When Sherwin-Williams Painted Itself Into a Corner, Jack Breen Found a Way Out
When Sherwin-Williams Painted Itself Into a Corner, Jack Breen Found a Way Out
Such was the prelude to the 21-year reign of Jack Breen, recruited from Gould Inc. and installed as CEO in 1979. One of his first tasks was to fend off a corporate raider, Charles Bluhdorn of Gulf & Western Industries, who had acquired a 13.5% stake. Mr. Breen negotiated an agreement to buy back the shares for $21 million, and the takeover threat dissolved. DJ When Sherwin-Williams Painted Itself Into a Corner, Jack Breen Found a Way Out
當舍温-威廉姆斯把自己漆成一個角落時，傑克·布林找到了一條出路
By James R. Hagerty
詹姆斯·R·哈格蒂(James R.Hagerty)著
Sherwin-Williams Co. slipped into the red in 1978 and stopped paying dividends for the first time in 93 years. The Cleveland-based paint maker, struggling to compete with discounters, was paying heavy costs to close its creakiest factories. The chief executive officer, Walter O. Spencer, resigned, saying: "The job is no longer any fun."
舍温-威廉姆斯公司(Sherwin-Williams Co.)1978年陷入赤字，93年來首次停止派發股息。這家總部位於克利夫蘭的油漆製造商正在努力與折扣店競爭，為了關閉其最搖搖欲墜的工廠，它付出了沉重的成本。首席執行官沃爾特·O·斯賓塞(Walter O.Spencer)辭職，他説：“這份工作不再有趣了。”
Such was the prelude to the 21-year reign of Jack Breen, recruited from Gould Inc. and installed as CEO in 1979. One of his first tasks was to fend off a corporate raider, Charles Bluhdorn of Gulf & Western Industries, who had acquired a 13.5% stake. Mr. Breen negotiated an agreement to buy back the shares for $21 million, and the takeover threat dissolved.
這是傑克·布林(Jack Breen)21年統治的前奏。布林從古爾德公司(Gould Inc.)招聘，並於1979年就任首席執行官。他的首要任務之一是擊退海灣和西部工業公司的查爾斯·布魯道恩(Charles Bluhdorn)，他已經獲得了13.5%的股份。布林通過談判達成了一項協議，以2100萬美元的價格回購這些股票，收購威脅最終煙消雲散。
He swiftly hired new talent, replacing about half the top 110 executives in the first year, while setting up better incentive-pay plans, improving cash management and reducing debt. He expanded and smartened up the chain of Sherwin-Williams paint stores.
他迅速招聘了新的人才，在第一年就更換了前110名高管中的大約一半，同時制定了更好的激勵薪酬計劃，改善了現金管理，並減少了債務。他擴大並整頓了舍温-威廉姆斯油漆連鎖店。
Sherwin-Williams resumed dividend payments in 1979 and produced higher earnings for 21 consecutive years, despite the failure of a diversification into drugstores. When Mr. Breen retired as chairman in 2000, annual sales topped $5 billion, up from $1.1 billion when he arrived.
舍温-威廉姆斯在1979年恢復了股息支付，並連續21年產生了更高的收益，儘管多元化進入藥店的努力失敗了。布林2000年從董事長職位退休時，年銷售額超過50億美元，高於他上任時的11億美元。
Mr. Breen died Oct. 28 at age 85. He had been under treatment for a brain tumor.
布林於10月28日去世，享年85歲。他一直在接受腦瘤的治療。
Within a few days of becoming CEO, Mr. Breen paid a visit to Mr. Bluhdorn in New York. "I told him, 'I don't even know what the real book value of the Sherwin-Williams Co. is -- and you don't know, either. I'm not going to work for you. So, if you're going to take over the company, do it,'" he recalled in a 2010 interview with Crain's Cleveland Business. Mr. Bluhdorn decided to sell his stake, missing out on the company's recovery.
在擔任首席執行長後的幾天內，布林拜訪了紐約的布魯道恩。“我告訴他，‘我甚至不知道舍温-威廉姆斯公司的真正賬面價值是什麼--你也不知道。我不會為你工作。所以，如果你要接管這家公司，那就去做吧。’”他在2010年接受克雷恩的“克利夫蘭商業報”(Crain‘s Cveland Business)採訪時回憶道。布魯道恩決定出售所持股份，錯失了公司復甦的良機。
Mr. Breen concluded that the previous management had neglected the Sherwin-Williams store chain. He expanded the chain to 2,396 stores in 1999 from 1,400 in 1979. The stores were vital to attracting professional painters, more finicky about quality and less likely to buy on price alone.
布林的結論是，之前的管理層忽視了舍温-威廉姆斯連鎖店。他將連鎖店從1979年的1400家擴大到1999年的2396家。這些商店對吸引專業畫家至關重要，對質量更加挑剔，不太可能僅憑價格購買。
He ended a sloppy practice of letting cash pile up in the stores; instead, it was deposited in banks daily to earn more interest. At the same time, he made the employee stock-purchase plan more generous.
