Vandercook Chain Stores, Inc. was a proof presses manufacturer that was founded by Robert Vandercook in 1909. The company dominated the proof press industry in the 20^th century through its developing of the proof presses that were most widely used and that which for them to impress, they did not rely on gravity. This made the geared presses for Vandercook to be easier and more precise to be used by an operator (Rose, 2003).

In Sterne (2003), upon the sudden retirement of the company’s previous president who succumbed to heart attack, the chain stores’ directors had to bring in John Thorp who took over the company’s presidency. Most of the ‘Old-timers’ who held important positions in the company in the company usually referred to Thorp as an ‘outsider.’ To bring about the desired changes, he brought in Mr. Ernest Underwood to be in control. Just like Mr.Thorp, Ernest was also referred to as an ‘outsider’ as well by those who had stayed in the company for quite some time. Strategic management plans had to be made for the company to maintain its stature and reputation that it held to its customers before the new management was effected. To make this successful, Underwood had to take full charge of the company’s operations under Thorp’s instructions on the department of real estate. Francis Vincent was in charge of the real head of department as he held the vice-president title for the past decade before the demise occurred. Under this transition, for effective management to be achieved, a task force team was created to deal with the study of operation of the department that dealt with real estate (Sterne, 2003). This was in a bid to focus on the largest and most sensitive department in the company, which for large profit margins to be realized had to be done some reforms. So as to bring on board a variety of ideas on how to manage the company, a blend of members from both the real estate department and the controller’s department had to make up the task force team. Representatives from each team were selected. This definitely brought about success in the team’s new laid down strategies as it enhanced team work and spirit which would later on contribute tremendously either to the company’s success or failure. So as to still borrow from various management techniques used earlier on in the company, Thorp had to be keen on selecting Wilson among the representatives who, despite being a younger man. Majority of the people thought of him as an ‘old-timer’ which did not bother the new boss at all as he was keen on blending techniques that brought about success in the past together with new tactics for the company to continue with its success and thrive in the industry  despite the sudden change of events( Sterne,2003).

According to Rose (2003), another management tactic applied was delegation of duties, under which upon himself being given the responsibility to manage and take care of most of the large and most sensitive departments in the company, he went ahead and delegated various responsibilities of direct leadership to the ‘task force team’ a clear indication that he advocated and believed in team work for the firm’s success. In charge of the task force team was James Aldrich, one of underwood’s key subordinates. Both Thorp and Underwood believed in the man’s ability, thus he was best suited to take care of the new duties and responsibilities given to him. This clearly shows that, not only Vandercook, but for any other firms to succeed in its management endeavours, especially after a sudden change in the top management team, there is need of a reshuffle of departmental leaders and the senior most management team has to give responsibilities to staff members that have the required credentials, skills and attributes to ensure that the company does not suffer any losses or reduced production just as a result of an unforeseen calamity or event that occurred, thus threatening the company’s failure. In Moxon (2003), by selecting Kendrick, who was a fresh graduate from Harvard Business School to be in charge of the task force team, leaving out Reed who had been in the company for a while clearly shows how Thorp was determined to transform the company for the better  despite the many hurdles that had come its way. This was also a clear indication that the new management team was keen on doing away with old management techniques that had already contributed to the company’s failure to some extent and bring on board new strategies that would take the firm back to its usual position. The working together of Wilson and Kendrick closely and effectively clearly showed how cooperation and obtaining of facts from the department of real estate which the people belonging to the controller did not know showed that a new staff with new ideas had to have a common vision for any company to realize its goals both in the short and long run (Gerald, 2004).

The compromising situation that Kendrick, Phillips and Wilson found them in after Phillips picked up the call clearly showed that failure to store, record and keep confidential data for a company can lead to management wrangles especially during a moment of transition, in which some senior officials had a feeling that they were not given the leadership posts that the deserved. Through wisely and professionally dealing with the Reed and Phillips cases on their compromising reputations, this showed that Thorp had done the right choice of organizational management team and that the company was bound to get back to its stature with John Thorp as the President despite the various leadership challenges that it experienced during its transition period to give it a competitive edge (Moxon, 2003).