netrashetty
Netra Shetty
Crazy Eddie is the name of a consumer electronics retailer conducting business through the internet and by telephone. The venture is the most recent to be doing business under the Crazy Eddie name, with the most well known (and later infamous) being a chain of retail stores that operated throughout New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut for nearly twenty years.
Crazy Eddie was started in 1971 in Brooklyn, New York by businessmen Eddie and Sam M. Antar as ERS Electronics, named after Eddie, his cousin Ronnie (Ronnie Gindi, a partner), and his father Sam. The chain rose to prominence throughout the Tri-State Region as much for its prices as for its memorable radio and television commercials, featuring a frenetic, "crazy" character played by radio DJ Jerry Carroll (who copied most of his shtick from early TV-commercial pioneer, used car and electronics salesman Earl "Madman" Muntz). At its peak, Crazy Eddie had 43 stores in the chain, and earned more than $300 million in sales.[1]
In February 1987, the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey commenced a federal grand jury investigation into the warranty billing practices of Crazy Eddie. In September of that year, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission initiated an investigation into alleged violations of federal securities laws by certain Crazy Eddie officers and employees. Eddie Antar was eventually charged with a series of crimes.
Unable to sustain his fraudulent business practices, co-founder Eddie Antar cashed in millions of dollars worth of stock and resigned from the company in December 1986. Crazy Eddie's board of directors lost control of the company in November 1987 after a proxy battle with a group led by Elias Zinn and Victor Palmieri, known as the Oppenheimer-Palmieri Group. The entire Antar family was immediately removed from the business. The new owners quickly discovered the true extent of the Antar family's fraud, but were unable to turn around Crazy Eddie's quickly declining fortunes. In 1989, the company declared bankruptcy and was liquidated. Crazy Eddie became a known symbol for corporate fraud in its time, but has since been eclipsed by the Enron, Worldcom and Bernie Madoff accounting scandals.
Antar fled to Israel in February 1990, but was returned to the United States in January 1993 to stand trial. His 1993 conviction on fraud charges was overturned, but he eventually pleaded guilty in 1996. In 1997, Antar was sentenced to eight years in prison and paid large fines. He was released from prison in 1999.
CEO
Andreas Treichl
Chairman of the Board
Heinz Kessler
Vice Chairman of the Board
Theresa Jordis
Vice Chairman of the Board
Georg Winckler
Director
Friedrich Roedler
Director
Jan Homan
Director
Bettina Breiteneder
Director
Wilhelm Rasinger
Director
Gabriele Zuna-Kratky
Director
John Stack
Director
Brian Deveraux O'Neill
Director
Elisabeth Guertler
Director
Juan Genova
Director
Brian O'Neill
Director
Christian Havelka
Director
Werner Tessmar-Pfohl
Director
Friedrich Lackner
Director, Employee Represent...
Bertram Mach
Director, Employee Represent...
Barbara Smrcka
Director, Employee Represent...
Karin Zeisel
Ceska Sporitelna
PK
General Manager
FH
CFO
Manfred Wimmer
COO
Herbert Juranek
Risk Management
BS
Corporate & Investment Banki...
GM
However, the shape and characteristics of a high performing organization structure is coming clearly into view:
Intense Customer and Market Focus - systems, structures, processes, and innovations are all aimed at and flow from the voices of the market and customers. The organization is driven by field people and hands-on senior managers in daily contact with customers and partners.
Team-based - operational and improvement teams are used up, down, and across the organization. A multitude of operational teams manage whole systems or self-contained subsystems such as regions, branches, processes, and complete business units.
Highly autonomous and decentralized - dozens, hundreds, or thousands of mini-business units or businesses are created throughout a single company (I've split business units of twenty five people into smaller business units). Local teams adjust their company's product and service mix to suit their market and conditions. They also reconfigure the existing products and services or develop new experimental prototypes to meet customer/partner needs.
Servant-Leadership - Senior managers provide strong vision, values, purpose, and strategic direction to guide and shape the organization. But very lean and keen head office management and staff also serve the needs of those people doing the work that the customers actually care about and are willing to pay for. Support systems are designed to serve the servers and producers, not management and the bureaucracy.
Networks, Partnerships, and Alliances - organizational and departmental boundaries blur as teams reach out, in, or across to get the expertise, materials, capital, or other support they need to meet customer needs and develop new markets. Learning how to partner with other teams or organizations is fast becoming a critical performance skill.
Fewer and More Focused Staff Professionals - accountants, human resource professionals, improvement specialists, purchasing managers, engineers and designers, and the like are either in the midst of operational action as a member of an operational team, or they sell their services to a number of teams. Many teams are also purchasing some of this expertise from outside as needed.
Few Management Levels - spans of control stretch into dozens and even hundreds of people (organized in self-managing teams) to one manager. Effective managers are highly skilled in leading, (creating energy and focus), directing (establishing goals and priorities), and developing (training and coaching).
