Filmore Furniture Ltd Case Study

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is a modernized and well established business. Originally incorporated in 1970 by Fred Filmore, the company has accumulated many years of operation since then. Therefore, allowing some of the employees, such as Jean Lechaise, to grow along with the company and know the current way of conducting day to day operations. Even after the death of the company’s recent owner, Phil Filmore, the company can still operate up too par due to the existing employees who are familiar with the work related to current operations. Furthermore, due to the current modernization the company, established by Phil, can produce accessories such as mirrors, lamps and many other designs, which are up to industry standards. Along with new marketing strategies, the company proved to be very successful in the past and establish a good standing in the furniture industry with many local customers.

Weaknesses The most significant weakness arises not from within the company, but the death of the owner who played a significant role in running the company. Along with the death of Phil, the manager, the company may have lost the aggressiveness that Phil possessed. Phil also managed merchandising and promotion, and a precise vision of where the company will be heading, which none of the employees, even Lechaise has admitted to having no knowledge of.

In addition, due to the inadequate amount of sales, we can observe that the company does not have the necessary funds to pay for the modernization that took place from 1983-1993. This shows that the current sales, despite its growth relative to previous sales, is not enough to pay of capital expenditures. The company would have to exploit new ways to generate revenue since the current method is not generating enough.

Lastly, we note that operations manager, Jean Lechaise, is deciding to retire in 2-3 years, which can be threatening to the business of this size. Jean runs day to day operations with the knowledge he accumulated in the time of his employment. This knowledge can be very important because it can be key to efficiency in operations. If a new operations manager were to be selected the efficiency of daily operations can go down, therefore dragging profits lower with it.

Opportunities The company has necessary the infrastructure to take advantage of the Canada –US Free Trade Agreement (1989), that will increase the potential of US customers in the near future, providing the necessary funds to further modernize their manufacturing process and products with the growing sales. The lower value of the Canadian dollar compared to the US dollar allows exports from Canada to be more attractive since the US can take an advantage of the exchange rates. This phenomenon would allow the company to grow its sales according to the growth in demand from the US.

Threats The Canada-US Free Trade Agreement may have opened the flood gates to unprecedented completion that the company has not recognized. Imports from larger American companies can offer a larger variety of products and may also be cheaper relative to Canadian products. The company can face fierce competition, which would bankrupt the company under its new owner.