What You Can Learn From the Companies On Our Covers
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By Chris Petersen   
Monday, 14 May 2007
smc All of our cover features have reported having some common elements, including strong employee development, clear vision from the top and a 360-degree view of the industry.
All of our cover features have reported having some common elements, including strong employee development, clear vision from the top and a 360-degree view of the industry.
U.S. Business Review provides business leaders and decision-makers with examples of their peers’ best practices. Although every company we profile has carved out their own measure of success in their markets, those featured on the cover tend to represent levels of success or potential success that go above and beyond traditional definitions. However, the ways in which they achieve this are not as esoteric as one might assume, and can likely be adopted or adapted by firms of any size or shape.

No matter which industry, no matter how large or small the company, all of our cover features have reported having some common elements, including strong employee development, clear vision from the top and a 360-degree view of the industry.

Building the Backbone
Perhaps the most common element among all the companies featured in our pages is a belief that the employee provides the backbone of the organization. Many of the companies featured on our covers in the past two years have emphasized that hiring and retaining quality employees is essential. Furthermore, developing staff to achieve higher levels of success is also valuable.

Kevin Cook, senior vice president of McDonald’s United States restaurant systems, said in our October 2005 issue that developing from within is one of the company’s hallmarks, with 70 percent of its U.S. restaurant managers and 33 percent of its U.S. owner/operators beginning as crew employees.

Marnell Corrao Associates, a design/build construction firm in Las Vegas featured on our December 2005 cover, said keeping employees satisfied with their jobs can be just as important as making customers happy. “Therefore, along with criteria that make the most sense for business, consideration is also given to those factors that affect employee quality-of-life – e.g., location, transportation, commute, environment, amenities, etc.,” said Marnell Properties President Brad Schnepf.

Claude “Chip” Hornsby, CEO of plumbing and building products supplier Ferguson Enterprises Inc., was featured in our May 2005 issue and summed up the idea this way: “We have a simple philosophy that we live by in our organization – take care of your associates and they will take care of the customer.”

Ferguson also takes a ground-up approach to employee training, as explained by Larry Stoddard, senior vice president of business development for the company’s parent, Wolseley North America. “Your first day at work, you’re loading trucks,” he said. “By working alongside other associates, you develop a great degree of empathy and respect for what that job is and what that person does.”

Governing Wisely
Strong guidance and vision from the top of the organization is another recurring theme in our cover features. Houston-based oil and gas company Statoil told us in our November 2006 issue how much it prizes shared values and leadership. “Our leaders are clear about performance standards and individual accountability, and show personal humility,” the company said. “Shared values are central in enabling us to deal with frequent changes in the world around us and to meet requirements for good corporate governance. Commitment to our values and our leadership approach, in words and actions, is not negotiable.”

On the other hand, sometimes good leadership is knowing when to step back and let the company operate unassisted. Kenneth P. Manning, CEO of flavor and fragrance manufacturer Sensient Technologies Corp., said in our June 2005 issue that sometimes letting a department do its own thing is the right thing to do. “We use the normal communication methods, but we tend to manage from the bottom line,” he said. “We give the local managers a tremendous amount of flexibility. We don’t micromanage – we manage by exception.”

Stay Ahead of Technology
The continual need for technological improvements drives even industries that have remained relatively the same for decades. In our August 2005 issue, TransX President Louis Tolaini said his company replaces all of its trucks every three years and enforces strict maintenance schedules on all of its equipment. This way, he said, the company isn’t in danger of being left behind on the technology curve. “Just like cars, they make better trucks every year, and we make sure to have the latest technology,” he said.

Others have led the way in bringing new technology to the marketplace, such as tennis racquet manufacturer Head/Penn Racquets. President and CEO David Haggerty said in our January/February 2005 issue that he credited the company’s introduction of titanium in 1997 for boosting sales and giving it a head start in what became a booming market. “One of our challenges is to come up with new technology and find ways to apply it in each of our key product categories,” he said.

Learn From the Past
Successful companies know that success is often built on a foundation of past failures and mistakes. Financial Media Group’s founder and CEO, Albert Aimers, said in our January 2007 issue that the failure of his previous Internet business venture helped him to better understand the market when establishing MyWallSt.net, the company’s financial social networking site.

“From a business side, I think timing is everything, and from the development side, you really have to manage your business, [and] be on top of all the aspects of business,” he said. “There are a lot of moving parts on the Internet.”

Play to Your Strengths
Sometimes success comes from an unexpected area, and successful leaders seize upon unusual ideas to strengthen their companies’ cores. American Airlines said in our February 2007 issue that it had increased revenues through its maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) division. Already skilled at maintaining its own fleet, American decided to expand and offer MRO services to third-party airlines, as well.

Senior Vice President of Technical Operations Bob Reding called the decision “revolutionary,” and noted that the airline generated $95 million in revenues from that service.

“American’s long-term vision is to transform its maintenance organization into a world-class MRO business that offers our customers a one-stop shop for most of their maintenance requirements, be it airframe, component, engine overhaul, engineering services or line maintenance,” Reding said.

For the Common Good
Some companies featured on our covers have said that being successful doesn’t mean “every man for himself.” Several leaders we’ve spoken to have talked about doing what’s right for the industry or community, as opposed to only doing what’s right for the company.

Featured on the cover of our November 2005 issue, Green Bay Packers President and CEO Bob Harlan said the team was faced with the decision to either leave town or stay during the renovation of Lambeau Field in 2003.

“The architects really wanted us to leave town for one year so they could work seven days a week and we refused to do it,” Harlan said. “The reason we did it is it would be like taking the team on the road for 16 straight weeks. We know businesses in the area count on those weekends for a great deal of their budget.”

Cook explained how McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc knew the company depended on the success of its suppliers and franchisees, and developed solid relationships with them. “It’s not like the company is telling everyone what to do,” he said. “It’s developing solutions together. That’s the key.”

“I don’t think any other company has this kind of business model,” said Louis Kuchuris, CEO of McDonald’s supplier East Balt Bakery. “The strength of the ‘three-legged stool’ is working together, and it revolves around one word: trust.”

Take a Look
Despite the disparate natures of these companies, their stories hold lessons for any business that cares to listen. It may also turn out you have more in common with them than you had thought.
 
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