Case Name :      Huo’s Group: A Professional Manager in a Family Firm in China

Authors :           Wang Ting, Paul W. Beamish, Liman Zhou, Luo Jingjing

Source :             Ivey Publishing

Case ID :            W14010

Discipline :        Organizational Behavior

Case Length :    10 pages

Solution Sample availability : YES

Plagiarism : NO (100% Original work)

In February 2012, a human resources appointment attracted wide attention from China’s domestic lubricating oil industry. The iconic general manager of Shell Tongyi (Beijing) Petroleum Chemical Co., Ltd. officially took the position as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Huo’s Group, thus returning to work for his former boss, the founder of the former Tongyi Lubricating Oil. Before the merger between Tongyi and Shell in 2006, the private entrepreneur and the professional manager had jointly created the well-known Tongyi Lubricating Oil and were renowned as “perfect partners” by many in the business media. In 2012, their hope was to achieve glory again on this wider business platform – Huo’s Group. Was this likely?