Michael L. Eskew

Who Is Michael L. Eskew?

Michael L. Eskew was the Chair of the Board and CEO of United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) from 2002 to 2007. From 1998 to 2014, he served on the Board of Directors.

Michael L. Eskew Biography and Career

Michael L. Eskew was brought into the world in Vincennes, Indiana, on June 28, 1949. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University in 1972. He additionally completed the advanced management program at the Wharton School of Business.

Career at United Parcel Service

Eskew joined United Parcel Service (UPS) in 1972 as an industrial engineer manager. In 1994, he was named corporate vice president for industrial engineering and became group vice president for engineering in 1996; he was named executive vice president in 1999. The next year, he was named vice chair and held this position prior to becoming CEO. He succeeded James P. Kelly as CEO and was prevailed by Scott Davis.

Synchronized Commerce

UPS's history is the stuff of legend: In 1907, 19-year-old James E. ("Jim") Casey, borrowed $100 to begin a private courier service in Seattle, Washington. During its over a century of presence, UPS has on occasion been controversial. The company purportedly has encouraged a culture of almost military discipline all along. Its brown delivery suits and trucks mirror the discipline and proficiency the company anticipates from its employees.

Eskew was named the group vice leader of engineering in 1996, and under his heading, UPS invested vigorously in technology to further develop logistics. As said in Forbes in January 2000, "UPS used to be a trucking company with technology. Presently it's a technology company with trucks."

In 1999, Eskew was made executive vice president. That expanded his obligations to incorporate corporate strategic planning. Eskew multiplied down on investment in technology and logistics including creating data services and internet commerce.

All eskew's objective was to make "synchronized commerce" where UPS's processes, from package delivery to inventory storage, would be synchronized so that each matched the others in perfect timing. Pickups were planned to be perfectly coordinated with space on trucks and in planes so the company wouldn't need to invest reality in warehousing spills over.

During the internet frenzy of the late '90s, this was viewed as an intelligent move, and it proved to be so in the long term. as proven by the great expansion in the delivery logistics and services sector. After the company's fabulous IPO in November 1999, the stock price deteriorated for a very long time however has developed consistently since, keeping track with the S&P 500.

The Logistics Economy

Eskew's long-term wagers just seem to have paid off after he left the company. The logistics economy has come enduring an onslaught, be that as it may, in the last long periods of the 2010s as innovations in logistics and synchronization have added profits to corporations yet have disintegrated the quality of work for employees.

UPS has likewise had a history of questions with labor, remembering a strike by the Teamsters Union for 1997 when Eskew was with the company. Books like The Package King: A Rank and File History of United Parcel Service and The Big Brown Lie: United Parcel Service's War on Its Worker's and Their Making of a Radical Teamster Union Member detail how technocratic management organized by Eskew prompted irritation in the ranks.

Michael Eskew After UPS

Eskew has likewise been a board member of 3M Company, Eli Lilly and Company, The Allstate Corporation, and International Business Machines Corporation and a trustee of The UPS Foundation and The Annie E. Casey Foundation. What's more, he served on the Business Roundtable.

Features

• Michael L. Eskew is best known as the former CEO of United Parcel Service.
• His biggest contribution to "Big Brown" was to enhance UPS's services and operations around information driven logistics.
• Eskew retired from UPS in 2007 and is at present a member of the board of several corporations including Eli Lilly and Co.