J.M. Huber Corporation: Testing the limits of resilience capabilities
As circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic continued to shift and evolve, J.M. Huber Corporation (Huber) remained focused on protecting its employees, maintaining business continuity, and on advancing its multi-year sustainability strategy. The efforts of Mike Marberry, the President & CEO, the Huber Management Council (HMC), the family shareholders, as well as company diversification, helped the company to remain stable. What is more, 2020 brought the strongest financial results in Huber’s 138-year history! But new challenges were on the horizon… One of the largest and oldest family-held companies headquartered in the US, Huber had strategically repositioned itself several times since its founding in 1883 as a dry-colors business. Visionary family leaders and a committed senior management transformed the company from a single plant in Brooklyn, New York, into an international player operating in more than 20 countries, with about half of its 4,100 employees based outside North America. Structured as a portfolio managed company (PMC), Huber has become one of the key global players in hydrocolloids, specialty chemicals, minerals, agriculture solutions and engineered wood products, with a turnover of nearly US$3.5 billion in 2021. The succession of Peter Francis, the last family President & CEO and Board Chair had come at the worst possible time − during the Great Recession. Now Huber’s first non-family CEO & President, Mike Marberry, is planning his own succession for 2022, unaware of the impending COVID-19 crisis. Would the resilience and experience gained from the last transition provide an effective template to help the company face the next crisis and leadership change more than a decade later? Would the family rally behind Marberry and the company to once again turn this difficult moment into an opportunity to show its resilience? What role would Huber’s governance model and sustainability strategy play?
- Managing leadership succession in family business
- CEO succession and succession on the board (Chairman succession)
- Crisis management
- Family business values
- Sustainability leadership
J.M. Huber Corporation, Manufacturing, Industrial Goods
2000-2022
Cranfield University
Wharley End Beds MK43 0JR, UK
Tel +44 (0)1234 750903
Email [email protected]
Harvard Business School Publishing
60 Harvard Way, Boston MA 02163, USA
Tel (800) 545-7685 Tel (617)-783-7600
Fax (617) 783-7666
Email [email protected]
NUCB Business School
1-3-1 Nishiki Naka
Nagoya Aichi, Japan 460-0003
Tel +81 52 20 38 111
Email [email protected]
IMD retains all proprietary interests in its case studies and notes. Without prior written permission, IMD cases and notes may not be reproduced, used, translated, included in books or other publications, distributed in any form or by any means, stored in a database or in other retrieval systems. For additional copyright information related to case studies, please contact Case Services.
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
- J.M. Huber Corporation: Leadership succession in the face of two economic crises
- J.M. Huber Corporation: Testing the limits of resilience capabilities
- J.M. Huber Corporation: Leadership succession in the face of two economic crises
- J.M. Huber Corporation: Testing the limits of resilience capabilities
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
In July 2024 Guido Preti, La Marzocco’s sustainability manager, was preparing his three-year plan to combine La Marzocco’s ESG program with that of its new owners, the De’Longhi Group. Since its inception in 1927, the company had relentlessly soug...
This case highlights Ragn-Sells’ remarkable journey from facing financial difficulties to establishing itself as a global authority on the circular economy and sustainability. In 2015, Pär Larshans joined the Swedish waste management company durin...
Research shows that inclusive leaders drive up work engagement, creativity, and performance. But do you know when inclusive behavior is needed most? These are the most common situations when inclusivity can go by the wayside – and when inclusive l...
New science-based targets for nature protection will affect businesses.
Many employees are still typecast and denied the chance to show their true capabilities. Here are ways that companies can combat a culture of bias.
Mary Meaney Hayes shares some lessons learned on leadership diversity from a career advising company boards, being a board member, and from an unexpected and very personal role managing the effects of an international crisis.
Employees with cognitive differences have much to offer, but navigating the workplace can be challenging. How can employers create an inclusive environment?
Controlled breathing techniques can help manage stress and enhance focus.
The literature indicates that the board of directors exists to provide resources and strategic direction (service task) and monitor top managers (control task), often tending to overgeneralize board tasks. Using a unique sample of 36 elite family ...
Gina Battye shares her advice on how to achieve long-term cultural change.
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in I by IMD Brain Circuits 11 November 2024
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in I by IMD
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in I by IMD
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in I by IMD 7 November 2024
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in I by IMD
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in Journal of Management Studies November 2024, vol. 61, no. 7, pp. 2814-2848, https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12990
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in I by IMD 1 November 2024
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications