Product details

By continuing to use our site you consent to the use of cookies as described in our privacy policy unless you have disabled them.
You can change your cookie settings at any time but parts of our site will not function correctly without them.
Management article
-
Reference no. R00308
Published by: Harvard Business Publishing
Originally published in: "Harvard Business Review", 2000
Version: 1 May 2000
Revision date: 12-Feb-2013

Abstract

This case study includes both the case and the commentary. Mac Monroe had grand plans for Georgia Building Supplies, the company he had started with a friend almost 50 years ago, selling construction materials wholesale to contractors. In the mid-1980s, Mac bought out his disgruntled partner's share of the company and put his oldest son, Mac Monroe IV, at the helm. It was all falling into place. But Mac Four, as his parents called him, died tragically in a car accident. The family and the company never recovered. Mac sold GBS two years later. Now Mac is trying it again, bankrolling Carolina Construction Supply with his youngest boy, John 'Little Bit' Monroe, at the helm. The tech-savvy Little Bit would like Mac and CCS to embrace the Internet for on-line transactions and service. But Mac keeps emphasizing sales, and he's lured two heavy-hitter salesmen from the competition - including his middle son, Mike Monroe. In its first two years, CCS has lost $1 million, and the ghost of Mac Four lingers at the company - Mac is constantly invoking his name, alluding to what Mac Four would have done if he were still alive. Complicating matters is the Monroe family's overprotective matriarch, Bea, who doesn't want to hear anything bad about her boys, and who'd like more time to spend with her 70-something husband. Mac's got plenty of doubts about CCS's future - that's why he's called on P Dee Chambers, a consultant to small businesses, for advice. What should she tell him? Can Carolina Construction Supply be saved? Five commentators, Gerry Boschwitz, Rudy Boschwitz, Mary F Whiteside, Joe Mattos, and John L Ward, review this fictional account and offer their advice.

About

Abstract

This case study includes both the case and the commentary. Mac Monroe had grand plans for Georgia Building Supplies, the company he had started with a friend almost 50 years ago, selling construction materials wholesale to contractors. In the mid-1980s, Mac bought out his disgruntled partner's share of the company and put his oldest son, Mac Monroe IV, at the helm. It was all falling into place. But Mac Four, as his parents called him, died tragically in a car accident. The family and the company never recovered. Mac sold GBS two years later. Now Mac is trying it again, bankrolling Carolina Construction Supply with his youngest boy, John 'Little Bit' Monroe, at the helm. The tech-savvy Little Bit would like Mac and CCS to embrace the Internet for on-line transactions and service. But Mac keeps emphasizing sales, and he's lured two heavy-hitter salesmen from the competition - including his middle son, Mike Monroe. In its first two years, CCS has lost $1 million, and the ghost of Mac Four lingers at the company - Mac is constantly invoking his name, alluding to what Mac Four would have done if he were still alive. Complicating matters is the Monroe family's overprotective matriarch, Bea, who doesn't want to hear anything bad about her boys, and who'd like more time to spend with her 70-something husband. Mac's got plenty of doubts about CCS's future - that's why he's called on P Dee Chambers, a consultant to small businesses, for advice. What should she tell him? Can Carolina Construction Supply be saved? Five commentators, Gerry Boschwitz, Rudy Boschwitz, Mary F Whiteside, Joe Mattos, and John L Ward, review this fictional account and offer their advice.

Related