Transitioning a River Outfitter to the Next Generation

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jlse.12011
• Published date: 01 March 2014
• Author: Debra D. Burke,Carroll A. Brown
• Date: 01 March 2014

Journal of Legal Studies Education

Volume 31, Issue 1, 107–169, Winter 2014

Case Studies

Transitioning a River Outfitter to the

Next Generation

Debra D. Burke∗and Carroll A. Brown∗∗

I. Introduction and Overview

This is an actual case, although the names and location have been mod-

ified. The dialogue used in the case is fictionalized and designed only to

assist the reader in comprehending the situation presented. The case is

designed to highlight business and legal issues that should be considered

when operations expand and ownership changes. Of particular significance

in this case is the focus on modernizing operations without losing the orig-

inal organization’s commitment to the environment and its cultural mis-

sion. The case examines the legal, managerial, and marketing concerns sur-

rounding a decision to expand and diversify operations with the change in

ownership.

The case is ideal for use in a Legal Environment of Business course, as it

can be reexamined and used when each legal issue is covered in the course.

In other words, the case provides a contextual setting to which the law can

be applied, which can be referenced throughout the semester when chap-

ters on relevant material are discussed. By using this one business setting,

or context, to reinforce principles throughout a course, the focus subtly shifts

from the legal environment of business to business in its legal environment,a

very important distinction for learning because the relevancy of the material

will become more obvious and less attenuated. In contrast, selecting the best,

∗Professor, Western Carolina University.

∗∗Associate Professor, Western Carolina University. The authors are extremely grateful to the

real Becky Jay for her wonderful newspaper articles with interviews, upon which we relied for

the history of the company, as well as to Whitt, Ace, and Chandler, who built a great company

with a story to tell.

C2014 The Authors

Journal of Legal Studies Education C2014 Academy of Legal Studies in Business

107

108 Vol. 31 / The Journal of Legal Studies Education

albeit unrelated, cases to illustrate various legal points can confuse inductive

thinkers with respect to seeing the big picture. Maintaining a constant con-

text, however, allows students to follow the impact of the law on a business,

even if the example used is not the best possible one to illustrate the legal

principle at issue.

In addition to content knowledge, business law students must develop

portable skills, such as thinking critically, making connections between ideas,

and engaging in lifelong learning,1which will allow them to form reasoned

judgments and to think across otherwise compartmentalized topics through-

out their careers. The new Conceptual Age requires employees to be creative

and innovative in interdisciplinary settings.2As a result, legal educators in

colleges of business should favor an approach that integrates and highlights

holistically the law’s relationship to business and the success of business

enterprises.

The case is followed by discussion questions designed to prompt its anal-

ysis and to frame the problems presented by the facts of the case. Some of the

questions are designed to analyze legal issues that should be risk managed

when operations expand. In particular, issues concerning protecting intel-

lectual property, minimizing exposure to tort liability, expanding operations

to international markets, and managing employee relations in the wake of

increased competition are raised. Select questions may be discussed in class,

assigned as the basis of a written report, or given as a take-home exam. The

teaching note provides suggested responses to the questions and provides

resource material for instructors. The case builds to a decision point con-

cerning expansion. Student groups could be assigned questions on various

possibilities for expansion and reorganization, including the attendant risks

and benefits.

Some questions may require the students to conduct at least some

cursory research on the topic, such as employee ownership plans, before

analyzing the underlying issue. There are several questions for which the

students could consult a governmental website, such as those of the U.S.

Patent & Trademark Office, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

and the U.S. State Department, for valuable information. Other websites can

also provide supplemental, pertinent information; encouraging students to

1Claudia Wallis, How to Bring Our Schools Out of the 20th Century, Time, Dec. 18, 2006, available at

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1568480,00.html.

2Daniel H. Pink, A Whole new Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future (2006).

2014 / Transitioning a River Outfitter to the Next Generation 109

use legitimate and rich web-based resources helps to teach informational

literacy3and the importance of evaluating the legitimacy of sources.

II. The Case: The Development and Expansion of

the Kimetoga Whitewater Center

A. Background

The light twinkled and danced on the river as spring welcomed the dogwood

blossoms. This beautiful river outpost, tucked away in a mountain gorge, had

been Whitt and Paula Lincoln’s home, livelihood, and passion for the past

forty years. Approaching eighty years old, Whitt knew it was time for the next

visionaries to take the reins of the enterprise—enterprise, yes, not business.

The Kimetoga Whitewater Center (KWC) was about family, nature, and sport

for visitors to the area, as well as for its employee-owners and its founders; it

was not necessarily about profit. KWC rose rapidly from a scrappy operation

spawned by idealistic river rats in the 1970s to one of the largest and most

renowned outfitters in the country. Over the course of its existence, KWC

struggled periodically to reconcile its founding philosophy with changing

economic realities.

The knock on the door signaled to Whitt that the reporter, who was

writing a feature article for the local paper about the pending transition

in ownership, had arrived. Paula accompanied her to Whitt’s office, which

overlooked the river. The reporter was already familiar with the Kimetoga

Whitewater Center. After all, twenty-two Olympic paddlers have been on

KWC’s staff over the course of its forty-year history. An international paddling

destination, KWC is a large commercial outdoor guide center surrounded

by a national forest, and located on the Kimetoga River in the Appalachian

Mountains.

3The Association for College and Research Libraries Information defines information liter-

acy as “a set of abilities requiring individuals to ‘recognize when information is needed and

have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.’” Information

Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education,Association for College & Research Li-

braries,available at http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetencyf1 (last

visited Jan. 24, 2013) (citing Final Report of the Presidential Committee on Information Liter-

acy). The association also sets Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education,which

provide a framework for assessing the information literate individual. One of the characteristics

of an information literate person is the ability to “evaluate information and its sources critically.”

Id.