Board

Benson P. Shapiro

Benson P. Shapiro is a well-known authority on marketing strategy and sales management with particular interests in pricing, product line planning, and marketing organization. He is also the Malcolm P. McNair Professor of Marketing Emeritus at the Harvard Business School, where he taught full-time from 1970 to 1997.

Since 1997, Professor Shapiro has concentrated his professional time on consulting, speeches, boards of directors, and writing. He continues to teach at Harvard, and in the recent past has taught in several executive programs including the CEO Program, Young Presidents' Program, and Business Marketing Strategy, and has chaired the Sustainable Marketing Leadership for Mid-Sized Firms Program.

Professor Shapiro has served as a consultant to more than 300 companies including startups, medium-size firms, and large international corporations. Furthermore, he has participated in more than 160 executive education programs outside of Harvard for corporations and associations. During his 27 years on the Harvard faculty, he taught a wide variety of MBA courses including Industrial Marketing, Sales Management, Creative Marketing Strategy, and Integrated Product Line Management, and he also participated in many executive programs.

In addition, Professor Shapiro has held many administrative positions including Senior Associate Dean for Publications, Research Director, Head of the Required MBA Marketing Course, and Faculty Chair for Strategic Marketing Management, a two-week program for senior marketing executives.

Professor Shapiro is the author or editor of 14 books and 19 Harvard Business Review articles including "Leveraging to Beat the Odds: The New Marketing Mind-Set," "What the Hell is Market Oriented? ," "Manage Customers for Profits, Not Just Sales," and "Staple Yourself to an Order." Two of his most recent books, both co-edited, are Seeking Customers and Keeping Customers from the HBS Press.

Professor Shapiro holds a BSE (Chemical Engineering) from the University of Michigan, as well as MBA and DBA degrees from Harvard.

Elliot B. Ross

Elliot B. Ross, co-founder of The MFL Group, was previously head of McKinsey & Company's worldwide marketing practice. During his 15-year tenure at that firm, he became its thought leader in proactive pricing management, authoring articles in several journals, including the Harvard Business Review. He has also written, lectured, and consulted extensively on sales force management and competitive analysis.

Mr. Ross currently serves on the Board of both public and private companies. He is also currently a founder and CEO of Toolovation, a designer and marketer of high-value, low-cost consumer power tools.

Prior to founding MFL, Mr. Ross was President and a Director of State Industrial Products, a leading manufacturer and distributor of specialty chemical and hardware products. He led Essef Corporation (NASDAQ) as a Director and Chief Operating Officer to four years of growth in excess of 34% per year and to a leading share position in each of its markets.

He founded Inverness Partners and grew Inverness Castings Group (Co-Chairman and co-CEO) into a leading tier I automotive supplier. He was selected by Inc. magazine as regional manufacturing entrepreneur of the year. He served as Chairman of the Board of Staff Leasing, Inc. (NASDAQ).

Mr. Ross holds a Bachelors and Master of Science (Engineering) from Ohio State and an M.B.A. from Case Western Reserve University.