Compensation Ch. 1

COMPENSATION CH. 1
Ch. 1: "The Pay Model"
Your Turn...
1. The replacement of highly paid workers with lower–paid workers did not cause Circuit City to
perform so poorly. I have come to this conclusion based off of the section, Caveat Emptor, and am
confident in my response. I do feel as though the variables were measured effectively and were
useful in their research. However, just because it was useful does not mean they were actually
related. The replacement of the highly paid workers with the lower paid workers is not necessarily
the reason for Circuit City's poor performance. Even prior to 2007, Circuit City's stock prices from
2001 onward was always below Best Buy, and for the most part below Amazon and Walmart. I
would have to agree with BusinessWeek ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
This causes competitive labor costs not to be of equal importance in the two industries. Best Buy is
a retailer while the airline industry is a mode of transportation. Cutting labor costs in Best Buy
would have much more of an effect than it would for the airline industry.
Review Questions
1. Differing perspectives affect our views of compensation. It does not mean the same thing to
everyone. A person's view can differ depending on whether you look at compensation from the
perspective of a member of society, a stockholder, a manager, or an employee. Everyone is different.
For example, an employee may have a different idea of what compensation is when compared to a
stockholder. An employee may see compensation as a return in exchange between their employer
and themselves, as an entitlement for being an employee of the company, or as a reward for a job
well done. A stockholder on the other hand would have a different point of view. Stockholders are
interested in how employees are paid and some believe that using stock to pay employees creates a
sense of ownership that will improve performance which will in turn increase stockholder wealth.
Additionally, compensation becomes a great interest to stockholders when it comes to compensating
the CEO.
2. I can definitely relate to the definition from the employees point of view. My personal definition
for compensation is what I get in return for my hard
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...

Business Analysis : Walgreen Corporation
Walgreen Corporation, incorporated in 1901, is a pharmacy retail chain company and through
various acquisitions, the company grew into the largest one in the United States. For more than 100
years, Walgreen has seen constant level of growth.
Walgreen is considered the industry leader, servicing 30.8% of the customer in the whole industry.
Additionally, the company has more than 83,000 stores and 251,000 employees. The company
offers its customers a wide variety of merchandise products other than prescription and non–
proscription drugs, such as household products, food and beverage, and cosmetics. Walgreen also
provides many convenience services, such as their photo center, mail pharmacy services, and health
services.
As the era keeps moving forward, this company continues to obtain leads in the industry. It changes
with the era and keeps coming up with new market strategies to succeed. As more and more people
want to do good things for the society and give back to community around them, Walgreen is also
vigorous about its Cooperate Social Responsibility. Whether they are offering free flu shoots or
contributing to the community development, the company is constantly working to accomplish their
mission.
To prepare for the greater challenge, Walgreen has taken a huge step by purchasing 45% stake in the
alliance Boots, which is a pharmacy led healthy and beauty store across Europe. It is a stepping–
stone for Walgreen to be the lead of worldwide pharmacy retail stores. To

Fewer Choices, Greater Profits: Retail Corporations And
Fewer Choices, Greater Profits: Retail Corporations and the Driving Out of Small Business
Prior to the 20th century, the American economy was fueled by manufacturing; production was vital
in the advancement of the nation. Retailers were generally small–scale, specialized niches, located
within the largest cities throughout the United States. A change in how one would typically consume
occurred during the 1870's with the rise of A.T. Stewart's Marble Palace, one of the nation's largest
stores in New York at the time. Featuring four stories of Tuckahoe marble, the Marble Palace would
be an innovation that would change consumption in the United States forever. Stewart paved the
way for competing retailers in that he understood the idea of ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Sachs issued bonds in the sum of $2 million, allowing Siegel to receive enough financing to
purchase real estate in the Manhattan area. The store would open at six stories high, feature a giant
greenhouse, roof–garden restaurant, and a two–hundred–foot tower. Many firms would soon follow
this business model as retailers such as Marshall Field's, Carson, Pirie, and Macy's received
financing from investment banks to expand their department stores within their respected local
markets. These department stores would now house a variety of goods, such as a yard goods, ready–
made clothing, pianos, monkeys, lions, among other products. By 1910, Macy's was conducting the
largest domestic rug business in the country at Thirty–Fourth Street and Seventh Avenue in
Manhattan, and Wanamaker's in Philadelphia had the "finest bookstore in the United States," soon to
be surpassed by Marshall Fields of Chicago, which would exceed in volume and sales any other
such business "in the world." With the help of investment banks, Sear Roebuck and Company would
receive millions of dollars in financing from the distribution of equity, allowing them to have
enough capital necessary to expand. This period of rapid expansion caused by the financing of
investment banks led to the emergence of modern merchandizing, which began to overshadow the
traditional, small retailer who could not compete with the affordable prices of the retail

Starbucks Ltd.
Hasan Mohammad
Starbucks Ltd.
Principles of Marketing
Assignment 1
09 November 2004
I. Company History
Three Seattle entrepreneurs started the Starbucks Corporation in 1971the name comes from Herman
Melville 's Moby Dick. Their prime product was the selling of whole bean coffee in one Seattle
store. By 1982, this business had grown tremendously into five stores selling the coffee beans, a
roasting facility, and a wholesale business for local restaurants. Howard Schultz, a marketer, was
recruited to be the manager of retail and marketing. He brought new ideas to the owners, but was
turned down. Schultz in turn opened his own coffee bar in 1986 based on Italian coffee cafes, selling
brewed Starbucks coffee. By 1987, Schultz ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Starbucks has the distinction of being the public 's educator on Expresso. They have also recently
started to expand to packaged and prepared tea in response to the growing demand for this product.
There are no other national coffee bar competitors in the same scale as Starbucks. Starbucks is the
only competitor in the coffee bar market that has a recognized brand image. The difference between
Starbucks and other coffeehouses is that they own all their stores and do not franchise. Starbucks
stores operate in most metropolitan areas of the United States and also have a direct mail business to
serve customers in every state. They have introduced gourmet flavoured decaffeinated coffees as
well as specialty flavours and whole bean coffees for the faithful coffee drinkers. They have also
added light lunch fare to their menu. Starbucks had recently expanded its emphasis internationally.
There are opportunities waiting in possible joint ventures with other corporations to design new
product associations with Starbucks ' coffee.
Although Starbucks has enjoyed tremendous success in the past few years, there are a few obstacles
looming. Since the popularity of the coffee house idea has grown, some cities wish to issue
regulations on the coffeehouses due to complaints of late night patrons becoming uncontrollable.
The cost of coffee beans is expected to rise in the future due to lower supply, which may tighten the
margins on coffee merchants. The higher

Retail Market Of The Retail Industry
HISTORY Retail is the selling of services or goods to consumers to gain a profit. The retail industry
is one of the most important and profitable industries in the world economy today. Total annual U.S.
retail sales have increased an average of 4.5% between 1993 and 2015, according to the U.S. Census
Bureau. The simple idea of creating retail shops, discount stores, and super shops has altered the
world of shoppers and consumers worldwide. An estimated two–thirds of the U.S. gross domestic
product (GDP) comes from retail consumption (2015 US Retail Industry Overview – Info, Facts,
Research, Data, Trivia," 2015).The retail industry is generally divided into several types of retail
stores such as, department stores, supermarkets, convenience stores, online stores and malls. The
history of retail business is as old as 1800. In the early 18th century in the United States the concept
of retail was limited to a general store where people would go and shop for articles of necessity (US
Retail Industry, The Retail Industry of USA," 2007). These general stores became the major food
marketing channel distribution in the 18th century. Toward the end of the 1900's, wholesale club
stores became more popular. These stores started offering bulk quantities of household items to club
members at a highly discounted prices. One of the most important retail stores would be the
supermarket store, which consists of selling fresh, produce, meats, dairy and groceries. During the
1970s, the

