Ho- land Hopia Chinese Delicacies

In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Course Requirements
In SHURMAN K31

Submitted to:
Mr. Real So

Submitted on:
March 15, 2016

Submitted by:
Navoa, Carmela
Ngo, Malcolm
Nicolas, Mikhael
Sarza, Victoria
Uy, Lanz

I. Introduction

The paper is about Ho- land Hopia Chinese Deli’s different processes, and how human resource management is practiced. The group will be discussing about the background of those processes, and the human resource management practices of the company. In doing so, the group will be able to slowly transition to the identification of the problem in the human resource department, to provide clear insights about the company. After the problem has been identified, the group will then try to apply the learned concepts of strategic and proper human resource management from the class SHURMAN to Ho- land Hopia Chinese Deli, so that the company will be able to improve their biggest contributor in the company: human resource. According to Mello (2014), management usually think human resource to be a mediocre helper, in terms of helping in the achievement of the company’s goals. Not only that, but managers are hesitant in investing heavily in human resource management simply because it is difficult to quantify their outputs. That of course was a misunderstanding, and a misconception. The group intends to support Mello’s work by applying his concepts into the company. Ho- land Hopia is a company in the foodservice industry. They manufacture their own goods, and sell them to the people. Their company is reliant to human resource since the products that they sell require high finesse, and machines are not used yet in the manufacture of food. After the production, the food is checked and approved, which is also done by people. Then there is the delivery to the store, which employs a driver to deliver the goods. Once delivered to the store, the salespeople do their job and they sell the products. Majority of Ho- land Hopia Chinese Deli’s processes are handled by their human resource. Applying the learned concepts to Ho- land Hopia Chinese Deli will definitely be able to support Mello’s work. A specific problem the group intends to look into is the lack of motivation from employees to work harder. According to the group’s contact person, Ho- land Hopia Chinese Deli’s salespeople are lackluster in terms of enticing customers to go into their store and buy their products. The manager often sees his employees just standing around the shops, and not trying to help the customers in informing them about the product. Not only that, but also according to the contact person, they have high rejects lately. Meaning to say, a lot of the manufactured goods are not passing the quality standards set by the managers, thus raw materials and ingredients are wasted. Ho- land Hopia Chinese Delicacies did not spend much in training their employees, which is a concern for them. If the group has successfully applied the concepts learned, then they might be able to help the company achieve a smaller amount of rejects, and the customers might actually like to buy their products and spread the word for the company, if the customers are satisfied with the service the salespeople provide.

II. About the Company a. Short History/ Milestones

Ho- Land Hopia Chinese began in the year 1960. It was founded by Fortunata Go, the current official business owner of Ho- Land Hopia Chinese Delicacies. Ho- Land Hopia Chinese Delicacies specializes in producing and selling Chinese Delicacies such as hopia, tikoy, and mooncakes. They are one of the few producers of hopia around town. According to the contact person, Ho- land Hopia Chinese Delicacies does not plan to venture out and introduce and sell new chinese delicacies anytime soon, but they are planning on expanding more around the QC area. They have also just recently put up a store in Canada.
Ho- Land Hopia Chinese Deli's main branch is found in 551 Nueva Street, Binondo Manila. Ho- Land Hopia Chinese Deli holds stands around mall shops such as Glorietta. They can be contacted through this line: (02) 242 9709.
Ho- Land Hopia Chinese Deli is one of the top Chinese delicacy sellers in the country. Its main competitor Engbeetin, is quite the competitor, seeing that at times, Engbeetin beat Ho- Land in landing some big publicity stunts from the media, but that does not make Ho- Land second best. Ho- Land is still big in the Chinese delicacy industry.

b. Industry
The Chinese delicacy industry here in the Philippines has been growing because there are cheap labors/ suppliers in the China making some of the manufacturing and ingredient supplying cost effective, and profitable, seeing that lots of people in the Philippines enjoy Chinese delicacies. Ho- land Hopia Chinese Delicacies is in the manufacture of food, and then selling it. Their products include hopia, tikoy, mooncakes, etc. Their most famous product is the hopia. It comes in many flavors such as munggo, original flavor, ube, and buko pandan. Their seasonal products are the tikoy and mooncake. These products are only seasonal, since they come together with the chinese festivals: Chinese New Year; Mid- autumn festival. Those products may be seasonal, but when the time comes to sell them, they sell a lot, since there are a lot of people here that celebrate Chinese New Year and Mid- Autumn Festival, Filipino or Chinese.
Ho- land’s biggest threat is Engbeetin. they too are in the selling of chinese delicacy business. Engbeetin has bigger branches and more salespeople around, so they make a tough competitor. They also have more media exposure since the current CEO of Engbeetin has many contact people. Having said that. Ho- land Hopia Chinese Delicacies is still putting up a good fight. Traditionally chinese customers prefer to buy from Ho- land Hopia, while some newer generations of chinese, and some Filipinos buy from Engbeetin.

