2007 – Present blumenthal-hart Ltd. Chicago, IL
Vice President
- Consults with hedge funds and private investors about the education textbook industry and electronic books.
- Implements Balanced Scorecard Strategy Maps and metrics for strategic planning.
- Performs econometric analysis to build structural models of industries and markets.
- Consults on a wide range of projects dealing with strategy, growth targets, forecasting, and education markets.
- Designs, develops, and maintains technology infrastructure to ensure leading edge capabilities and high levels of operational efficiency.
1992–2007 Follett Corporation River Grove, IL
Follett Corporation is a privately held company in the educational services industry. With annual sales in excess of $2 billion, Follett manages over 700 college bookstores and distributes books and materials to schools and libraries.
Director of Strategy and Research
- Acted as a consultant on a wide variety of studies involving economics, statistical concepts, risk and uncertainty, benchmarking, and simulation modeling.
- Prepared Strategic Plan for enterprise and managed the process that includes setting of revenue and economic profitability targets in a newly revamped Strategy & Business Development Department.
- Performed econometric analyses of sales and profitability for individual operating companies and help refine their forecasting abilities.
- Established a Balanced Scorecard process and implemented a web based reporting system
Corporate Director for Technology Development
- Created a strategic plan for a newly formed Corporate Technology Group.
- Developed strategies for digital content delivery and identified opportunities for new business ventures in this emerging technology area.
- Authored a weekly report on new technologies, eBooks, research, Internet commerce, and other timely issues related to Follett Corporation’s overall business mission in education and distributed it over the intranet.
Corporate Director – Strategic Planning and Information Systems
- Recruited by the Chairman of the Board to establish a formal corporate planning activity and to create an electronic network allowing divisions to communicate with each other and their customers.
- Established a yearly planning cycle for comprehensive strategic planning and developed planning guides for all divisions. Worked with and modified the system over several years.
- Designed and managed the installation of a wide area network that connected Follett to the Internet in 1993, years before it became attractive commercially.
- Worked with the Corporate Director of Business Development to create business strategies and plans for several business opportunities. Played an integral role in bringing one project to conclusion, creating an outsourcing service to public and government libraries – now the largest such service provider in the field today.
- Represented Follett on numerous industry committees: Board of Directors Book Industry Study Group, Chairman of the Book Industry Systems Advisory Committee, National Information Standards Organization, and Uniform Code council.
Co-Director – Unified Software Project
Asked by the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation to study and develop a recommendation for Point of Sale technology investment for two divisions.
- Developed a comprehensive list of requirements and tested the list with internal potential user groups. Hired a market research firm to hold focus groups with college bookstores to test feasibility of system outside of Follett.
- Performed extensive cost-benefit analysis for a range of project alternatives and negotiated a license for a core register and back office system.
- Authored a popular, widely distributed pamphlet on retail product marking standards in the college store.
1985–1992 Follett Campus Resources Chicago, IL
Director – Planning and Development
- Hired by the Division President to implement and expand upon a number of recommendations to improve their market share in the face of new competition and technology advances.
- Established the first comprehensive planning function within the division. Redesigned the business unit budgeting system to reflect responsibility accounting.
- Created, hired, and managed the division controller and internal programming staff. Installed local area network to support warehouse operations.
1978–1985 The Jeffrey Corporation Deerfield, IL
President
Operated a consulting practice specializing in business turn-around strategies, loan workout programs, process re-engineering, activity based costing, and startup business development.
1969–1978 Planmetrics, Inc. Chicago, IL
Vice President – Forecasting Division
One of the original principals in this firm that provided consulting and software development services to businesses. Headed the utility rates and economics practice.
1965–1969 Sylvania / GT&E Mountain View, CA
Sr. Research Engineer
Analyzed military communications and weapons systems vulnerability to electronic threats.
1968 Bolt Baranek & Newmann Cambridge, MA
Consultant
On the recommendation of his advisor at Stanford, he took leave of absence from Sylvania / GT&E to work at BBN as part of his Engineer’s thesis. Worked on a timesharing service and ARPANET project that later became the Internet.
Teaching Experience
2011 Harold Washington College Chicago, IL
Teaching mathematics (Algebra, geometry and statistics) to students at the entry level.
1984–1986 Lake Forest Graduate School of Mgt. Lake Forest, IL
Taught courses on Strategic Planning and Quantitative Methods; created Custom Anthology for Strategic Planning course.
1979–1982 Northwestern University Evanston, IL
Adjunct Faculty, J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences Department where he taught a course on simulation models in business and economics. Authored text for course.
EDUCATION
- Engineer, Engineering-Economic Systems (1969) Stanford University, CA
- Master of Science, Electrical Engineering (1964) Stanford University, CA
- Certificate of Advanced Engineering Study (1995) Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
- Bachelor of Engineering Physics (1963) Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
ACTIVITIES (Past and present)
- Economic Club of Chicago
- The Union League Club of Chicago
- National Association for Business Economics
- Co-Founder of the NABE/CPS Economics After School Club
- Chicago Principal for a Day
- Member of the Medill School Turnaround Project
- MENtor in Real Men Read Project
- Former Trustee, Village of Deerfield, Illinois
- Former Chairman, Deerfield CATV Committee
- Board of Directors and Treasurer of the Book Industry Study Group
- Chairman of the Book Industry Systems Advisory Committee
