BUSN2038 - Human Resource Management: A Case Study of HS Furniture Co.

This case study examines the human resource management practices at HS Furniture Co., a company facing financial difficulties due to a lack of formal HR policies and strategic planning. The analysis covers the company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT), highlighting issues such as the absence of performance appraisals, training programs, and clear job descriptions. The case study also evaluates the owner's role as a HR manager, identifying shortcomings in strategic planning and change management. Furthermore, it critiques the company's recruitment policies, emphasizing the need for expertise-based hiring and structured orientation programs. Finally, it suggests improvements to the HR function, including implementing realistic recruitment strategies and competitive compensation plans. Desklib provides access to similar case studies and solutions to aid students in their studies.

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Name

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Answer to Question no 1
SWOT refers to Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threat of a company. The
SWOT analysis of HS Furniture Co. is as follows:
Strength:
 The HS Furniture Co. is one the leading furniture company in Adelaide due to the
innovative and modern designs. The price of the furniture are reasonable and can be
self-assembled by the customers, which is a big strength in the terms of a company.
 The company has the reliability of its customers for delivering excellent quality
products within a stipulated period thus gaining the trust of the customers. The
company has the quality of adapting trending furniture designs and satisfying the
needs of the customers accordingly.
 Worker strength is one of the biggest pro of the company as most of the workers are
hardworking with a passion and niche to deliver better results for the brand. The
relationship between the management and the employees is cordial and harmonious.
 The owner has sound knowledge of his field of working as he has spent his whole life
in furniture business. He knows his customer needs and how a furniture factory runs.
Weakness:
 There is no formal HR policy as the decided by the owner of the company, CM.
According to the owner, formal HR policy will make the workings of the company
inflexible and incorporative.
 There is no appraisal for good work and performance management system included in
the policy of the company. There are no other performance goals as set by the
company other than working in a lenient manner.

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 No evidence of formal training and career development classes are noticed in the
company that resulted in low employee turnover in the years.
Opportunity:
 The company notices strong local market authority and holds one of the pivotal
positions of the market capturing a huge portion of market.
 The demand of the products of the organization is constant which refers to the fact
that there are less chances of threats from any other brands in that period.
Threat:
 Stringent policy of the organization to retain the pricing of the company and classical
designs in spite of the threat from other bigger MNCs in Darwin.
 Lack of worker efficiency at the Darwin office and lack of HR skill knowledge by
both the owner of the company and the manager of Darwin office that results in
worker dissatisfaction that can lead to mass resignation of the workers.
Answer to Question no 2
The requirement of proper HR policies is of foremost importance in any organization
belonging to any genre. The task of the HR is to recruit employees, give them the needed
comfort and culture, also to make sure that the employees do not have any complaints
regarding any case, and to solve them whenever necessary. HS Furniture Co. had no formal
HR policies and employee strategies leading to one of the major issues in handling the
problems of the workers and dealing with the recruitment in their new Darwin office. The
owner of the company had no formal knowledge of HR skills and considered the option
irrelevant in terms of company requirements. He along with some of his reliable workers
managed all the problems of the employees and even handled the key customers taking side
of the workers. He did not consider any of the traditional HR policies to be appropriate for

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the company and provided no recreational measures other than formal guidance and paternal
like approach to the workers. Even when CM, the owner of the company aimed to open their
new Darwin office, he recruited the head of the office just from their old employees who had
the vitality and eagerness to work ignoring the training and experience required for the post.
When recruiting for the other employees in the Darwin office, the owner fully entrusted the
work on Jane, the manager of the office who in turn appointed the employees only based on
their educational qualifications and with no formal training for the job. They even while
recruiting had no written job descriptions and specifications needed for a particular post. The
employees were given no legal documents at the time of joining and the communication was
mostly verbal. The company had no organised HR policy whatsoever which made the
employees of the company less productive in the longer period.
Answer to Question no 3
The four key roles of a HR Manager as a strategic partner, administrative expert, and
employee advocate and change agent are discussed as applied in the stated case study.
One of the chief roles of a HR Manager was to develop the strategic plan for an
organization, which was missing in the HS Furniture Co. The owner of the company, CM
played the role of a HR with no formal policies and training. He had no plans for developing
any ideas for the development of the company in an orderly manner. He even delved into the
Darwin market with their new office without having any proper thought and knowledge about
the labour condition and demands for the product.
The owner of the company, CM in a proper manner, did the role of the HR as an
administrative expert. He managed all the key relationships with the clients and looked into
the matter of employee recruitment and promotions. He single-handedly managed all the HR
related tasks of the institution with some help from his loyal employees.

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The owner of the company did the role of a HR as an employee advocate in a very
efficient manner. He dealt with all the clients, took into consideration their complaints
regarding any product and service and even explained to the clients from the side of the
employees. He acted really well as an advocate to the employees of his own company.
Being an agent of change with the changing market demands and needs, the role of
CM, as a HR manager, was not appropriate. Inspite of worker dissatisfaction and continuous
displeasure from the customers to form new and innovative products at a lower price rate,
CM did not provide any heed to the recommendations. In addition, while appointing the new
head for their Darwin office, he did not feel the need to change his outlook to employee
recruitment and stuck to his old way of promoting one of the existing employees.
Answer to Question no 4
HS Furniture Co. had no formal written documents and specifications for appointment
of workers in their offices, especially in their Darwin branch. The owner of the brand
appointed the manager of the Darwin office, Jane based on enthusiasm and right attitude
without any previous task or job experience and formal training required for the role. The
same mode of recruitment was applied for the case of Darwin office where the selection of
the employees was done based on personality and formal education with no skill training or
formal employment knowledge. The company did not properly address orientation and the
employers thought these processes along with the training schedules to be not necessary for
the development of the employees. Jane, in the Darwin office just introduced the newly
appointed workers and left them to work on their own thinking that they would be able to
manage their roles accordingly. Only formal guidance and short learning sessions were
provided as and when required. Performance appraisal was not involved in the company and
there were no evidences regarding performance management programmes. The employee

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contracts at HS Furniture were mostly verbal and had no written contracts in any matter. The
role and responsibilities were also assigned orally which had no evident proofs during
termination and employee policy.
The above mentioned recruitment policies along with the other attributes contributing
to the performance and employment contracts were absolutely not reliable and effective in
the working sense. With no written evidence of the appointment and little knowledge about
employment rules, the effectiveness and reliability of the processes of HS Furniture seemed
to be questionable.
Answer to Question no 5
As a HR Manager appointed to the newly opened Darwin branch office of HS
Furniture, the first changes that I would have made is to employ workers based on their
expertise and previous knowledge and not on formal university degrees. Other than that, I
would have investigated the needs and demands of the Darwin market including the labour
market accordingly. Plans and strategies should be the first priority for the recruitment at any
new office that was not done properly by the company. As a HR Manager, I would have
made immense planning and charting out the needs of the company and doing the recruitment
according to the needs and with different specialities. The company mostly appointed
marketing and sales personnel in various tasks that is actually should not be done in any
company dealing with any business. Another role as a HR of an organization was to fix the
salary that should be given to the specific people with specific roles. I would have done on a
priority basis before the recruitment which would provide greater bargaining power to the
company in terms of remuneration given to the workers as compared to the other companies
operating on the same niche like HS Furniture Co. The HR policy of the company has no
realistic approach to the overall process of recruitment and retaining employees in the

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company and so as a HR of the stated organization I would have given a realistic approach to
the overall process aiming for the betterment of the company after studying and analysing the
case studies of rival organizations.