Roundtable and Web Seminar Focus on the Importance of Understanding Customer
           Needs and Processes to Drive More Profitable Innovation

BOSTON, Oct. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- "Innovation At Work For You," a roundtable discussion focusing on the importance of customer-centric approaches to innovation and how they can contribute to a company's success, will be held on November 4, 2003 at the Back Bay Harvard Club in Boston. The event, which will include a roundtable discussion and a live web seminar, is co-sponsored by Pitney Bowes (NYSE: PBI) and The Harvard Business Review. Clayton M. Christensen is the featured speaker. He is the Robert and Jane Cizik Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School and is the author of numerous Harvard Business Review articles and the best selling books, "The Innovator's Solution" and "The Innovator's Dilemma," both published by Harvard Business School Press.

Pitney Bowes Vice President of Advanced Concepts and Technology and Chief e-Business Officer James A. Euchner will also participate in the event. "Innovation At Work For You," is part of Pitney Bowes' continuing "Beyond the Envelope" series, which looks at successful solutions to challenges facing many businesses today.

"Understanding customer needs deeply can be a key to avoiding the 'innovator's dilemma'," said Euchner. "Observing the way work really happens and the way technologies are really used helps to identify needs that may be overlooked -- even by the customer. At Pitney Bowes, we are interested in 'practical breakthroughs' in the way businesses communicate with their customers. We use customer-centered innovation to provide focus to our technology efforts."

"In today's marketplace, where four out of every five start-up businesses fail and only one quarter of the new products launched by established companies are successful, companies need to take a more customer-focused approach to innovation," said Christensen. "Historically, it has been near impossible to predict which innovations will successfully create new waves of growth, and which will fail. This need not be the case. Managers can use sound theories to guide the key decisions required to build successful growth businesses."

The roundtable discussion is limited to invitation only. The live web seminar, which starts at 11:30 a.m., is open to guests who visit pb.com to register.

Pitney Bowes has a long history of technological leadership that has produced many major innovations in the mailing industry. The company holds more than 3,500 active patents with applications in a variety of markets, including printing, shipping, encryption, and financial services.

The 'Beyond the Envelope' series provides senior management at Fortune 1000 companies with information on a variety of business-critical communication issues and opportunities, including customized communication that increases shareholder value; innovation (leveraging both physical and electronic mediums); securing your communication flow; and improved customer response and satisfaction. The series, which kicked-off on June 30th in New York City, includes live events, web seminars and executive communications that stress the value of efficient, secure and effective communication flow. The next event in the series will include Caspar W. Weinberger, Former U.S. Secretary of Defense and chairman of Forbes. For more information on the "Beyond the Envelope" series, please visit www.pb.com.

Pitney Bowes is the world's leading provider of integrated mail and document management systems, services and solutions. The $4.4 billion company helps organizations of all sizes engineer the flow of communication to reduce costs and increase impact, and enhance customer relationships. With approximately 33,000 employees worldwide, Pitney Bowes serves more than 2 million businesses through direct and dealer operations.

     Contact:  Dan Burris
               Pitney Bowes
               203-351-6477
               daniel.burris@pb.com


SOURCE  Pitney Bowes
    -0-                             10/27/2003
    /CONTACT:  Dan Burris of Pitney Bowes, +1-203-351-6477,
daniel.burris@pb.com/
    /Web site:  http://www.pb.com /
    (PBI)

CO:  Pitney Bowes
ST:  Massachusetts, Connecticut
IN:  FIN OFP
SU:

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6096 10/27/2003 08:57 EST http://www.prnewswire.com