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Case | HBS Case Collection | December 2002 (Revised February 2015)

Jim Sharpe: Extrusion Technology, Inc. (Abridged)

by H. Kent Bowen and Barbara Feinberg

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Abstract

Jim Sharpe, 10 years after receiving his MBA from Harvard and working for others, has finally become his own boss and 100% owner of manufacturer of aluminum extrusions. After 10 months of an unfunded search, he acquires the business in an LBO and prepares to face his employees on the first day.

Keywords: Search Funds; search; entrepreneurial management; entrepreneurship; operations strategy; Acquisitions; work/family balance; work-life balance; Unions; union; turnarounds; funding model; LBO; bank debt; Bank loans; Equity Investment; career management; negotiation; Small Business; Work-Life Balance; Negotiation; Operations; Labor Unions; Investment; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Borrowing and Debt; Business Strategy; Manufacturing Industry;

Language: English Format: Print 28 pages EducatorsPurchase

Citation:

Bowen, H. Kent, and Barbara Feinberg. "Jim Sharpe: Extrusion Technology, Inc. (Abridged) ." Harvard Business School Case 603-084, December 2002. (Revised February 2015.)

Related Work

  1. Case | HBS Case Collection | April 1998

    Jim Sharpe: Extrusion Technology, Inc. (C)

    H. Kent Bowen and Barbara Feinberg

    Jim Sharpe, president of Extrusion Technology, describes the first five years at the aluminum extrusion company he purchased. He begins with day one as he introduced himself to the employees in 1987 and assured them of the company's continuity. Over the next two years, his efforts to make the company profitable included cost cutting, decertifying the union, and developing relationships with suppliers. Sharpe learned from mistakes in forecasting aluminum inventory and purchasing capital equipment for a new product line whose market never developed. At the end of five years, Extrusion Technology was profitable and well poised for growth. Jim Sharpe, 11 years after receiving his MBA from Harvard and working for others, has finally become his own boss and 100% owner of a manufacturer of aluminum extrusions. After 10 months of an unfunded search, he acquires the business in an LBO and prepares to face his employees on the first day.

    Keywords: Acquisition; Forecasting and Prediction; Cost Management; Profit; Innovation Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Mining Industry;

    Citation:

    Bowen, H. Kent, and Barbara Feinberg. "Jim Sharpe: Extrusion Technology, Inc. (C)." Harvard Business School Case 698-096, April 1998.  View Details
    CiteView DetailsEducatorsPurchase Related
  2. Case | HBS Case Collection | December 2002 (Revised February 2015)

    Jim Sharpe: Extrusion Technology, Inc. (Abridged)

    H. Kent Bowen and Barbara Feinberg

    Jim Sharpe, 10 years after receiving his MBA from Harvard and working for others, has finally become his own boss and 100% owner of manufacturer of aluminum extrusions. After 10 months of an unfunded search, he acquires the business in an LBO and prepares to face his employees on the first day.

    Keywords: Search Funds; search; entrepreneurial management; entrepreneurship; operations strategy; Acquisitions; work/family balance; work-life balance; Unions; union; turnarounds; funding model; LBO; bank debt; Bank loans; Equity Investment; career management; negotiation; Small Business; Work-Life Balance; Negotiation; Operations; Labor Unions; Investment; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Borrowing and Debt; Business Strategy; Manufacturing Industry;

    Citation:

    Bowen, H. Kent, and Barbara Feinberg. "Jim Sharpe: Extrusion Technology, Inc. (Abridged) ." Harvard Business School Case 603-084, December 2002. (Revised February 2015.)  View Details
    CiteView DetailsEducatorsPurchase Related
  3. Exercise | February 2016

    Jim Sharpe: Operational Cash Flow Tool

    Joseph B. Fuller, Shikhar Ghosh and Christopher Payton

    In this exercise, you will examine the cash flow implications of different operating model assumptions and the effect that this has on financing decisions.

    Keywords: Cash Flow; Financing and Loans;

    Citation:

    Fuller, Joseph B., Shikhar Ghosh, and Christopher Payton. "Jim Sharpe: Operational Cash Flow Tool." Harvard Business School Exercise 816-070, February 2016.  View Details
    CiteView DetailsPurchase Related

About the Author

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H. Kent Bowen
Bruce V. Rauner Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus

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More from the Author

  • Working Paper | 2018

    Large Banks and Small Firm Lending

    Vitaly Bord, Victoria Ivashina and Ryan D. Taliaferro

    We show that since 2007, there was a large and persistent shift in the composition of lenders to small firms. Large banks impacted by the real estate prices collapse systematically contracted their credit to all small firms throughout the United States. However, healthy banks expanded their operations and entered new banking markets. The market share gain of these banks was a standard deviation above the long-run historical market share growth and persists for years following the financial crisis. Despite this offsetting expansion, the net effect of the contraction in credit was negative, with lower aggregate credit and deposits growth as well as lower entrepreneurial activity through 2015.

    Keywords: Banks and Banking; Financing and Loans; Small Business; Financial Crisis;

    Citation:

    Bord, Vitaly, Victoria Ivashina, and Ryan D. Taliaferro. "Large Banks and Small Firm Lending." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 25184, October 2018.  View Details
    CiteView DetailsFind at Harvard Read Now Related
  • Case | HBS Case Collection | August 2001 (Revised September 2015)

    Operations at the Donner Company

    H. Kent Bowen

    A small manufacturer of circuit boards faces product and operations-management problems. This case analyzes the production capacity at various stages and examines bottlenecks and product flow decisions. A detailed look at the problems and a discussion of the tools and techniques of process analysis is used to determine the importance of problems, identify solutions, and discuss implementation issues.

    Keywords: Operations; Production; Performance Capacity; Business Processes; Logistics; Electronics Industry; Manufacturing Industry;

    Citation:

    Bowen, H. Kent. "Operations at the Donner Company." Harvard Business School Case 602-040, August 2001. (Revised September 2015.)  View Details
    CiteView DetailsEducators Related
  • Case | HBS Case Collection | February 1997 (Revised December 2012)

    Jim Sharpe: Extrusion Technology, Inc. (A)

    H. Kent Bowen, Barbara Feinberg, H. Kent Bowen and Barbara Feinberg

    Jim Sharpe, 11 years after receiving his MBA from Harvard and working for others, has finally become his own boss and 100% owner of manufacturer of aluminum extrusions. After 10 months of an unfunded search, he acquires the business in an LBO and prepares to face his employees on the first day.

    Keywords: crisis management; Acquisitions; Search Funds; entrepreneurial management; entrepreneurs; entrepreneurship; turnarounds; bank loan; leveraged buyouts; manufacturing; metals processing; entrepreneurial finance; Labor unions; Leveraged Buyouts; Labor Unions; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Crisis Management; Management Skills; Experience and Expertise; Borrowing and Debt; Manufacturing Industry;

    Citation:

    Bowen, H. Kent, and Barbara Feinberg. "Jim Sharpe: Extrusion Technology, Inc. (A)." Harvard Business School Case 697-078, February 1997. (Revised December 2012.)  View Details
    CiteView DetailsEducatorsPurchase Related
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