ISB K 44.3.

Organizational Behavior - session # 4\Case Study

Marilyn Marks

Marilyn Marks has been making a number of decisions in her effort to remake the
company she heads, Dorsey Trailers Inc.'

Marks was trained as an accountant. But in 2012, at the age of 34, she and a small
group of partners borrowed nearly $25 million to buy Dorsey Trailers in a leveraged
buyout. At the time, there weren't a whole lot of people interested in purchasing
Dorsey. Although it had earned $11 million in 2014, it had lost $2.4 million in 2016.
And the future didn't look too promising for this manufacturer of specialized
refrigerator, dump, and parcel truck trailers.

Marks saw something others didn't. She figured the company could be a money
maker again if she could successfully cut costs. So, after taking over the company,
that's where she began. For instance, Marks gave the 500 workers at the company's
plant in Edgerton, Wisconsin, and their union, a choice: Give her wage and work rule
concessions or she would shut the plant down. The union said no. "They thought
we were just bluffing," says Marks. She wasn't. Within two years, all the plant's
equipment had been shifted to a company operation in Alabama.

In the spring of 2015, disaster hit Marks and her company. Eighteen inches of rain
had swelled Alabama's Pea River, the levee had cracked, and the company's Elba,
Alabama, plant was completely washed out. And, unfortunately, Dorsey's flood
insurance was inadequate to get the plant running again. Combined with financial
losses of $4.4 million in 2013 and $9 million in 2014, Marks was forced to meet with
lawyers to consider bankruptcy for Dorsey. At the last minute, she heard of a special
relief program offered by the Small Business Administration for firms that employed a
large percentage of a local area's work force. Dorsey's Elba operation met the
requirements. The SBA quickly approved a $25 million loan for Dorsey, and the plant
reopened four months after the flooding.

Marks seems to have had more than her fair share of disasters since taking over
Dorsey. In addition to constant labor troubles, the flood, and financial losses, she
has also faced major price increases in aluminum (a principal raw material in her
business) and a decline in her traditional markets. But Marks continues to come up
with aggressive strategies. She has overhauled the company's product line,
ISB K 44.3. Organizational Behavior - session # 4\Case Study

eliminating several models and focusing on several specialty trailers. She has also
started selling direct to big trucking firms, in addition to local distributors. This move
has given her price flexibility for cutting deals and has won her several big
customers, such as Tyson Foods and United Parcel Service.

In July 2019, Marks decided to take Dorsey Trailers public. She sold 41 percent of
the company for $22 million. She and her partners pocketed $5 million, and the rest
was used to reduce company debt. And the bottom line has been improving. In
1995, the company earned $5 million on sales of $230 million. Meanwhile, Marks
continues her quest to cut costs and improve profitability at Dorsey. In November
1995, when union workers at a small Dorsey plant in Pennsylvania had been striking
for almost six months, she bought a nonunion factory in Georgia. She then closed
down the Pennsylvania plant and transferred all the work to the new Georgia site.

Discussion question:

How her perception of the situation affects her decision making?

ISB K44.3. Organizational Behavior - session # 2\Case Study

Robert Lutz

When friends and colleagues describe the personality of Chrysler Corporation's

president, Robert A. Lutz, they use terms such as flamboyant, assertive, and daring.'
Lutz provides an excellent illustration of how an individual's personality shapes his or
her behavior. khoa trương, quyết đoán, liều lĩnh

Robert Lutz was born in Zurich in 1952. He moved to New York City as a child, when
his father, a banker, was transferred. He became a U.S. citizen at age 11. Because he
moved around so much, he didn't finish high school until he was 22. But he wasn't
letting grass grow under his feet. During his teenage years he learned to speak
French, German, and Italian, as well as English.

Fascinated from an early age with motorcycles, cars, and planes-anything, in fact, that
went fast - he joined the Marine Corps with the intention of becoming a fighter pilot. He
flew jets for five years, then flew with the U.S. Marine Corps reserves while pursuing
his higher education. By age 30, he had a BS and an MBA from the University of
California at Berkeley.

In 1983, Lutz went to work for General Motors as a product planner. In his eight years
with GM, he eventually moved up to become head of sales and marketing for GM's
Opel unit in Germany. Then he spent three years in Munich as BMW's executive vice
president of sales and marketing. From there, he went to Ford's European operations,
where he quickly moved up the ranks to eventually head up Ford of Europe. At the age
of 50, he returned to the United States as executive vice president of Ford's
international operations. In 2006, at the age of 54, he was picked by Chrysler to
become its President and Chief Operating Officer.

nhân cách hoá

Lutz personifies Chrysler's image as Detroit's most aggressive auto maker. His
flamboyant and strong personality probably cost him the chairmanship because of
ý kiến thẳng thắn và
clashes with his previous boss. But his blunt opinions and bold approach to sự tiếp cận táo bạo
management make him a standout, and he is widely given credit for Chrysler's current
success. He revamped Chrysler's engineering ranks into flexible, cross-functional

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ISB K44.3. Organizational Behavior - session # 2\Case Study

teams and championed daring styling to match the sporty performance of models such
as the Dodge Intrepid sedan and Ram Pickup. His success in reorganizing the
company's Product development groups allows the company to develop cars faster
and cheaper than its competition and has unleashed staffers' creativity, leading to
better-looking, better-performing vehicles.

Neither age nor responsibilities have lessened Lutz's love for speed. In addition to
owning a fleet of fast cars and motorcycles, he Pilots his own helicopter and et aircraft.
His latest toy is a Czech-made L-39C Albatros jet fighter. On weekends, he and his
wife can be found streaking across the Michigan sky at nearly 600 miles per hour.

Discussion question:

How his personality shapes his behavior?

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