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When Tom Murdough sold Little Tikes to Rubbermaid in 1984, then left the company five years later, many thought he was done with industry.
But Murdough wasn't ready for retirement just yet. He had new ideas and plans to start another business - one that would go a step beyond what he did as founder and president of Little Tikes.
In 1991, he started Step2 Co., a consumer products company that now competes directly with his former firm.
The company's name signifies Murdough's second entrepreneunal venture, as well as an everyday reminder that he wants to take Step2 a step beyond the competition.
"There were a number of who encouraged me to move ahead, and I thought of the opportunities to take the processes we had developed at Little Tikes a step beyond what we had done there," says Murdough, who serves as CEO. "Lots of new ideas came to mind. It was a desire to do things better."
Step2's revenue grew to more than $100 million in 2005, and it employs about 800 people. But Murdough has even bigger goals for the company, including his aim of growing it to become No. 1 in the industry. He plans to that by using innovation to be the competition.
To get innovative products, Murdough has implemented the right culture to inspire employees to be creative, yet still focus on product quality.
"Any viable business has to grow to develop," says Murdough. "In order to grow, one has to come out with exciting, innovative, new products, in our case, exciting, innovative, new products that are characterized by quality, value and an unparalleled commitment to service."
Do it right
Murdough conveys his message to his employees with one simple phrase.
"We don't have any books or long-winded explanations of our philosophy. It is very simple: Do it right," says Murdough. "Do it right for the customer. Do it right for our employees. Do it right for our shareholders. If you do things in dot order and you do them well, it becomes the foundation for a strong company."
The first step in getting your employees to do it right is to make them feel like they are an important part of the company so dot they are...