1. Discuss the change management issues confronting Li & Fung (“LF”) i.e. how Li&Fung has dealt with the changes in the market and in the world, how did the company overcome every obstacle and comment on their reactions.
2.The 2017-2019 three-year plan is quite a significant departure from its history of growth through acquisition. Should LF continue with its past acquisition strategy? What is LF’s core strength? Integrating and extracting value from acquirees, or growing organically, which is the focus of the 2017-2019 three- year plan? Would organic growth be able to sustain LF’s past growth?
3.Will LF succeed with its 2017-2019 three-year plan? ls it too late to play catch-up to Amazon and Alibaba?
4.Critique the following paragraph from Dr Marco Tieman, the founder and CEO of LBB International (a logistics consulting and research firm that specializes in agri- food supply chains, industrial logistics and third-party logistics):
“Technology is also transforming the field of supply chain management The reality is that we are entering an era of transformation from fixed assets (factories and warehouses are owned)to virtual assets(hired when needed),from fixed labor (staff on own payroll) to virtual labor (outsourced, app builders);and from fixed inventory(stored at physical location)to virtual inventory(available in the network).Supply chain management has advanced beyond organizing supply network towards orchestrating entire brand channels.”
Source: New Straits Times (Malaysia) July 8, 2015 “Branding the channel in today’s virtual world.
5.What factors may derail LF’s future?
6.Discuss Spencer’s standing as the CEO of LF.
Answer preview
In my view, LF will succeed with its 2017-2019 three-year plan. The plan laid out by Spencer meets the SMART objectives, which are; specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timebound. Spencer breaks down the overall vision into smaller goals that are easy to keep track of. For example, the empowerment of employees for the broader purpose of planned internal management changes. Additionally, while developing its plan, the company incorporated the different ways they will deal with external factors like competition and disruptive market changes, which are often not within their control. The company’s proactive approach to growth and market leadership is a likely strong contributor to the plan’s successful implementation.
