C-112 Part 4: Case StudiesCASE 10
Luck Companies: Igniting Human Potential
This case was written by D. Robley Wood Jr., Wallace Stettinius and Robert S. Kelly, School of Business, Virginia Commonwealth University and Thomas
K. Quinton, Luck Companies. Unless otherwise noted, all data in this case are based on company documents and field research by the authors. All persons
and events are real. Luck Stone Corporation changed its name to Luck Companies in 2011. To avoid confusion in this case, the name “Luck Companies” is
used when referring to the corporate enterprise. “Luck Stone” refers solely to the business unit that operates quarries and sells aggregates. Luck Companies
is a family owned corporation and releases only limited financial data. This case was written with the full cooperation of management and is solely for the
purpose of stimulating student discussion. All rights reserved to the authors.D. Robley Wood, Jr.
Wallace Stettinius
Robert S. Kelley
Thomas K. Quinton
Early in 2015 Mr. Charlie Luck, IV knew that his leader-
ship skills were soon to be thoroughly tested by all of the
activities that needed his attention. In March 2015, he
was named Chairman of the National Stone, Sand and
Gravel Association where he was tasked with advanc-
ing the association’s agenda to ensure that the associa-
tion continued to be the leading voice for the aggregate
industry. The agenda is aggressive and includes a new
board structure and the execution of the association’s
Rocks Build America strategic plan.As third generation CEO of his family owned business,
Luck Companies, 2015 was off to a busy start as growth
was returning to the aggregate industry in general and
Luck Companies in particular. The firm’s management
had spent years building industry expertise on a foun-
dation of Values Based Leadership. It was now time to
use their 800 talented employees to build an even higher
performing company. Working with his Chief Growth
Officer, Mr. John Pullen, Mr. Charlie Luck had approved
a goal of almost doubling the company’s size by the year
- This stretch goal forced his leaders to think “out-
side-the-box” about their businesses and this was exactly
what he wanted to accomplish. The next five years were
going to be fast paced and fun after years of retrench-
ment and slow growth in the construction aggregate
industry.
Mr. Charlie Luck had become President and COO
in 1995, and CEO in 1999, succeeding his father. A 1983
graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, Charlie
earned a degree in Civil Engineering followed by a
three-year career as a professional racecar driver on the
NASCAR circuit. At the end of 1986, he put his racing
helmet aside and began work as a full-time employee for
Luck Companies.
As a teenager, Charlie worked summers at the quar-
ries doing various jobs such as repairing machinery and
driving trucks. Growing up around the quarries gave
Charlie a good sense of the business from the bottom
up, but both he and his father thought it was necessary
for him to have extensive experience in all aspects and
levels of the business if he was to succeed his father as
CEO. Charlie’s father tested him by having him work his
way through the ranks to the position of CEO. His father
not only wanted him to earn the position, but also to
earn the respect of the company’s associates. Had he not
proven capable, his father would not have appointed him
CEO.
Thus, in early 1987, he began working full-time in the
quarries and other departments; systematically moving
through supervisory and mid-management positions
for the next eight years. This kind of training had many
benefits – among them were learning the various aspects
of the business, developing managerial skills, and build-
ing relationships. Through this test, Charlie not only
learned the importance of having a sound and innova-
tive business strategy but also the role that values and
culture played in executing them. The same values and
culture that Charlie would later find out were the catalyst
to the company’s past success.
After eight years of on-the-job training, Charlie’s
father decided he was ready to run the company. In 1995,
he was promoted to President and subsequently became
CEO in 1999.
When Charlie was appointed to CEO, the company
had a long history of success in the aggregate business in
Virginia, driven by the business acumen and values of his
father and grandfather. The business had been operated
over the years in a very thoughtful, measured manner
with little or no debt and a solid but not rapid growth rate.