House Smart Furniture Company
INTRODUCTION
House Smart Furniture Company has been founded in Sydney in 1986 by a very experienced businessmen, Colin Moreland. It' main business was to design and manufacture self-assembled, compact low cost furniture and it was leading the industry for a long time.
In 2001, Colin decided to open an Sales office in Hong Kong to expand his business growth by borrowing A$550,000 and appointed Jane Fleming, who was equipped with a BBA degree and has been staying in Hong Kong during her higher studies, to manage the same. She was delighted with the offer and very confident of taking the challenge by considering her knowledge in sales & Marketing, HR and accounting.
She started the company by hiring 10 university graduates, seven sales executives, a secretary, a receptionist, an accounts clerk, and a sales clerk to fulfill all the positions, as Colin and Jane agreed.
After a successful six months of operation, the Hong Kong office started generating problems mainly due to the lack of HR policies in place and due to the inexperienced HR manager, who was running the company. In addition to the problems in Hong Kong and Singapore, the Australian operation had been affected by its first ever strike and House Mart had lost most of its market share.
As a result, Collin had to face legal charges, go through a terrible financial crisis and finally could be facing bankruptcy.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
House Smart Furniture Company never believed in practicing a formal HR policies and considered such policies to be bureaucratic nonsense. As a very successful businessman in this industry, Colin always believed to run his company with good relationships, micro management, guidance, loyalty and obedience to make his employees to work hard to maintain the existing leadership in the industry.
When the company was small, operating only in Australia and Singapore, Colin managed to run the company without practicing formal HR policies and proud of his achievements.
The Hong Kong
House Smart Furniture Company has been founded in Sydney in 1986 by a very experienced businessmen, Colin Moreland. It' main business was to design and manufacture self-assembled, compact low cost furniture and it was leading the industry for a long time.
In 2001, Colin decided to open an Sales office in Hong Kong to expand his business growth by borrowing A$550,000 and appointed Jane Fleming, who was equipped with a BBA degree and has been staying in Hong Kong during her higher studies, to manage the same. She was delighted with the offer and very confident of taking the challenge by considering her knowledge in sales & Marketing, HR and accounting.
She started the company by hiring 10 university graduates, seven sales executives, a secretary, a receptionist, an accounts clerk, and a sales clerk to fulfill all the positions, as Colin and Jane agreed.
After a successful six months of operation, the Hong Kong office started generating problems mainly due to the lack of HR policies in place and due to the inexperienced HR manager, who was running the company. In addition to the problems in Hong Kong and Singapore, the Australian operation had been affected by its first ever strike and House Mart had lost most of its market share.
As a result, Collin had to face legal charges, go through a terrible financial crisis and finally could be facing bankruptcy.
�
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
House Smart Furniture Company never believed in practicing a formal HR policies and considered such policies to be bureaucratic nonsense. As a very successful businessman in this industry, Colin always believed to run his company with good relationships, micro management, guidance, loyalty and obedience to make his employees to work hard to maintain the existing leadership in the industry.
When the company was small, operating only in Australia and Singapore, Colin managed to run the company without practicing formal HR policies and proud of his achievements.
The Hong Kong