Malcolm: A Cultural Chameleon’s Life in Logistics

It’s 1990. Tokyo. While most of us were watching Voltron in our pajamas (or weren’t even born yet), a fresh-faced fellow from Queensland, Australia, was discussing the Japanese market with one of the world’s biggest air express companies.

That company was FedEx Express, and that young Aussie was Malcolm Sullivan, who went on to work for FedEx Express across five countries and almost three decades.

With his life and career intertwined with logistics, Malcolm has seen the world shrink through globalization, and even been involved in the inner workings that made it possible.

Now on the verge of retirement, this global citizen, whippet enthusiast and soon-to-be-missed VP at Digital International shares his thoughts on logistics, leadership, going digital, and living the expat life.

Shipping gets a makeover

We’re sitting talking in a small room on the second floor that Malcolm is using for his last month at DI. Through the glass wall you can hear the murmur of the Monday stand-up happening in the atrium. Up until recently, it would have been the easygoing voice of Malcolm that you would have heard.

Way back in 1990, when Malcolm started at FedEx Express, shipping was a very different ball game.

Not all businesses were wise to the potential of streamlined networks and processes. Their goods would sit around the dockyard waiting for the container to fill or the boat to arrive.

‘Then,’ Malcolm recalls, ‘this whole supply chain revolution began with companies like Dell using tech to optimize their logistics.’

Whether you were shipping raw materials or finished products, the faster you were, the better you could outperform your competition. Logistics was speeding up. And it was becoming sexy.

‘In today’s world, just think about what’s in our high-tech devices,’ Malcolm points out, ‘all that stuff comes from all over Asia. Lenses, screens, high-end components and motherboards need to get to a central assembly plant, and then the finished product has to move out to consumers, often in the US or Europe.’

And right on time for the new-product release date. Worldwide. Thank you very much.

‘These days, high performing companies spend a lot of time, money and talent on their supply chain,’ Malcolm muses. ‘The logistics of having enough inventory in the right place for a hot new product is fascinating.’

It’s an interesting insight. It’s not often that you stop to think about what it took to get your shiny smartphone by your side. But this is the wonder of modern logistics, and most of the time we don’t even notice it.

Air express has indeed become a secret super power behind seamless product launches. It’s the crucial link that ensures our devices, and many other products, are at the right place at the right time.

‘That’s the biggest change I’ve seen,’ Malcolm says. ‘Transportation went from something no-one really cared about to now being central to a lot of companies, particularly manufacturers, and to how they make money and satisfy customers.’

Career chameleon

So how did Malcolm get into logistics in the first place? How do you go from growing up in the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it town of Beaudesert, Queensland, to being Vice President of Marketing for FedEx Express Asia Pacific?

Well, it starts with having the courage and curiosity go out into the world. ‘I left Australia after university for grad school in Japan, then stayed on for work.’

First Malcolm landed a job as an interpreter in the Japanese steel industry. Then he put his intercultural skills to good use as a consultant advising multinationals on market entry strategies in Japan. One client was FedEx Express. They were looking for someone to manage marketing and the rest, we suppose, is history.

From his start as Managing Director of Marketing for the North Pacific region, Malcolm moved to new roles in Sydney and Singapore before settling in Hong Kong in 2000.

When Rajesh Subramaniam (FedEx Corporation’s current President and CEO) transferred from Hong Kong to Canada, Malcolm took on the mantle of VP of Marketing for Asia Pacific.

For the next 17 years, Malcolm called Hong Kong home, witnessing firsthand the emergence of China as a global power.

‘I didn’t know it at the time, but I saw developments that will go down in history as significant events,’ he says thoughtfully. ‘While I was in Hong Kong, more than 400 million Chinese people rose from poverty to the middle class.’

FedEx’s involvement in Asia in that period was in large part due to the foresight of founder Fred Smith. ‘I’ve never seen anyone with the strategic breadth of vision of Mr Smith,’ says Malcolm. ‘He understands world history and global economics, and has been consistently successful in identifying the next big opportunity for the company. For example, as far back as the 1980s, he was very interested in making sure we had a big presence in Asia.’

