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EXCLUSIVE:Rose Quits Harvey Norman Joins Long List Of Executives Who Have Left The Mass Retailer

EXCLUSIVE:Rose Quits Harvey Norman Joins Long List Of Executives Who Have Left The Mass Retailer

During the past 12 months Harvey Norman has lost several senior management with some telling ChannelNews that they quit because there was “little promotion opportunity” at the mass retailer. Some of those who left claimed that the Company is controlled by a select group of senior management who not only “take home millions” but are not open to “new ideas”.

One senior manager who is now working in a senior management with a major International Company said “senior management at the Company are set in their ways, it is a mates club where there is little promotion opportunity. Good ideas are often squashed, meetings are dominated by one or two people who own shares and if you challenge their thinking or their ideas you are squashed”.   

Carl Rose who worked as a consultant inside the Company was given the task of streamlining the Companies purchasing operation with the introduction of a centralised buying operation has not returned ChannelNews calls.

 The introduction of a centralised buying operation at the mass retailer was introduced as a trial in an effort help the mass retailer better compete with JB Hi Fi and Dick Smith who both work directly with manufacturers and distributors.   

When ChannelNews originally broke the Rose appointment story several franchisees approached us claiming that the new model was “flawed”. 

Several franchisees complaining that they face having to pay more for a TV as there will be no “price differentiation” between smaller franchisees and larger metro franchisees. 

In the past TV vendors had to pitch a buying committee and then approach individual franchisees to get orders. Rose’s job was to change the buying model.

Rose joins a long list of senior executives who have quit the mass retailer during the past 12 months Rod Orrock the former General Manager of the Harvey Norman owned retailer Domayne quit to take up the head as head of buying at Dick Smith.

Orrock an experienced retail executive is tipped to be groomed to take over as CEO of Dick Smith with Nick Aboud set to exit the Company within 12 months.

 The move saw Nigel Dent the former AV buyer at Harvey Norman has been promoted to General Manager of Electrical.

Ben McIntosh the General Manager of Technology & Entertainment at Harvey Norman also quit the Company to take on the job as Director of Sales at Vodafone.

Back in 2005 Crikey drew up a hit list of executive directors who were surplus to requirements at Australian share listed Companies such as Harvey Norman they claimed that these directors should bow out gracefully.

One of those directors was John Slack-Smith who is still an executive director at the mass retailer today.