c. Business Model The company, Ho- Land Hopia Chinese Deli, is focused on manufacturing and distributing various Chinese delicacies. The company produces hopia, tikoys, and moon cakes. The company is focused heavily on its hopia product, seeing as it sells even on the off season. In the recent years the company has adapted to the change because having they have been able to find a cheaper supplier, to which they can buy ingredients/ supplies from. Since then, they are able to make profits at a better rate. The company utilizes dough as their main ingredient, since majority of their products sold are hopia. The company is based in the Philippines but has started to sell overseas in Canada.
Activities
Start of process
Raw materials, basic ingredients
Molding of dough
Insertion of fillings inside the dough
Molding to a spherical shape
Approved?
No
Yes
Popping into oven
Packaging

Customers Ho- Land Hopia Chinese Deli's main target market is not really specific. Ho- Land Hopia Chinese Deli accepts orders from customers of any kind. To elaborate more on this, Ho- Land hopia Chinese Deli specializes in the food/ delicacy service industry. Anyone who wants to buy their products they cater to them. One can say that they are one of those companies that do good quality Chinese delicacies through tasting their first hopia. Ho- Land Hopia Chinese Deli's customer contact is quite apparent, seeing that the salesmen try to talk to the people into buying their products, but lately, this has been a concern since the salespeople have become lackluster. Their customer contact in important as sales is their most important method of making profit. Because they have outsourced cheaper suppliers and manufacturers from China, they are able to sell more to their customers, giving the customers what they want.
Competitors
A perfect description for the competitors of Ho- Land Hopia is that they are basically competing with other companies that produce Chinese deli as well. Ho- Land Hopia's competitors have been big on the media, which gave those competitors exposure to the people, which hurt Ho- Land Hopia's sales at some point, but Ho- Land Hopia battled by outsourcing cheaper supplies, and selling their products at an affordable price.
Collaborators
Ho- Land has some collaborators here in the Philippines, but their biggest collaborators would be from China.

Climate (Technological environment, tech developments, impact of technology to cost, products etc.)
Acquiring new technology to improve the various processes or sectors of the company might be too costly for some to consider. Sometimes it might cost a company hundreds and thousands of pesos just to use a new machine that promises to increase their profit tenfold. Such bold claims by the innovators are quite tempting to give in since more money for the company would mean a better market hold. Ho- Land Hopia Chinese Deli should be careful in buying additional equipment and software/s since business are usually vulnerable to this kind offer. While it is true that their environment is quickly changing and its corresponding components; people, businesses, stakeholders, equipment etc., must adapt to change the latest model of something does not always mean it would benefit the company. Every business, including Ho- Land Hopia Chinese Deli, must first consider the cost of acquiring it and how long it will take them to gain profit from it. Aside from that the company must think first if what they currently have needs to be replaced or if it is not performing according to the needs of the business.
1. Political/Regulatory Environment (govt. policies and regulations) Being a duly registered company, Ho- Land Hopia Chinese Deli has complied with all the regulations and requirements that the Philippine government and the various regulatory boards. Currently every business is required to have their employees have their own SSS and Philhealth membership so that if anything should happen to them, the employees would not be completely helpless or be too aggravated. The company or owner and the employee would share in the monthly, or regular payments as per their arrangement, payments of the fees of the aforementioned services. Aside from that, ho- Land Hopia Chinese Deli also needs to comply with the different laws that govern over the country they are staying in, which is the Philippines. They have to pay withholding tax every year that is mandatory for every corporation.
2. Economic environment (business cycle, inflation rate, macro eco issues)
The prices of the raw materials are somewhat fluctuating since there is always a high demand for dough. There might be also unforeseen high and low points in the inflation rating of the country which may cause changes in the prices of the products that the company offers. The company may also consider in their pricing is the demand of their customers for the delicacies that they are producing. The rule of thumb is that if the demand is high they may be able to have their prices higher than usual though not too high that it would scare off their buyers. This would also entail the various steps in the business cycle the company, Ho- Land Hopia Chinese Deli, where they must analyze and know at which point the business is already in. Ho- Land Hopia Chinese Deli may consider the total number of final products. Any company has a tendency to overstate or understate the total number of products that they need.
3. Socio/Cultural Environment (Trends and “fashions” in the society)
Some food become in season, and some just naturally dies off the market, but hopia is the kind of food that is always in season.
4. Technological Environment As of today, Technology plays an important role in the business of Ho- Land Hopia. As the technology of the machines improves, their business might as well improve from it. With the new technologies of the machines, there will be an increase in the number of outputs and an increase in the quality of work in the underwear they manufacture.

