Strategic HRM Analysis for Happy Dogs Inc. - University Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the strategic Human Resource Management (HRM) practices of Happy Dogs Inc., a company based in Tasmania with a focus on dog daycare, wellness services, and dog-walking services. The report examines the company's decision to expand by opening new daycare branches in Hobart, analyzing the HRM implications of this expansion, including recruitment, training, and management staff strengthening. It identifies the company's strategic goals, which include continued growth and diversification, and outlines the corresponding HRM objectives. The report also explores the company's SWOT analysis, highlighting labor intensiveness as a key weakness and its impact on the company's expansion plans. Furthermore, the report discusses the evolving role of HRM, the company's current HRM strategy, and proposes a progress tracking mechanism to evaluate the management of the new daycare centers. The analysis is supported by relevant academic references and provides insights into the challenges and opportunities associated with strategic HRM in a growing business context.

Running head: ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIC HRM FOR HAPPY DOGS INC.
Analysis of Strategic HRM for Happy Dogs Inc
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ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIC HRM FOR HAPPY DOGS INC
Question 1:
Happy Dogs is company in Tasmania with its business operations based in Hobart. It has
three different business units that include Happy Dogs Day Care, Happy Dogs Wellness Services
and Happy Dogs Dog-Walking Services (Happy Dogs 2018).
The company has decided to open two new branches of Happy Dogs Day Care at Hobart
in areas of Mornington and Berriedale respectively. The reason for the selection of these
locations is the similarity with the primary center at Kingston that has yielded great results for
the company. The management hence believes that the new centers will repeat the success of
Kingston. According to the team, the main parameters that will decide the success of their
strategic goal include:
 High proportion of commuters coming to Hobart for work
 Large number of people stay in houses and units having small yards and
 A good number of people reside in rural lands that needs enclosures and fencing for dogs
while owners go out for work
Question 2:
As pointed out by Twarowska and Kąkol (2013), strategizing expansion of business
either within or beyond the country is a tough task and requires thorough planning. The
department that is most affected by this strategy is the Human Resource Department. The various
aspects of HRM that include recruitment and selection, performance management, training and
development and induction will be influenced by the company’s decision to open new units.
Currently, the company employs 15 staff at the Kingston Day Care Center and 32 staff at the

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ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIC HRM FOR HAPPY DOGS INC
Dog-Walking Services including dog-walkers, business manager and booking coordinator. The
dog walkers mostly operate from home where they receive booking orders via internet or over
phone.
The most important task for the HRM at Hobart would be to recruit employees with good
experience and to train them. This would require a strong budget and sufficient time. The
company must focus on strengthening the management staff at the new branch of Happy Dogs
Dog-Walking Services since the present services employs only two management staff.
Question 3:
The Happy Dogs Company aims to achieve two chief goals in the next five years. These
are:
 Continuing the current growth strategy through establishment of two new Daycare
centers and
 Maintaining the diversification strategy by opening a Wellness Services center exploring
new areas of the business
In order to meet these overall strategic goals, clear objectives have to be set for the HRM.
As Kaufman (2015) mentions, the role of HRM has shifted from being reactive to being
strategic. Therefore, it becomes increasingly important for the company to adhere to the
objectives set for the HRM. In case of Happy Dogs, the chief objective that its HRM needs to
follow is to form different teams each led by a head. The newly formed teams with their
respective heads must ensure that they create a team that is dedicated and willing to work in
replacements as well.

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ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIC HRM FOR HAPPY DOGS INC
Question 4:
After analyzing the company’s SWOT analysis, it can be observed that one of its biggest
weaknesses is labor intensiveness. This internal factor can cost heavily for the company’s HRM
in achieving its objectives. The company’s goal is to diversify and expand and it needs to be
reciprocated by the HRM but with weak labor intensiveness, it becomes difficult. Happy Dogs
being heavily dependent on labor, it has to bear the cost of operations, which burdens the
company. This factor is likely to cause hinder to the company’s objective of expanding into new
markets as the labor intensiveness might overburden the company’s budget. Moreover, as its
HRM strategy, the company looks to expand its management team headed by different
managers. This means that the labor intensiveness is likely to increase thus putting more pressure
on the company.
Question 5:
According to Kramar (2012), unlike previous decades, the present generation witnessed
HRM practices being “harnessed to achieve organizational outcomes”. Sheehan and De Cieri
(2012) on the other hand laid specific stress on strategic HRM development in Australia and
stated that the role of HR professionals has developed in recent years where they play a crucial
part in organizational change. Happy Dogs is rapidly growing company and to ensure further
success, it plans to diversify and expand into other areas. In this regard, the HRM strategy it
employs is to strengthen its management team at the new Daycare Center. The current position
of Happy Dogs Company makes it clear that the HRM strategy the company has employed
proved to be a success as it managed to diversify into other sectors like wellness services.
However, one major issue with the company is its management of the huge workforce.

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ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIC HRM FOR HAPPY DOGS INC
Therefore, as a progress tracker, the company can evaluate the management of its new Daycare
center in the next twelve months.

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ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIC HRM FOR HAPPY DOGS INC
References:
Happy Dogs PTY LTD. 2018, Hobart, Tasmania.
Kaufman, B.E., 2015. Evolution of strategic HRM as seen through two founding books: A 30th
anniversary perspective on development of the field. Human Resource Management, 54(3),
pp.389-407.
Kramar, R., 2012. Trends in Australian human resource management: what next?. Asia Pacific
Journal of Human Resources, 50(2), pp.133-150.
Sheehan, C. and De Cieri, H., 2012. Charting the strategic trajectory of the Australian HR
professional. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 50(2), pp.151-168.
Twarowska, K. and Kąkol, M., 2013. International Business Strategy-reasons and forms of
expansion into foreign markets. In Management, knowledge and learning International
conference (pp. p1005-1011).