Ken has demonstrated a rare ability to fully develop a market, and has international organization potential to make things happen in a marketplace and within an organization. He has a clear sense of reality of how to go about solving merchandising problems. He understands consumers and products and how to merchandise one to the other.

We were impressed with his communication skills. His resume does not have the customary academic credentials; however, he is extremely well-read - - very familiar with key current management text materials, and he demonstrates a thorough understanding of management theory (as opposed to using for example: "In Search of Excellence" as a cook-book guide). He passed his "orals" regarding management, selling, and the hands-on realities of operating a business which deals with the consuming public.

Ken has unusually highly developed capabilities for innovation - melding strong creativity, need identification, adaptation and willingness to break fresh ground. He has strong entrepreneurial capabilities but functions best in an organizational setting.

A Creative, Strong leader and Communicator. Competitor, Sales, Merchandising, Consumer Goods, Used to working in an industry with thin profit margins. Been there and done that.

Recommended Compensation: Base with tangible incentives above that base.

COMMENT:
Ken has a strong sense of the value of developing sales - - "nothing happens until someone sells something". He has a high level of comprehension of merchandising consumer products. We were also particularly impressed with the thought pattern that led him to the approach taken with developing the shopping plaza, and subsequently the cigar business. Both instances required analytical approaches in areas foreign to the grocery business - - yet, he was able to not only conceptualize the issues, he implemented solutions and innovated. Good stuff! He is a serious minded hands-on individual with a desirable combination of organizational loyalty, tenacity and "guts".

Our recommendation for his placement would ideally be with an existing, small to mid-sized organization that has a consumer oriented product or not-quite-developed product that may employ moderate to higher technology. The organization for him has a reasonably-well defined understanding that merchandising of a product is not as simple as it seems (or should be). The organization that fits him will want to expand their market globally. The organization needs a hands-on "doer" rather than an ivory-tower theorist. Our suggested protocol would be to invite him to spend a day or two with an interested organization; asking him to define the job he can do including defining what he expects to happen and what support he will need.
Logical position: General Manager