Like the company he heads, William M. Agee is self-assured.
Bendix Corp., the Michigan-based manufacturer of automotive and aircraft parts, housebuilding materials, metalworking tools and many other things, is a nononsense, tightly reined outfit. It made money throughout the recession and stacked up just under $3 billion in sales last fiscal year. Agee, who was named the company's chairman last December after Michael Blumenthal was selected to be Jimmy Carter's Treasury Secretary, is a tested and talented manager and financial man—as he tells anyone who asks. Practically the only thing he is...