IT Savvy

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Allocating Decision Rights and Accountability

Around 2000, when UPS was moving aggressively into eastern Europe, UPS’s regional head proposed equipping drivers and warehouses with technology different from UPS’s standard handheld device. He could demonstrate that in eastern Europe the nonstandard approach would cost less and be adequate to meet the needs of a less mature market. Then, as now, UPS had an IT decisionmaking process that reviewed exceptions to these types of standards. In this case, the decision was passed up to senior management, who insisted that eastern Europe adopt standard UPS business processes and technology. Then UPS CEO Mike Eskew explained: “We are a network and we can’t have some warehouses managing ...