Internet mini case , Sonoma William
Internet Mini Case #6
Williams–Sonoma
Maryanne M. Rouse
Williams–Sonoma (WSM) was a specialty retailer of products for the home. The company's
products were sold through two channels: the retail channel and the direct–to–customer channel.
The retail segment comprised four retail concepts: Williams–Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn
Kids, and Hold Everything. The direct–to–customer segment sold though eight retail catalogs:
Williams–Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, Pottery Barn Bed + Bath, PB Teen, Hold
Everything, West Elm, and Williams–Sonoma Home (which incorporated elements from the
previously separate Chambers) as well as through four e–commerce sites. The catalogs reached
customers throughout the United States, and ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
In 2001, the company added a Pottery Barn Kids web site, and a Pottery Barn online gift and bridal
registry, and it opened five new retail stores in Toronto, Ontario.
In line with its related diversification growth strategy, Williams–Sonoma tested a new catalog in
summer 2002, under the West Elm brand. This new brand targeted young, design–conscious
customers seeking to furnish first homes/apartments/lofts with quality furniture and accessories at
affordable price points. West Elm product categories included furniture, decorative accessories, and
an extensive textiles collection. In 2003, Williams–Sonoma expanded its catalog mailings for West
Elm, added a web site, and opened its first retail store.
Williams–Sonoma launched PB Teen with a catalog and web site in late April 2003. PB Teen was
intended to fill the market space between Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids with hip, exclusively
designed furniture, rugs, lighting, bedding, and accessories promoted with its catalog, interactive
web site, special sales campaigns, and contests.
The company's newest concept, Williams–Sonoma Home, was introduced in third quarter 2004 to
tap into what company Chairman William H. Lester noted had been an empty space between the
Pottery Barn demographic and designer home furnishings. Lester hoped to position this brand
extension as an upscale furniture concept that would be more classic and less fashion–forward than
Pottery

Threat Of Best Buy Essay
An economic threat of Best Buy is the threat of online retailers like Amazon. Best Buy is increasing
its online sales and remaining competitive. Amazon has become very popular with consumers
because of the convenience of ordering products right from their own living rooms and having it
delivered sometimes within an hour. This makes it hard for Best Buy to compete because they
cannot offer that same experience and expedited shipping. They are trying to compete with fast
online store pick up that is quick and easy.
Another threat to Best Buy are large box stores like Walmart that create an all in one, grab and go
experience for the customers. In today's society consumers are doing what is easy. It is easiest and
faster to go to a super Walmart ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Reference: https://www.usnews.com/news/best–states/minnesota/articles/2017–08–29/best–buy–
tops–street–2q–forecasts
D. Technological
A technological opportunity for Best Buy is the increased releases of new models of smartphones
like Apple and Android. Those products increased interest therefor increase sales by consumers.
Another opportunity is the demand for the latest and greatest electronic products by the population
of consumers.
A threat for Best Buy would be hat the new generation of consumers seem to prefer online shopping
for electronics rather than visiting a brick–and–mortar store.
Another technological threat to Best Buy is the Digital delivery of media which includes movies and
video games and less number of consumers purchasing hard copies.
Reference: http://marketrealist.com/2015/01/best–buy–attempts–optimize–inventory–levels/
E. Political/Legal
One legal threat that best buy faced in 2005 was an employee discrimination suit against women.
Since then they have revamped its policies and added enhancement of its employee relationships.
They even focused on women in leadership positions and held a group that actively participated in
community events and focused on women

Best Buy Essays
One example of environmental scanning Best Buy used is in 1999 when they realized the increase in
popularity of digital electronics. They changed their store formats to highlight these digital products.
There most recent environmental scanning change was to get in touch with their feminine side. They
have recently put a more personal touch in to their stores and customer service. Environmental
Scanning has played a huge role in Best Buy's evolution. Without paying attention to what is going
on around them Best Buy would have probably already failed. I think that every "major evolution"
this company has made was based on the facts of the environment. Well as we all know gas prices
are continually increasing. So, hopefully the money they ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net
...
The fifth condition, CAPACITY MUST BE ADDED IN LARGE INCREMENTS. Best Buy did do
this and ended up losing a lot of money. So, they have now decided to down size the new stores
being built by thirty to forty times. Number six, DIVERSE COMPETITORS. Their competitors are
diverse in all areas of products, providing customers a "one stop shop." But Best Buy is extremely
diverse in their main product category, technology based appliances. Seventh, HIGH STRATEGIC
SAKES. Because Wal–Mart and Costco are such large businesses and have so many stores they can
sacrifice short term blows because in the long run they will come out on top. For Best Buy it is
much harder because they have less stores that can cover the loss of another. And the eighth
condition is, HIGH EXIT BARRIERS. I think one of Best Buy's highest exit barriers is their Geek
Squad. This geek squad not only provides insight to problems as well as fixing those problems, they
also provide a sense of trust among customers.
3. Threat of substitute products or services, because Best Buy has the best of the best but some
consumers are simply attracted to low prices. Definitely bargaining powers of buyers. Everyone
knows Wal–Mart has a huge control over their suppliers therefore they may able to get the same
products at a cheaper price and then sell them at a cheaper price.
4. Technology is both the opportunity and threat in Best Buy's case. Technology is steadily

Best Buy Mission Statement
For this essay I've chosen Best Buy as my organization to write about. I like shopping at Best Buy
so I thought it would be interesting to learn a bit more about the store. I will be going over Best
Buy's mission statement, their organizations structure, decision making process, human resource
practices, and their social responsibilities. I did have some trouble finding things on Best Buy since
they don't seem to update their stuff very often. So, some of the information I got is older but still
being used in the organization. I found their mission statement but it was from 2013. Apparently,
Best Buy doesn't have an official mission statement. However, I did find a statement that many
people believe is their mission statement and I was also

U.s. Gross Domestic Product
hiding something behind the actual unemployment rate in America or people in America are still
feeling the effects of the 2008 recession. The housing market crash in the fourth quarter of 2008
may still be affecting many families today. Since consumer spending drives two thirds of the
economy, according to econoday, it also affects retail sales because when consumers are confident
in their economy, there are willing to buy more (Econoday: "Consumer confidence"). This, in turn,
affects U.S. retail sales which is also a reflection of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product. These
indicators have a chain reaction because when one changes, it affects the rest.
(Ferreira, 2015).
As we can see from both the consumer confidence and retail sales ... Show more content on
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According to Lynn Franco, she says that consumers are cautious heading into 2016 and expect little
changes in business conditions. Next year is definitely not looking very promising for the United
States.
Retail Sales Indicator The retail sales indicator measures the dollar value of merchandise sold within
the retail industry, which includes traditional retailers selling via internet but excludes companies
conducting non–retail operations such as travel, ticketing, and financial services ("FAQ"). The retail
sales is a leading indicator because it gives us a glimpse of what we can expect in the following
months in the economy. It is important to keep in mind that leading indicators are not always
accurate and are subject to revisions. The retail sales indicator covers the previous month's data and
is typically released on or around the 13th of each month. The report is usually presented in one of
two ways: with auto sales being counted and without auto sales being counted since auto sales can
skew the data due to their high price ("Investopedia: retail sales", n.d.). Companies of all sizes are
used in the survey, from large corporations such as Wal–Mart to independent mom and pop shops.
The methodology behind the survey is conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S.
Department Commerce (United States Bureau: "Monthly & Annual retail trade: Annual retail trade
survey methodology", 2015).