他結束了讓現金堆積在商店裏的草率做法；取而代之的是，每天都把現金存入銀行，以賺取更多利息。與此同時，他讓員工購股計劃變得更加慷慨。
There were a few missteps. In 1981, Sherwin-Williams acquired Gray Drug Fair Inc., an operator of drugstores. The idea was to tap into a higher-growth business and reduce the seasonal variation in earnings. But profits from the drugstores proved minimal, and Mr. Breen sold the chain in 1987. Some of the company's acquisitions in the late 1990s also proved disappointing, forcing the company to write down asset values and report a 95% drop in profit for 2000.
有幾個失誤。1981年，舍温-威廉姆斯收購了藥店運營商格雷藥展公司(Gray Drug Fair Inc.)。這一想法是為了進入增長更快的業務，減少收益的季節性波動。但事實證明，藥店的利潤微乎其微，布林在1987年賣掉了這家連鎖店。該公司在1990年代末的一些收購也被證明是令人失望的，迫使該公司減記資產價值，並報告2000年利潤下降95%。
Christopher Connor, who succeeded Mr. Breen as CEO, remembered him for thorough reviews of divisional managers' strategic plans. "He would grill you on your thinking, your strategy and your plans -- is this the best you could do?" Mr. Connor said. "To be able to stand up to a Jack Breen review was a real badge of honor."
接替布林擔任首席執行長的克里斯托弗·康納(Christopher Connor)記得他對部門經理的戰略計劃進行了徹底的審查。“他會盤問你的想法、戰略和計劃--這就是你能做的最好的事情嗎？”康納先生説。“能夠經得起傑克·布林(Jack Breen)的評論，是一種真正的榮譽勛章。”
John Gerald Breen, always known as Jack, was born July 21, 1934, in Cleveland. He was the second of five children born to immigrants from Scotland who were of Irish descent. His father was a tool maker. His mother suffered a stroke that left her partially paralyzed at age 38. "She raised five kids with one hand," Mr. Breen told Crain's.
約翰·傑拉爾德·布林(John Gerald Breen)，一直被稱為傑克，1934年7月21日出生於克利夫蘭。他是來自蘇格蘭的愛爾蘭裔移民所生的五個孩子中的第二個。他的父親是一名工具製造商。他的母親在38歲時中風，導致部分癱瘓。“她用一隻手養大了五個孩子，”布林告訴克雷恩百貨(Crain‘s)。
He earned a business degree from John Carroll University, a Jesuit school near Cleveland, in 1956 and later received an M.B.A. degree from what is now Case Western Reserve University. He met Mary Jane Brubach while she was in nursing school. They married in 1958.
1956年，他從克利夫蘭附近的約翰·卡羅爾大學(John Carroll University)獲得商學學位，後來又從現在的凱斯西儲大學(Case Western Reserve University)獲得工商管理碩士學位。他在瑪麗·簡·布魯巴赫讀護理學校時認識了她。他們於1958年結婚。
Mr. Breen served in the U.S. Army Reserve, worked as an accountant and then joined Clevite Corp., where he was given responsibility for electrolytic copper foil, used in printed circuit boards. In the late 1960s, Clevite stationed him in England.
布林曾在美國陸軍預備役(U.S.Army Reserve)服役，當過會計師，之後加入克萊維特公司(Clevite Corp.)，負責印刷電路板所用的電解銅箔。20世紀60年代末，克萊維特把他派往英國。
Mr. Breen became an executive of Chicago-based Gould when that company absorbed Clevite in 1969.
1969年，總部位於芝加哥的古爾德公司收購了Clevite，布林成為該公司的高管。
He ran marathons in his 40s and 50s, including one in New York.
他在40多歲和50多歲的時候參加了馬拉松比賽，包括在紐約的一次。
Mr. Breen and his wife, Mary Jane, made major donations to the Achievement Centers for Children, a Cleveland nonprofit that helps people with disabilities, and to the nursing school at Ursuline College in Pepper Pike, Ohio, among other causes. Mr. Breen's younger daughter, Anne Tomolo, a medical doctor, donated a kidney to him in 2012.
布林和他的妻子瑪麗·簡(Mary Jane)向幫助殘疾人的克利夫蘭非營利組織兒童成就中心(Achievement Center For Children)和俄亥俄州佩珀派克市烏蘇林學院(Ursuline College)的護理學校等事業捐贈了大量資金。布林的小女兒安妮·託莫洛(Anne Tomolo)是一名醫生，她在2012年向布林捐贈了一個腎臟。
He is survived by his wife, five children, nine grandchildren and a brother.
他身後留下了妻子，五個孩子，九個孫子和一個兄弟。
Mr. Breen supported Roman Catholic schools and was such a fan of Notre Dame's football team that he once called his son David from an airport in Botswana to check on the latest results.
布林支持羅馬天主教學校，是巴黎聖母院足球隊的鐵桿球迷，他曾在博茨瓦納的一個機場打電話給他的兒子大衞(David)，查看最新的結果。
Write to James R. Hagerty at bob.hagerty@wsj.com
寫信給詹姆斯·R·哈格蒂(James R.Hagerty)，電子郵件：bob.hagerty@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
(完)道瓊通訊社
November 08, 2019 10:30 ET (15:30 GMT)
2019年11月8日美國東部時間10：30(格林尼治標準時間15：30)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
版權所有(C)2019年道瓊斯公司。
譯文內容由第三人軟體翻譯。
