# How a Strong Company Culture Leads Through Crisis with Dan Stutterheim

- Show: [Manufacturing Happy Hour](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour)
- Published: 2020-06-09
- Length: 42m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2020-06-09-how-a-strong-company-culture-leads-through-crisis-with-dan-stutterheim
- Listen: http://manufacturinghappyhour.com/18

## Summary

Dan Stutterheim, CEO of Kasa Companies, a Salina, Kansas-based industrial control systems integrator, explains how his company navigated the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic by prioritizing employee health and transparent communication. He details the implementation of daily 'culture dialogues' and 'MAPS' emails to address staff anxiety, while narrowing business focus from 160 monthly goals to four key quarterly metrics: cash, sales, backlog, and execution. Stutterheim highlights how Kasa's conservative financial strategy and strong balance sheet provided the runway to maintain operations and even hire talent during the crisis, despite facing cash flow challenges from slow-paying customers.

## Chapters

- [3:19](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2020-06-09-how-a-strong-company-culture-leads-through-crisis-with-dan-stutterheim#t=199) Introduction: Dan Stutterheim and Kasa Companies
- [7:25](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2020-06-09-how-a-strong-company-culture-leads-through-crisis-with-dan-stutterheim#t=445) Rapid Transition to Remote Work and Crisis Response
- [10:32](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2020-06-09-how-a-strong-company-culture-leads-through-crisis-with-dan-stutterheim#t=632) Community Support and Customer Assistance Efforts
- [12:10](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2020-06-09-how-a-strong-company-culture-leads-through-crisis-with-dan-stutterheim#t=730) Culture Dialogues and Addressing Employee Fear
- [16:10](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2020-06-09-how-a-strong-company-culture-leads-through-crisis-with-dan-stutterheim#t=970) Conservative Financial Strategy and Balance Sheet Strength
- [18:11](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2020-06-09-how-a-strong-company-culture-leads-through-crisis-with-dan-stutterheim#t=1091) Narrowing Focus: From 160 Goals to Quarterly Themes
- [20:58](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2020-06-09-how-a-strong-company-culture-leads-through-crisis-with-dan-stutterheim#t=1258) Casa Health Theme: Individual and Corporate Well-being
- [28:25](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2020-06-09-how-a-strong-company-culture-leads-through-crisis-with-dan-stutterheim#t=1705) Sales Dynamics and Customer Engagement During Crisis
- [33:43](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2020-06-09-how-a-strong-company-culture-leads-through-crisis-with-dan-stutterheim#t=2023) Lessons on Leadership, Remote Work, and Future Practices

## Topics

- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Scaling production](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/scaling-production)
- [Hiring & workforce](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/hiring-and-workforce)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Kasa Companies (company)
- Audible (other)
- Netflix (other)

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- [How I Built Resilience: Live with David Neeleman and Tristan Walker](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-04-16-how-i-built-resilience-live-with-david-neeleman-and-tristan-walker) (How I Built This)
- [Restoring Glory and Dignity to Manufacturing w/ John Kramer and Marc Braun](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2021-06-29-restoring-glory-and-dignity-to-manufacturing-w-john-kramer-and-marc-braun) (The Manufacturing Executive)
- [EMS@C-LEVEL Season #1 Episode #2 with Creative Electron's Dr. Bill Cardoso](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ems-c-level/2020-08-07-ems-c-level-season-1-episode-2-with-creative-electrons-dr-bill-cardoso) (EMS@C-LEVEL)
- [How I Built Resilience: Live with Stewart Butterfield and Steve Holmes](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-05-09-how-i-built-resilience-live-with-stewart-butterfield-and-steve-holmes) (How I Built This)

## Citing this page

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