Northwest
Primarily a family owned business (the Wilsons)
Started by Ernest Wilson, had 4 children, the two eldest Bob and Rex joined the business in 1962.
Ernest was conservative in nature, operated with little or no leverage, just wanted to support the family
Bob had to fire his uncle because he was joining a union. Ernest became less involved as the business grew in the presence of Bob and Rex
In the early 1970s, industry was extremely fragmented. Bob and Rex decided that acquisitions was the way to go, and the first three acquisitions were primary operators in Seattle, Olympia and Bellevue. Made 40 other acquisitions over the next 28 years – all financed through internal accruals
As the business grew, Bob and Rex took courses in human resources and other management issues at Stanford/Harvard.
After Ernest’s death in 1984, Bob and Rex got 100% control of the company by buying out shares from their other siblings
Concept of outside advisory board by Bob
Concept of openness and promote from within policy
Took care of employees, profit sharing plan, and other perks. Most top managers in the firm worked their way up through the organization
In 1998, Keith Jones was promoted as president – non family member but resigned in 2000.
Mike and Grant took over as Vice Presidents, but faced difficulties initially, managers started playing the two brothers against each other
Keith joined a competitor and started poaching employees
Took a while for Mike and Grant to gain confidence of his managers – financial performance of the company remained satisfactory during the transition which helped their cause
Managing Growing Companies Neerav Bagaria
NorthWest Security Services
Evaluate Bob’s process for establishing the NSS advisory board. What could be improved?
Historically, NSS was centred on its founder, Mr Ernest Wilson who liked to control every decision on his own, and as such, the decision making power was concentrated to one person. But as the
Started by Ernest Wilson, had 4 children, the two eldest Bob and Rex joined the business in 1962.
Ernest was conservative in nature, operated with little or no leverage, just wanted to support the family
Bob had to fire his uncle because he was joining a union. Ernest became less involved as the business grew in the presence of Bob and Rex
In the early 1970s, industry was extremely fragmented. Bob and Rex decided that acquisitions was the way to go, and the first three acquisitions were primary operators in Seattle, Olympia and Bellevue. Made 40 other acquisitions over the next 28 years – all financed through internal accruals
As the business grew, Bob and Rex took courses in human resources and other management issues at Stanford/Harvard.
After Ernest’s death in 1984, Bob and Rex got 100% control of the company by buying out shares from their other siblings
Concept of outside advisory board by Bob
Concept of openness and promote from within policy
Took care of employees, profit sharing plan, and other perks. Most top managers in the firm worked their way up through the organization
In 1998, Keith Jones was promoted as president – non family member but resigned in 2000.
Mike and Grant took over as Vice Presidents, but faced difficulties initially, managers started playing the two brothers against each other
Keith joined a competitor and started poaching employees
Took a while for Mike and Grant to gain confidence of his managers – financial performance of the company remained satisfactory during the transition which helped their cause
Managing Growing Companies Neerav Bagaria
NorthWest Security Services
Evaluate Bob’s process for establishing the NSS advisory board. What could be improved?
Historically, NSS was centred on its founder, Mr Ernest Wilson who liked to control every decision on his own, and as such, the decision making power was concentrated to one person. But as the