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The ARA Consulting Group Inc. ARC Financial Corp. Assante Capital Management Inc. Big Freight Systems Inc. Boston Pizza International Inc. The Career Academy CDI Education Corp. CHC - Working Well The Colt Companies Compugen Systems Ltd. Crila Plastic Industries Ltd. Cyba Stevens Management Group Inc. DEW Engineering & Development Ltd. Distinction Maintenance Service Inc. Dynapro Technologies Inc. E.QU.I.P. International Inc. Exfo Electro-Optical Engineering Fordia Fountain Tire Hockley Valley Resort & Conference Centre Hospitality Corp. of Manitoba Inc. ICOM Information & Communications Inc. Imperial Smelting & Refining Co. of Canada Ltd. INFORMISSION Group Inc. Kudu Industries Inc. Larochelle Gratton Inc. Long & McQuade Ltd. The Lowe-Martin Group Max Meilleur et Fils ltee Maxtech Manufacturing Inc. Morrison Lamothe Inc. MSM Transportation Inc. Mustang Survival Corp. National Leasing Group Inc. Obus Forme Ltd. PCL Construction Group Inc. Pickseed Canada Inc. Pomerleau Quik X Transportation Inc. RAM Computer Supply Inc. The Rider Travel Group Roland Boulanger & Co. Ltd. The Skiing Louise Group Sleep Country Canada Inc. St. Joseph Corp. Western Water & Sewer Supplies (1978) Ltd. Westman Group Wheels International Freight Systems Inc. |
Canada's 50 Best Managed Private CompaniesCompanies that raise the barThe standard for becoming one of the 50 best gets higher each year
In the world of business, such champions are not so easily identified, particularly among companies that are privately owned. For them, there are no annual meetings, analysts don't issue research reports and balance sheets are not published. But excellence never goes unrecognized for long. Top performing companies quickly gain pre-eminent reputations among their peers and suppliers. New facilities open in other communities as the company grows from a regional entity to a national force. Trade missions and strategic alliances increase exports and expertise. Word spreads; best practices abound. From 775 nominated companies, a select group of these Canadian champions has been chosen as the 50 Best Managed Private Companies for 1997, the award's fifth year. Despite the name, the winners' circle embraces people who are a far cry from being members of management. "Awards make all of our employees and all our students feel good about themselves," says Lorraine Lush, founder and president of The Career Academy in St. John's. Once nominations were winnowed, field interviews were conducted at 201 companies by more than 50 partners from Arthur Andersen and Le Groupe Mallette Maheu. They checked not only financials, but a long list of other key attributes such as corporate vision, technical capacity, communications, employee programs and innovation. 
"I've watched the 50 Best winners with envy. For the last several years we purposely did not apply," says Michael Nairne, president and chief executive of Equion Group, a financial and investment planning firm with 25 offices. "We were making huge changes in our back office and we wanted to make sure we were delivering to our clients. Once we knew we were doing that, we applied for the award this year and were delighted to win." "Each year we can see an improvement in the quality of the companies and the level of effort those companies go to win the 50 Best award," says Al Guarino of Arthur Andersen, partner with the enterprise group and responsible for the 50 Best. "We're building a brand in the marketplace." Guarino spotted three trends among this year's winners: First, a growing awareness of the need for a team approach, not just at the top, but throughout the organization. Second, a growing investment in people using everything from advanced training to increased employee share ownership. Third, best practices are now being used as a marketing tool. "Companies are increasingly focused on informing everyone -- suppliers, employees and customers -- about their best practices," Guarino says. "It's not enough just having a best practice, they make sure everybody knows about it. That's how they build market share." Once the submissions have been studied and field interviews completed, final selection of the 50 Best was determined by a panel of five judges. They were: Russel Robertson, managing partner, central and western Canada, Arthur Andersen, Toronto; Maryanne McNellis, vice-president news, The Financial Post, Toronto; John Bowden, executive vice-president, commercial banking, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Toronto; Kenneth Wong, associate professor and chair, MBA for science and technology, school of business, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont.; and Francois Coutu, president and chief operating officer, The Jean Coutu Group, Longueuil, Que. Seventeen companies among this year's 50 Best are previous winners. Once a company has won a 50 Best award, it can requalify for each of the next two years by completing a questionnaire and submitting updated financial information. A follow-up field interview confirms best practices not only remain in place but also are being expanded. After requalifying twice, a company must begin the process all over again, just as though it were applying for the first time. Forty-one companies who were named 50 Best in 1996 have requalified this year; so did 37 companies from among the 1995 winners. These select 78 may continue to use the 50 Best logo and identification. Repeat winners are the first to say the award both honors past accomplishments and immediately raises the bar. "Being among the 50 Best keeps you constantly looking to meet the expectations you've created with people," says Brian Hesje, president and chief executive of Fountain Tire of Edmonton. "We won in 1994 and we were having a little trouble with our switchboard at the time. Somebody finally got through to me and said. 'How can you be one of the 50 Best if it's so hard to get you on the phone?' We made some changes immediately." Such effort shows. Total sales by this year's 50 Best winners grew to $5.7 billion in 1997 from $4.1 billion in 1995, a 39% increase. They also created 6,270 jobs during the two-year period. Employment rose to 28,430 from 22,190, a 28% increase. CEOs of the 50 Best companies don't spend much time in the office basking in the glory of the award. In November and December, K. C. Vasuveda, CEO of Maxtech Manufacturing Inc., of Waterloo, Ont., was in India, Taiwan and China for four weeks. Within hours of being informed his firm had won, president Luc Paquet of Fordia, a drill bit manufacturer based in Ville St-Laurent, Que., headed off for two weeks of business meetings in Africa. Robert Mills, CEO of Kudu Industries Inc., Calgary, has just returned from France. Boston Pizza International president Jim Treliving heard about the award while he was in Hawaii where he was negotiating the sale of an area franchise agreement. His partner, George Melville, was prospecting in Palm Springs, Calif. For the 50 Best, there's no rest. Know someone who might be interested in this page? Just type in the email address to send them the URL |