Dillard 's Inc. Case Study
Introduction
Dillard department stores is one of the smallest retail chains in the nations, however, it is still a
widely known department store. Dillard's Inc. is a family owned and operated company which gives
it some competitive edge over the larger, investor owned retail chains. The company operates about
three hundred brick and mortar retail stores and about twenty–five discount stores in the United
States. These stores are scattered throughout 29 states; mainly in the southeast, southwest, and
Midwest. In addition to their physical store locations, Dillard's Inc. ships to countries around the
world through its website, Dillard's Inc..com. Dillard's Inc. also owns CDI Contractors, which is a
construction firm that builds and remodels the company's department stores. In addition to these
business endeavors, the company owns several small online retailers such as countryoutfitter.com
and scrubschopper.com (vault.com, 2016). The company's stocks are listed on the New York Stock
Exchange under the symbol DDS (Dillard's Inc..com, 2016). The company has a current market
capital of 2.88 billion (NYSE:DDS, 2016).
SWOT Analysis
SWOT Matrix
Strengths
Strong brand recognition
ecommerce Weaknesses
Market positioning
Geographic concentration
Opportunities
Global market
Business restructuring
Expanded discount outlet chains Threats
Competition
Economic conditions
Strengths Dillard's Inc. is one of many retail outlets operating in the United States that deal in

Company, Industry, Labor, and Employment Analysis of Whole...
Running Head: COMPANY, INDUSTRY LABOR & EMPLOYMENT ANALYSIS Organization
Overview Fortune 500, 2012 ranks Whole Foods Market as the 264th best company in the United
States, and Fortune 100, 2012 ranks Whole Foods as the 32nd best company to work for. Whole
Foods Market is a global leader in the natural and organic foods. The company operates within the
natural and organic segment, which include seafood, meat, poultry, bakery and grocery. The
company also prepares specialty food such as wine, coffee, vitamins, nutritional supplement and
body care. Whole Foods Market also produces educational products such as books, and other
products such as pet products, floral, and household products. In September 2010, the company has
299 stores in the United States, Canada and the UK. The rapid growth of Whole Foods Market has
been attributed to the selective products that the company offers and its dedication to the quality
standard. The company was formed in 1980 and completed its public offering in 1992. The Whole
Foods Market is dedicated to promote wellbeing of all people by supplying high quality and
wholesome food. Whole Food's mission statement is to "promote vitality and well–being for all
individuals by offering the highest quality, least processed, most flavorful natural and naturally
preserved foods available."( Meador 2010, P 1). Whole Food strategy is to open large new stores
measured 50,000 square feet or larger. The company also dedicates in acquiring small chain

Competitive Strategy Of Couche-Tard's Retail Industry
Couche–Tard is the leader in the Canadian convenience store industry, further boosted by the recent
acquisition of their competitor CST Brands Inc. One can thus see that Couche–Tard has a strong
competitive ability. Their competitive ability can be seen from the market position in North
America. As of June 30, 2017, Couche–Tard's network comprised 9,424 convenience stores
throughout North America. Its North American network consists of 18 business units, including 14
in the United States covering 42 states and 4 in Canada covering all 10 provinces and employing a
high number of workers. 2.2.2 The strength of potential entrants The retail industry shows a low
cost for companies wanting to enter the industry. However, these new entrants will not be a direct
threat to Couche–Tard, as they established their strong market position throughout the past 37 years
by continuously expanding their reach through acquisitions. 2.2.3 The bargaining power of the
supplier Retail industry depends on their supplier which thus indicated that supplier within the
industry have a high bargaining power. The supply chain agility of chain stores has improved over
the past several years, as evidenced by their ability to increase inventory turnover by 2.6% per year
between 2002 and 2008. The largest discrepancies between chain and non–chain stores regarding
inventory turnover growth occurred in the home electronics and appliance stores, computer and
software stores, specialized building materials

Case Study : Pet Food Warehouse
Company Background
PetSmart was founded in 1986 and 1987 at first it was called Pet Food Warehouse in Arizona by Jim
and Janice Dougherty. By 1988 they had a total of seven stores and were helping animal welfare
groups, by holding fundraisers and events. In 1989 they changed their name from Pet Food
Warehouse to PETsMART® and opened the first grooming salons and small pet department. In
1992 the 50th store was opened along with the adoption center and animal clinic. In 1993, PetSmart
went public with their stock then one year later they opened their 100th store, and began in store
training, along with forming the PetSmart Charities. In 1996 they opened eight stores in Canada
only to open their 500 th store two years ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
With the PetSmart Charities, a total of over 400000 pets are saved every year. Through finding
lifelong homes and increasing spay and neuters to help reduce unplanned births. PetSmart Hotels
offer twenty – four an hour, seven day a week supervision for cats and dogs. They even give out
Pawgress reports so that the pet's owner will be sure to come back again. Digital resources for pet
parents, which includes PetSmart.com, PetFoodDirect.com, Pet360.com and Petmd.com. It is the
biggest online pet supply and pet care information network in the United States Weaknesses
Higher Prices, compared to a few of their competitors is one of the greatest weaknesses for
PetSmart. Wal–Mart, Petco, and Pet Supermarket are some of Pet Smarts greatest competitors and
prices seem to range anywhere between 10 to 23 percent cheaper. Issues with Suppliers is another
weakness PetSmart has had to sever ties to many different suppliers due to the fact that animals
were being ill–treated, and some of the animals which are used for food was being frozen alive.
Also, the fact that they were not being developing new stores has been a weakness for PetSmart
because their competitors have been adding quite a few new stores, PetSmart has slowly been
expanding outside the United States expanding only in Canada and

Compare And Contrast Best Buy And Tiger Direct
I have decided to go with the companies known as Tiger Direct and Best Buy. Looking at Tiger
Direct we see it is a retailer that is online. They sell things like electronics for consumers and
computers. Tiger Direct is a Systemax subsidiary and are located within Florida. The company was
established do that they would be able to serve the needs to their customers who are more than
likely computer users. They are known to be one of the top retailers for computers and products in
relations to computers. Their mission statement is "Through an efficient and diversified multi–
channel marketing system, we provide customers a unique shopping experience by offering the best
prices and service on a broad range of products and services."
Now we ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Best Buy has a thing called price matching when a product is ordered and also when a sales is
complete. There is a great way to target customers with things like social media site ads. Both
companies take full advantage of this marketing tactics and may even have a popup window
advertising the same item when you are on the competitor's website.
Key Aspects
The products that are sold and offered by the two companies are said to be the exact same, but the
difference here is the experiences with customers. With Tiger Direct the customers tend to have a
pleasant or nicer experience because there are call centers for the customers to reach out too. For
Best Buy there have been complaints that the stores are not well structured and making it difficult
for customers to get the answers they seek right away. With Best Buy they have a Low–Price
Guarantee. There are no other competitors that can beat out this price. (Kotler & Keller 2011).
SWOT Analysis for TigerDirect