d. Organizational Structure

III. Description of Human Resource Management Practices 1. Staffing: a. Referral Program- this is the company’s current biggest source of employees, now that they have established their core employees. Usually, when Ho- land Hopia needs new employees, they ask their current employees to help out in recruiting by referring to them. Usually, the employee that gets a new employee on board gets a 10% commission bonus, the amount based from the salary the employee gets paid. b. Recruitment Program- this is the initial method of Ho- land Hopia when it was just starting as a business in the food manufacturing industry. They post recruitment ads where they see fit- telephone poles, newspaper ads, job centers, etc. All of which are with approval from the necessary people. Other than their referral program, with the new age of technology upon us, they have managed to post their recruitment ads online as well, be it facebook, twitter, or instagram. They first get to know their applicants through a simple assessment interview asking medically personal questions, skills, and tolerances for work environment. After knowing the said criteria, they now test these applicants. They usually test their new recruits by letting them try directly into the job. If the manager thinks that employee is doing well, then the manager will hire him/ her. 2. Training and Development: Ho- land Hopia Chinese Delicacies’ training and development is simple. After conducting their recruitment process, they let their screened employees try the work for a short period. If the manager is satisfied with the shown dedication and ability, then the manager would call for that employee to be trained. Training their salespeople, they usually hire an expert salesperson to give a seminar to their employees. Those newly hired employees for the production team, the manager simply asks the senior production managers to give the new employee tips, and makes sure that he/ she practices those techniques. After all of the tips are given, the new employee is tested and timed to produce the company’s products. The products produced does not necessarily have to be perfect, but it has to be satisfactory. The production line manager checks the products if they are up to the quality of standard that the company holds. 3. Safe working conditions: Ho- land Hopia Chinese Delicacies’ stores are clean. The manager always assigns someone to sweep up and clean the stores. Making sure that the products are all in place and in the right shelves. Other than their stores, the production managers make sure that the production factories are clean and hazard free. The production managers often go to the factories and do regular check ups on how the product manufacturing is going, and if the workers are not dirtying up the place. Ho- land Hopia Chinese Delicacies has complied with the government requirements, in terms of safe work environments. 4. Employee guardianship: This is with regards to employee harassment, employee discrimination, forced late working hours, etc. Ho- land Hopia Chinese Delicacies make sure that the employees feel that they are working in a safe and friendly environment. The manager of Ho- land Hopia Chinese Delicacies almost never requires overtime production, except during seasonal events, such as Chinese New Year and Mid- Autumn Festival. And if the manager requires overtime production, the manager offers incentives if the production quota is met within the day, with the products of course meeting the quality of standard in their company. If an employee complains of being harassed, the manager immediately acts and addresses the concern by confronting the offender/ offenders. 5. Reward Program: Ho- land Hopia Chinese Delicacies’ reward program is simple as well. When salespeople sell more than their quota of the day, the salespeople get a small incentive. As mentioned above, when the production people meet the quota, or go above it in the seasonal time, then those employees get 5% more of their salary. 6. Performance Management Systems: This is in line with Ho- land Hopia Chinese Delicacies’ quality enhancement practice. The production managers make sure that the production employees are complying with the set standards by the company. The production managers perform evaluation often. Every end of the week preferably. The manager, and the supervisor usually evaluate the work output of the production people, and evaluate the sold products by the salespeople. Ho- land Hopia Chinese Delicacies use performance feedback system. Ho- land is more loose and not as strict in terms of formality, basis of relationship, and role of supervisor. The supervisors, and the manager does not practice an autocratic way of managing. They usually are close with their employees, as if they are on the same level. Because of this treatment, the employees respect their supervisors, and the manager even more. The communication is also two- way. The manager lets his employees speak their concerns, complaints, ideas, advices. 7. Service Quality Enhancement: Ho- land Hopia Chinese Delicacies’ service quality enhancement is all about disciplining the employees so that they are able to comply with the standards the company has set. Usually, even though Ho- land Hopia Chinese Delicacies is not ISO certified, they try their best to meet ISO standards. IV. Critical Human Resource Issues According to the group's contact person, Ho- land Hopia Chinese Delicacies' one of the main problems stem from the salespeople's lackluster performance when trying to convince the customers to buy their products. More often than not, Ho- land Hopia Chinese Delicacies' workers stand around and do not assist the customers, in terms of informing them of the products being sold. Whenever they make new flavors of hopia, tikoy, or moon cake, the workers should be informing the customers about that, but they do not recently. Workers usually gather round and just talk gossip or use their phone. That is a huge going concern for Ho- land Hopia Chinese Delicacies because using one's phones while at work shows lack of dedication and interest in the job. That might not be necessarily so, but it is assumed to be so in the company. Even with the incentive of getting a small bonus by bringing in new customers does not work all the time. Employees are also considered lackluster when they come in late or become absent often. Employees also come in later than usual on some days. These tardiness of course hurt the shop, because, say the person in charge of opening the store is late, then the salespeople will not be able to immediately set up. The cleaning people will not be able to clean up. Another problem that the group has deduced from the interview conducted is that employees are not so loyal and committed to the company. It's not that their employees are naturally uncommitted. Their competitor, Engbeetin is outsourcing pretty powerfully. As mentioned in the earlier part of the paper, Engbeetin is Ho- land's currently biggest competitor, since they operate in the same places. Engbeetin has been able to convince some of Ho- land's workers to join Engbeetin instead. Engbeetin does this through its employees.Engbeetin has employees who have friends in Ho- land. Engbeetin managers talk to their employees, asking them to try to convince their friends to work for Engbeetin instead of Ho- land. According to Meyer and Allen (1990), organizational commitment affects work performance. Meaning to say, organizational commitment is related to work performance. Their guess is, as organizational commitment increases, so would job performance. Looking at Ho- land's point of view, they have employees who are not committed, and therefore, slack off and end up underperforming. Another problem that Ho- land Hopia Chinese Delicacies is facing is the unbelievable amount of rejects in each production. According to the group's contact person, as looking at the production flowchart, rejects occur before the popping into the oven part. Before it gets popped into the oven, it has to be checked so that the right amount of ingredients are used. Sometimes, the filling is too much, sometimes it is too few. Sometimes the shape is not right. Sometimes the dough used is not up to quality standards. This is a huge concern for Ho- land since, the rejected products are thrown away, therefore wasting ingredients, incurring unnecessary costs. The company would also have to train their employees again on how to shape the dough, and how much filling must be put inside, which would cost more money. These unnecessary costs set the company back in ways that the owner is really getting annoyed at how workers now a day's take things for granted.

