Big Brown: The Untold Story of UPS (ISBN 0787994022)

Corporate PR with some revealing moments.:
Being a member of the working class, corporate public relations efforts don't appeal to me; but I'll give this book a couple stars for the revealing moments it contains. Niemann writes of the effort UPS makes to control the thinking of its employees, and says there is "a kind of boot camp, indoctrinating employees with UPS's unique corporate culture and expectations." It reminded me of the many such indoctrination efforts contained in Speechless: The Erosion of Free Expression in the American Workplace (BK Currents), which takes a critical look at totalitarian tendencies in the corporate culture. "Big Brown" also contains an interesting story about how workers in West Germany were less receptive when UPS introduced its work-like-a-slave attitude. Niemann writes that Germany's "labor climate was institutionalized by German laws that called for extended vacations, much time off, liberal unlimited sick day policies, short work hours and weeks, and other inflexibilities. The hourly employees listened to the stress and pressure to get the job done as if it were Greek." Sadly, with the expansion of neoliberal policies that limit benefits and increase working hours, the unethical work ethic of places like UPS has been globalized. Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure While UPS corporate PR can provide some interesting insights, there needs to be a book written on UPS from the point of labor. Giving labor's perspective is considered politically incorrect these days, but it's needed now as much as it ever was. State of the Unions: How Labor Can Strengthen the Middle Class, Improve Our Economy, and Regain Political Influence

Interesting read, but might as well be published by UPS:
Interesting content, relatively easy to read (almost too easy, in that it sometimes felt like it was written for a middle-school reading level), and had a bunch of neat stories. I was heavily disappointed by the fawning over Jim Casey & UPS, though...I wasn't looking for criticism--I'm a huge fan of UPS :)--but the style was almost breathless. It's ok! I won't dislike UPS just because they've goofed up in the past...but this book tries to "message" everything in an overly positive (and therefore unauthentic) light. According to the book jacket, Niemann worked for UPS Corporate Communications for years...I'm pretty sure he never actually retired. ;) It had an interesting story to tell, but the spin was so strong it turned me off and I didn't really enjoy it.

Great book on UPS but a little disorganized:
This book provides a very close and insightful look at the development and current operations of UPS. The author is intimately acquainted with the company and uses that knowledge to give one of the best overviews of the company to date. From the early days with founder Jim Casey to the expansion of the air service all the way to current models. I was a little disappointed to not see more related to the advent of UPS stores but otherwise there is little I could imagine not covered here. One of the problems with the book is that the author gets caught up in the details and the chapters do not flow well together. It is hard to sometimes keep track of the topics since the author jumps around while not remaining chronological. Despite these organization issues this is still an invaluable book to understanding how UPS developed and a general look at some of the issues facing supply chain managers today. Very interesting read!

upser:
i was a career upser and just had to have this book...it is a keeper

UPS book:
My dad worked for UPS his whole life and loved the company. When he passed away I bought several copies for loved ones with a nice inscription written inside. UPS is a great family company. My family has wonderful memories of dad's time there and this book acts as a nice reminder. Plus it's a good read!