guān)鍵是依賴第一級(jí)經(jīng)理（相當(dāng)于軍隊(duì)里的無官銜軍官）,，要求他們以身作則,，公開表揚(yáng)表現(xiàn)出色的人。所有這些都是海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)做法,?！?/p>

????最終，67歲的史密斯幫助很多小企業(yè)實(shí)現(xiàn)了過去只有大公司才能達(dá)到的客戶廣度,。它不僅是聯(lián)邦快遞的革命性創(chuàng)新,，也是宏觀層面上企業(yè)界的革命性創(chuàng)新。

3. Fred Smith

Company:FedEx

Sales: $39.3 billion

Market Value: $30 billion

Employees: 255,573

Advice: Rely on "first-level" managers.

????Despite the story that Fred Smith came up with the idea for Federal Express in a term paper for a Yale University class, it was this entrepreneur's experience during the Vietnam War that really allowed Smith to glimpse the future. From 1967 through 1969 he served two tours of duty, first as a rifle platoon leader in the U.S. Marines and later as an air controller.

????It was a profoundly formative experience. For one thing, Smith got to see up close the awe-inspiring logistical efforts of the military, effectively mobilizing more than half-a-million troops and millions of tons of supplies. The discipline, training, and leadership experience would stick with the Marine captain. "When people ask me what principles have guided me since I started FedEx Corp. years ago," he says, "my answer often startles them: It's the leadership tenets that I learned in the U.S. Marine Corps during my service in Vietnam."

????In the Marine Corps it was not heretical to have ground and air groups together. "When you come ashore in landing boats, you don't have any artillery, so the Marine Corps is the branch of the service that actually invented close air support, dropping ordnance close to you. So I made Federal Express an integrated air-ground system. It had its own pickup and delivery operations on the ground that were integral to the hub-and-spoke air operation."

????Smith's leadership handbook draws heavily upon his Marines experience. "We tell our executives that the key to their success is to rely on their first-level managers [the company's counterparts to noncommissioned officers], to set an example themselves, and to praise in public when someone has done a good job. All those are standard operating procedure in the Marines."

????Ultimately Smith, 67, gave many small businesses the customer reach that had long been the province of far larger companies. It was a game-changing innovation for FedEx, but also for the broader entrepreneurial economy.