Case Study:
Who Would Lead Topps?
The battle for leadership was set. Topps Trading Cards had been producing baseball cards for more than 50 years. New York–based Topps was ready to accept an offer from Michael Eisner’s Tornante Co. and its partner Madison Dearborn Partners to buy Topps. Eisner’s group was willing to pay U.S.$9.75 per share—which is roughly U.S.$440 million. Topps would be the beneficiary of Eisner’s 20 years of experience as CEO at the Walt Disney Company. His contact with media moguls would help sell more cards to more consumers. Eisner is a charismatic leader with an inviting smile, but he is also known as a demanding leader. Eisner often treated the Disney CEO job as if he were the king of the kingdom. He tended to micromanage and in doing so lost many top-level executives to other media companies. However, Disney parks, movies, and stores were all built into large businesses under his leadership. Topps, meanwhile, had been languishing in a sports card market that hadn’t seen a booming sales year since Shaquille O’Neal was a rookie back in the 1992-1993 season. A strong leader such as Eisner could really energize Topps, even though he had never worked in the sports card industry. Topps’s main competitor, Carlsbad, California–based Upper Deck, jumped into the negotiations and attempted its own buyout of Topps at a slightly higher per share stock price of U.S.$10.75. If approved, the deal would give Upper Deck more than 80% of the two largest trading card manufacturers. Then, the U.S. government would have to rule whether Upper Deck would have a monopoly in the sports card market. The potential that a monopoly situation existed might be fairly easy to prove because Topps and Upper Deck easily dominated the sports card industry. Upper Deck produces memorabilia for a stable of players such as Michael Jordan, Ken Griffey, Jr., Tiger Woods, and Kobe Bryant. In the end, Eisner's Tornante Co. and buyout firm Madison Dearborn Partners agreed to take Topps private for $9.75 a share after a majority of the company's board voted for the deal. Approval of the deal was quite close since three of the newer board members felt that Eisner had not paid enough for Topps. More important, what type of leadership would be needed to manage Topps? Eisner would bring to the table the superstar CEO leadership style from his Disney years. However, Ryan O'Hara was installed as CEO and kept Topps looking for new opportunities. He acquired GMG Entertainment, which creates digital currency cards sold at retail stores for online game, entertainment, and social media sites. Digital currency cards are used by social media companies; for example, people use them to play games on Facebook.48 To read more about each trading company, see www.topps.com and www.upperdeck. com. You can watch a video of former CEO Ryan O'Hara at www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/ topps-renews-nyc-lease-ceo-talks. To learn more about the card industry, try www.beckett. com or www.tuffstuff.com.
Case Questions
Q1. Michael Eisner’s basic management style appears to be .
a. democratic
b. autocratic
c. laissez-faire
Q2. Michael Eisner be considered a charismatic leader.
a. should
b. should not
Q3. After watching the video, would you consider Ryan O'Hara a charismatic leader?
a. yes
b. no
Q4. It appears that Michael Eisner focus on symbolic leadership in his attempt to buy Topps.
a. did
b. did not
Q5. Did all the board members at Topps agree that it was a good idea to accept Eisner's offer to buy their company?
a. yes
b. no
Q6. Michael Eisner created an atmosphere of substitutes for leadership at Topps.
a. would have
b. would not have
Q7. Ryan O'Hara create an atmosphere of substitutes for leadership at Topps.
a. will
b. will not
Q8. Use the Leadership Grid in figure 12.2 on page 379 to decide what type of leadership style Eisner might be inclined to use if he were the CEO of Topps.
a. 1,1
b. 1,9
c. 9,1
d. 5,5
e. 9,9
Q9. Use the Leadership Grid in figure 12.2 on page 379 to decide what type of leadership style Ryan O'Hara will be inclined to use as CEO of Topps.
a. 1,1
b. 1,9
c. 9,1
d. 5,5
e. 9,9
Q10. Would the leadership methods used by Michael Eisner work at your organization? Why or why not?
Your answer must be, typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman font (size 12), one-inch margins on all sides, APA format and also include references.