Graybar Canada 2022: Innovation, Growth, and Change.
“Change is a process,” was the caption on the
change management workshop slide in late June
of 2019 at Nova Scotia’s Pictou Lodge. The
Graybar Atlantic Region team was preparing for
a digital transformation initiative led by
members of the Graybar Canada Marketing
team. “We’re approaching our 100-year
anniversary as a private Canadian company and
we need to build our change muscle if we want
to innovate and strengthen our market
leadership position,” said Jason Taylor the
Graybar Atlantic Regional Vice President at the
workshop conclusion.
Thirty managers and executives gathered for the
Atlantic Region Team retreat which included
discussion of business results and plans,
recognition, presentations from partners,
learning, and some fun. After several rounds of
washer toss and a lobster boil where he was the
cook, and as the retreat drew to a close, Jason
recognized the Atlantic Region team managers,
“Thanks for all your hard work. Our customers
and partners appreciate it. I appreciate you.
Please enjoy your summer.” Jason thought to
himself, “We need to innovate and grow. How
does a 100 year-old company’s team manage the
change coming our way? ”
Graybar Canada and Graybar Inc. History
Graybar Canada is a subsidiary of Graybar
Electric Inc., a Fortune 500 company and one of
North America's oldest and largest electrical
distributors with over 288 locations and 8,400
employees, and 146,000 customers across the
United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico.
Headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Graybar
Canada operates 36 branches across Canada [1]
with a team of 650 employees.
Graybar Electric Inc. specializes in supply chain
management services, and is a leading North
American distributor of high-quality electrical
components, equipment, and materials.
Graybar Canada Case
This case is for teaching and learning classroom use. While many elements of the case are real some are fictitious.
Graybar serves the construction market, the
commercial, institutional, government, utility,
and residential markets. Graybar products and
services support new construction projects,
infrastructure updates, building renovation,
facility maintenance, repair and operations, and
original equipment manufacturing [2].
Graybar Electric Inc. was born of a rich history
dating back over 150 years which was
summarized on their website in late 2019. The
content is no longer posted. The story of
Graybar can be summarized as follows:
1. Gray and Barton, founded Gray & Barton
(Co.) in Cleveland in 1869
2. In 1872 the partnership became Western
Electric Company
3. WEC became exclusive manufacturer of
telephone equipment for Bell
4. In 1825 WEC electrical distributor business
spun off into Graybar Electric Company
5. Ellis and Howard launched Ellis and Howard
(Co.) in Kitchener, Ontario in 1913
6. Arthur Harrris and R.E.G. Roome founded
Harris and Roome (Co.) in Halifax, Nova
Scotia in 1930
7. Graybar Electric Company purchased Ellis
and Howard (Co.) in 1991
8. Harris and Roome (Co.) was purchased
by Roberts and MacDonald
9. Graybar Electric purchased an interest in
Harris and Roome in 1997
10. Graybar Canada launches in 2001 combining
Graybar Ontario with Harris and Roome
In 2020 Graybar Canada announced the
retirement of Executive Vice President and
General Manager Brian Thomas who started his
career with Graybar Canada, and its predecessor
Harris & Roome Supply, in 1987. Throughout his
39-year career in the electrical industry, Thomas
held a variety of sales and senior management
positions before being promoted to Executive
Vice President and General Manager in 2016.
Jules Fauteux, PhD Page 1 of 5
“I will miss the amazing people and the great
culture we have here at Graybar Canada,” said
Thomas about his retirement. “The effort our
people put in everyday to meet our vision of
being the best partner to our customers and
suppliers makes me proud and honoured to have
been able to lead here. [3]”
Industry Overview
This industry comprises establishments engaged
