Question

Only need help with question 5

2 CASE The Human Resource Function of Harrison Brothers Corporation COMPANY HISTORY Harrison Brothers Corporation n was founded in upstate New York on September 15, 1898, by Aubrey and William Harrison. Harrison Brothers is a multi-line traditional department store tha t cares mainly men's, wome expanded to include household furnishings and other items for the home. The long-term goal of the company is to become the leading chain of department stores in the Northeast, selling moderate- to higher-priced merchandise to middle-class, fashion-conscious customers Harrison Brothers is one of the largest privately owned retail stores in the United States. A majority of its twenty stores are located in the Northeast. Its largest store is located in a major urban center and has 950 employees. The company is highly decentralized and maintains a very small corporate office. en's, and children's clothing. In recent years, the store has INDUSTRY CHALLENGES Traditional department stores like Harrison Brothers are beginning to experience the effects of a number of changes in the retail industry. Not long ago, major department stores succeeded by being all things to all customers. However, today's customer is looking for both value and specialization. Superstores and giant discounters are also popping up. At the same time, the industry faces the challenge of keeping a well-trained, highly motivated sales staff and management team. James Harrison, CEO of Harrison Brothers, describes the company's strategic challenges for the next five years: "We can no longer continue to do the same old things that gave us a reputation for fair value. We must reposition ourselves-floor to floor- offering exciting brand names, excellent sales help, and frequent sales. We need a sales staff that knows the merchandise and understands customer preferences. Buying expertise is also critical because fashions and consumer tastes never stay the same. We have five strategic goals: 1. Convert non-selling space into revenue-generating selling space. 2. Build up underdeveloped merchandise categories 3. Invest aggressively in pri 4. Reduce costs through vate brands like Polo, Nautica, and Tommy Hilfiger. the use of advanced computer systems to project sales and manage inventory s. Improve productivity of sales associates, buyers, and department heads took over the business after earning an MBA at a prestigious business James Harrison school in the Northeast. Unlike preious lamily members, he wanted to take deliberate approach to charting the future of Harrison Brothers. To do this consultant to assist in assessing the company's strengths and weakness a much es. Harrison felt the would be one of the keys to the future. As part of his mployee quality ata t sought to learn more about the human resource function within He decided to interview a few' of the huma resource and other key aire of their analysis, the consultant sought to learn agers at the store level. Both groups were also asked to complete a questionn responsiblities of the human resource function (see Exhibit 1.4). Case 2 The Hama

Answer 1

Answer 1 - McCain understands her role as she had several year experience in retail store as a HR manager and here in Harrison Brothers Corporation she is always engaged in procedure of recruitment and staffing of new employees for sales and support job as they look for motivated personality and she also spend time with trainer who tell selling techniques to new salespersons. she also focused on providing career planning to employees and also perform an annual evaluation of employee performance. Her main emphasis is on sales productivity and her efforts are constrained by the under staff of the department and cost consideration.

Answer 2 - Harrison Brothers business strategy is to appeal to moderate - to high income customer and they feel that employee quality and performance is a key element in the success of the company and the company must reinvent itself in order to better adapt to the industry challenges.

Answer 3 - The structure of human resource department includes - Human resource manager ,Human resource assistant , human resource assistant , Trainer , payroll check.

and staffing of human resource department includes - operations manager , sales manager and department head.

Answer 4 - Both HR and Store manager gave same rating to staffing and safety and find it important. HR manager think performance management as more important and gave high rating then store manager and store manager think training and development , compensation , knowledge of business , managing challenges are more important and gave high rating then human resource manager.