Case Study

In 2007 Leah Chong started Highlite Designs, a small home-based operation that produced custom fashion designs for a small but growing following of customers. Leah created her design drawings at night, and working alone during the day she tailored outfits for her customers. Over the next 2 years Leahs reputation spread, and the growth in demand for her outfits compelled her to take on her first employee in early 2009, and her second and third employees by the end of 2009. In 2013, Highlite Designs was approached by a major clothing retailer (FF Limited) with a chain of 12 large stores located across Trinidad and Tobago. The large retailer would carry Highlite Designs womens casual wear, office wear, and club wear fashion lines in their Gulf City Mall store only, but due to overwhelming popularity, HDs clothing lines were soon made available at all of the retailers stores in Trinidad and in Tobago. This rapid growth forced Leah to register her business as a limited liability company (now officially Highlite Designs Limited, or HDL), establish a small factory operation situated in a warehouse building located in Couva, and grow her staff to 16 employees. Highlite Designs Limited still caters to their own customers, and the company has its own small outlet store located at the front of their leased factory building. Sales have continued to grow each year, and Leah still creates her own designs, although many new designs are the creations ofsome of her more talented employees. The terms of the exclusive supply contract with FF Limited permits Leah to continue to sell her designs under the Highlite Designs label at her companys own branded outlet store, but prevents her from expanding her clothings availability to other clothing retailers in the country. This contractual restriction was not a problem in the earlier years, but by 2018 it became clear that sales growth with one major retailer had reached its peak. Sales are not declining, but sales growth is now extremely minimal. Leah is now looking for a way to grow her sales at a much greater rate. She has been approached by 2 other major clothing retailers to enter into contracts with them to supply her designs, but due to her existing contractual obligations and restrictions with FF Limited she is unable to do so. What decision should Leah make? She is thinking about ending her existing contract with FF Limited, but she has a great relationship with the retailer, and she is grateful to them for giving her the opportunity to grow her business over the years. Without FF Limited, HDL would still be a small 1-store business. So, ending her contract with them is not attractive. Another option available to her is to start a new company, with new branding. This second company will be able to enter into new supply contracts with other nationwide retailers, and all she will have to do make minor fabric and design changes to her fashion lines so that conflict with FF Limited will not take place. Leah is also thinking about expanding her business by opening new outlet stores. This will require a major investment, but she is not sure how well new outlet stores will perform. Her existing outlet store at the factory building makes a profit, but not a very large one. New stores will have significantly more expenses for rent, interior design and outfitting, staff, security and other related costs

Question 1: Strategic Management & Goal Setting

i. Create a Mission Statement for Highlite Designs Limited.

ii. Using the case provided, create two (2) Strategic Goals and two (2) Operational Goals for Highlite Designs Limited. Remember these goals must be S.M.A.R.T