in the merchant wholesale distribution of
electrical construction materials; wiring supplies;
electric light fixtures; light bulbs; and/or
electrical power equipment for the generation,
transmission, distribution, or control of electric
energy. Sources of differentiation for Graybar
Canada, include offering solutions for
communications, data, automation, and security
applications.
In addition to buying, selling, and shipping
products between producers and contractors,
wholesalers might also provide value added
services such as technical consulting services, job
site services, arranging to have products
customized or repaired, arranging special
financing plans, or providing overnight delivery
services for specialty items. Many wholesalers
also incorporate a shifting price scale that favors
customers who purchase the most [4].
The wholesale market for electrical supplies is
divided into industrial, commercial, and
residential customers. Wholesalers deliver
industrial electrical equipment and value-added
services to organizations involved in
infrastructure work. In 2020 the sector
experienced mild declines based on economic
pressure but has grown significantly as Covid
spurred housing and construction projects in
2021.
In 2017 Gale Business Insights Global reported
on “industry leaders” by first describing Graybar
as employee owned with about 8,500 employees
and then WESTCO International Inc. (Pittsburg)
Graybar Canada Case
This case is for teaching and learning classroom use. While many elements of the case are real some are fictitious.
with about 9,100 employees. In the same report,
Gales listed WESTCO’s 2017 annual revenue as
$7.7 billion USD. [4]
Graybar Canada Today
In March 2019 just prior to Covid 19, Jason Taylor
assumed the lead of Graybar Canada in the role
of Executive Vice President and General
Manager. Since then, the executive leadership
team has grown, and new players have assumed
new roles. In addition to Brian Thomas’
retirement and Jason Taylor’s promotion to the
top position, in 2019 Corey Morris was
appointed from within Graybar to lead the
Atlantic Region (backfilling Jason), Jason Brimner
was recruited from outside Graybar as
Controller, and in 2021 Kevin Connolly was
recruited from outside Graybar to the role of
Marketing Director.
Graybar structure follows a matrixed model.
Geographic regions provide direct sales and
service to customers. The regional dimension is
where client relationships are managed and
where revenue is reported. Atlantic Canada was
historically the largest region by revenue but is
now similar in size to Central Canada which has
experienced significant growth. Western
Canada is the smallest region and is positioned
for growth with the introduction in 2021 of a
new Regional Director. Integration of a recent
strategic acquisition began in 2021. Electro Mag
is a regional automation distributor in the
province of Québec and strengthens Graybar’s
footprint in Canada.
The regions are supported with cross regional
functional coordination and direction from
national leaders in roles such as sales, marketing,
accounting, information technology, inventory,
and operations. In 2021 the growing national
focus on innovation resulted in a new central
role – Innovation Project Manager.
Jules Fauteux, PhD Page 2 of 5
Another new structural change was the In 2022, the Graybar Canada leadership team
establishment of The Graybar Canada Innovation comprised twelve individuals, including three
Council. A group of 60 representatives were women. Graybar Inc. (USA) was a woman led
appointed to this group intended to offer Fortune 500 company in 2022 with Kathleen
feedback and support to the portfolio of changes Mazzarella as Chief Executive Officer. Jason has
underway at Graybar Canada. The group a reporting relationship to the Graybar Canada
represents a cross section of Graybar – a Board of Directors and to Kathy.
diagonal slice. Long term employees and newer
ones, from diverse functions and regions make
up this new emerging team. The group met on a
few occasions in 2021 and began gaining focus
and momentum.