Essay about Staples, Inc. Swot
SWOT ANALYSIS – STAPLES SWOT Analysis – Staples Staples, Inc. became incorporated in
1985 by founders Thomas G. Stemberg and Leo Kahn. 25 years later, Staples, Inc. is the world's
largest office products company. The company primarily operates in the United States but also has
locations in 26 countries throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia serving
businesses of all sizes and consumers. Their mission statement is, "We're committed to making it
easy for our customers around the globe to buy a wide range of office products, supplies,
technology, furniture, and business services, including computer repair and copying and printing, to
help our customers run their offices efficiently" (Staples Inc., 2010). The ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
received the award in 1997 and Office Depot, Inc. in 1998, Staples, Inc. clearly has a competence
advantage among its competitors. Therefore, the company's customer service is another distinctive
competence. Weaknesses A major weakness for Staples, Inc. is their high dependence on the North
American Market. Since the North American Market has weakened due to the regression the
company's dependence could prove to be rather damaging. "For the fiscal quarter ended Aug. 2,
2008, the Framingham, Mass., office–supplies retailer said sales grew about 3% from a year ago
while its earnings per share decreased about 15%" (Hinton, 2008). Staples, Inc. has been involved in
many legal issues which is another weakness. Most recently Staples, Inc. reached a settlement in
wage and hour class action lawsuits. Staples, Inc. announced that it has reached a global settlement
in several retail wage and hour class action lawsuits related to the alleged misclassification of its
assistant store managers concerning overtime pay. According to a former assistant manager, who
worked with the company from December 2003 to October 2005, the Assistant Managers were
working 50 hour work weeks, with 1 hour lunch breaks (Steward, 2010). This amounted to 5
overtime hours per week that they weren't getting paid for. "Under the terms of the global
settlement, which is subject to court approval, the Company has agreed to pay $42 million to resolve
the allegations and avoid further

Essay On Best Buy
Strategic Problem
Best Buy is the largest North American consumer electronics and appliance retail store. Beneath the
direction of Brad Anderson, the CEO in 2006, Best Buy experienced some of its hardest times.
There were countless forces and factors that contributed to the difficulty faced by Best Buy. The
first major problem to be pointed out is that Best Buy is losing immense market share to Amazon,
which had led to a practice of "showrooming" (Best Buy, 10). This term means customers are
coming to view the product at Best Buy, and then proceeding to buy them online at a cheaper price.
Resulting in these competitive prices taking away sales from Best Buy.
As far as internationally, Best Buy was experiencing issues with their sinking international
operations in Canada, China, and Europe ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
In retrospect to when this case takes place the industry at the time was experiencing huge
technological change at a rapid pace. Since there is constant innovation in electronic products,
businesses within the industry have to stay updated in order to successfully sell them. This is
important because businesses within the industry have to focus on getting consumers to buy
products before the life of the product loses its demand. Along with technological advances in
products, there are also advances technologically regarding the outlets in which these products can
be sold. This is important because the shift in the way these products are sold have allowed the
online retail market to grow and become competitive allowing players in the industry to strike faster.
Best Buy specifically is a company that is highly influenced by these technological advances which
makes it important for them to keep focus on the innovation of products as well as their online

Swot Analysis Of Dillard's
There are many retail giants that have had an active presence on the market for sometime. A few
that come to mind are JCPenny, Macy's and Nordstorm's. However, one major retail chain that has
spread across the country was started right here in the state of Arkansas. Dillard's first department
store was opened in 1938 in Nashville, Arkansas by its founder William Dillard. Since its
inauguration, Dillard's has turned into one of the more prominent retailers in the United States. With
an ever growing market base and clientele, Dillard's has seen successful since the early 1950s. This
success, however, leaves people with a few questions about the Arkansas native retail giant. What
does Dillard's current market look like? How does Dillard's compare ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Once again Dillard's finds itself shrinking in comparison on sheer market size. Compared to
Dillard's 300 stores in 29 states, JCPenny has over 1,000 locations across the United States and in
Puerto Rico. This provides much contest for Dillard's as JCPenny is a store often seen across the
mall from them. With so many stores across the nation Dillard's was able to keep it close in the
gross income department. JCPenny only reported a gross income of 4.0 billion dollars in 2015,
compared to Dillard's 2.15 billion dollars. This boasts well for Dillard's and the quality of their
merchandise. Retail conglomeration's have been extremely influential since the early 20th century
and Dillard's is no different. From their small beginnings in Nashville, Arkansas to their impressive
influence in 29 states across the union, Dillard's has become a mainstay of quality retail. Even when
they are outnumbered by the competition, Dillard's seems to be able to hold their own. This would
me Mr. William Dillard proud and does him great honor in continuing his

Best Buy Case Study
Best Buy
Case Study Review
[pic]
Brad Dexheimer
BA 790 – Spring 2013
Professor James Mastrangelo
January 30, 2013
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary ...................................................................................... 3
Problem/Opportunity Statement ................................................................. 4
External Environment Analysis .................................................................. 5 Demographic
.......................................................................................... 5 Economic
................................................................................................ 5 Political/Legal ... Show more content
on Helpwriting.net ...
External Environment Analysis
Demographic Segment:
Due to the vast array of products that Best Buy offers, there is no single customer profile accounting
for a significant portion of overall sales (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, pg.59, 2011). The United States
is facing an aging population and Best Buy should look at offering products and use marketing
approaches that appeal to older customers (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, pg.59, 2011). With college
age consumers struggling to find jobs in a tightening market, their discretionary spending has been
reduced. Women also have been increasing their influence and purchasing power, something that
can not be overlooked by Best Buy.
Economic Segment:
The economic slowdown has affected the business operations of Best Buy and they are facing
consumer related challenges at every point in the market. Due to the economic slowdown in the

United States, dramatic and long lasting changes have occurred in the behaviors of consumers. In
2008, Best Buy announced that all of its corporate employees were eligible for a voluntary
seperation package in order to significantly reduce their corporate expenses (ecoustics.com, 2008).
Political/Legal Segment
When Best Buy entered the Asian market by acquiring Jiangsu Five Star Appliance Company, they
helped bridge the learning curve of international policies and procedures by

Best Buy Mission Statement
Best Buy has always faced competition in the industry that is functions in, and as the years have
continued this has grown from rival electronics stores to phone companies. As stated by CEO
Hubert Joly, "We are pleased today to report strong top and bottom line growth for the second
quarter of fiscal 2018 (Joly 2017)". Best Buy saw an opportunity to expand its retail offerings and
thrive in the electronics industry, and they believe the key to achieving this is by marketing and
merchandising.
1. Demographic
While Best Buy offers products, and services, for all demographics there is one group they have
started to focus their attention on; Millennials. With Best Buy's mobile stores and services
continuing to see growth, Millennials have started to become the ideal target to market to.
Millennials have shown to be frequent users of social media, which include Instagram and Snapchat.
The appealing feature of these apps is the ability to take videos and pictures anywhere with your
electronic device. This is an opportunity Best Buy is looking to take advantage of when marketing
their own electronic devices.
1. Socio–Cultural ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
They have a strong belief in education, and the ways technology can assist and improve upon it.
Best Buy has created its own education division that focuses on improving technology in
classrooms. Their mission statement is "At Best Buy® Education, we believe technology is the key
to creating classrooms that transform education, empower teachers, and inspire students" ("Re–
Imagining the Possibilities" 2018). They do this by partnering with teachers and others in the
education field, by turning classrooms into active entertaining environments for students to learn,
and by shaping schools into a place that efficiently prepares students for college, a future career and
their life beyond

