Designed for Innovation

Everything about the new surroundings is designed to encourage teamwork. The office's oddly shaped traffic signs don't instruct employees to yield or merge. Instead, they trumpet the company's four-part strategy, dubbed "Elements of Success": Grow the customer base, build new sources of revenue, capitalize on the power of people, and work smart. Whiteboards in each department also outline goals for the quarter: Phone reps aim to handle 100 customer-service calls a day; staffers in the accounts-receivable department strive to handle bad checks within three days.

The results are difficult to argue with. Purchase Power was profitable within nine months of its launch and now boasts more than 400,000 customers. The Business Rewards credit card enjoys an unusually high activation rate, and more than half of those who have signed up for it are carrying balances - which is what generates revenue for PBCC. Several other products (insurance for lost parcels, prepaid legal services) are also in the works.

Has PBCC completed its transition? "Hardly," laughs Peggy Anson, 48, PBCC's vice president of human resources, who argues that a healthy sense of restlessness has permeated the organization. "We're doing fantastic," agrees Suzanne Kennard, 38, head of the Purchase Power program. "But we still could be doing so much more."

Scott Kirsner (kirsner@worldnet.att.net) writes on business and technology from Boston's North End.