One Customer Contact Point - although teams and team members will come and go as needed, continuity with the customer is maintained by an unchanging small group or individual. Internal service and support systems serve the needs of the person or team coordinating and managing the customer relationship.
Crazy Eddie was started in 1971 in Brooklyn, New York by businessmen Eddie and Sam M. Antar as ERS Electronics, named after Eddie, his cousin Ronnie (Ronnie Gindi, a partner), and his father Sam. The chain rose to prominence throughout the Tri-State Region as much for its prices as for its memorable radio and television commercials, featuring a frenetic, "crazy" character played by radio DJ Jerry Carroll (who copied most of his shtick from early TV-commercial pioneer, used car and electronics salesman Earl "Madman" Muntz). At its peak, Crazy Eddie had 43 stores in the chain, and earned more than $300 million in sales.[1]
In February 1987, the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey commenced a federal grand jury investigation into the warranty billing practices of Crazy Eddie. In September of that year, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission initiated an investigation into alleged violations of federal securities laws by certain Crazy Eddie officers and employees. Eddie Antar was eventually charged with a series of crimes.
Unable to sustain his fraudulent business practices, co-founder Eddie Antar cashed in millions of dollars worth of stock and resigned from the company in December 1986. Crazy Eddie's board of directors lost control of the company in November 1987 after a proxy battle with a group led by Elias Zinn and Victor Palmieri, known as the Oppenheimer-Palmieri Group. The entire Antar family was immediately removed from the business. The new owners quickly discovered the true extent of the Antar family's fraud, but were unable to turn around Crazy Eddie's quickly declining fortunes. In 1989, the company declared bankruptcy and was liquidated. Crazy Eddie became a known symbol for corporate fraud in its time, but has since been eclipsed by the Enron, Worldcom and Bernie Madoff accounting scandals.
Antar fled to Israel in February 1990, but was returned to the United States in January 1993 to stand trial. His 1993 conviction on fraud charges was overturned, but he eventually pleaded guilty in 1996. In 1997, Antar was sentenced to eight years in prison and paid large fines. He was released from prison in 1999.
CEO
Andreas Treichl
Chairman of the Board
Heinz Kessler
Vice Chairman of the Board
Theresa Jordis
Vice Chairman of the Board
Georg Winckler
Director
Friedrich Roedler
Director
Jan Homan
Director
Bettina Breiteneder
Director
Wilhelm Rasinger
Director
Gabriele Zuna-Kratky
Director
John Stack
Director
Brian Deveraux O'Neill
Director
Elisabeth Guertler
Director
Juan Genova
Director
Brian O'Neill
Director
Christian Havelka
Director
Werner Tessmar-Pfohl
Director
Friedrich Lackner
Director, Employee Represent...
Bertram Mach
Director, Employee Represent...
Barbara Smrcka
Director, Employee Represent...
Karin Zeisel
Ceska Sporitelna
PK
General Manager
FH
CFO
Manfred Wimmer
COO
Herbert Juranek
Risk Management
BS
Corporate & Investment Banki...
GM
However, the shape and characteristics of a high performing organization structure is coming clearly into view:
Intense Customer and Market Focus - systems, structures, processes, and innovations are all aimed at and flow from the voices of the market and customers. The organization is driven by field people and hands-on senior managers in daily contact with customers and partners.
Team-based - operational and improvement teams are used up, down, and across the organization. A multitude of operational teams manage whole systems or self-contained subsystems such as regions, branches, processes, and complete business units.
Highly autonomous and decentralized - dozens, hundreds, or thousands of mini-business units or businesses are created throughout a single company (I've split business units of twenty five people into smaller business units). Local teams adjust their company's product and service mix to suit their market and conditions. They also reconfigure the existing products and services or develop new experimental prototypes to meet customer/partner needs.
Servant-Leadership - Senior managers provide strong vision, values, purpose, and strategic direction to guide and shape the organization. But very lean and keen head office management and staff also serve the needs of those people doing the work that the customers actually care about and are willing to pay for. Support systems are designed to serve the servers and producers, not management and the bureaucracy.
Networks, Partnerships, and Alliances - organizational and departmental boundaries blur as teams reach out, in, or across to get the expertise, materials, capital, or other support they need to meet customer needs and develop new markets. Learning how to partner with other teams or organizations is fast becoming a critical performance skill.
Fewer and More Focused Staff Professionals - accountants, human resource professionals, improvement specialists, purchasing managers, engineers and designers, and the like are either in the midst of operational action as a member of an operational team, or they sell their services to a number of teams. Many teams are also purchasing some of this expertise from outside as needed.
Few Management Levels - spans of control stretch into dozens and even hundreds of people (organized in self-managing teams) to one manager. Effective managers are highly skilled in leading, (creating energy and focus), directing (establishing goals and priorities), and developing (training and coaching).
One Customer Contact Point - although teams and team members will come and go as needed, continuity with the customer is maintained by an unchanging small group or individual. Internal service and support systems serve the needs of the person or team coordinating and managing the customer relationship.