History of Maple Leaf Shoes Limited

In this report, a research has been conducted on Maple Leaf shoes Limited. The research begins with the introduction of the company. It further discusses the challenges that the company is facing after the takeover. The report also discusses the key responsibilities that an HR manager of Maple Leaf limited should have.

Introduction of Maple Leaf Ltd

Maple Leaf Shoes Ltd is a manufacturing company providing vinyl and leather shoes. It is situated near Wilmington, Ontario. In 1969, the business started operating and now it has 380 employees in warehouses and offices internationally and across Canada and 400 employees in its Ontario plant.

History of the Company

In the late 1950s, Maple leaf moved from his country to start a new life in Canada. He started with a stage show and a sailboat business which proved to be unsuccessful businesses for him. Later, he came up with the idea of opening a shoe factory. When the bank noticed that his previous businesses were failures and asked him for financial guarantee, he replied, people need shoes, as long as they walk. Mansini was an enthusiastic and social person. He could persuade and influence people around him. Because of his personality, the bank manager got convinced and provided him with a small loan to start his new business.

Mansini began his business by building a small plant near Wilmington with that bank loan. Also, some of his relatives and friends assisted him financially. The small plant consisted of many temporary sheds where workers used to live and sleep and two floors of shoes. By the end of 1969, the company started operating.

His small business expanded nationally and regionally. Mansini was not educated, but despite of that, He was a successful businessman and has the ab...

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... increasing slowly. Currently, Labor costs have been increasing speedily for over 45% of manufacturing costs. From the previous three years, no increase in the productivity levels of the workers has been seen. If it keeps happening, the company will lose its price advantage over its rivals.

Out of six popular brands, two have been sold by Maple leaf shoes at prices equal to or higher than its competitors. This has stopped the company’s profitability and growth. Five years ago, the company saw a decline in share price of $25. Therefore, the market reaction to the company has not been favorable. In 2002, the company’s position got worsened as the market saw a decline. They reduced the share price to $11 and still they could not recover from it. Financial details of the company are shown below in figure 1. The figure shows company’s share price during past five years.