Many sons take over their fathers' businesses, but traditionally, fewer daughters have chosen to take the reins.

Linda Hasenfratz is one of the exceptions. The CEO of autoparts maker Linamar Corp. manages a family of six and a corporation that operates 36 manufacturing centres around the world.

Not bad, considering the company started from her family's Guelph home around the same time she was entering the world.

1. Can you tell us about your family and how the company started from scratch?

Kyle Rodriguez, Business Edge
Linamar CEO Linda Hasenfratz has learned the autoparts business from the shop floor to the corporate office.

"Linamar was founded by my father, Frank Hasenfratz, in 1966. My father is Hungarian by birth, as is my mother, although they met here in Canada. My mother left Hungary when she was a child and my father left when he was an adult, subsequent to the failure of the Hungarian Revolution. He was in the Hungarian Revolution. Obviously, things didn't work out very well for the revolutionaries, so he left and spent some time in Italy and a little bit in France and made his way to Canada. He is a machinist by trade. When he came to Canada, he worked as a machinist for a period of time and then decided to embark in business for himself. That's when he founded Linamar. Linamar is named after my sister Nancy, my mother Margaret and myself. He started it in the basement of our home 41 years ago and today we're a $2.3-billion company."

2. What was it like growing up in Guelph?

"I enjoyed growing up in Guelph. It's not a very large city. Today, we're 100,000 people. At that time, we were more like 20,000 and it was a small community."

3. Did you always expect to go into your family's business?

"No. In fact, when I went to university, I studied chemistry and planned on embarking on a career in science. Once I graduated, I joined a pharmaceutical company (in Toronto) and worked there for about a year before deciding that it didn't make sense for me to turn my back on what my father had created here in Guelph. I decided to come back and join the company. When I came to Linamar in 1990, we had five plants and somewhere around $300 million in sales."

4. What was your first job at Linamar?

"My first position was as a machine operator, so I spent a few months on the shop floor running different types of equipment to try and get a better understanding for the work that we do. I worked on a lathe, a horizontal machining centre and a vertical machining centre. They do a variety of operations, such as milling a face or drilling path holes. In a machining centre, the part is held stationary and the tool is moving in and out, whereas in a lathe, the workpiece itself - the part that you are machining - is turning at high speed. The tool is held stationary as it is making the cut."

5. What was that experience like for you?

"It was very good. I think it's critical for anyone in business to get a good understanding of the nuts and bolts of what they make. It was an opportunity for me to see first-hand what it was like to work on the shop floor, to understand a little bit more about the machining processes, what was important in the manufacture of the products at each of those stages, (and) the importance of quality and consistency of production - and keeping production levels high - to the success of the business. I had an opportunity to meet a lot of great people that are still with the company today that I can draw on for support."

6. That's fairly physical labour. Did you have any second thoughts about leaving the pharmaceutical company?

Linda Hasenfratz sees opportunity in auto industry.

"No, not at all. I was obviously familiar with the business and what we did, and I liked the idea of working my way up in the company and starting at a point where I could really understand the basics of the business. From the shop floor, I went into virtually every department in the company - materials, product control, quality, engineering - and that gave me a very well-rounded understanding of the different aspects of the business."

7. What did you plan to do once you rose to the top management ranks?

"The strategy all along has been - assuming that I could handle each successive level of responsibility - that I would continue to work my way on up to be CEO one day. There was good understanding between my father and myself that if either of us felt we weren't comfortable with the next move, that we wouldn't make the next move. If I didn't have the capability to make the next step, I wouldn't take it."

8. What do you think enabled you to take all of those steps?

"Ultimately, being able to work closely with some very strong people in the organization. My father, for instance. I learned a lot from him, and I always had the attitude of wanting to learn and being willing to look at new and different ways of doing things. I think that (desire to learn) is critical for anyone wanting to move into increasingly responsible positions - and the recognition that you don't know everything. Even when you think you know everything, a year later you look back and realize how much you've learned. I think that's very healthy, to continually look for ways to do your own job better and take that responsibility to the next level."

9. How does the present situation compare with the original vision for the company?

"Well, it was obviously my father's vision - because I was born that year. (Chuckles) I hadn't articulated my own thoughts at that point in time, but I think it's safe to say that he would not ever have dreamed the company would grow to the size it is today - and will continue to grow in the future. He wanted to start a business because he thought he could do it better. He's an entrepreneurial guy who is very opportunistic and was excited, and is excited today, about growth opportunities for his company. That enthusiasm and entrepreneurial spirit are very much alive within the ranks of business people in our organization, whether they be general managers, a company president, a group president or myself.

