John Hoskins was meeting with his son Brad this morning to beginplanning a transition strategy for Brad to take over Sportco, thefamily’s golf club manufacturing firm in Calgary that John hadstarted in 1985. Brad would become CEO within the next two years asJohn phased out his involvement entirely, spending increasingamounts of time away from the business. At 25, with a freshbusiness degree from Queens, 4 summers spent working in thebusiness, and a keen interest in manufacturing and golf, Brad wasthe ideal successor every father hopes for. John felt satisfied thecompany would be going into safe and capable hands. Annual sales atSportco hovered at nearly $20 Million and with 85 employees drawingbi-weekly paycheques, the stakes were high. All the same, Sportco’sgrowth had been slowing over the past five years and someone withhigh energy and strong business know-how would be needed to getsales headed skyward again. As the meeting got underway, Bradcarefully presented his plans for the future of the company. Afterdiscussing various growth problems the company currently faced, heastonished John by saying that Sportco had huge potential to dobusiness on a global scale, and that to support the next stages ofgrowth, his first step would be to create a human resourcesdepartment. John’s reaction to this proposal was swift and fierce:“Human Resources Department? Why on earth would you add moreexpense into the business when our sales are stagnant? Oursupervisors do a good job of managing our people. I’m shocked youwould even consider such a move!” No question Brad is on the “hotseat” and will need to provide convincing answers to implement thisproposal. Answer the following questions to see what rationale thischapter holds that Brad can use to convince John he’s on the righttrack.

(a) What current and future challenges might Brad argue are instore for Sportco that would point to the need for bettermanagement of human resources if the company wants to continue togrow?

(b) How could a strategic human resources department add valueto the company’s existing and future strategic plans?

(c) What services could be offered by human resourcesprofessionals that aren’t already looked after by supervisors ormanagers at Sportco?

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

a This difficulties that Brad could contend with John connected with the requirement for better management of Human Resource in the sportco store areThe deals have been stale and there could be plausi... View the full answer