Introduction
The aim of this report of the ‘TeaBox – Running tuck shops in Hong Kong schools (A)’ case study (Au and Tsoi, 2009) is to summarise the reasons behind the appalling performance of a new tuck shop enterprise(TeaBox) in Hong Kong and state some alternative actions that could have prevented the current situation. Additionally, it will be examined how Alfred Ku, the superintendent of TeaBox, can fix some of the problematic areas of the business and make TeaBox profitable.
Background
TeaBox is a small, food-selling retail shop located in secondary schools in Hong Kong. It is considered a bold enterprise as it is ran by a non-governmental organization, Stewards Limited, using social workers to test social enterprise as a way of servicing the community. The project of opening tuck shops in Hong Kong schools was undertaken after Stewards had successfully competed for funds under the ‘Enhancing Employment of People with Disabilities through Small Enterprises Project’. Stewards decided to establish a catering service because it was considered the most suitable business to be run by disabled persons and other low skilled clients that Stewards serve. TeaBox applied to provide the catering services of a new school and the selection committee chose TeaBox because of the element of life education introduced by the enterprise which would help the students to understand the concept of a healthier life. Also, the fact that TeaBox engages disabled persons and former mental patients giving them the opportunity to work had strengthened its position to the other applicants.
Problems in TeaBox
After one year in business, an evaluation of the enterprise identified poor management as the cause of financial losses and complaints in employee surveys. Looking carefully to the case a lot of critical issues can be identified.
Firstly, there is clearly a problem with the