10. What types of programs does your company have to foster that entrepreneurial spirit?

"A few things. You need to understand the culture of your company and the values that make it fit. One of the elements of our culture is our entrepreneurial spirit. Recognizing that, you need to make sure that you have an organizational structure (and) operational philosophies that fit with that culture and natural instincts of management.

"For instance, we operate through a series of autonomous profit centres. Our plants are their own little businesses - stand-alone autonomous entities that make their own decisions on how they run their businesses.

That would obviously appeal to an entrepreneurial kind of manager who wants to run their own show and do so based on a profit centre and not a cost centre."

11. If all of these centres are their own little businesses, and they're doing things their way, what challenges do they present when the company is trying to develop its overall goals?

"There are certain expectations that we have in terms of performance. We try not to dictate specifically how that performance will be attained, recognizing that if we let people develop some of their own systems and processes, we're more likely to see innovative thinking and ideas that we can then share with other areas of the organization. If we allow some free rein, we think we'll have more opportunity for excellence. The challenges, I guess, come in ensuring that you have some consistency in performance. From a customer perspective, they have an expectation that their launches will be equally well handled in one plant as they will (in) another. Our shareholders expect that they'll have as good a return coming out of plant A as they do plant B. So we need to ensure at a high level that we have enough over-arching systems that attract some of those critical elements and make sure that people are meeting goals and understand what those macro-goals are. Our goals are common. How we get from point A to point B doesn't have to be the same - as long as there's a good understanding that we're all driving towards point B."

12. How has your company been affected by some of the challenges facing the auto industry?

"Actually, we see the current time as being very opportunistic for Linamar. If I look at the automotive industry and our particular products focus, Linamar is primarily focused on powertrain and driveline systems - the engine, transmission and driveline - and those areas of the vehicle are still highly influenced by our customers. As they look to restructure their organizations during these challenging times and outsource more work they they once considered core, we're seeing huge opportunities to increase our content per vehicle - our sales dollars for every vehicle that is produced in North America, in Europe (and) in Asia. So, despite some of the volatility that is going on in the market in general, we're seeing great opportunities to continue to grow."

13. How do you think the movement toward "green" vehicles will affect your company?

"I believe that any technology shift creates an opportunity. As we try and become more green on a global basis, that in itself creates business opportunities. How can we develop our own products to become more environmentally friendly? How can we help our customers meet their consumers' demands for reduced emissions or improved fuel efficiency? As we're able to do that, we create something - a product or a process - that our customers are interested in buying."

14. How have high metal prices affected your company?

"For the most part, metal prices are adjusted in our pricing - with both our customers and our suppliers - on a quarterly basis. For instance, in any of our aluminum-based products, we have always had regular quarterly metal-market surcharge fluctuations in our piece price. We would look at a pre-agreed metal-market index on a quarterly basis and adjust the price up or down with our customers or suppliers in exactly the same proportion. What that means is, on any aluminum product, we're completely hedged against what's going on in the metal market. Historically there wasn't as much of that quarterly metal-market adjustment on iron steel-based products. But in recent years, most of our programs have moved over to that type of a system. Not all customers do that, but many of them do, which does help to hedge that risk."

15. Your company has obviously grown beyond your father's dreams. What growth opportunities do you see now?

"We are very excited by the growth opportunities we see in both our powertrain (and) driveline business. In the automotive area, we see more and more of the engine-transmission driveline being outsourced, and also in other applications of powertrain (and) driveline systems, such as medium- and heavy-duty trucks or off-road vehicles such as construction equipment, mining equipment (and) that type of thing. We're also seeing a lot of opportunity in our industrial business. About 20 per cent of our business is in the industrial market ... and we continue to expand our product lines and also expand geographically. Finally, we see very good growth geographically in general. Here in North America, we are strongest. However, there's no reason why we shouldn't have just as big a business in Europe in our powertrain (and) driveline business, for instance, as we do here in North America. This also goes for China, because the Asian (auto) production volumes, the European production volumes and the North American production are in and around the same level. In fact, the Asian production volumes are all higher than the volumes here in North America. The market is just higher. There's more people and more vehicles being sold. In North America, it's somewhere around 17 million (vehicles produced) a year. In Europe, it's a little bit more than that. In Asia - if you take into account Japan, Korea, China and related areas - it's even bigger again in terms of the number of vehicles being produced in those regions."