While in Hong Kong, Malcolm took on a bunch of different tasks. With the broader commercial team, he helped develop new flight routes. ‘You know, a new transpacific service from Hong Kong to the US requires multiple aircraft to operate.’

Leading and listening

Later, Malcolm was responsible for call centers across Asia, which he credits with teaching him the most about being a leader. ‘That’s when I learnt a lot, from working with frontline employees and dealing with all the nitty gritty details.’

At ‘brown bag’ lunches with employees during visits to call centers, he had the chance to talk with them in person. ‘There’s nothing like meeting with the people who deal directly with customers to know what’s really going on.’

‘It was my job to simply and clearly explain the corporate strategy, but it was also my job to listen to their day-to-day concerns,’ he recalls.

‘Those encounters taught me to listen carefully and actively. It’s very good for a marketing person to experience that. It keeps your feet on the ground.’

Malcolm feels his experiences at the call centers reflect the ‘people first’ philosophy of FedEx. ‘The only reason I have a job is because I have employees. And not the other way around,’ he says, explaining the thinking process. ‘I’m here to make sure the team is successful, and that’s as it should be.’

He attributes this management mentality to the organizational culture at FedEx, which has been influenced by many staff who served in the US military, Fred Smith included.

A company culture that keeps management and leadership in perspective is always refreshing. ‘It’s a privilege and you’re accountable,’ Malcolm affirms.

Going digital

So after all those years helping FedEx Express grow in emerging markets, overseeing call centers and launching new flight routes, how was it for Malcolm to move to the Netherlands in 2017 and dive into the digital world?

‘The last two years have been an incredible opportunity for me to engage with the coming generation’ he says, joking that the average age of the digital team is less than half of his.

Plus, he feels that DI is perfectly placed to be of great benefit to the company, right at the front end of the business.

‘How do we interact with customers? That’s the key question,’ Malcolm emphasizes when talking about applying digital innovation to logistics.

‘That’s what our job is, to bring the digital customer interface in line with customer expectations. You don’t notice it as a user, but what’s going on in the background is incredibly complex.’

So will customers experience shipping in the same way as they do Netflix or Uber? In Malcolm’s opinion a definitive user interface for shipping hasn’t arrived yet.

‘I don’t think anyone’s figured it out in logistics. It’s still an open game. That’s why I believe it’s so important to urgently engage. There’s a real shot at getting ahead of the game.’

Wise words

Looking back on what he’s achieved with Digital International, Malcolm’s like a proud parent. He couldn’t be happier with where we are now.

‘I’m incredibly proud of the team here, and the FedEx team, for their patience, persistence, and the way that we’ve come together and found win-win solutions. We’re fit for purpose and we’re in a good place.’

Reflecting on his impressive career, what sound advice would Malcolm offer the next generation?

He credits his international life for keeping him open and adaptable, ‘I’m Australian by birth, but I became an adult in Japan and I tend to have working practices which are more like Hong Kong people.’

‘After 40 years of moving around the world and engaging in all kinds of different cultures, I’d say it’s all about learning,’ he says. ‘You’ve got to stay curious and open-minded. Because after a while you realize you don’t know much at all of what there is to know.’

Malcolm’s seen for himself just how fast the world is changing and how quickly it’s moving. ‘It’s such a big place that you can’t know everything. So have the humility to stay open to change and new learning.’

‘There’s some words of wisdom from an old geezer,’ he adds wryly.

What’s next?

And now, after two years with DI and almost three decades with FedEx Express, Malcolm is taking a well-deserved break. He’s returning to Hong Kong where he and his partner, and their four whippets, have a house near the beach.

He’ll miss the Hoofddorp scene, the cozy town halls in the atrium and bike rides along the Amstel. And we’ll miss him.

But the whippets are waiting, the beach is calling and a new international adventure is about to begin.

Want to embark on your own journey in logistics? Here at Digital International we’re always looking for new talent. Take a look around to see where you might fit in.