A. Schulman & Company - CIO Search

Late in 2004 the Chairman and CFO of A. Schulman was informed of the pending departure of their CIO of seven years.  As a billion dollar-plus manufacturer of high performance plastic compounds and resins and 2,400 employees across 12 plants in the US and Europe, Schulman’s information technology group was an integral part of its operation. Customer orders, supply chain, raw materials and of course critical international financial systems were involved.  Having something go wrong without the right replacement in place was not something Bob Stefanko, Schulman’s Chairman wanted.

Based upon a recommendation from the departing CIO, BEST Group Management Consultants were contacted to meet with Schulman executives and discuss the position. As they had never met with anyone from BEST before, Schulman was skeptical and was prepared to engage another well known national firm. In the end, that didn’t happen.

The chemistry between Bob Stefanko of Schulman and Dave Schenk of BEST Group was instantaneous. “Not only did I really like him personally, but I was amazed how quickly he was able to dial in on what we needed.  We were replacing a valued, successful performer and we needed to have those skills and more.  Dave nailed it right away.”

Within a few days of the first meeting, BEST Group presented three resumes of information technology executives who BEST felt were matches to the needs of its client. To say that he was surprised was an understatement. “In golf terms, BEST piped it down the middle, a perfect shot.”  We interviewed all three candidates multiple times and were thrilled with the options we had.  Our first choice in the end accepted our offer and has been performing at a very high level for us, all while fitting well into our corporate culture.  We are very, very pleased with the work of BEST Group.”

John Broerman, Schulman’s new CIO describes his exposure to BEST in very positive terms as well.  He got information about the company, the incumbent, the goals, the players and the industry, all without having to ask for it.  BEST was prepared with the information before he asked for it.  When he did ask for something, BEST reacted quickly and professionally to accommodate the request.

“BEST Group enabled me to make decisions with confidence,” said Broerman.  “There were no surprises; the entire process was remarkably smooth. More remarkable, much of the work on BEST’s part was done from a hospital bed as Dave Schenk was having a total knee replacement at virtually the same time.  

Bob Stefanko laughs about that part.  He said, “Talking to Dave while he was on pain meds was amusing to say the least!” In the end, it couldn’t have worked out better.  And Dave has returned to the golf course and is piping a real golf ball straight down the middle again.