FILMORE FURNITURE LTD

Filmore Furniture Ltd. manufactures colonial maple furniture. The company was incorporated in 1970 by Fred Filmore, who had been the sole proprietor prior to that. In 1983, Fred Filmore retired and sold his business to his only son Phil, age 38, for a small sum. That year, annual sales totalled $1,300,000.

Phil Filmore was an aggressive manager and strategist. He modernized the plant, introduced new product designs and accessories such as mirrors and lamps, and implemented new marketing strategies and merchandising ideas. These innovations were quite successful, and helped the company to establish a good reputation in the furniture industry. From 1983 to 1993, sales income increased to $5,100,000, and the company had 58 full-time employees on the payroll.

While sales grew quite strongly, the highly competitive nature of the furniture business held profits to relatively low levels. In 1998, the company's after-tax profit amounted to $204,000, or 4.0 percent of sales income, which was very close to the industry average.

Phil Filmore was clearly in charge of the key activities of the business, including all of the strategic decisions mentioned earlier. The company employed five sales representatives who called upon the smaller accounts, but Phil personally handled the responsibility of calling on the major accounts. Of particular importance were the company's relationships with major chain stores that Phil had developed in the years after he took over management of the business.

With most of Phil's attention devoted to merchandising and promotion, day-to-day operation of the plant relied heavily on Jean Lechaise, an engineer who had been with Filmore Furniture for many years. Lechaise was an excellent operations manager upon whom Phil could rely to ensure the timely and efficient production of high-quality products. Together, Phil