Case Name :      Succession at Buchanan Transport

Authors :           Mary Barrett, Ken Moores, AM

Source :             North American Case Research Association (NACRA)

Case ID :            NA0251

Discipline :        General Management

Case Length :    20 pages

Solution sample availability : YES

Plagiarism : NO (100% Original work)

The case relates the history of an Australian family transport firm from its foundation, through its expansion and diversification into agriculture and tourism, to a business and succession crisis nearly 90 years later. Rita Buchanan, youngest daughter of Noel Buchanan, the third generation owner, gave her father an ultimatum about the transfer of firm ownership. Noel’s response, that he would sell the firm provided Rita remained the majority shareholder, brings interlinked family and business problems into focus: the owner’s failure to plan for succession following a dispute seven years earlier with his son, who then left the firm; the discontent of his three daughters about how this lack of succession planning affects their futures; the owner’s estrangement from his wife, Cherie, over the owner’s ongoing extramarital relationship; Cherie’s resentment of Rita’s strategic role in the firm; and the firm’s falling profitability, especially after a cyclone [hurricane] destroyed its farm and left many trucks idle. The case requires a decision about whether the youngest daughter should accept her father’s offer, and what actions are needed to safeguard the interests of the other stakeholders and ensure the future of the firm.