Treating the Firm Like an Extended Family:

Abstract Boyles Brothers Drilling Company was a Canadian diamond drilling firm primarily engaged in mineral exploration. At the end of the Second World War, it was well positioned to take part in the resource-based expansion of the Canadian economy. Headquartered in Vancouver it expanded operations across Canada. Its expertise was sought out in other parts of the world where mineral exploration was occurring, and the company became a multinational. The company was vertically integrated, manufacturing both diamond drill bits and drilling equipment. Its operations were, for the most part, undertaken on the frontier fringe characterized by an absence of transportation and communications infrastructure. Distances were vast, electronic communication non-existent and the work transient. This paper delves into how to manage a firm that spanned the globe in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. There appears to be two aspects of the management strategy: (1) treating the firm like an extended family and (2) having head office personnel on the ground in the geographically diverse operations as much as possible. The managerial style and strategy made Boyles Brothers an early successful Canadian-based multinational.