Reference no: EM133136162

Case study: HR Strategy: E-Commerce Comes to Starlight book

You are the HR director for Starlight Books in Cambridge, Ontario, a family-owned business since 1910. It has been very successful over the years, providing a wide range of books to its customers. Starlight Books motto is "You want it, we got - or we can get it fast." The company prides itself on high-quality customer service and the ability to live up to its motto fully. Starlight operations have spread from its single store in Toronto to thirty stores in Vancouver, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Alberta.

The company locates its stores in medium-sized towns because it found competition in the larger cities was too great. It has a highly efficient distribution system to ensure that all stores can live up to its motto. Starlight's workforce is hired from the local store areas. Stores provide part-time work for local high school students, and full-time employees tend to range in age from the mid-twenties to the late thirties. The company offers a profit-sharing scheme for all its full-time employees. Turnover among these staff members is relatively low, with most staying with the company for several years.

Over the past couple of years, the company's profits have been dropping. Market research has indicated that much of the company's loss in revenue can be attributed to booksellers operating on the internet. After many soul searching, the current CEO of the company has decided to take the company online. Initially, the company will run all of its e-commerce operations from its home site in Cambridge and use its existing distribution center. As to what this move to e-commerce means for the company's existing storefront operations, the CEO will only say, "well, we'll just have to wait and see about that."

Please assist in answering the following questions

1. Outline the company's strengths and weaknesses related to this change in mode of operation

2. Outline the opportunities and threats associated with this change in business strategy.

3. Outline the HR practice implications for staff of such a change in operations, specifically

a. What changes, if any, would be needed in how people are hired and what kinds of skills and qualifications they would need to have?

b. How would you appraise the performance of staff in the new e-commerce operations, and how would that differ from staff in the store sites?

c. What new training and development programs would be required?