Graybar Canada Executive Leadership Team

Figure: Graybar Canada Executive Leadership Team 2022

Graybar Canada Case Jules Fauteux, PhD Page 3 of 5

This case is for teaching and learning classroom use. While many elements of the case are real some are fictitious.
Graybar Values Infor Cloud Suite® will allow Graybar to have a
more integrated view of its business including
When asked to describe Graybar Canada values
more consistent reporting. Currently the in-
its employees use words like: customer; service;
house ERP system has many reports which have
knowledge; flexible; solutions; entrepreneur;
been customized over the years. Reports will
innovative; respect; employee-owned; and
now be offered through a self-serve portal. The
neighborly. Community support through many
system graphical user interface and navigation
Graybar food and housing security related
will also be improved based on the newer
projects are points of employee pride.
technology. As Ryan Cruickshank, Innovation
Digital Transformation Project Manager said about Infor, “Its going to
look very different but the fundamental function
In 2019 Graybar began an initiative to develop an of the system will be more or less the same.
e-commerce platform where customers can Reporting will be different mind you. Some of the
engage with Graybar directly including ordering custom reports of old will need to be replaced.”
products online. The system changed many
processes internally at Graybar as well as for Graybar Roles
external vendor partners. Not long after,
Graybar Canada’s more than 650 employees all
Graybar introduced Salesforce® as a new
have the ability to buy shares in the company.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Roberta Hood, Director of Human Resources
platform.
explains, “We are proud to be a privately-owned
With over 200 users in 2022, most Graybar company and we are delighted when our
employees who interface directly with clients employees become owners.” The job titles of the
use Salesforce® as a planning and management many employees at Graybar would be
tool. All Graybar revenue forecasts are based on challenging to list. Following is an illustrative list
data in the new Salesforce® customer of the digital transformation user types:
relationship management system. When a sales Senior/Regional/ National Sales and Product
manager discusses a customer opportunity with Leaders; Branch Managers; Account Managers;
a sales representative at Graybar, they reference Inside Sales Representatives; Counter
Salesforce®. Graybar Vice President of Sales and Representatives; Pricing and Contract
Marketing Peter Horncastle often says, “If it’s not Representatives; Branch Project Management
in Salesforce it doesn’t exist.” Representatives; Branch Operations and
Administrative Staff; Warehouse Supervisors
In 2021 Graybar reached an agreement to and Staff; Inventory and Purchasing
upgrade their Enterprise Resource Planning Representatives; Corporate Accounting and
(ERP) software with an industry leading vendor - Finance Staff; Corporate Accounts Payable Staff;
Infor. The new cloud-based solution was Corporate Accounts Receivable Staff; and
embraced to provide a more solid foundation for System Managers/ Administrators. These are
Graybar growth. The current ERP system is the roles of the Graybar Canada team members
outdated, and technical support is limited. The who will innovate, grow, and (need to) change.
new Infor Cloud Suite® is state-of-the-art
technology based on industry best practices.
[1] Graybar Canada, "About Us," 28 February 2022. [Online]. Available: https://www.graybarcanada.com/about-us. [Accessed 28 February 2022].
[2] Graybar Inc. (USA), "About Us," 28 February 2022. [Online]. Available: https://www.graybar.com/about-us. [Accessed 28 February 2022].
[3] Graybar Canada, "News: Graybar Canada appoints Jason Taylor," [Online]. Available: https://www.graybarcanada.com/News/Graybar-Canada-New-Executive-VP-and-General-
Manager_Press-Release.pdf. [Accessed 28 February 2022].
[4] Business Insights: Global, "Electrical Apparatus and Equipment, Wiring Supplies, and Related Merchant Wholesalers," Gale a Cengage Company, 2021.

Graybar Canada Case Jules Fauteux, PhD Page 4 of 5

This case is for teaching and learning classroom use. While many elements of the case are real some are fictitious.
Questions for Discussion

Describe the changes underway at Graybar Canada? Would you say a lot is changing? What roles do you
think might be impacted by the changes? Imagine the roles and the impact of the changes you identify.
Would you say the impact of those changes is significant? Why?

Discuss change management and how Graybar might apply change management at this time. What
change management strategies could be used to enable more and faster adoption of the innovation
agenda and related changes at Graybar?

Consider one particular role at Graybar. Use your imagination. Describe how that individual’s role might
be different based on the changes you identified above. Specifically, what might have changed in the work
environment (new boss, new system, etc.). Based on the differences you imagine (old role versus new role)
what could Graybar do to help the employee adopt the change more and more quickly? What change
management tactics could be used?

Graybar Canada Case Jules Fauteux, PhD Page 5 of 5

This case is for teaching and learning classroom use. While many elements of the case are real some are fictitious.