New York University: Leonard N. Stern School of Business Managing Growing Companies

Northwest Security Services

Darshani Shah

Double spacing , 12 point font, max page limit 5 pages; It should be sent to gokun@stern.nyu.edu and gokun1@mac.com.
1. Evaluate Bob’s process for establishing the NSS advisory board. What could be improved?

Bob had an incredible process for establishing the NSS advisory board that consisted of non-family members with varied background such as marketing, entrepreneurship, finance etc. These five board members had demonstrated track record in their respective fields. The advisory board members complemented the skills of the NSS management team.
Of the five advisory members, Barry Ready, president of Readymade Office Systems provided an expertise in resolving some of the business problems due to similarities between its firm and NSS. Also, Readymade was larger than NSS and at a different maturity level
In spite Bob and Rex had developed business acumen through management courses that they undertook, they lacked strong competence in finance and marketing. Dick Crandall, a financial expert and Professor Jim Carter, sales and marketing professor at University of Washington Business School provided the expertise in these areas and filled in the gaps in the knowledge and experience that Bob and Rex lacked. Bob felt a need of an advisory member that understands operations management better to help resolve some of the issues. So he appointed Mark Anderson, COO of Portland Timber for his knowledge in dealing with operation issues. Also, there was a need of adding a female board member that could represent female employees of NSS. So, Bob chose to add Peggy Thomas, first female employee of Microsoft on the board. Basically, Bob did well in establishing advisory board, including CEO, COO, and financial expertise and Marketing expertise, who have the family-owned background or service industry background. Also, there was one female member who would be able to help the company better understand the female customers or help the female family member to involve in the family business. With the development of company, Bob added new members to the board according to the business needs. This is another good point.

Bob’s process for establishing the NSS advisory board was very successful. All board members have demonstrated track record and strong business or professional background. The board worked well and it brought a number of important benefits to the company. Of the five advisory members, Barry Ready was the president of Readymade Office Systems and his company shared lots of similarities with NSS. Readymade also had twice the revenue and twice as many employees as NSS. Therefore Barry would be able to bring a strong strategic perspective to the owners and managers, and then help NSS better deal with the challenges and opportunities ahead. In addition, since neither Bob nor Rex has much experience in finance and marketing, Dick Crandall and Professor Jim Carter would be able to share their expertise and help fill gaps in the knowledge and experience of the management. At the same time, Mark Anderson, the COO of Portland Timber would provide knowledgeable guidance for better operations management. Moreover, since many users of NSS service are women, it was a smart idea to add diversity to the board by introducing Peggy Thomas, who would be able to help the company better understand the female customers.

Perhaps one thing that could be improved in the process is that Bob should create a document that clearly states the terms, duties, compensations, and meeting frequency of the board. In addition, Bob and Rex may consider adding an attorney to the board to improve the company’s ability to deal with legal issues. This new person could replace one of the existing board members and keep the board size at five members.

2. Who should set