Mobilia Interiors Inc.: The Operations Decision

In May 2008, the president of Montreal-based retailer of designer furniture store, Mobilia, was reviewing her workload. Mobilia's growth had required she to spend increasing amounts of her time in operations, finance and human resources and significantly less time on sourcing and purchasing. With a doubling of her direct reports in recent years, and recognizing that external hires would soon be necessary to support Mobilia's growth, she wondered if the organization might be best served by hiring an operations manager. A successful operations manager would need to be experienced, flexible and demonstrate a willingness to work in a family-owned enterprise; however, she also was cognizant of the costs to be incurred if the initiative stalled. She wondered what factors to consider when deciding whether outside help was needed or whether efficiencies could still be reached with her current team in place.