Business Case Study: Rona

Brief Introduction of the Company: Rona Inc. founded in 1939 in Boucherville, Quebec is a major player in the Canadian home improvement industry. Rona has over 800 locations nationwide with most of its stores located in its home province, Quebec. Due to its strategic importance, Rona is considered to be a very important asset by the Quebec government. RONA Inc. engages in the distribution and retail of hardware, home improvement, and gardening products in Canada. The company offers automotive products, building materials and accessories, construction plans, decoration products, eco-responsible products, gift cards, hand tools, hardware products, horticulture products, kitchen and bathroom products, lighting and electricity products, paint
The Corporation's growth strategy focused on internal growth, acquisitions, building new stores and recruiting new dealer-owners under the RONA banner. 

Already the clear market leader in Québec, the Corporation set its sights on Ontario and Western Canada to expand the RONA network. In November 2002, RONA (TSX: RON) achieved another milestone, entering the stock market with an initial public offering of common shares worth $150.1 million. In 2010, in June, RONA completes its acquisition of Pierceys stores in the Halifax area, contributing to the Corporation's expansion in Atlantic Canada. 

RONA announces the addition of an important distributor, TruServ Canada, to its brand portfolio. This new business allows RONA to better serve its extensive network of independent retailers operating under other banners all across Canada. In 2013,On January 21, RONA announces a number of changes to its Board of Directors, notably the appointment of Robert Chevrier as Executive Chairman. 

In March, the Board of Directors – including eight new members
More boardroom time would give the members a greater chance of being able to look into the issues deeper and assess the situation properly. Moreover, the board members are encouraged to meet more outside the board room to know each other well. And for that to happen it is important for the board members to meet away from the pressures of the board meetings. Therefore, it is our recommendation that as a team building exercise there should be an annual event where all the board members would come together with their families. This can either be a formal grand dinner or a golf tournament or a summer retreat. Secondly, in order to keep an eye on the CEO/merchant relationship the board needs to obtain first-hand information regarding this issue from the CEO. The board should introduce a new policy change in relation to CEO evaluation. The policy change would now want the CEO to report to the directors at every board meeting in regards to his relations with the Rona merchants association. In turn, to make the process unbiased the CEO would also be required to submit the feedback from Rona merchants association as he deals with them directly. Rona merchants association would be informed of this policy change so as to make sure that they are also providing timely feedbacks on the CEO and the rest of the executive team. Lastly, to keep things encouraging for the CEO and other executives, dealer owned store performance should be used as a measure to