Meridian Success Story: 11

Porter Athletic Equipment Company

A Demoralized Management Team Implements a New Corporate Focus that Revitalizes the Company and Attracts a Strategic Buyer

• Client Objective: Refocus the company and recharge the management team after an unsuccessful attempt by the board of directors to sell the business
  
• MAI Contributions:
  
  1. MAI Process Enhances Team Synergy: The MAI process strengthened communication and information sharing within the Porter team and led to a new appreciation for individual member’s roles
  2. Identified a 3 Year Expansion Strategy that Focused on Organic Growth and Operations Efficiency: Independent MAI industry and customer research set the stage for management development and implementation of the following growth Initiatives, which focused first on reinvesting in the existing Porter business:
     1. New marketing and customer communications programs to reinforce brand reputation
     2. Investment to regain product differentiation
     3. A sales force restructuring to:
        1. Better address territory potential, and
        2. Enhance efforts against “complementary” buyers
     4. Improved operations efficiency in the newly-expanded plant
     5. A business plan for after-sale “services,” a profitable adjacent area
  3. New Budget Priorities Established: MAI guided development of new budget priorities, in particular a shift in spending away from development of a new category (school lockers), in favor of increased investment in growth of the core basketball backboard business
• Results:

1. A Newly-Energized Management Team: After the initial MAI engagement, Porter management was executing around a focused 3 Year corporate strategy, and the enthusiasm of the team was palpable
2. Regained Share Leadership and Grew Net Income: Within Year 1 of the MAI engagement, Porter was once again the market leader (with a 40% market share) in its primary product line, and company net income, after a disappointing year, was again growing at a healthy pace
3. Porter Athletic was Subsequently Acquired by a Related Industry Company, Gill Athletics

Click here for the full Porter Story, including details of the process used by MAI to refocus this company