Conflict and accommodation during second-generation takeover. Finding big customers: K-Mart and Avon

When Lau Tik Wah joined Champion Industrial Co. Ltd., her father intended to appoint her as a secretary.  Hoping to work in design and in management to formulate the company’s plans, she refused the offer.  So her father made her his personal assistant and brought her along to meet clients.  The title on her business card was Assistant to Managing Director.  Lau Tik Wah took the initiative to go to different departments and learn about the works of different positions.  At the beginning, there was much friction between Lau Tik Wah and the senior company staff because she, as someone who studied in the USA, disliked complacency and wanted to improve business results through raising product quality and workplace efficiency.  The senior staff thought she was being pompous and derided her ability to take over her father’s business. There were a lot of conflicts.

In the mid-1970s, Champion received a large number of orders from K-Mart and Avon, among other American companies.  Emphasis was on quantity, and the company lacked the propulsion to advance its product quality.  Lau Tik Wah believed in the importance of quality in order for the company to stand out in times of economic downturn.  Her motto was ‘either sink or swim’.  Mr. Kong, a major stockholder of the company, was in charge of the company’s funds and did not involve himself much in the daily operation.  A lot of staff was either his old classmates or relatives.  Mr. Kong himself was kind to others and was not very willing to sack those staff members who were lazy and who neglected their duties. 
When Lau Tik Wah first joined the company, she often lost her temper and quarrelled with the factory managers.  She would threaten to leave her job because her father wouldn’t fire the workers who escaped from work.  But Lau Tik Wah made vital contribution to the company by setting up deals with American client such as Avon and bringing great profit. 

Avon’s main products were cosmetics, jewellery, purse and handbags.  I983 was the best year for Champion as Avon ordered three million wallets from them.  Lau Bin believed that his daughter was brilliant and capable of contributing to the company, therefore he gradually accepted her reform suggestions.  At the same time, Lau Tik Wah went to different departments and learnt from more senior colleagues and workers, regardless of their differences in rank.  She quickly understood the processes and works of different kinds.  This gradually earned her recognition from other colleagues.  Coming from an industrial family, she had leant sewing skills from her mother since a young age.  Her wish was to go into fashion design.  She passionately took part in the company’s operation, while her liberal and forward-thinking father was happy to give her room for development.


Interviewee
Company Champion Industrial Co., Ltd.
Date
Subject Industry
Duration 17m4s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Source Hong Kong Memory Project Oral History Interview
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. LKF-LDW-SEG-004
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