HOUSTON- The December luncheon of the Houston Strategy Forum brought two engaging perspectives from two senior executives representing different industries with common management challenges. Houston Strategy Forum President and Cohegic Founder Ravi Kathuria served as moderator for The Challenges of Managing a Company panel.

Ed Muniz, Founder and CEO, MEI Technologies, has grown his Clear Lake-based applied engineering, IT, research and development firm to more than 800 employees with operations in eight states. Since 2000, his revenue increased from $18 million to more than $150 million. According to Muniz, this rapid growth spurred its challenges. Muniz recalled how much stake, unity and pride his employees exhibited during the early years. As his firm grew larger, he noticed an atmosphere of content and complacency.

"We weren't aggressively pursuing the number of RFPs and bids," said Muniz. "There was so much untapped potential that was being affected by a shift in our culture." The growing pains were enough to make Muniz dig back into his humble roots where he found inspiration in how his relatives and family who were poor all pulled together to make things work. "If a roof needed fixing, my uncle helped. If the kitchen needed remodeling, another relative stepped in. These are the core values that I want my employees to embrace. We are all in this together," he said.

 
Investment and financial services titan John McNabb's mantra has been to never stray from values and let strong values drive and guide everything a company does. "Even if we weren't profitable, we never comprised our values. We left deals on the table," attested McNabb, who serves as vice chairman of investment banking for Duff & Phelps Corporation. McNabb was previously founder and chairman of Growth Capital Partners, which he started in 1992. He is a shareholder and chairman of the board of Willbros Group, a billion dollar global contractor specializing in energy infrastructure.

 
Pointing to several key senior personnel hires, partnerships and corporate relationships which he said still flourish today at many levels, McNabb credited the shared vision and leadership embraced by his colleagues as one of the strong reasons that Growth Capital Partners became of one Houston's most successful investment banks, rivaling and outperforming much well-known companies.

 
Following the packed talk, numerous attendees commented on how they could have listened all afternoon to the distinguished panel's stories and insights. "Today's luncheon was excellent in that a real conversation was underway with participation from many of those present," said Dan Krohn, a Houston Strategy Forum Strategic Member.

The Houston Strategy Forum (HSF) is an organization for corporate executives that helps its members gain real-world, practical insights into solving their management and leadership challenges.

HSF is sponsored by Cohegic Corporation, Agama Advertising, CyrusOne and EEPB.

###