The Story of Charlie Mullins

by Jim Wygand

  Charlie chuckled as much to himself as in response to Laura’s comment. He smiled at Laura and said, “Enjoy it while you can.”

  Walking to his office Charlie thought, “Fred must be in a real pickle. He doesn’t know who he should badger.” With power dispersed among the members of the Executive Committee Perkins had decided that discretion was the better part of valor and to avoid trouble he would just keep mum until Phillip Shaw returned.

  Once settled in his chair Charlie picked up his phone and dialed Bill Cummins’ number. When Cummins came on the line he said, “Bill, good morning,” Cummins returned the greeting and Charlie continued, “I’ve got a meeting today with Warren Carpenter. I think you should be there. I’m getting the white paper organized and I have noticed some things that could be important to our objective. Can you make it?”

  “Sure, Charlie, I’ll leave a little early and drive over to Wilmington. What time is your meeting?”

  “Five-thirty, Bill, in Carpenter’s office. See you there?”

  “Right, five-thirty it is. See you then. Bye Charlie.”

  “Thanks. See you later.” Charlie rang off.

  Charlie spent the rest of his day gathering file copies of previous operating department budgets and customer service reports. He pored over them and his initial views were confirmed. Several customer service reports contained minor complaints from customers regarding product quality. Some had indicated that a few customers had purchased increasing amounts of product from competitors. In each case the sales personnel had told the customer that the complaint would be addressed. However, Charlie noted that in the budgets the underlying causes of the complaints had not been addressed. However, some of the draft budgets that he discussed with operating departments before submitting final budgets to Fred Perkins did have requests for capital equipment or investments that the department heads themselves removed, presumably to facilitate negotiations with Fred. He also noticed that the operating departments were reporting gradually increasing costs because of aging machinery that needed to be replaced or upgraded. Productivity was declining in small increments but the declines were narrowing profit margins.

  He would have a lot to discuss with Bill Cummins and Warren Carpenter.

  Charlie stuffed the file copies into his briefcase and at five-o-clock locked his desk. He would copy the documents at Warren Carpenter’s office and return them to Central Files on Monday. He did not want to run the risk that someone might ask for some or any of the documents and be informed that he had checked them out. He wondered if he was not being excessive with his security concerns but concluded that if it was not necessary to run risks, why should he?

  He waited for most of his department to clear out before he left. Fred Perkins had already gone. Charlie headed for the elevators and entered a nearly empty car to the street level. He said “have a nice weekend” as he departed the elevator and heard the expected “same to you” from the persons in the car with him. He walked out on to the street and looked for anyone who might see him heading away from the parking lot and toward the building where Warren Carpenter had his office. No one was paying attention. When he arrived to Carpenter’s office, the front reception desk was vacant. Warren Carpenter was sitting on a sofa in the large reception area, reading a magazine. He looked up to see Charlie arriving and opened the glass door of the office.

  “Hey Charlie, good to see you again, Bill Cummins told me you were on board and had already begun your white paper. He called to tell me he is on the way. Would you like a drink? It’s after hours, you know.”

  “Maybe after our meeting, thanks”, said Charlie.

  “OK, that’s fine”, replied Carpenter, “Bill should be here shortly.”

  As he was finishing his sentence, Bill Cummins stepped from the elevator. Carpenter opened the glass door to the office to let Cummins enter then locked the door. He pointed both men toward his office and said, “Let’s meet in my office. Nobody will bother us now.”

  The three men walked to Carpenter’s office where they sat around a small conference table set off in a corner. Carpenter began, “Charlie, I’m glad you decided to take on this challenge. I’m sure Bill was as glad as I was to hear your decision. As you know from the Executive Committee bulletins, Phillip Shaw has begun his recovery program. He’s working out on a treadmill and will move to more strenuous exercise in a week or two. He’s well and curious to know what you have planned and what you have discovered so far.”

  Charlie began, “Bill and I met last week to go over the financials. There are some properties in the company’s name that are used by family members for private purposes. They lease the properties from the company for vacations, claims of business activity, and so on. In fact, they are actually vacation residences or ‘crash pads’ for the rich. We identified all of those properties and recommend that the family members buy those properties from the company at fair market values. The transactions would be executed by contracts that Bill can keep at Wexler until just before the sale of the company is announced. Payment or payments from the family members to the company would be made to a temporary offshore company set up to hold the funds until such time as the IPO is practically set up. Likewise, any mortgage payments would continue to be made by the company in accordance with existing contracts and family members would reimburse the company via payments to the offshore company. At the right moment all the accounts would be settled and booked and the offshore company shut down. The company books will be clean of any private family holdings before the IPO is announced.”

  “That should work just fine”, said Carpenter, “I will draw up the contracts and collect the signatures of the family members. I don’t see any legal problems but it is possible that Becky Shaw, Phillip’s divorced sister, might have cash flow problems. She lives high on the hog and goes through money like shit through a goose – excuse my French! I will discuss her particular case with Phillip. He knows his sister well enough to be able to anticipate her reaction. Any advances to her will be documented and settled following the IPO.”