Case Study : Best Buy 's Strategy
To understand Best Buy's strategy, a SWOT analysis was prepared to study the strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that the company must prepare for. According to Hubert Joly,
the CEO of Best Buy, the strength of the company comes down to the people who work there.
Interviewed in late 2013 for the consumer electronics trade magazine TWICE, Joly states from the
outset that he was "amazed by (Best Buy's) assets, strong traffic levels, great stores... a large and
loyal customer base, and an unmatched product assortment. I was delighted by the spirit, passion,
and strong foundation of this great company and its 140,000 employees. Their commitment to this
organization, and more importantly, to serving our customers, is incredible." ("Joly Waxes") Another
strength that has helped Best Buy prosper the past three years is its online store. Interviewed for
MIT Technology Review, Best Buy's former president of e–commerce Scott Durchslag states that in
2012, the company's online presence was "in a '10 year time warp.' It didn't have on–site
recommendations, prices did not match those in stores, and it took at eight clicks to buy anything."
("Best Buy Battles") Today, the number of clicks has been reduced to three, and online customers
can now pick up items at retail locations. This option saves shipping costs as well as increase
customer convenience. Most importantly, the store pickup option differentiates Best Buy from its
main competitor, Amazon, which does not

Case Study Bass Pro Shops Essay
Case Study: Bass Pro Shops
Bass Pro Shops is a privately held sporting goods and outdoor goods store headquartered in
Springfield, Missouri. In addition to the Outdoor World store, Bass Pro Shops has over 15 large
retail stores in the U.S. It also owns and operates subsidiaries such as Tracker Boats, Big Cedar
Lodge, and Redhead. Bass Pro Shops is known for a large selection of hunting, fishing, and other
outdoor gear.
History
Founded by John Morris in 1972, Bass Pro Shops was born out of a fishing tackle business that sold
homemade bait and worms, located in the back of a Brown Derby liquor store. Bass Pro Shops
mailed its first catalog in 1974. It soon became the world's largest mail order sporting goods store.
In 1984, ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
include R.E.I., Cabela's, Eastern Mountain Sports, Gander Mountain, L.L. Bean, Sierra Trading
Post, Sport Chalet, Archery USA, Back Country Outfitters, and Sportsman's Warehouse, as well as
national sporting goods retailers such as Academy Sports & Outdoors, Sports Authority, Big 5
Sporting Goods, and Dick's Sporting Goods, and a host of other local independent retailers.
Competition Strengths:
• Archery USA and Back Country Outfitters sell highly specialized items that Bass Pro Shops does
not.
• Many people prefer the smaller stores, not wanting to deal with the vastness of Bass Pro Shops.
• R.E.I. challenges Bass Pro with its in–store hands on equipment testing.
• Cabela's family–owned catalog company provides direct competition to Bass Pro Shops because
of the amount of their catalog sales (estimated to be about the same as Bass Pro's $1.25B).
• L.L. Bean offers excellent customer service and high end goods that beat the Bass Pro Shop lines.
Problem Statement
Bass Pro Shops should slow down on expansion which is resulting

Porter's Five Forces In Retail Industry
Andrew Foles
Georgia Breunig
Sameer Omar
Xiyang Sun
Industry Environment: Analysis of United States retail industry using Porter's Five Forces.
What is the retail industry?
Retail industry sector encompasses companies and individuals that are engaged in selling products
to consumers. As the biggest economy in the world, retail industry in the U.S. is one of the biggest
industries in the world with total sales of nearly $5 trillion in 2016 as per www.census.gov. National
retail foundation's report mentions retail industry as the largest private sector employer in the United
states with about 15 million people working in the industry. Retail industry in the united states
comprises brick and mortar stores and a growing e–commerce sector. ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
This requirement might deter new entrants.
2. Low product differentiation and economies of scale: There isn't much product differentiation at
play in the retail industry as there are well known manufacturers whose products are offered for
sale, which leaves price to compete on. Current well established retailers with thousands of stores
enjoy the economies of scale to control their cost that a new entrant might not be able to replicate
after immediately entering the industry.
3. Switching Cost: If there is anything that can go in favor of a new entrant is switching cost of the
buyer. Only loyalty buyers typically have these days is to value. If a new entrant can offer better
value, buyers can switch to the new entrant with no switching cost. Better value can only come from
sacrificing profits which might deter new entrants as a low profit margin does not promises long
term growth.
Force 2 – Bargaining Power of Buyers (customers):
Companies in the retail industry operate in a high price elasticity environment as there is not much
product differentiation to leverage. Buyers face almost no switching cost if they chose a substitute
offering better value. On the contrary, large and diverse population making small purchases works in
favor of the industry. No one individual or a small group has the power to significantly impact the
industry, but overall buyers enjoy have a high bargaining power in the industry.
Force 3 – Bargaining

Renew Blue : Response To Amazon's Turnaround Strategy
To comprehend how Best Buy successfully responded to Amazon's disruption and remain a relevant
player in the sector, it is important to understand how the company implemented its turnaround
strategy, "Renew Blue", especially during the 2012–2017 timeframe. Renew Blue focused on four
key elements: cost reductions, enhancing relationship with supplier, improve its online sales and
store restructuring.
To begin with, Best Buy focused on cost cutting measure and elimination of redundancy which
resulted in a reduction of $1B in annualised expenses and significantly reducing administrative and
corporate expenses. The first significant cuts the company made were at their headquarters:
eliminating private jets privileges, NASCAR sponsorships, and Super Bowl advertisements. Several
layers of management were eliminated and many support employees were made redundant, such as
cooks in the corporate kitchen, with a total layoff of around 2,000 jobs. The company not only
focused on big ticket item reduction but also targeted small items: "I don't need you to go find the
million–dollar idea – I'd love for you to go find the $10,000 idea," said Corie Barry, chief strategic
growth officer (Jen Wieczner, Fortune). In addition, Best Buy revamped its inventory management
system, optimizing the efficiency of their inventory seeing major improvement in its days inventory
outstand and inventory turnover ratio. Furthermore, in 2015, Best Buy introduced a three–year plan
to reduce annual spending

Best Buy Company, A New York Stock Exchange Traded...
Best Buy Company, Incorporated (BBY), is a New York Stock Exchange traded supplier of
consumer electronic devices headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Best Buy began as an audio
specialty under the name "Sound of Music" founded by Richard Schultze and Gary Smoliak in
1966. Schultze eventually bought out his business partner and in 1986 rebranded the store under its
current moniker and began to expand beyond its Minnesota roots.
Today Best Buy has more than 1,900 stores and is the industry leader, ahead of its primary
competitors; Wal–Mart, Amazon, Apple Stores, and Target; in providing consumer electronics in the
United States. Despite its position in the consumer electronics space by 2012 a review of Best Buy
found that nearly all indicators pointed to signs of poor financial health; Earnings per Share (EPS)
were down, same store sales were down, and the stock price had fallen substantially. Ultimately, the
Best Buy board decided to fire CEO Brian Dunn for his failure to recognize and react to the external
forces threatening Best Buy, primarily threats from low cost online retailers such as Amazon. The
new CEO, Hubert Joly, immediately went about setting a new strategic plan entitled "Renew Blue"
in late 2012. As of this writing the Renew Blue strategy is still underway.
According to the most recent Annual Report Renew Blue is dealing with two problems, declining
comparable sales, and declining revenues. There are five pillars underpinning the strategy:

