Canadian HR Strategy

21 whole chapTer periods of rapid change By Liz Bernier S taying true to an organizational mission can be a powerful driver of success — but in a rapidly changing business environment, that original mission has to be able to evolve to meet customers' chang- ing needs. at was the central message Laura Dunne, senior vice-pres- ident of human resources and organizational development at Indigo, shared at the Strategic Capability Network's 35th anniver- sary event in Toronto. Sticking to and building around the company's original mission enabled Indigo to become a powerhouse over the past decade, with more than 6,500 employees across Canada and enviable brand recognition. But with the advent of e-reading and online retailing, the organization's strategy had to evolve quickly to keep up. living up to the mission Almost two decades ago, the retail landscape for book retailers was dominated by Borders and Barnes & Noble in the United States, and Coles, Chapters and propri- etor-run outlets in Canada, said Dunne. But, in 1997, Heather Reisman opened Indigo's first location in Burlington, Ont. "She opened a store and opened a few more stores and, over 1998, '99 and 2000, In- digo stores began to pop up around Canada, and customers loved them," said Dunne. Indigo was built around one key mission: To be Canada's most inspiring bookstore. "Indigo, a relative startup, was now neck-and-neck in brand recognition and brand affection in Canada up against brands that had been around for half a century or nearly a century," she said. "All of a sudden, this brand new brand was right there in the hearts, minds and wallets of Canadian consumers. It became a place where people wanted to be, it be- came a place where people got great decision support on the books that they wanted to read, and they got to connect with the people who were associated with those books." e challenge then was how best to leverage that success, said Dunne. "'Where do we go from here, what do we want to do?' And then there was the acquisition. Indigo was the minnow that swallowed the whale. Indigo had a huge leverage buyout of Chapters (and) became the largest book retailer in Canada." 'The winds of change' at success was soon met with more complex challenges, as online retailing and e-reading began to carve out a foothold. "And then there was this thing called Amazon," said Dunne, adding that the online PHoto: mIkeCPHoto / SHUtteRStoCk

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