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In this podcast, Michael J. Critelli, the retired CEO of Pitney Bowes, discusses how a change of thinking about the marketplace and customers' needs helped to step up Pitney Bowes' efforts to become a technology leader.

Based in Stamford, Connecticut, Pitney Bowes began as an innovative company back in 1908 with the introduction of a hand-cranked, double-locking postage stamp machine. For decades, the company went on to deliver one milestone after another in the postage industry. In 1968, Pitney Bowes acquired the Monarch Marking System Company, which would produce the first barcode equipment for retail trade use. Less than a decade later, the company formed the Pitney Bowes Credit Corporation, providing customers with a range of financial payment solutions.

During the 1980s, Pitney Bowes intensified its marketing efforts to move beyond the mailroom and into the front office. The company introduced a line of copying machines, facsimile machines, and a suite of management services.  In 1990s, however, Pitney Bowes demonstrated its ability to bring innovative technology to the marketplace, especially in the field of digital technologies and software. The company introduced the first in-line weighing and metering system, the first secure digital postage meter, the first inkjet postage meter, and the Digital Document Deliver platform, which provides message management via hardcopy Web, mail, and facsimile.

Under the leadership of Michael J. Critelli, Pitney Bowes's CEO, the company transformed itself into a $6 billion mail and document management solutions powerhouse. In fact, between 2000 and 2007, Pitney Bowes invested about $2.5 billion in 83 acquisitions, primarily in software and services businesses, such as MapInfo, Group 1 Software, PSI Group, and Imagitas.  The company's intellectual property includes more than 3,500 patents in areas such as ticketing, cellular phone payment, shipping, laser printing, encryption, and mail production and processing. Critelli holds six of these patents. Today Pitney Bowes's products and services range from managing corporate mailrooms to supply providing mapping software for applications such as MapQuest.

So, what did it take for Pitney Bowes to undergo this type of an innovative transformation? Critelli says that the most important change was to think differently about the business it was in. "Back in the 1990s, our chief technology officer said. 'When you move a piece of mail on a postal system, three things flow: the material, the money, and the information.' All of a sudden, the light bulb went on for me. We had the opportunity to provide solutions for all three flows, as well as the entire end-to-end processes for those flows. That gave us the framework to think about new opportunities."

In this podcast, Critelli talks about the changes that occurred for the company to undergo the transformation; the business process to integrate technology from the myriad of acquisitions into the Pitney Bowes' brand; the purpose of Pitney Bowes' customer-centered innovation; and the strategic role IT has played in the innovation transformation.

Bio

In 2007, Michael J. Critelli retired as chair and chief executive officer of Pitney Bowes Inc., a $6 billion mail and document management solutions company. He joined Pitney Bowes as a corporate attorney in 1979 where he quickly moved up the ranks to become CEO in 1996 and chairs of the board in 1997. Critelli completed his undergraduate education at the University of Wisconsin and was awarded a J.D., cum laude at Harvard Law School. He is currently advising Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell and Transportation Commissioner Ralph Carpenter on how to make the processes and practices at the State's Dept. of Transportation more effective. Critelli has also served on the board of the Urban League of Southwestern Connecticut and the National Urban League. He joined Easton Corporation's board of directors in 1998.

Mike Critelli's Blog
http://www.mikecritelli.com/

Mike Critelli, Pitney Bowes Chairman, says you like to get unsolicited mail, CatalogChoice
http://blog.catalogchoice.org/2008/10/25/mike-critelli-pitney-bowes-ceo-says-you-like-to-get-unsolicited-mail/

Podcast -- Rob Pew, Larry Keeley and Mike Critelli panel discussion on healthcare, Institute of Design Strategy Conference, May 2008
http://vimeo.com/5189004

Michael Critelli to retire from Pitney Bowes, DMNews
http://www.dmnews.com/michael-critelli-to-retire-from-pitney-bowes/article/110077/

Production Credits
Elizabeth Ferrarini, Executive Producer
Content Strategy and Media Production by Tom Parish, Inc.