Commercial Blade Corp. (A)

2 Pages Posted: 21 Oct 2008

See all articles by John L. Colley

John L. Colley

University of Virginia - Darden School of Business

Robert Hardie

University of Virginia - Darden School of Business

Jay Bliley

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Abstract

General Managers Taking Action: Variety of Decisions

Excerpt

UVA-OM-1298

Commercial Blade Corp. (A)

Background

Bob Pease, founder of Commercial Blade Corp., reflected on his 60th birthday, considering how far the company had come in the 17 years since he started the company in his neighbor's garage. It was time to move on, he realized, and he had a couple of quiet conversations with the Board of Directors. After several weeks of consideration, the Board announced it would run a successor selection process to replace Bob.

The Search for a Successor

Jack Humphrey had joined Commercial Blade Corp. 10 years previously after working with Bob as a vendor. By the time Bob started to think about retiring, Jack was the President, in charge of day-to-day operations, although he was not on the Board. Knowing that the Board had decided to select a successor, it was little surprise to him that his phone rang Friday afternoon. Jeff Goldman, the lead independent director, was on the line letting Jack know he was under consideration for the CEO role. Jack was surprised, however, by the news that the Board was also considering Lee Costello, a Vice Chairman who sat on the Board and held responsibility for the finance, administration and business development functions. Lee was 15 years older than Jack and had little input in most of the business decisions on which Jack consulted with the Board. Nonetheless, his experience and relationship with the Board made him a natural rival to Jack.

. . .

Keywords: decision making, general managers

Suggested Citation

Colley, John L. and Hardie, Robert and Bliley, Jay, Commercial Blade Corp. (A). Darden Case No. UVA-OM-1298, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1282899 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1282899

John L. Colley (Contact Author)

University of Virginia - Darden School of Business ( email )

P.O. Box 6550
Charlottesville, VA 22906-6550
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.darden.virginia.edu/html/direc_detail.aspx?styleid=2&id=4273

Robert Hardie

University of Virginia - Darden School of Business ( email )

P.O. Box 6550
Charlottesville, VA 22906-6550
United States

Jay Bliley

affiliation not provided to SSRN

No Address Available

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