Williams Controls (a)

Williams Controls CEO, John Easton, has outlined the new strategic plan he wants to put in place to improve the company's market opportunities and accelerate its growth. The plan involves embarking on an expansive acquisition spree designed to vertically integrate the company's supply chain and simultaneously expand its product offering beyond the core electronic throttle control (ETC) business. Easton's plan sounded compelling but complicated and introduced new risks to a small company that was beginning to find its operating groove. If successful, Easton's plan could revolutionize Williams Controls and take it to heights once thought unreachable, but if unsuccessful, it could derail the company. Excerpt UVA-S-0190 Jul. 11, 2011 WILLIAMS CONTROLS (A) Williams Controls' board of directors sat at their board meeting, staring at each other. They had just heard a lengthy and impassioned pitch from the company's CEO, John Easton, outlining the new strategic plan he wanted to put in place to improve the company's market opportunities and accelerate its growth. The plan involved embarking on an expansive acquisition spree designed to vertically integrate the company's supply chain and simultaneously expand its product offering beyond the core electronic throttle control (ETC) business. The board knew its duty was to help the CEO steer the growth and evolution of the company over time while also ensuring that the interests of its shareholders were protected. Easton's plan sounded compelling but complicated and introduced new risks to a small company that was beginning to find its operating groove. If successful, Easton's plan could revolutionize Williams Controls and take it to heights once thought unreachable, but if unsuccessful, it could derail the company. As Gene Goodrich, one of board's senior directors, rose from the table to break for dinner, he looked at his fellow board members and said, “Well, folks, John has given us much to think about tonight.” The Early Years In the 1930s, Norman C. Williams, a young engineer and entrepreneur in Portland, Oregon, noticed that the logging trucks pervasive throughout the region were suffering from brake overheating as they hauled timber from the mountains of the Pacific Northwest down to the nearby ports. Truck accidents were frequent, and expensive brake replacements were routine. To address the problem, Williams invented a vacuum water valve designed to cool the brake drums of the trucks as they barreled down the mountainside roads. His invention worked and became an instant hit with local logging companies. In 1937, Williams Controls opened for business in Portland and began marketing Williams's new brake valves to trucking companies throughout the region. . . .