The Marriott School of Management and Board of Trustees at Brigham Young University named M. Anthony Burns, chairman of Ryder System, Inc., as the 2001 International Executive of the Year. President Thomas S. Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, presented the award to Mr. Burns at a banquet 16 November.
“Tony Burns served for nearly 18 years as CEO of one of the most successful transportation and logistics companies in the world,” said Ned C. Hill, dean of the Marriott School. “He is not only a proven leader but also a man of integrity who cares deeply about people.”
Burns says success as a CEO comes from a constant stream of new ideas and perspectives. “In the corporate community, you have to reinvent your company and yourself as CEO about every five years,” he told Marriott School MBA students. “The best way to reinvent yourself is to listen and observe.” He added, “Being on outside boards is also good for reinvention. I come back from a board meeting and ask all kinds of questions about our own operations.”
Burns cautioned students, “The fastest way to go out of business is to tell your customer you can’t do something. At that point, all you can do is lower your costs and margins to keep their business.”
During Burns’ time at Ryder, the company exited almost 60 percent of its less-profitable businesses and successfully moved into the lucrative logistics and supply-chain management arena. These moves helped the company’s stock outperform the S&P index 18 out of the past 20 years.
Burns strategically cut low-growth businesses from the company’s portfolio. Ryder, once the world’s largest jet-engine overhaul company, now goes no where near a jet turbine. “We saw companies like G.E., Pratt & Whitney, and Rolls-Royce having less growth in new engines and making plans to extend their business into engine servicing,” Burns said. “So, we sold this business to G.E.” Ryder also unloaded its low-margin truck-rental business and now makes more money collecting royalties from the Ryder name than it did carrying $600 million in rental assets.
In addition to strategic cuts and new market development, Burns overhauled the company’s human resource program — increasing diversity and performance-based rewards.
Burns joined Ryder in 1974. He was elected president and chief operating officer in 1979, chief executive officer on 1 January 1983, and chairman of the board of directors in 1985. In addition to his membership on the Ryder board, he serves on the boards of directors of J. P. Morgan Chase & Co., The Black & Decker Corporation, J.C. Penney Company, Inc. and Pfizer Inc. Before joining Ryder, Burns spent nine years with Mobil Oil Corporation. He earned a bachelor’s of science degree from Brigham Young University and a master’s of business administration from the University of California at Berkeley.
The International Executive of the Year Award was established by the Marriott School in 1974 to annually honor an outstanding executive from the public or private sector who has demonstrated exceptional leadership and high moral and ethical standards. IEY Award recipients are selected by the Marriott School National Advisory Council and BYU Board of Trustees.
The Marriott School is located at Brigham Young University, the largest privately owned, church-sponsored university in the United States. The school has nationally and internationally ranked programs in accountancy, business management, information systems, organizational behavior and entrepreneurship. The mission of the Marriott School is to educate men and women of faith, character and professional ability who will become outstanding managers and leaders throughout the world. Approximately 3,000 students are enrolled in the Marriott School’s graduate and undergraduate programs.
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Writer: S. Wade Hansen
