At 1:25, the group began arriving at the boardroom, where Jonathan had decided to hold the kick-off meeting. There was a strict rule about being on time for meetings, which Ian had instituted, when he became CEO and adhered to. Jason had arrived at 1:15 to check out the audio-visuals and Jonathan showed up 5 minutes later. As they entered the boardroom, Jonathan coordinated the introductions of the Growthstar people to Jason. Everyone gave Jason an enthusiastic handshake and greeting, except Jack Earningsly. It wasn't that Jack was cold, it was more of a lukewarm reception. Jonathan, who didn't miss very much, noticed it and winked at Jason after Jack had passed by and was walking toward the coffeepot. Jason remembered his thought of yesterday morning that Jack was going to be a tough sell .

At exactly 1:30, everyone was seated and Jonathan stood up to address the group. "Well", he began "I believe everyone knows why we are here. For the past year, my financial staff and I have been studying value-based performance metrics and how they might apply at Growthstar. Jack, Earl and I, along with Frank Accurato, Earl's most senior level assistant, have attended a seminar on the subject of shareholder value and value-based metrics. We have, in addition, read every article on the subject that we could get our hands on. I have also had several discussions with Ian on the subject. While Ian has endorsed the approach in principle , he wants to learn...