Gilbert’s Entrepreneurial Family Case Study

The writing assignment will demonstrate writing across the curriculum by responding to the following topic in a 4 to 5 page paper. Your paper must include at least five external scholarly journal references. You are also required to create a PowerPoint presentation containing at least five slides with audio. A Word file as been added to the assignment to show you how to add audio to your PPT slides. A separate Assignment link is available to submit the PPT slide. In Additional Resources, there are APA 6th ed. guidelines to assist you in formatting your paper.

 

Topic: Chapter 11 Case Study: The Gilberts: An Entrepreneurial Family

 

 

CASE STUDY: THE GILBERTS: AN ENTREPRENEURIAL FAMILY

© 2008 Philip J. Adelman and Alan M. Marks

Harvey and Deanne Gilbert were both born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri.

Harvey attended the University of Missouri in Kansas City, majoring in pre-med, and

then completed medical school at the University of Missouri in Columbia. Deanne

graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in elementary education and

began her teaching career in Raytown, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City. During

Harvey’s junior year in college, Harvey and Deanne were married. While Harvey attended

medical school, Deanne taught fifth grade in Centralia, Missouri. Following

graduation from medical school, Harvey was commissioned as a lieutenant in the U.S.

Navy and completed his internship at the Oakland Naval Hospital. He spent 1 year in

Vietnam as a physician on a troop transport ship. On returning from Vietnam, he was

stationed in Stockton and San Diego, California. While stationed in Stockton, Deanne

taught sixth grade at Colonial Heights Elementary School.

Harvey had spent 4 years as a physician in the Navy. After leaving the Navy, he

became a resident in radiation oncology at Mt. Zion Hospital in San Francisco. After

Deanne and Harvey had their first child, Jill, Deanne gave up teaching to be a fulltime

stay-at-home mom to Jill and her younger brother, Jason. Harvey continued his

studies, doing research at Stanford, and completed his training in radiation oncology at

UCLA in 1973.

Harvey began practice at the Kaiser Hospital in Los Angeles and worked for

them for about 9 years. The Gilberts firmly believed in the time value of money

and the power of investing. They saved a percentage of their income from the time

they were married. They always paid themselves first and invested their money,

primarily in stock and mutual funds, which they selected carefully. They always

invested the maximum in retirement accounts and fully funded their 401(k) and

self-directed IRA.

Then Harvey entered private practice in a community hospital in Los Angeles for

another 10 years as director of a regional cancer center. When Jill entered college at

USC, Deanne determined that student housing in the area was rundown and not very

safe, so she decided to buy a piece of property that Jill could live in while attending the

university. She worked with several brokers until she found a piece of property that

she really liked. When her friend Diane Futterman, another physician’s wife, found out

what she was doing, she wanted to work with Deanne and they formed a Subchapter

S corporation to purchase affordable rental housing for students in the USC area.

They bought houses and remodeled them to meet their own high standards; furnished

them; installed security systems, including bars on the windows and security doors; and

rented to students. In the first year, they bought one house; the next year, they bought

three more houses. Deanne and Diane invested primarily in student housing and then

gradually expanded into apartments and rental real estate. The work in the corporation

was divided very carefully, with both partners doing what they were most interested

in and did best. Diane specialized in contracts and the legal aspects of the business,

whereas Deanne specialized in the physical maintenance, decorating, and security ofthe units. They prided themselves in offering safe, affordable, and secure housing for

students and tenants in the Southern California area.

By 1992, both of the Gilberts’ children had settled in the San Francisco area.

Deanne and Harvey moved to northern California in 1993 to take advantage of an

opportunity for Harvey to practice in the Modesto area. In 1997, Harvey and Deanne

decided to go out on their own and build a cancer center in Lodi, California, where

Deanne became the office manager and Harvey was the primary physician and medical

director. The decision was made early on to stay in the specialty of radiation

oncology with their services being used by several health plans, HMOs, and other

physician groups. Between 1997 and 2004, the center grew from 4 employees to 12.

In 2004, the radiation facility was sold to a national radiation oncology organization

with Harvey continuing as the practicing physician and Deanne as the manager. When

the center was sold, all the original investors were paid off.

Harvey and Deanne were retained by the purchasing entity to continue their

roles as medical director and office manager. The acquisition agreement also provided

them with the opportunity to participate in profit sharing, and as such, they have continued

to participate in the revenues of the practice.

Over his years in practice, Harvey was continually asked for recommendations

regarding long-term care and assisted living; thus the idea of the Gilbert Guide was

developed and founded by the entire family. By this time, their daughter Jill, a graduate

of USC with more than 10 years of experience in the film industry, and their son

Jason, a graduate of UCLA with many years of experience in the area of strategic planning,

operations, finance, and product management, were looking for a new venture.

Gilbert Guide, Inc. was developed to address the dire need for comprehensive and

practical consumer guides for long-term care planning in every major metropolitan

area in the United States. Founded by the Gilbert family—Jill, Jason, Deanne, and

Harvey—the Gilbert Guide has grown from its inception in 2003 as a groundbreaking

guidebook setting new standards and criteria for assessing the quality of the many types

of long-term care available to become the biggest senior care site on the Web, offering

an even wider range of resources to help families and caregivers in their time of

senior care need. This is truly an entrepreneurial family venture, with their daughter

Jill as president and CEO, their son Jason as COO and CFO, and Harvey as medical

and policies director. The Gilbert Guide can be found on the Internet at http://www.

gilbertguide.com.

1. How much of the Gilbert’s success do you attribute to their persistence?

2. How important do you believe the Gilbert’s investments and understanding

of time value of money contributed to their overall success?

The assignment will be evaluated according to the following Writing Assignment Grading Criteria:

Guidelines	Writing Assignment Grading Criteria
Content (60%)	·     Response demonstrate a clear understanding of the key elements of assignment questions. ·     Responses thoroughly cover the elements in a substantive manner. ·     Response demonstrates critical thinking and analysis. ·     Content is complete and accurate. ·     Introduction and conclusion provides adequate information on the given topic.
Organization (20%)	·     Paper structure is clear and easy to follow. ·     Ideas flow in a logical sequence. ·     Introduction provides a sound introduction to the topic and previews major points. ·     Paragraph transitions are logical and support the flow of thought throughout the paper. ·     The conclusion thoroughly reviews the major points.
Writing Style, Grammar,   APA Format (20%)	·     Sentences are well constructed, complete, clear, and concise. ·     Words used are specific and unambiguous. ·     The tone is appropriate to the content and assignment. ·     Grammar, spelling and punctuation are correct. ·     APA guidelines (6th edition) are followed, such as headers, citations, references, etc. ·     Effective use of aids, such as sections, summaries, table of contents, indices, and appendices (if appropriate)