What Is Best Buy?
Positioning Analysis
The evaluation we have done on the consumer electronics retail industry has shown us that this
industry isn't very appealing. A high percentage of consumer electronic retailers have gone out of
business so how did Best Buy remain profitable in such a competitive industry with the rise of e
commerce over the last decade? In order to answer this question, we will examine Best Buy's
positioning and origin, how their strategy differ from their closest competitors, and how their
strategic positioning has changed over time. In order to evaluate the positioning of Best Buy in the
consumer electronics retail industry, we will first need to identify some key terms. Strategic
positioning, as per Michael Porter's article, "What ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
They have the highest percentage of revenues absorbed by cost. This would clearly suggest that
their focused differentiation strategy has been giving them the position of being able to remain
profitable in the industry of consumer electronics. We have calculated the profit margins, Table 4,
and compared them in our analysis.
Table 4
Profit Margin 1/31/2017 1/31/2016 1/31/2015
Best Buy 3.12% 2.27% 3.06%
Walmart 2.81% 3.05% 3.37%
Amazon 1.74% 0.56% –0.27%
Target 3.94% 4.56% –2.25%
As shown in Table 4, Best Buy has the most consistent and positive profit margins in the past three
years. This can help us conclude that the focused differentiation strategy has been creating
opportunity for Best Buy to remain in the position to build on the success. This is a promising trend
for Best Buy and it can be sustained with the strategy they have in place.
The assessment of the financials has gave us a better understanding of how Best Buy compares to
the competition, In Figure 1, we have used our analysis to compare the costs of each retailer and the
willingness–to–pay from the consumer. We have realized that Best Buy has the highest internal
costs but they also have the highest willingness–to–pay. The result of their focused differentiation
strategy they incurred more cost but have increased their customer's

Best Buy Swot Analysis Paper
Financial Strengths and weaknesses at Best Buy Corporation
Best Buy Co., Incorporated experiences low gross margins and rising confliction from competitors
with lower prices on especially on electronics
While Best Buy Co., Incorporated is showing improvement over the rivalries in the feeble
worldwide economy, the gross margins are not up to stakeholder's guidelines. This is because of the
ascent of rivalry in the innovation market, giving space for organizations like Amazon and Wal–
Mart which offer practically identical items at a lower prices.
With the innovation business sector being in steady change, the foundation of business sector
fragments for individual stores in light of geographic area and population and the procurement of
different ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
With new difficulties not too far off in light of another rush of contenders, Best Buy Co., Inc has as
of now surpassed the desires set upon it by gaining from the missteps of its rivals. To guarantee that
the organization is as yet moving in the planned heading, an inside and ecological investigation of
Best Buy Co., Incorporated is directed to guarantee legitimacy of the authoritative vision, mission
and worth proclamations. The examination instrument that will be being used to consider the
noteworthy variables is the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT)
investigation.
The ideas for growth for Best Buy Co., Incorporated are enormous, and if accomplished
successfully will keep the company at the forefront of the consumer technology market. There are
many deliverables planned for Best Buy Co., Incorporated, as well as timelines and those ultimately
responsible for the deliverable. All deliverables and timelines can be easily mapped out and visually
shown in the financial

Best Buy Case Analysis Essay examples
Best Buy Case Analysis
Nature of Industry, Market, and Buying Behavior Best Buy is a retail store with over 600 stores
nationwide and over a thousand around the world. It is the major retailer store for electronics around
the world and leads top ranked followed by Circuit City, Wal–Mart and Costco. The consumer
electronics industry is growing steadily over the past few years. 2008's projected revenue is
expected to increase by 6.1%. This isn't higher than 2007 but it is higher compared to other
industries which are failing. Some items that are expected to see an increase are TV displays,
gaming platforms, and next generation DVD players such as Blu–Ray and HD DVD (which Blu–
Ray has won out over). As stated before the consumer ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
These five segments of shoppers make up the majority of shoppers in which Best Buy and the
consumer electronics industry deals with on a daily basis.
The Organization Best Buy, like any other company, has its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities,
and threats. Best Buy's strengths are that it is a very large company with many resources. It has been
the leader in consumer electronics for many years and is projected to keep growing. It has been a
house hold name for a number of years and this is also a big strength in the company. When
someone is thinking of buying a TV or anything electronic, usually the first place that comes to
mind is Best Buy. Best Buy's strength in its customer–centricity is also very important. With the
implication of this program it has seen sales increase in the stores that it has tried this program in.
Another strength of Best Buy is the company's employee enthusiasm. Watching the case video we
see that most of the employees are well trained and help the customers however they can, but this
can be copied and reproduced easily, which brings us to Best Buy's

American Eagle : Saturated The United States Market
American Eagle; Saturated the United States Market?
Introduction
I chose American Eagle Outfitters to focus on and research for the following project. American
Eagle was founded in 1977 as a segment of another brand and was officially released and
incorporated to the public as their very own brand in 1991 (American Eagle Outfitters Inc., History).
American Eagle Outfitters is a casual clothing line that is geared towards teenagers and people in
their early twenties. Their products are outdoor–based and they are a lifestyle brand. AEO sells both
women and men's products. The items they sell include, but are not limited to: jeans, joggers,
jewelry, underwear, socks, jackets, mittens, hats, scarves, graphic tees, dresses, skirts, polos, ...
Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
In this paper I will analyze the pros and cons of expanding this company into Brazil.
Body From what I have read in a lot of articles, Brazil would be a great place to expand a retailer to.
In this paragraph, I plan on discussing the pros and cons of expanding American Eagle Outfitters to
this region and if it would be an overall good choice for the company. If there is one thing that is
important to a company, it would definitely be sales. What is a business without sales? According to
this article that I found, provided by Boccaccio, Brazil's retail sales per capita have sky rocketed
within the past couple of years. "Retail sales per capita in Brazil (#1 in the Index) have grown 12%
per year for the past four years to reach $5,514, the third largest of the countries ranked in the
GRDI. The retail market size increased 15% last year, and consumer–spending ahs increased by 9%
per year since 2007. In 2011, retail sales accounted for 70% of Brazil's consumer spending"
(Boccaccio). If of all consumer spending, 70% was spent on retail sales, that is a lot of retail
shopping! Another pro of expanding to this country would be the fact that American Eagle Outfitters
has saturated their home market. There are only a few ways to help a business after they have
achieved market saturation and that would be a rise in consumer demand, better product innovations

Assignment #4: “Macroeconomic Indicators”
Walmart (officially Wal–Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational company specialized in the
large distribution. The company was founded by Sam Walton and today supervised by his oldest
son, S. Robson Walton. Founded under this name in 1962, it was quickly developed in Arkansas,
then after that in 1991 it started dominate all United States before he internationalized itself. Today,
Walmart is much more like your vicinity store. We comprise a great choice of high–quality goods,
friendly service and, naturally, low prices each and every day. One goal that Walmart is always
pursuing is to bring the best experiment in customer's everywhere purchasing from their stores to
the Internet. The Walmart.com store which is a subsidiary Wal–Mart ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Consequently, for the fortieth consecutive month, the United States has a lost of 17.000
manufacturing workers jobbs in November for a total of 2.6 million manufacturing jobs lost since
the Ex President George W. Bush took over the office. But, this unemployment rate issue remains
essentially unchanged in the Wal–Mart economy. Indeed, which ws explained by Mrs. Sweeney was
the fact that the industrial center lost 17,000 manufacturing jobs in november, the fact is that the
middle–class jobs are too often replaced by low–paying job which is an indication of the new Wal–
Mart economy. Several jobs are being lost will not come back, and of the nation's middle–class is
being notched away (AFL–CIO, 2003). Wal–Mart is a symbol of the US economy of the 21st
century, which is held in radical contrast to the symbol of the old economy. Indeed, It is one of the
giants of the " service sector" of the United States economy. To add, its $244.6 billion in the sales in
2002 composed more than 2% of all the gross domestic product of the United States (GDP). Let us
also mention that this has made Wal–Mart the world's largest company (based on incomes). That is
the 19th greater economy in the world. Consequently, it is our nation's biggest employer, with 1.3
million employees in the

