Press Releases
Pitney Bowes CEO Respects, Not Fears, Technology
Details Revealed in Exclusive July Interview with Pitney Bowes CEO
Competitive Intelligence is Key to Staying in the Game
CAMBRIDGE, MA June 30, 2000
Pitney Bowes Chairman & CEO Mike Critelli has no fear of the “click” companies
that are luring customers away from postage stamps. Without office solutions
that include extensive drop off points for packages, “click” companies remain
limited in their reach.
In an exclusive interview with competitive intelligence guru Leonard
Fuld on the Fuld Competitive Intelligence Center (www.factiva.com) during
the month of July, Critelli expounds on how the Internet and other technology
have effected changes in the mail and postage business.
The Fuld Competitive Intelligence Center provides business professionals,
from managers to CEOs, with powerful company, industry and trend analysis
tools that help them efficiently compile, evaluate and act on competitive
intelligence and make timely, strategic decisions.
Visitors now have a chance to weigh in on a topical question. The question
this month is: Are you out of touch with your CEO? (Yes or No)
As a brick-and-mortar company, Pitney Bowes is facing competition from
E-Stamp, Stamps.com and other “clicks”. Critelli notes, however, that his
online competitors do not offer a system that is compatible with the U.S.
Postal Service’s system of collection points.
He admits that Pitney Bowes could have more rapidly embraced information
technology tools and the Internet, but changes are underway. An incoming
mail sorter will soon be going into betatesting. The company also runs
reprographic centers which are compatible with competitors’ equipment.
Competitive intelligence is enabling Pitney Bowes to expand its customer
base as well as make sound investments in information technology. With
the explosion of e-mail viruses, the company is designing more secure solutions
with its software for transactional mail processing and marketing mail
enhancement.
Ideally, Critelli would like to use competitive intelligence to access
technology that would enable him to gain customer insights immediately
and have them validated. Pitney Bowes’ investment in an IT infrastructure
is facilitating access to such data. Yet, he believes that talking to leading
edge customers face to face is equally important.
Factiva, a leader in delivering and integrating global news and business
information on corporate desktops around the world, launched Fuld’s groundbreaking
competitive intelligence resource in the award-winning Ask Dow Jones section
of Dow Jones Interactive.
Each month, the site features an exclusive interview with a top CEO or
other well known executive. The interviews, all conducted by Fuld, uncover
each executive’s competitive strategies, challenges and successes. Already
featured have been Robert Crandall, the former chairman & CEO of American
Airlines, Herb Baum, president of Hasbro Inc., and oil magnate T. Boone
Pickens. An interview with Monster.com CEO Jeff Taylor will be posted on
the site in August.
Besides exclusive CEO interviews, the Fuld Competitive Intelligence Center
offers a Competitive Intelligence Primer and an interactive introduction
to competitive intelligence basics covering topics such as information
analysis, research techniques, global information interpretation and competitive
intelligence program organization. In addition, the site’s Strategic Intelligence
Organizer provides a complete checklist of information revealing the best
competitive practices used by successful companies.
Fuld & Co. (www.fuld.com), a research and consulting
firm, is an international leader and pioneer in the field of competitive
intelligence. Founded in 1979 by Leonard M. Fuld, a recognized competitive
intelligence expert, Fuld & Co. is based in Cambridge, Mass., and has affiliates
throughout the world. The company’s client roster includes more than half
the Fortune 500.
For more information contact:
Sarah Gerrol, (617)
523-4141
sarah@morrisseyco.com
Morrisey & Co.
121 Mount Vernon Street
Boston, MA 02108 |
