Case 1-3

Like Grandfather, Like Granddaughter?

 

Clarence opened a farm supply store in Montana during theearly 1940s. His neighbors in the county were also his customers. Every personwho walked into his store felt comfortable. In fact, they would often sit, sipa cup of coffee or shell some peanuts, and solve the worlds problems beforeloading up their purchases. Clarence prided himself on knowing what hiscustomers needed to be successful farmers, and he freely gave them advice aboutwhich brand of flea dip would work best on their cattle and which tonic wouldhelp a colicky horse. By the time he retired and his son Seth took over, thecompany had expanded to three stores in three towns and had 14 full-timeemployees.

 

As a youth, Seth had attended the state college and earned adegree in agricultural business. When he took over the company in 1975, heeagerly applied what he had learned to the family business. He was convincedthat technology was the key to success, not personal relationships. Over theyears, he struggled to convert all his fathers old, handwritten records toelectronic files. Eventually, he installed a completely computerized informationsystem that tracked inventory, personnel, and accounts. He sometimes boastedabout being an entrepreneur, but Clarence snorted at that term. Just do whatsright for your customers, and youll be doing whats right for yourself, hewould retort.

 

When Seth retired in 2015, his daughter Kathy took over thecompany, which now had 23 stores with 228 employees in three states and one wholly-owned subsidiary of 18 gas stations. Kathys vision involved offering abroader range of products than farm supplies. She wanted to sell the image ofthe family farm. Her stores stocked Western clothing; boots, hats, and jewelry;home furnishings; and even CDs featuring country music.

 

Kathy found herself traveling extensively from the corporateoffice to the various stores. Finding time to manage everything was a problem,but she had a staff of 12 professionals in the corporate office to assist her.E-mail, laptops, and smartphones helped tremendously.


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