Marketing and Pottery Barn Essay
Unit VIII
Mini Case Study
Williams–Sonoma
MBA 5101
John A. Taylor
1. If Williams–Sonoma continues with its' present strategies and objectives, where will it be in 5
years?
Given today's economy, and the bleak economic outlook, I do not believe Williams–Sonoma will
continue to exist with its' current strategies and objectives to serve its' below target market
consumers. Bottom line is many consumers cannot afford the products being sold by the company.
Although, the company's target market is in the 10% of wealthiest consumers, and had total earnings
of over 3.5 billion. (2010 shareholders meeting). Other avenues of generating revenue must be
explored. I fear that even the 10% will eventually become more cost conscious in the ... Show more
content on Helpwriting.net ...
I would consider lowering price points so I could tap into the more than 10% of consumers without
becoming "Wal–Mart". Now the company did do something to increase its' position that I found
useful. That was to decrease its' overall lease space by 2%. (2010 shareholders meeting). This
reduction in retail occupancy costs attributed to the 1 billion dollars the company enjoyed last year. I
would also consider expanding the company's customer base by broadening the product line to
similar to Home Goods or Bed Bath and beyond who currently double the revenue of Williams–
Sonoma. (Redistribute assets earmarked for traditional cataloging to online accesses. Not only will
this save money, but will also impact paper usage. I believe advertising in this was has all but
outlived its' usefulness.
3. Describe the competitive strategies used by each of Williams–Sonoma's competitors. Which of
these are most effective?
Williams–Sonoma has six major competitors plus one more in their market. The company holds
only 7.9% market share (FY10) to main competitor Bed, Bath and Beyond with an astonishing
34.4%. (William–sonoma.com/investors) BBB's strategy is to offer competitive prices for quality
products. Its' target market is middle to upper middle class and this is the reason it fairs better in the
current market. The Bombay Company's strategy was to increase its' footprint by increasing outlet
store

priceline case study
Priceline case study
Full Description priceline.com Incorporated (priceline.com) is an online travel company, which
offers a range of travel services, including hotel rooms, car rentals, airline tickets, vacation
packages, cruises and destination services. Internationally, the Company offer customers hotel room
reservations in over 90 countries and 32 languages. In the United States, priceline.com offer the
customers the ability to purchase travel services in a price–disclosed manner or the opportunity to
use the Name Your Own Price service, which allows the customers to make offers for travel services
at discounted prices. The subsidiaries of the Company include Lowestfare.com LLC and Travelweb
LLC. In May 2010, the Company acquired ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The Company also offer price–disclosed cruise trips through World Travel Holdings, Inc. (WTH).
The cruise service allows consumers in the United States to search for and compare cruise pricing
and availability information from 20 cruise lines, and to purchase cruises online or through a call
center by selecting from the published offerings and prices.
The Company offer air, hotel and vacation package customers in the United States an optional travel
insurance package, which provides coverage for, among other things, trip cancellation, trip
interruption, medical expenses, emergency evacuation, and loss of baggage, property and travel
documents. It also offers the rental car customer in the United States the opportunity to purchase
collision damage waiver insurance. The travel insurance is arranged for by BerkelyCare, a division
of Affinity Insurance Services, Inc. and underwritten by Stonebridge Casualty Insurance Company,
an AEGON Company.
The Company competes with Expedia, Orbitz Worldwide, Sabre, Venre, Tui Travel, Gullivers,
octopustravel, Superbreak, hotel.de, Hotel Reservation Service, Ctrip, Rakuten, Wotif, Google,
Yahoo!, Bing, AOL, Mobissimo.com, FareChase.com, Kayak.com, SideStep.com, TripAdvisor,
Travelzoo, Cheapflights.com, Galileo, Travelport and Amadeus.
Case Study: Priceline
By James Maguire
November 27, 2002
Although many e–commerce businesses were hurt by the

Best Buy Inc. : Managing Information Technology
Best Buy Inc.
Kavana Reddy
CIS 615 – Managing Information Technology
07/16/2015
Introduction
Best Buy Inc. is the largest consumer electronic retail store chain in the United States. Best Buy Inc.
is now a multinational business, headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota, with many stores in United
States, Canada, Mexico and Europe. It was founded in 1966 as an audio specialty store by name
"Sound of Music". It was renamed in 1983 as "Best Buy" after the famous "Tornado Sale" in its
Minnesota store. It was listed on New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 1987 and Standard and Poor
(S&P) 500 in 1999. It was named "Company of the year" by Forbes magazine in 2004. Hubert Joly
serves as the current CEO and the chairman of the company.
It had a thriving business model for several years. It sustained the 2008 economic crisis while its
competitors like Circuit City and CompUSA went bankrupt. Best Buy has had a rough run since the
beginning with ups and downs. However, Best Buy's continued efforts to diversify its products
targeting specific market segments are considered to be the key reason for the company avoiding the
downfall that its competitors (Circuit City, CompUSA) faced during the economic crisis of 2007.
(Fehr, 2010)
The rising influence of online shopping, provided by its current competitors like Amazon.com and
GameStop, has put Best Buy in deep trouble. Best Buy's physical stores have become a double–
edged sword to the company acting as both a competitive

Costco Wholesale Club Strategic Plan Essay
Evan Wabrick
Strategic Plan
Dr. Watts
4/18/2012
Strategic Plan for Costco Wholesale Corporation
Executive Summary
The retail industry is an extremely competitive environment that poses many challenges for Costco
Wholesale Corporation and its competitors. Since many of the stores offer the same products, it may
sometimes be very hard for customers to differentiate between retail stores. Even though the
economy is recovering from a recession, the retail business is still a mature industry and is
improving very steadily. Costco and its competitors are affected by the same political, economic,
social, and technological factors, such as taxes, presidential elections, SEC regulations, the
economic state of the country, exchange rates, ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
From a political standpoint, one of the biggest external factors affecting corporations in the retail
industry is taxes. The United States corporate federal income tax rate is one of the highest in the
world, in which companies have to pay 35% in taxes on income over $18,333,333. (Greenstein,
Rogoff, Olsen, & Co., LLP, CPA's) Firms in this industry would like to see corporate taxation
decrease so that the company is able to have a higher net income. It is uncertain if the corporate tax
rate will increase or decrease; however, presidential candidate Mitt Romney says that he is planning
on offering a corporate tax cut to encourage businesses to increase operations in the United States
than overseas. The nation will just have to wait and see if this becomes reality. A higher net income
could potentially mean more earnings per share and more dividends distributed to shareholders. Not
only are retail companies affected by taxes in the United States, they are also affected by export and
import taxes on goods produced and sold throughout the world. Costco owns a number of subsidiary
companies, such as Price Enterprises, Inc. and Shinsegae Department Store Co, which is located in
Korea and subject to foreign taxation rates. Costco, as well as its retail competitors, would like to
see a decrease in foreign taxation rates so that they're able to generate a higher net income from their
foreign subsidiaries. Another political factor that affects

