Abstract
It was an early summer afternoon in 1968 that Mr. Peter Board, President of River City Millwork Co., a family held corporation, sat in his walnut paneled office behind his desk and puffed away on his cigar. His thoughts were concerned with prospects for the business for the current year and the years to come. The past five years had not been good to this company, a distributor and fabricator of windows, doors and related millwork items. (See Exhibit A). The firm, during this period, had suffered from market price competition, various inventory problems, inefficient shop operations, and questionable purchasing strategies.