  Charlie continued, “In view of Phillip Shaw’s plan to announce that he will be pursuing a more aggressive growth strategy after returning as CEO, I think I have found just the right information. I will, of course, report it in greater detail in my white paper on the status of the company. To make an otherwise long story short, the company has been suffering small but persistent losses of productivity and, consequently market share or reduced margins across the range of its products and services. The loss has been small in each quarter but when calculated over a one-year period it has turned out to be significant. When you figure that a 0.2% productivity loss in a given quarter can result in almost a 1% loss in a year – 0.804% to be exact and 1.6% over a two year period. In a company like Shaw, that can set you pretty far back if it doesn’t get recognized and persists. I think the operating department heads were reluctant to take on Fred Perkins for more investment funding. You know that Fred is a bit difficult….”

  Warren Carpenter interrupted, “A bit difficult?! He could scare Frankenstein himself with his attitudes.”

  Charlie laughed amiably, “Understood Warren, but let’s remember that sometimes you have to fight for what you want if it’s important enough. My impression is that during no single quarter the numbers were so out of synch that they justified a knock-down-drag-’em-out confrontation with Fred. So, to get their budgets approved with minimal resistance, the operating departments asked for only what they thought they could get rather than what they really needed. No one looked back far enough to see how far they had drifted away from the market. And they didn’t fight for what they wanted or needed.”

  Used to the genteel sports of sailing and polo, Warren Carpenter said to Charlie, “I guess it’s a bit like sailing. If you don’t compensate for the lateral drift of your boat and look only at your forward progress through the water, you will soon be well off course.”

  Charlie smiled, “Sounds good to me. I only bowl and
play softball”, and then laughed.

  Both Carpenter and Cummins laughed with Charlie, “Yeah, metaphors can be dangerous, Warren, not everyone has the same frame of reference.”

  “I think I have grasped the concept”, Charlie said, “yes, there was some lateral drift that required course correction and it was not compensated as a result of internal politics. But the problem is not so great that it cannot be readily corrected and besides, it gives Phillip a plausible excuse for becoming more aggressive when he returns to office.”

  “Yeah, it’s perfect”, said Bill Cummins, “Phillip can say that he had sufficient time away from day-to-day matters to observe the company from a distance.”

  Charlie showed Warren Carpenter and Bill Cummins some of the figures and graphs he had put together to more visually grasp the amount of “lateral drift” that had affected the various operating divisions. He followed, “I don’t want Phillip to see these yet, but you can see what has been happening. I intend to put these into the white paper and Phillip can show them to the press and to the Executive and Finance Committees as he sees fit.”

  Cummins and Carpenter reviewed Charlie’s initial analysis and agreed that it provided a powerful argument for a series of “course corrections” that the market would accept and employees would welcome. “It’s an excellent smoke screen”, said Carpenter, “I’ll discuss it with Phillip to show that we are moving ahead. He will feel good about this, I’m sure.”

  “Charlie”, Carpenter asked, “how soon do you think you will have your final report ready?”

  “I will probably need a week to two weeks to get it all together. There are 5 divisions to be looked at and each has a particular set of circumstances. But it is clear that overall the company needs a more aggressive posture in the market.”

  “OK, I will tell Phil that it will take about two weeks. That should give you some leeway and not pressure you. Phil will have plenty of time to review the report before his return press conference.”

  “Bill”, Carpenter continued, “I presume that Wexler & Santori will endorse the report.”

  “By all means, Warren, we will sign off on the numbers Charlie puts together to strengthen Phil’s statements and for Phil to know that we have reviewed Charlie’s work. Meanwhile, I will work with Charlie to look for acquisitions that might resolve the productivity and quality problems while using up the company’s excess cash.”

  “OK, agreed”, Carpenter said, “I will see Phil tomorrow at his home and let him know where we stand so far. Good progress gentlemen, good progress. Now, let’s seal this meeting with a drink!” Carpenter walked to the bar he had in a credenza in his office. He took out a bottle of expensive single malt scotch and poured a generous shot for each of them. “Here’s to success!” and raised his glass in toast. “Here, here”, said Charlie and Bill. They sipped their scotch and talked about the local sports teams for a brief while. Charlie was the first to rise, “OK, guys, I’ve still got a lot of work to do, so I’m going to head home. Warren, thanks for reviewing my figures and Bill, I’ll call you first thing on Monday to go over what I put together over the weekend. Could I suggest that our next meeting be on Friday, a week from now, same time, at the Ritz-Carlton in Philly? I’ll rent a meeting room for a couple of hours and pay cash. That OK?”

  “Fine”, said Warren Carpenter. “Ditto”, said Bill Cummins.

  * * * * *

  Charlie took his leave and headed back to the parking lot near his office building. He picked up his car and headed for Gina’s.

  Gina was at home when Charlie arrived and met him with a warm kiss as he entered the apartment. “Oooo, how good it is to be able to wait at home for my man to arrive. Have a good day, Charlie?”

  “Oh yeah, how about you?”

  “I called Emily today, remember her? Bob’s wife – you know, the architect.”

