Summary
The story revolves around the members of Monroe’s family i.e. Mac Four, Mike Monroe, Bea, Little Bit and P. Dee Chambers. Dee is a family business consultant with a great experience. Once she helped Mac by reporting about a president. It was a Sunday night. Mac called Dee to ask for some help regarding Carolina Construction Supply which was running short for wages. He wanted Dee to help him. They decided to meet (Miller).
Mac started by telling about the Georgia Building Supplies. It was started by Mac and his business partner Morrie. Mac was the salesman, and Morrie was the bean counter. Mac and Morrie began to disagree who was more valuable to the business, so Mac bought Morrie out and recruited Mac Four, who was fresh out of college to run GBS. The company did very well with over $170 Million dollars in a sale. GBS was sold $13 Million five years later when Mac Four died to International Lumber supply. Some said Mac could have sold for more if he integrated technology but Mac’s heart was out of it Mac Four died (Miller).
He continued by introducing about Carolina Construction Supply. Bea Monroe wanted to help out John after he got out of college and couldn’t get a job. Because of this Bea convinced Mac to start CCS. Little Bit negotiated hard and got a great overpaid salary along with overseas paid vacations. Mike was recruited from International Lumber Supply and turned down a promotion to work at CCS. Dad offered him $5,000 extra a month in salary out of his pocket. CCS does over $1,000,000 Million dollars in credit from the local bank and needs Dad’s personal financial sheet to keep the credit line open. Little Bit believes that the company can benefit from using technology in their business. Dad believes that salespeople are the more important than tech could ever be. Little Bit brings a dog into the office that causes tension with other employees so Dad will throw a couple of Benjamin in their hand to smooth things over. Mac realizes that his Dad knew how to sell but not much else (Miller).
According to Gerry Boschwitz, CCS has a good nucleus of salespeople, and Little Bit can help bring them up to speed with the technology. But they need an outsider to pilot the ship. He suggests that CCS can be saved. Rudy Boschwitz says that CCS should be cut loose because it’s of no use to save a business that has three people and a dog in charge (Miller).
Mary F. Whiteside adds that if the family can create a way to remember their losses, they may find energy and vision to move towards a meaningful future. According to her questions should be asked about what is the family’s original dream?
Joe Mattos suggests that CCS can be saved as long as Mac and Bea take a long hard look.
John L. Ward demonstrates the importance of having potential successors gain outside work experience. The senior generations need for definitive estate planning, and younger generations need to become self-reliant (Miller).
Compare and Contrast with a similar Article
The article used for comparing the given article is “Managing the Family Business: Preparing to Sell”. In the first article, she agreed after listening to the story and interviewed Little Bit and Mike, the sons of Mac, and Bea. Here there comes a contrast in the perception about Mac in the minds of three of them.
According to Little Bit, he wanted to convince his father to use websites for the sales in the business as it is serving a way better now and in the future but Mac refused to accept it. Furthermore, Mike was also not supporting him as Mike thought it was not according to what he should do (Davis and Pellegrin).
According to Mike, he didn’t want to help his father, Mac, in any way but he is compelled to work because of his father pays him a lot. Whenever Mike tells his father of any idea, Mac never approves it by saying that Mac Four wouldn’t have done that (Davis and Pellegrin). According to Bea, she was tired of it all. She knew Mac was not just and wanted to end it all as it was disturbing his sons a lot. Now, for Dee, it was difficult to choose whether she could help them or not. Some expertise overview of some professional experts over CCS and its future is given as follows (Davis and Pellegrin).
According to Gerry Boschwitz, CCS has a good nucleus of salespeople, and Little Bit can help bring them up to speed with the technology. But they need an outsider to pilot the ship. He suggests that CCS can be saved. (Davis and Pellegrin). Rudy Boschwitz says that CCS should be cut loose because it’s of no use to save a business that has three people and a dog in charge.
Mary F. Whiteside adds that if the family can create a way to remember their losses, they may find energy and vision to move towards a meaningful future. Joe Mattos suggests that CCS can be saved as long as Mac and Bea take a long hard look.
Works Cited
Miller, Warren. "The Ghost In The Family Business". Harvard Business Review. N.p., 2000. Web. 9 Apr. 2016.
Davis, John, and Jonathan Pellegrin. "Managing The Family Business: Preparing To Sell". HBS Working Knowledge. N.p., 2015. Web. 9 Apr. 2016.
