SMALL FAMILY BUSINESS
The New MBA
It all began to fall apart, thought Rudy Schmitz, right after he returned to the family
firm as assistant controller with his new, prestigious MBA. Ever since he was 15, when
his father, Will, had started Schmitz Sand and Gravel, Rudy had been fascinated by
the company. He worked there part-time through high school, then full-time after
getting his undergraduate degree in math.
In addition to Rudy and Will, Rudy’s younger brother, Chuck, works in the
company in a blue-collar job. Chuck, who barely finished high school, has been
As if that were not enough, Rudy has also noticed that Duke has been on a
spending spree. In addition to making some expensive purchases, Duke has been pay-
ing Schmitz employees much more than the employees of its competitors. Rudy had
just begun to fear the company was headed for real trouble when, by coincidence or
otherwise, Duke proposed a buyout offer that appears quite low to Rudy.
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