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• Case | HBS Case Collection | September 2017 (Revised June 2018)

  FJ Management Inc.

  Lynda M. Applegate and Matthew G. Preble

  In late 2015, Crystal Call Maggelet, president and CEO of FJ Management, is working with her investment committee to help set the company’s strategic direction. Maggelet, daughter of the company’s founder, has led FJ Management since 2009 when she stepped in as CEO following an unexpected bankruptcy. At that time, FJ Management was known as Flying J. Flying J owned and operated hundreds of truck stops—which it called Travel Plazas—nationwide and was a growing multi-billion dollar business, but broader problems in the oil and credit markets in late 2008 forced it to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Maggelet, who had been serving on Flying J’s board, became its new CEO and was able to successfully manage competing stakeholder demands, keep the business running, and ultimately paid back every dollar it owed to its creditors by selling the company’s core assets—its travel plazas—to its main competitor in 2010. Since that time, the company had returned to a healthy financial position, diversified its holdings, and made investments in diverse industries to determine how to grow the company, since renamed FJ Management. In 2015, Maggelet now wants to set a clear path forward for the company.

  Keywords: turnaround; family business; transformation; Volatility; change management; entrepreneurship; ethics; moral sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Cash flow; insolvency and bankruptcy; financial liquidity; financial management; governance; corporate governance; governance controls; company history; leadership; leading change; crisis management; negotiation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; family ownership; business and stakeholder relations; Business Strategy; Family Business; Transformation; Volatility; Change Management; Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Cash Flow; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financial Liquidity; Financial Management; Governance; Corporate Governance; Governance Controls; Leadership; Leading Change; Crisis Management; Negotiation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Family Ownership; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Business Strategy; Energy Industry; Travel Industry; Retail Industry; Service Industry; Utah;

  Citation:

  Applegate, Lynda M., and Matthew G. Preble. "FJ Management Inc." Harvard Business School Case 818-028, September 2017. (Revised June 2018.)  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | May 2018

  The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation's Answer Fund

  Richard G. Hamermesh and Matthew G. Preble

  Keywords: Data Analytics; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Relationship Management; Cost vs Benefits; Investment Return; Health Care and Treatment; Innovation Leadership; Intellectual Property; Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge Dissemination; Leadership; Leading Change; Resource Allocation; Goals and Objectives; Marketing Communications; Performance; Programs; Projects; Business and Community Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Networks; Partners and Partnerships; Research and Development; Genetics; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives; Social and Collaborative Networks; Nonprofit Organizations; Strategy; Health Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Biotechnology Industry; United States;

  Citation:

  Hamermesh, Richard G., and Matthew G. Preble. "The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation's Answer Fund." Harvard Business School Case 818-045, May 2018.  View Details

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• Article | Harvard Business Review | May–June 2018

  Layoffs That Don't Break Your Company: Better Approaches to Workforce Transition

  Sandra J. Sucher and Shalene Gupta

  Today layoffs have become companies’ default response to the challenges created by advances in technology and global competition. Yet research shows that job cuts rarely help senior leaders achieve their goals. Too often, they’re done for short-term gain, but the cost savings are overshadowed by bad publicity, loss of knowledge, weakened engagement, higher voluntary turnover, and lower innovation, which hurt profits in the long run. This article looks at better ways to handle changing workforce needs that make sparing use of staff reductions and ensure that if they do happen, the process feels fair and the affected parties have a soft landing. Most successful approaches begin with a philosophy that spells out a firm’s commitments and priorities, establish methods for exploring layoff alternatives (such as furloughs, retraining, and reassignments), and determine options for three scenarios: a healthy present, short-term volatility, and an uncertain future. As firms like AT&T, Michelin, Honeywell, and Nokia have learned, thoughtful planning helps organizations address workforce transitions and cope with a shifting economic landscape far better than layoffs do.

  Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Employees; Transition; Strategic Planning;

  Citation:

  Sucher, Sandra J., and Shalene Gupta. "Layoffs That Don't Break Your Company: Better Approaches to Workforce Transition." Harvard Business Review 96, no. 3 (May–June 2018): 122–129.  View Details

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