And the culture he created? “It hasn’t
changed at all,” he says. “If anything, we can be more entrepreneurial now that
we have deeper resources.” Gary Furst has seen cultural changes firsthand in
two family businesses that were acquired by larger corporations, with mixed
results. When he sold American Brush, his family’s fourth-generation $20 million
business to Stanley Tool in 1992, he stayed with the company for three years.
“They did some restructuring, but were pretty good to our people,” says Furst.
“They liked the business and recognized we were very entrepreneurial, something
they wanted to emulate for themselves, since they realized we made quick,
effective decisions. They tried to hard to keep much of our culture intact.”
That culture included an open-door policy for employees to meet Furst,
dedication to quality products, and a good dose of fun. “You show your employees
you’re human and not afraid to admit when you made mistakes,” says
Furst. Furst says a similar pattern emerged after he took over as CEO of
Kryptonite. The Boston-based lock manufacturer, owned by the Zane family, had
brought him aboard in 1995 with the idea of eventually selling. They finally did
sell in 2001 to the behemoth Ingersoll-Rand, but not before Furst had instilled
a more open culture at Kryptonite, including “town meetings” at which the
finances, failures and successes were discussed. Despite Ingersoll-Rand’s
best intentions to keep Kryptonite’s youthful and dynamic culture alive, the
attitude adjustment has been difficult for some Kryptonite insiders. “Going from
50 employees into a company with over 45,000 involves culture shock,” says
Furst, who still consults for the company. “You go from being small, nimble and
able to make quick decisions to a place where you have to go into committees for
simple answers.” Ingersoll-Rand has done a good job in letting Kryptonite’s
entrepreneurial culture survive, concedes Furst, since it wants to use it as a
model for its other businesses. “But it’s just not the same as when you’re a
private company.” As for American Brush, the story has a not-so-happy
ending. After running the division for three years, Stanley Tool sold it, and
Furst watched the old name get tarnished. American Brush was cited in 2000 by
the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for violations of OSHA
standards; the case has since been settled.
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