Best Buy Conflict Paper
Best buy is a company that offers technology, products, and services. It is one of the leading
companies in electronic sales. This company has over 1,000 locations worldwide and due to all
these stores Best Buy seems to run into some type of conflict throughout the years. The two
components of conflict, Task and relationship conflict all had influenced on how Best Buy dealt
with the problems they faced as demonstrated throughout the lawsuits, conflicts with rival
companies and trouble within the organization. Best buy being such a large organization is usually
going to run into some conflicts. Conflicts are "when one party perceives another party has
negatively affected or is about to negatively affect something the first party cares about. ... Show
more content on Helpwriting.net ...
This type of conflict was a relationship conflict "which focuses on interpersonal relationships"
(Robins Judge, 233). It can also be stated as an intragroup conflict since it "occurred within a group
or team" (Robins Judge 234). The interpersonal relationship was with Mark Thompson and Ernst
and Young. In an article by the associated press it states Mark Thompson was on the board of
directors for Best Buy from 2000–2004 when he decided to resign due to conflicts of interest. After
Thompson had resigned there had been information that was released stating that Thompson had
contact with Ernst and Young during 2002 to 2004 and was getting paid around three hundred
seventy seven thousand dollars. The group that are affected within the group is Best Buy itself and
Ernst and Young. At the time Ernst and Young was an auditor for Best Buy which is a big problem
that is stated in their code of ethics handbook. In the handbook it states the conflict of interest
occurs when you get improper benefits due to your connections to the company. Thompson violated
the conflicts of interest by holding a second job with Ernst and Young while they conducted
business with Best Buy. The handbook also states that anything that can be considered a conflict of
interest must be disclosed to the company. As previously stated Thompson violated this by not
disclosing the information to Best Buy. Best Buy was taken to surprise by this and ended the
solution to this conflict was to drop Ernst and Young as their auditors. Best Buy had come out and
said that the two companies came into agreement to part ways. This outcome proves that the
relationship within the employees for a company like Best Buy is important to them because they
want to be able to trust their corporate workers. The relationship conflict also shows specifically the
ways some companies deal with conflicts within the

Urban Outfitters Case
Urban Outfitters Inc. is one of the leading lifestyle retail companies. Urban Outfitters operates in
over 500 retail stores worldwide, with plans to open over 35 new locations by the end of the next
fiscal year. The company also has a website, mobile app and catalogs used to assist with sales.
Urban Outfitters has goals of expansion and growth for their numerous brands.
Industry Analysis Urban Outfitters employed approximately 30 thousand employees in the 2014
fiscal year, 37% of which were full–time and 97% working within the retail segment. The
compounded annual growth rate was approximately 11% for the past five years. Sales for the 2014
fiscal year was approximately $3 billion. Urban Outfitters retail and wholesale segments both

Swot Analysis Of Zara
Zara is one of the most well–known international companies in the world. It is recognized for its
high fashion, quality garments and affordable prices. Zara's parent company is Inditex. "One of the
world's largest distribution groups" (Zara, n.d). Zara offers fashionable designs for men, women and
children. Zara was opened in A Coruña, Spain by Amancio Ortega and his partner Rosalia Mera in
1975. They wanted to name their store after their favorite film Zorba the Greek. Since that name
was already taken, they came up with a name that had similar letters. Zara was born and the brand
become a global phenomenon which is currently headquartered in Artexio, Spain. Their mission
statement indicates that customers come first in their business. ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Through their use of vertical integration Zara is able to meet consumer demands in a short period of
time. This model describes their "fast– fashion" where they make the majority of the clothing in
Spain and Morocco. The garments are available in stores in just two weeks. Speed and efficiency
has helped Zara expand overseas and become a huge factor in their success. Zara's products are
available to consumers at their retail stores as well as online. The use of their vertical integration of
designs, just–in–time manufacturing, delivery and sales create flexible structure for low inventory
and quick response from consumers changing demands.
Today's fashion market is highly competitive and companies need to always be up to date. Zara has
many competitors such as H&M, Mango and Gap. The successful concept of "Fast fashion" has
created many retail stores to change their retail strategy but have not yet to compete with Zara
system. The United States of America is a diverse country located in North America bordered by the
Atlantic Ocean on the east and Pacific Ocean on the west. Its neighbor countries are Canada to the
north and Mexico to the south. United states currency is in US dollars. The United States is a
capitalist country. The position of president, as the head of the government, is currently held by
Donald J. Trump. The capital is in Washington D.C. The population in the United States in 2016 was
323,127,513 with

American Eagle : Saturated The United States Market? Essay
vAmerican Eagle; Saturated the United States Market?
Introduction
I chose American Eagle Outfitters to focus on and research for the following project. American
Eagle was founded in 1977 as a segment of another brand and was officially released and
incorporated to the public as their very own brand in 1991 (American Eagle Outfitters Inc., History).
American Eagle Outfitters is a casual clothing line that is geared towards teenagers and people in
their early twenties. Their products are outdoor–based and they are a lifestyle brand. AEO sells both
women and men's products. The items they sell include, but are not limited to: jeans, joggers,
jewelry, underwear, socks, jackets, mittens, hats, scarves, graphic tees, dresses, skirts, polos, button
ups, etc. There are American Eagle stores in the following countries: China, Egypt, Hong Kong,
Israel, Japan, Jordan, United States, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mexico, Morocco, Philippines, Puerto Rico,
Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Thailand & United Kingdom (International
Stores, AE). The reason I chose this company is because it is actually a company that I used to shop
at when I was in high school. I have noticed since then, that their sales figures have decreased
drastically and they have become quite unappealing to the public. After learning in class about
companies that could potentially go international, and reasons why, I felt as if American Eagle
would be a good company to research. It seems as if they have

Costco Wholesale Business Analysis
Today, the most important commercial activity is considered retailing, as the retail stores provide the
consumers with various products and services. There are many fields in the retail industry such as
franchise stores, supermarkets, specialty stores, variety stores, online merchants, and supermarkets.
By having many types of merchants, the retail industry thus helps the customers to freely choose the
sellers, or stores, and enjoy buying products at the selected stores. As various merchants sell almost
all types of physical goods ranging from food, books, beauty aids, toys, automobile parts, clothing,
and shoes, the total retail sales in 2013 were around $5 trillion, according to the U.S. Commerce
Department. The total retail sales in 2013 ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
It was first built in 1983 in Seattle, and it has now became the second largest retailer in the United
States. The company operates both domestically and internationally, and it has a total number of 687
warehouses. It has 481 stores in the United States and Puerto Rico and 206 stores in other countries
such as the United Kingdom, Mexico, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Australia, and Spain. Unlike many
other retail stores, Costco provides membership only services. There are three types of membership,
and those are Business, Gold Star, and the Executive membership. As the company shows the
different kinds of membership, Costco's target customers are small to medium businesses and large
householders. Because the company is targeting those customers, the items that are selling at Costco
come in a bulk package. The company carries a wide product category ranging from groceries,
television and media, electronic devices, books, camera, beauty aids, furniture, jewelry, sporting
goods, kitchen appliances, automotive supplies, office supplies and office equipments. Furthermore,
it offers travel services, food courts, pharmacies, opticians, and Photo Centers. Carrying only top
quality brands and selling numerous items at low prices, Costco's annual revenue exceeds more than
$112 billion and total full–time and part–time employees are about 200,000

Compensation Ch. 1

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