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Hub City Insurance is a mid-sized property/casualty insurance company located in Boston, MA. The company employs 500 people at one location. Hub City’s principal product is Massachusetts auto insurance, which is a highly regulated and politicized industry. The state legislature sets auto insurance rates, requires that auto insurance be sold through independent agents, and regulates the minimum amount of money that agents will be paid for their books of business. The state’s Insurance Commissioner determines the operating rules for auto insurance companies, including limits on the time period when claims must be investigated and paid. 

Hub City was founded 15 years ago by an insurance agent who saw the financial possibilities of exploiting the state’s complex system for subsidizing insureds that took people with the worst driving records as customers. Hub City has been profitable beyond his most optimistic expectations. 

Hub City is run by the owner, who is also the president, and a board of 5 senior executives. All decisions about the company’s operations are made by the owner and the board. The decisions are carried out by senior managers and managers, the majority of whom are involved with investigating, settling, and processing claims. 

Hub City’s owner recently attended a seminar where he was required to write a mission statement for the company. Among other entries, the mission statement says: 

1. Hub City is a profitable company. 
2. Hub City treats agents, insureds, claimants, and others whom the company interacts with in the course of business with fairness and respect. 
3. Hub City believes that its employees are its greatest asset. Employees are treated with fairness and respect and empowered to perform their work in ways that will supports the company’s mission. 

What implications does the company’s mission statement and actual operations have for human resources policies?