World Grain - October 2008 - 81

STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP
MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION
(Required by 39 U.S.C. 3685)

FEATURE: CARGILL HISTORY BECOMES REVEALING, DYNAMIC GUIDE

leverage our resources and expertise to
their full potential."
In looking at the most recent focus on
customers, which accounts in part for
this third volume's title, Professor Broehl
stresses Cargill's emphasis on Strategic Intent. Based on the "three pillars"
of high performance, innovation and
customer focus, Strategic Intent gained
high priority when the board of directors became concerned about an earnings
decline that occurred in the late 1990s,
just as Ernest Micek took over as CEO
to succeed MacMillan. As a result, Stra-

directors and managers."
Broehl's assessment of how the board
of directors has been reworked is reflected in his description of "competing
but sympathetic and mutually related
interests." Management directors speak
for their stewardship and strategies for
growth. Independent directors press for
higher and more predictable returns.
Family owner directors speak for diversifying risk and building long-term
wealth. One result, he notes, is the rising dividend payout, from 10% of earnings in the early 1990s to 20% currently.

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Under Staley, there was no question that he intended to change
the company in a pronounced manner, performing the amazing
feat of moving the entire organization in this new direction.

tegic Intent became the dominant theme
for management, replacing the search for
core competencies. Warren Staley, who
followed Micek, shifted from management-centered practices to the emphasis
on customer needs, actively formed in
response to the wants of customers who
had to deal with increasingly dynamic
markets. This shift was facilitated by a
strong leadership team removed from
daily business operations and dedicated
to building trust with one another as well
as with customers. The realized goal of
this team effort was to change the mindset within the company from being a
commodity trader to being a value-added
provider of solutions desired by customers. Under Staley, there was no question
that he intended to change the company
in a pronounced manner, performing the
amazing feat of moving the entire organization in this new direction.
So far as overall direction is concerned, the company under MacMillan
outgrew the informal governance processes of the past generations. This
was pushed along by a new generation
of owners who wanted to assert a role.
The result was what the book describes
as "new arrangements that more crisply
and clearly defined the roles of owners,
82

Calling this still an impressive reinvestment commitment, the author reminds,
"It also is a necessary one for preserving
growth with private ownership."
Yet, Professor Broehl observes that
while corporate governance has changed,
the company's operating philosophy has
largely been "preserved, nurtured and
enforced informally for many years."
Trust, integrity and excellence are the
cores that Whitney MacMillan made
clear as being much greater and much
stronger than a trader's "our word is our
bond." He capped this by underscoring a
basic belief as essential to the company,
"We will be the best."
Professor Broehl, who taught business
management and history at Dartmouth,
began writing his three-volume history
in 1990. He obviously had open access
to the company's archives. He died in
2006 before completing this third volume. Rob Johnson, a long-time member of the company's staff, accepted the
assignment of finishing the "virtually
complete" manuscript, an arrangement
happily endorsed by Professor Broehl
WG
just prior to his death.
We want to hear from you - Send comments and
inquiries to worldgrain@sosland.com. For reprints of
WG articles, e-mail reprints@sosland.com.

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d1.
d2.

Title of publication: World Grain
Publication Number: 0745-8991
Date of filing: September 30, 2008
Frequency of issue: Monthly
No. of issues published annually: 13.
Qualified: Free to qualified.
Complete mailing address of known office of
publication: Sosland Companies, Inc., 4800 Main St.,
Suite 100, Kansas City, Missouri 64112-2504.
Complete mailing address of the headquarters or
general business offices of the publisher: Same as
above.
Full names and complete mailing addresses of
publisher, editor, and managing editor: Publisher:
Mark Cornwell, Editor: Arvin Donely, Managing Editor:
Meyer Sosland, Sosland Companies, Inc., 4800 Main
St., Suite 100, Kansas City, Missouri 64112-2504.
Owner: Sosland Companies, Inc., Charles S. Sosland
and L. Joshua Sosland, Sosland Companies, Inc.,
4800 Main St., Suite 100, Kansas City, Missouri
64112.
Known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security
holders owning or holding 1 percent or more of total
amount of bonds, mortgages or other securities: none.
Not Applicable.
Extent and Nature
of Circulation
Average No.
Actual No.
Copies Each
Copies of
Issue During Single Issue
Preceding 12 Published
Months
Nearest to
Filing Date
Total No.
Copies (net press run)
12460
12239
Individual Paid/requested
mail subscriptions
3553
3563
Copies requested by
employers for distribution
to employees by
name or position .
none
none
Sales through dealers and
carriers, street vendors,
counter sales, and other paid
or requested distribution
outside USPS®
4286
4162
Requested copies distributed
by other mail classes
through the USPS
12
11
Total paid and/or requested
circulation
7851
7736
Nonrequested copies stated
on PS form 3541
860
848
Nonrequested copies distributed
through the USPS by other
classes of mail
none
none

d3. Nonrequested copies
2878
2839
d4. Nonrequested copies outside
the mail
285
100
e. Total nonrequested distribution 3738
3687
f. Total distribution
11589
11423
g. Copies not distributed
871
816
h. Total
12460
12239
i. Percent paid and/or
requested circulation
68%
68%
16. Publication of statement of ownership for a requester
publication is required and will be printed in the
October, 2008 issue of this publication.
17. I certify that the statements made by me above are
correct and complete.
Melanie Hepperly, VP & CFO
October 2008 / World Grain / www.World-Grain.com

http://www.World-Grain.com

World Grain - October 2008

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