V. Recommendations The ways that the group will be proposing to try and fix these issues are simple, and does not aim to make their systems complex, or add an new processes. These recommendations given by the group are feasible for the company in terms of financial stability. * Investing more in recruitment process of their employees. Usually, for Ho- land Hopia Chinese Delicacies, in the interview, if you have experience in the job that you are applying for, and you are physically capable of doing it, then they more or less will get the job. In the group's opinion, Ho- land should be more technical with the interview process. Ho- land asks the simple and basic requirements for a job, but the group thinks that Ho- land should ask more questions that target employee commitment and performance. Also, asking questions about preferences could also help. Also, as much as referral is working for Ho- land right now, it would be beneficial for Ho- land to try and expand more in terms of calling for a recruitment. Ho- land should subscribe to Jobstreet and post adds there about recruiting employees. * Ho- land Hopia Chinese Delicacies should also try to put some bonuses if the salespeople are able to get new customers in, or if they get to sell new products in a huge quantity. These bonuses might sound costly, but the company is financially stable as of the moment, and being able to sell new products at a good pace could eventually lead to product consistency in the market. The product is able to make a name for itself, and thus establishes a stable name and market for itself. * Asking employees not to use their phones during work hours is like asking a fish not to swim, seeing that almost everyone relies on their phones. What Ho- land can do, in the opinion of the group, is that the management should always look to keep their employees busy. This does not necessarily have to be in purpose. This can be done in a regular basis. For example, the manager sees a salesperson sitting down using his/her phone because business is slow, what the manager can do is to ask that employee to maybe check on the inventory, or straighten up the products in the aisles. * The easiest way to tackle tardiness is through incentives of coming early. The company may also start giving incentives to workers who come early for a whole week/ month. This is something that will almost surely boost employee performance. *