BUSN2038 - HRM Case Study: Analysis of HS Furniture Company

This case study assignment analyzes the human resource management challenges faced by HS Furniture Company, a once-leading furniture manufacturer facing bankruptcy. The analysis covers the company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT), HR-related problems stemming from the lack of a formal HR department and performance appraisal system, and the absence of key HR manager roles. It examines the nature of recruitment, selection, orientation, performance management, and employment contracts within the company, highlighting their unreliability and invalidity. The study concludes with recommendations from an HR consultant's perspective, emphasizing the importance of professional training, formal HR planning, structured recruitment processes, employee relations management, and legally sound employment contracts to improve the company's performance and competitive advantage. Desklib provides similar solved assignments and past papers for students.

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Human Resource Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Table of Contents
Answer to Question 1.................................................................................................................2
Answer to Question 2.................................................................................................................3
Answer to Question 3.................................................................................................................4
Answer to Question 4.................................................................................................................5
Answer to Question 5.................................................................................................................6

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Answer to Question 1
The SWOT analysis of HS Furniture Company are described as follows:
Strengths
 It is one of the leaders of manufacturer of furniture that focuses more on the different
kind of innovative techniques The respective company has been quick enough in responding to the different market
trends The reliability of HS Furniture is high in delivering high quality services along with
reasonably priced products to their customers The respective company has diversified their product portfolio as this has increased
their brand reputation
Weaknesses
 The company has faced huge bankruptcy and this caused decrease in the quality of the
products that are sold by them The different individuals in the sales team did not have much knowledge on the
different kind of expansion of the company in an effective manner
 The orientation and the selection along with recruitment procedure are not formal and
this is one the huge weakness of the company
 The morale of all the employees in the organization was all time low and this was a
big disadvantage in the market as well
Opportunities
 The company can add premium quality products in the company as this can assist the
company in being more profitable in the business

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 The company can create different kinds of business opportunities in the emerging
markets as this can expand their business successfully
 The introduction of the sales department can introduce different kinds of
improvement in the different departments of the company and this will positively
affect the company
 The cost leadership of the company is the other biggest opportunity for the company
that can raise the quality concerns along with creating value of the products
Threats
 There is increase in the demand of premium products in the market that can cause
huge threat for HS Furniture Company
 Secondly, the competitive pressure in the market can create pressure on the respective
company as there are existence of different rival brands
 The changing government laws along with tax policies can create a negative impact
on their prices of the products sold by HS Furniture Company
 Lastly, no upgradation of the products in the market can create pressure on HS
Furniture and this can have bad impact on their sales
Answer to Question 2
There are different HR related problems in the case of HS Furniture Company that
there was no such Human Resource department in the respective organization. It was seen
that HS Furniture did not have any personnel or HR department and this was a huge problem
for the company as well. Furthermore, it was noticed that the company did not have accurate
performance appraisal system that is necessary for the company as these assists in analysing
the performance of the different employees in the organization.

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For instance- it was seen that the respective furniture company HS Furniture
Company did not have any separate formal HR department as the manager felt that the
company do not need the same as this would make the company inflexible and this can seize
the business opportunities of the company as well. The different HR related activities were
undertaken by CM or line managers and this resulted in contrary and unfair decisions.
Furthermore, it was noticed that there was no formal performance appraisal system as
this was a small kind of business. CM felt that the managers are capable in providing
guidance to the employees and no such performance management is required. No such goal
setting has been done for the different employees. However, the intervention was done by
CM after a problem occurred and he tried to include formal training and personal
development of the employees. Hr provided proper emphasis on the issues faced by the
problems and later he decided that a sales office is required to be opened in Darwin, NT.
Answer to Question 3
The four key roles of HR manager such as strategic partner. Administrative expert,
employee advocate and change agent were not applied in a formal manner in HS Furniture
Company. Jane and CM did not have the formal and practical knowledge on the different
aspects of the different HR functions. It can be analysed from the evidence when it occurred
that there was no formal orientation, job description and person specification provided to the
employees in the organization.
Furthermore, it was noticed that both of them thought there was no requirement of
development of the strategic plan in the organization as this can cause inflexibility in the job
performances of the employees. However, there was an incident wherein after an occurrence
of a problem, CM realized that a formal training is required to be included in the organization
for treating the employees as the family members.

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Furthermore, this particular incident was treated as the change agent as CM realized
the fault of the poor customer service along with diminishing in the quality of the products
that are provided to the customers. Lastly, proper HR rules and regulations has to be followed
by the organization in order to gain competitive advantage in the market.
Answer to Question 4
Nature of recruitment and selection, orientation, performance management and
employment contracts at HS Furniture Company are as follows:
It was noticed that Jane and CM both managed the different tasks related to HR,
Marketing, sales and accounting as they felt they have all the knowledge regarding the
different departments. It was noticed that there were no such written job descriptions
provided to the candidates as CM felt it was bureaucratic in nature. There was no such formal
planning, Jane along with CM decided that there will be requirement of different employees
in different departments in Darwin. The selection procedure was not at all formal in nature
and later on this caused huge pressure on Jane as she felt frustrated while taking care of all
the activities.
Recruitment and Selection Method- Not formal in nature
Performance Appraisal- No such separate department or regular appraisal was done
Orientation- No orientation or induction program was conducted by HS Furniture
Company as CM and Jane just made them understand their job without any kind of
formal introduction.
Employment Contracts – CM did not have much knowledge on employment laws and
contracts and HS has faced huge breach of contract regarding employment and
leasehold agreements. The employment contracts of the employees were unclear in
nature for the staffs working in Darwin.

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The selection and performance appraisal that was followed by CM and Jane in HS
was not reliable and valid to ab great extent as the company officials did not follow any kind
of formal procedure that has created negative impact on the business. Furthermore, it was
noticed that one such evidence wherein in the recruitment and selection procedure, CM and
Jane did not provide any formal job description or person specification to the employees.
Additionally, it was noticed that while there were new employees who were interviewed,
there was no such induction program that is required to be conducted by the HR of the
company as well.
Lastly, it can be concluded and recommended that proper performance appraisal along
with recruitment and selection procedure is essential in nature as this will help the company
along with the employees to gain more competitive advantage and this will make the
performance more effective in nature. The recruitment of the candidates and formal
orientation program is important to maintain the proper effectiveness in the different
activities that are performed in the respective organization.
Answer to Question 5
As a HR consultant, if I would have been appointed as the HR manager of the HS
Furniture Company in the year 2015, I would have initiated few other steps prior to set up an
office at Darwin. Firstly, I would have provided professional training to all the employees in
the organization. I feel that professional training and development can help and assist the
employees in planning the tasks that are required to be performed by them. According to me,
a formal HR planning is necessary as the recruitment and selection can be made easier in
order to attract talents and hire resources that will help in meeting the requirements of the
organization.

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I would have introduced a panel for recruiting and selecting the candidates in much
more appropriate manner. The recruitment has to be done in such a manner that will assist in
interviewing candidates on the basis of the qualification in different departments.
Furthermore, the orientation program is essential as to make the employees thorough with the
practices of the organization. The management of the employee relations is essential as this
has the ability to influence the behaviour of the employees effectively.
The morale of the employees has to be influenced positively, proper motivation is
essential in order to understand the different demands of the employees and remove the
grievances of the customers. Before selecting the candidates for a particular payroll, this is
necessary to understand the past experience of the employee and the salary negotiation has to
be done in such manner. Lastly, I would have taken the employment contracts in a serious
manner as this has huge influence on the organization.