Executive suite: Patrick Lavelle of Audiovox

Before he joined Audiovox Corp. in the mid-1970s, Patrick Lavelle once asked a successful businessman for advice.

"How do you know how to be in the right place at the right time?" he recalls asking. The answer: "You just have to be in a lot of places."

Hauppauge-based Audiovox is in many places - 27, to be exact. Lavelle, president and chief executive since 2005, rattles off the sites that he regularly visits: Detroit, Indianapolis, Orlando, Germany, Mexico, Venezuela, Hong Kong and Canada.

Lavelle, 58, former chairman of the Consumer Electronics Association of America, is a Marist College trustee. He is married with three children.

What do you look for when hiring?
"The overriding qualities I would look for are smarts, adaptability and motivation -- the ability to be self-motivated. The CE [consumer electronics] space . . . is changing rapidly, and the ability to keep up, to adapt with that, is very important. John Shalam started this company in 1965, and he has set a very entrepreneurial tone where you were empowered, but you were also accountable."

 What do you remember about the first time you were someone's boss?
"One of the most important qualities in an executive is not really the ability to dictate, but the ability to listen to what employees are saying, to what the associates are saying, and then formulate a plan of action that works for everybody. Treat people with respect. Those are the things that I appreciated with superiors that I had. Those are the things that I really like to incorporate in my own management style."

 How would you describe that style?
"Hands-on. I like to know what's happening. I like to be in the thick of it with the people that are doing the job. But I do step back, I do let them run with the ball. I do have high expectations, and I expect everybody to meet them." 

What are your plans for growth?
For the company's consumer business, despite the recession, "we did not cut back on our new product development. It's key to our growth. This year, we're introducing new products under all [our] brands, and that will help us grow the sales."

 How has the recession impacted the company?
"Everybody knows how the automotive sector was hit. Automotive is 60 percent of our volume in revenue, so we were certainly hit hard by that. We were able to maintain profitability, but that came through cost-cutting." On the other hand, he says, the company was able to "pick up a couple of acquisitions that will . . . be good long-term for the company at deeply discounted prices." 

Do you have any time-management tricks?
"I stay late. I get a lot of my own personal work done after hours when it quiets down. I've found that works well for me. That, and planes."

 Corporate snapshot

 Name: Patrick Lavelle

Title: President, chief executive

Company: Audiovox Corp.

Business: International distributor in the accessory, mobile and consumer electronics industries, with brands including Jensen and RCA

Location: Hauppauge and 26 other sites in 12 states and Germany, China, Malaysia, Canada, Venezuela, Mexico, Hong Kong and England

Type: Public company (traded on Nasdaq: VOXX)

Revenue: $550.7 million in fiscal 2010

Employees: 970, including 321 on Long Island