Hinchcliffe Cards was started by William Hinchcliffe in 1874. Hinchcliffe had an artistic talent which he used for drawing individual greetings cards for his family and friends. As demand for the products, he made increased, members of William’s family joined him in creating the more intricately decorated cards. As the products of the firm grew in popularity, Hinchcliffe cards began to expand, investing in its first printing press in the early 1900s. The business continued to grow and moved into the mass production of greetings cards for the family market. William, who by then was managing director of the firm, was keen that some element of the origins of the company remained, and despite the focus on mass production, a small sideline in the design and production of handmade cards remained.

After William Hinchcliffe died in 1934 the firm remained in the family and is now managed by chief executive James Hinchcliffe, William’s great-grandson. The company headquarters, warehouse and packaging plant are housed in the same Lancashire town in England where William originally started the business in his own home. Indeed, the firm prides itself on being a family firm and having a paternalistic culture. James Hinchcliffe is often to heard to say ‘Now what would great-grandfather do in this situation’, when discussing any key strategic or problem issues. Despite the paternalistic culture, James is keen that the company moves with the times. Having recently completed an MBA at a local business school, he is keen to hear about new ideas and new methods of working that he can introduce in to the company.

The company employs about 250 people. Seventy per cent of the workforce are women who work mainly on the production line and 10 per cent are from ethnic minority backgrounds. All the managers and senior management team, except the human resource manager (a white woman) are white males. Turnover in the company is generally low, though James Hinchcliffe suspects that there is a growing unease among the workforce about a number of issues.

The cards produced by the company feed in to two main markets. First, there is the mass production of greetings cards. In particular the firm recently won a couple of key contracts to produce Christmas cards for two of the larger chain stores which are internationally located. These contracts meant a considerable expansion of business which has caused some problems in terms of work scheduling as production needs to be far higher in the spring months to meet the Christmas demand. In particular, some of the more sophisticated machines that are used occasionally, for foiling for example, are in 100 per cent use at this particular time.

Putting colored or silver foil on a card is an expensive process and the two men who work that machine are highly skilled. Currently there is a shortage of such skills within the printing industry. To deal with the increase in output required at this time of year, the firm has tended to employ around 20 casual workers for the spring period when these cards are produced. There is evidence, however, that the permanent production workers display animosity towards the temporary workers. As one suggested:

They’re just here to make a quick buck, they don’t seem bothered about the quality of what they do, their mistakes affect all of our bonuses.

The production workers have also recently been complaining about some other issues to do with their opportunities in the workplace. Some of the female workers have been asking why they haven’t been trained on the more complex machines, which seem to be used exclusively by the male workers. Indeed, it is the production jobs based on those machines that carry the highest remuneration. Similarly a gendered division of labour also exists in other areas of the factory, for example the packing area where the cards are packed into boxes for distribution is populated exclusively with female workers. Additionally, there are concerns among the female workers that they are expected to work very long hours at short notice during peak production periods. This is seen to interfere with their family lives.

As one suggested:

They expect us to work into the evening at the drop of a hat but we don’t get that flexibility in return.

Cheryl, who recently left to have a baby, wanted to come back and work here part time, but they said they couldn’t slot her in. It would be too difficult to have one person working different hours from everyone else. The men may want to rake in the overtime payments but some of us can’t just be in the factory every hour of the day........

Question

1 What are the diversity issues currently faced by Hinchcliffe cards?
2 Imagine you are the consultant that has been approached by James Hinchcliffe to advise the company about how they can address each of the diversity issues you have outlined in number one above. What advice would you give them?
3 How do you think the advice you have provided in answer to question two will be received by:

a. The homeworkers

b. The male factory workers

c. The female factory workers

d. The senior management team.
4 Bearing in mind your answers to the above three questions, what advice would you give the company about how they can develop their international strategy?