16. What's it like being a woman at the head of such a large corporation?

"In my experience, if I don't make gender an issue, nobody else does either. I go into meetings, into interactions (and) do my job. I know my company. I know my industry. If anybody has any preconceptions prior to that interaction, they disappear pretty quickly when you just get down to business. I've never really made an issue of it."

17. Some studies have found that women are not advancing as far as they could, or they're not being considered for some top positions. What are your thoughts on that?

"That's frustrating because, clearly, what it takes to be successful as a leader is not at all gender-based. In my opinion, you have to be passionate. You have to be a good planner. You have to be somebody who can execute on those plans, can make tough and insightful decisions, someone who can be a good communicator and motivator - and somebody who cares about their organization, their people, their products and what they're doing. I think you can find those traits as easily in men as women. There are plenty of examples of male leaders who have failed, who didn't incorporate those kinds of behaviours. And there are probably female leaders who didn't have those kinds of behaviours and traits. What's more important than gender is how you go about being a leader and whether you have leadership capabilities to put a vision together, understand where you're going and get an organization lined up behind you. You've got to have the ability to do that to be a leader. That's what's important - not whether you're male or female."

18. How do you balance a fairly large family with a global business?

"I obviously don't try and do it all on my own. I have a lot of help at home. I do have (paid) help at home, so when I'm not at work, I can just be with my children. In fact, I think I have a lot more time with my kids than a lot of working moms, because when I'm home I don't have to do the shopping and the laundry and clean the house and all that kind of stuff. I can just spend time with my children in a more meaningful way.

You have to work at that balance. It doesn't just happen. You have to understand that life's a balance between your work and your home, your family, (and) your personal life. You have to make sure that you manage that balance carefully."

19. You're also a runner. Do you participate in any marathons?

"Oh, no, I'm not that good. I probably run six or seven kilometres at a time. I'll go out for 45 minutes or an hour in the morning. It's a good way to start the day off. It gives you some energy to get through the day. I either run or I do some kind of workout every day."

20. If you weren't running your company, what would you be doing?

"I guess I'd be running some other company."

Linda Hasenfratz

* Title: CEO

* Born and raised/age: Guelph/40

* Education: Executive MBA from Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario, and an honours bachelor of science degree from the same university.

* Family: Married with four children (three girls and one boy) aged six to 11.

* Career: Linda Hasenfratz was named CEO of Linamar Corp. on Aug. 12, 2002. From April 1999 to August 2002, she was president. She joined Linamar in July 1990, working at virtually every position in the company to gain familiarity with all aspects of the business. Positions held range from machine operator to general manager of the company's Vehcom Manufacturing and Comtech Manufacturing Ltd. divisions.

* Moonlighting: Serves on various boards including CIBC, ROM board of governors, Catalyst Canada and the Original Equipment Suppliers Association.

Linamar Corp.

* Brass: Linda Hasenfratz, CEO; Jim Jarrell, president and chief operating officer; Roger Fulton, executive vice-president, general counsel and corporate secretary; Michael Annable, executive vice-president of administration; Mark Stoddart, chief technology office and executive vice-president of marketing.

* Profile: Linamar Corp. is a diversified global manufacturing company of highly engineered products. The company's powertrain and driveline-focused divisions rank among world leaders in the collaborative design, development and manufacture of precision metallic components, modules and systems for global vehicle markets. The company's industrial division is a world leader in the design and production of innovative mobile industrial products, notably its class-leading aerial work platforms.

* Stats: Linamar has approximately 11,000 employees in 36 manufacturing locations, five R&D centres and nine sales offices in Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Germany, Hungary, China, Korea and Japan. All but one is fully owned by Linamar. The other is a joint venture, but Linamar holds the majority interest. Last year, Linamar generated sales of close to $2.3 billion.

* Recent Stock Price: (TSX:LNR): $19.61 (52-week range, $12-$21).

* Website: www.linamar.com

* HQ: 287 Speedvale Ave. W., Guelph, N1H 1C5

* Phone/Fax: (519) 836-7550/(519) 824-8479.

(Monte Stewart can be reached at monte@businessedge.ca)