As one of the world's leading manufacturers of houseware products and cleaning products, Hayco produced over five million brushes a month in its Shenzhen plant in 2003. When setting up its new factory in Shenzhen in the mid-1990s, Hayco had to decide how best to manage the issue of staff welfare for its growing number of factory workers. Senior management firmly believed that providing for the well-being of the company's staff would be crucial to ensuring low staff turnover and good workplace morale and, therefore, provided a "Hayco home-away-from-home" for the workers. The labor market has generally always been in favor of employers, and in the mid-1990s many factories were providing just the bare minimum of facilities and benefits for workers (in fact, the working conditions in many factories were appalling). In such an environment, why did Hayco invest money and effort in building the Hayco home-away-from-home? What message or management philosophy did such benefits convey?
Launched in 1998, Fat Angelo's is the brainchild of three entrepreneurs who saw a void in the family-style Italian restaurants in Hong Kong. By the end of 2002, it had grown into a four-restaurant chain. Illustrates the issues facing the restaurants during their start-up and the rapid growth stages. There was an extra store adjacent to the Tsim Sha Tsui Fat Angelo's, and the entrepreneurs wanted to venture into another line of cuisine. What type of restaurant would fit? What was their final decision? What lessons did they learn?
Towngas, an exclusive supplier of piped naphtha gas and one of the oldest energy suppliers in Hong Kong, invested millions of dollars in its customer relationship management program. The results were higher customer satisfaction as well as new products that generate extra revenue. Explores the reason behind Towngas' choice to use CRM as a tool to strengthen its business and the ways it successfully implemented its CRM strategies. Also discusses why many other companies that had also invested a lot of money in CRM did not succeed in getting the expected return.
Fenix Group's business spans from general merchandise retailing to Italian fashion. The diversity stems from the management's multiniche marketing strategy. Looks at the journeys of two entrepreneurs who started out with a tiny garment trading company and, in the span of 30 years, expanded into a multinational network of manufacturing and retailing with $230 million annual turnover. How did Fenix identify and tap into niches in different markets? What does it take to be successful in niche markets? Also analyzes Fenix's strategy and discusses the critical success factors of its multiniche marketing strategy.