  “Of course I remember. I remember both of them. You told me that Bob got a contract to design some city housing projects.”

  “Yeah, well Emily is really excited about it. They will now have enough income for her to concentrate on her painting. She had been doing some substitute teaching to pick up extra money but with the contract Bob got, she can now spend more time doing what she loves most – painting.”

  “That’s great”, said Charlie, “will she be ready for a show soon?”

  “Maybe in a month, maybe two”, Gina replied, “but she’s really on fire now.”

  “Will you organize the show?” Charlie asked.

  “How could I do otherwise? They are such wonderful people. So committed to helping others and making the world a better place. I’m so glad to help!”

  “Gina, I find you so amazing. You are such a fine, generous person, and so committed to bettering the world you live in who would have thought that your uncle..?”

  A cloud crossed Gina’s face. Charlie had never seen her so disturbed. “Hang on, Charlie. You know little about my uncle. He has helped a lot of people, especially poor people. I know what they say about him in the press but you don’t know what they don’t say about him. He has made donations to hospitals, schools, and orphanages. He has arranged jobs for people who needed to support their families. He has pressured politicians to help the poor. He has…..”

  “Oh, Gina, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”

  “I know what you meant, Charlie. I’m not angry at you. It’s just that things are not so black and white in life. What if Carlo Rizzo had been born to a Mainline family? Would he be ‘Don’ Carlo Rizzo today? Maybe, but I doubt it. Maybe he would have gone to Wharton, earned an MBA and become a bank president or CEO, maybe even at a company like Shaw. Charlie, I want you to visualize a 5-year-old kid traumatized by war, a refugee – they called them ‘displaced persons’ – from a poor country that had known only exploitation and violence throughout its history. He spoke no English and had no money. He defended himself as best he could and he bent more than a few rules and broke many others to survive. Imagine his confusion as he was presented with the contradictions of this new society in which he lived. You remember the story of the construction engineer he told you over lunch? You think that engineer was right to rip off immigrant workers? Don’t answer, because I know you don’t. My uncle could have accepted the situation as his destiny. Instead, he challenged the bastard and improved his own situation and that of his friends. Wrong? How do I know? I just know that the man people call ‘terrible’ and they fear took me in when I was two years old, fed me when I was hungry, treated me when I was sick, sent me to the best schools, and loved me as only a father could. You need to talk more to my uncle to really understand this. I know it’s not easy. Do you think I did not have a hard time getting my mind around the fact that I was as rich as any of the girls as Bryn Mawr but was somehow different? I was, in private conversation and in hushed tones of course, a ‘wop’. You won’t find my name on any sorority list, but you will find the names of the fathers of many sorority members in my father’s coded notebooks!”

  “Gina, I didn’t mean…”

  “I know that, Charlie. I know you love me and I love you. There are just some things that you don’t and maybe can’t understand. Talk to my Uncle Carlo. You will understand what I mean. Only he can tell you. I was brought up in a ‘hothouse”, I know it. My uncle protected me from the meanness of poverty and the pettiness of others. But I was tainted by being born to a pair of Sicilian immigrants. My children will be born free of that ‘taint’ or ‘original sin’ but I could not avoid it. Luck of the draw but good luck from my own point of view. Had things been otherwise, I would never have met you, Charlie. Do you understand that?”

  “I really do, Gina. It’s just that it confuses me. This is a world with which I am not at all familiar. I was brought up in a small town to play softball and go bowling with my buddies. I chose to work at Shaw probably simply because that was what everybody else did in Shoreville. I never had any reason to question my life. I was supposed to marry a nice local girl, work hard, b
e successful within my limits, and have a couple of kids who would be in Little League or on a soccer team. I would go to PTA, see my kids graduate from high school, send them to college, see them come back to Shoreville, get married and have their own kids. Then I would retire and be a doting grandfather, and die. I never questioned that. My career wound up being more than I had expected largely as a result of circumstance, luck, and work. I think I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.”

  “Then I presume you can understand the situation of someone who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, Charlie.”

  “I never thought about it that way, but you are right. It’s just nothing but luck of the draw. We don’t get to choose where we are born nor to whom. We just show up and then deal with it. Because of you I began to question my life. I have to admit that I concluded that I had been complacent. I learned to love with you. I learned passion for you and for life and I would not trade that lesson for anything else in this world. It has opened a whole new world to me.”

  “Now, isn’t it interesting Charlie, that that is exactly what has happened to me too? We come from such different circumstances, but both of us find love and passion that changes our lives? What does that tell you, Charlie?”

  “It tells me, Gina that each person has a destiny to fulfill. It tells me that each of us must control that destiny. And it tells me that it is nobody else’s damned business how we got here or where we are going. It tells me, Gina, that life is a creative process and that we must rise above our circumstances to be the best we can in both human and intellectual terms.”

  “Beautiful, Charlie, that’s right, but don’t dwell on it. You do what you have to do at the time you have to do it and the devil take the hindmost. If it offends the Church, the Senate, the Republican Party, the PTA, or any other man-made organization you choose to mention, then it’s just too fucking bad. They don’t pay your bills! And please excuse my French.”