Partners Make Their Mark on the Book Industry
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Robert K. Pugh |
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Dan M. Schuppan |
Dan Schuppan and Bob Pugh have been friends and business partners for several decades. With Schuppan as president and Pugh as CEO, they have made strategic decisions that have propelled MBS Textbook Exchange, Inc., to become the largest used textbook wholesaler, bookstore systems provider, and distance learning distribution service in the United States.
"Together, we create better than we do alone," Schuppan says. "Our differences blend to a uniqueness that cannot be matched." Pugh describes Schuppan as a hard charger with lots of energy. "He gets in the middle of things quickly." Schuppan says that as a leader, Pugh "plays it straight and keeps no personal animosities." What they have in common is a penchant for perfection and focus on what lies ahead, says Pugh.
Schuppan adds that Pugh is creative. "The demands for creativity are 10-fold what they were when I was in school," Schuppan says, pointing out how the internet shortens the lifespan of a good idea. "It puts tremendous demands on leadership to be ahead of the competition."
Indeed, what started out in 1909 as The Missouri Store Company, which sold classroom furniture and teaching supplies, has gone through several changes and evolved to become an industry leader now called MBS Textbook Exchange. Pugh joined the business in 1967 as assistant controller, and Schuppan became manager in 1973.
MBS CFO Andy Gingrich, (BS BA '78), has worked with the pair for 25 years. He says that when you combine "Dan's high-energy personality from the background of being an football player for MU and Bob's critically focused personality from being a former mayor of Columbia, you get a leadership team that is charging full speed ahead."
A major turning point for MBS was in 1979 when its leaders made a risky decision to invest in computer automation. "Our competitors said it could not be done but we did it, and it turned out to be the right thing to do," Pugh says.
Through one of its three operating divisions, MBS Systems, the company has now developed the industry's most comprehensive and innovative line of bookstore management systems, including in-store and online solutions. The other two operating divisions are MBS Wholesale and MBS Direct.
Both executives have been very supportive of their alma mater. Since 2004, MBS has provided textbook scholarships to selected students in the business school. Individually, the two alumni have made generous donations to the Trulaske College as well as Intercollegiate Athletics. Pugh's donations helped to establish the Pinkney Walker and Raymond Lansford Professorships and to build Cornell Hall. Schuppan has funded a scholarship in honor of his father and uncle and also has supported the Walker Professorship.
Schuppan is a current member and Pugh is a former member of the college's Strategic Development Board. Together, they served as Executive-in-Residence. Both alumni have received the college's Citation of Merit, and Pugh was also presented a Faculty-Alumni Award by the Mizzou Alumni Association.
Every day Pugh and Schuppan face new challenges at MBS as the technological and educational environments change. As they tackle issues related to distance education and digital textbooks, they intend to be a player in shaping the future. "Over the years, we've made a lot of important decisions jointly," Pugh says. While Mizzou sports fans cheer the athletic feats of many Trulaske College of Business students, the academic achievements of the business school's nearly 110 student-athletes have drawn a different type of applause. Trulaske College student-athletes have earned various scholastic honors such as membership on the Big 12 Conference's all-academic teams.