Essay About Outsourcing At Office Supply Inc. Case

Essay about Outsourcing at Office Supply Inc. Case
INTRODUCTION
Office Supply Incorporated (OSI) is a company in crisis, with challenges in its cost structure and
poor IT performance. Outsourcing to Technology Infrastructure Solutions (TIS) is an opportunity to
both reduce costs and complexity for the firm, but first must consider whether outsourcing is a good
strategic fit for OSI. Outsourcing is known as the practice of turning over responsibility of some or
all of organizations information systems to a foreign firm in order to stay competitive. Outsourcing
is not new to the business world, as it dominated the manufacturing sector the past couple of
decades. There are various advantages and disadvantages. Advantages include lower costs, better
quality, and downsizing to focus on the ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Besides, the facilities maintenance for TIS would be less expensive because it could more
effectively manage floor space, heating and air conditioning, and power consumption, and its
facility was located in a less expensive city. Lastly, TIS had less disaster recovery and corporate
overhead costs because it had more efficient management and economies of scale.
Outsourcing would allow the OSI to focus only on its core business and would be more cost
effective for it to reduce capital infrastructure costs. Also improving employee satisfaction with
higher value addition jobs and making the best use of competitive resources available worldwide.
Using an outsourced company (TIS) would give it the same standard hardware and software
platform. And should be high speed and have a lower cost of Telecommunications.
Additional, here are a series of themes that explain most of the pressures for OSI to outsource. First
of all, managers' concerns about cost and quality drive outsourcing. The same issues such as getting
existing services for a reduced price at acceptable quality standard came up repeatedly. Second,
failure to meet service standards can force management to find other ways of achieving reliability.
Finding a company in which cumulative IT management neglect eventually culminated in an out–
of–control situation from which the current IT
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Analysis Of Staples Inc.'s E-Business Strategy
IT00267 E–BUSINESS STRATEGY ASSIGNMENT 2 INTRODUCTION As mentioned in the
mini assignment, this paper will focus on analyzing and understanding Staples Inc.'s e–business
strategy. Staples Inc. is a large office product chain company operating 1780 stores worldwide,
serving individual customers and businesses. Their product line includes office supplies, furniture,
business services and technology (Staples Corporate Responsibility Report, 2005). This company
has thrived through the years to maintain high product and service standards and also managed to
create a huge online presence by crossing the $10billion in online sales threshold (Dragan, January
2013). WWite e–business Framework tackles the analytical information management and
governance structure of e–business information. It gives businesses the capabilities to acknowledge
their online situation, perceive their future e–business strategy and then combine that strategy with
specific IT governance and information management principles (Llyod, September 2011). ... Show
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Secondly, this report will discuss the technical, logistical and organizational competencies of the
company and compare them against current economic and technology trends. Finally, the report will
provide a proposed e–business

The Business Level Strategy Of Staples
Staples, the world's number one office supply chain, and Office Depot, the world's number two
office supply chain, compete with one another in the big–box retail industry. The companies'
"Strategic Group" is office supply retailers. Individual consumers and small to medium sized
businesses are the target customer segments of Staples and Office Depot. The two companies offer
printing and copying services, computer hardware and software, school supplies, and general office
supplies. The business–level strategy of Staples is one of differentiation. Staples will target mid–
market business customers which the company defines as those business customers with 10 to 200
employees. It will do this by offering a deep assortment of products ... Show more content on
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This program saw 400 stores close and lead to over $100 million in benefits. The company will also
close over 300 stores in the next few years, further helping to alleviate unnecessary costs. Since both
Office Depot and Staples offer mainly the same types of products, the companies must be able to
differentiate themselves from one another.
When it comes to the impact of the Five Forces of Competition and its effect on the performance of
Staples and Office Depot, there does not appear to be a strong threat of new entrants in the big–box
retail office supply segment of the industry. It seems unlikely that anyone will want to open a new
office supply store. While there is a level of service differentiation between the two companies,
there is little product differentiation between the two. Likewise, there would be little product
differentiation from a new competitor. The threat of substitutes comes into play between Staples and
Office Depot in that both companies offer basically the same products. If the customer can't get what
he wants at one store, he can go to the other. Likewise, if the customer becomes disenfranchised
with one company for whatever reason, he can easily go to the other company. There doesn't seem to
be much bargaining power of customers or suppliers. There does seems to be a strong industry
rivalry which, as with most industries, is the major determinant of the competitiveness of the
industry. The most threatening competition for

The Current Procurement Situation Within Ucla Housing And...
The first few weeks of our project were spent assessing the current procurement situation within
UCLA Housing & Hospitality Services. We worked very closely with our stakeholder to gain an
understanding of how products are purchased, and quickly decided that our project would focus on
office supplies because they are frequently purchased and widely used, and because there are not
strict regulations regarding what kinds of products can be purchased/used (as there are for chemical
cleaning supplies, for example).
Additionally, we performed background research and analyzed the current University of California
Sustainability Practices Policy as well as past UCLA Housing purchasing data. Our findings were
surprising. We found that the current ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Taking all of this into consideration, we came up with the initial project idea of creating our own set
of comprehensive procurement guidelines. These would be quantified, clear, and concise. However,
we soon found that this project would be logistically difficult to complete and implement, given our
resources and timeline. We also realized that the current guidelines are already available to UCLA
staff, who, as the survey data indicated, are largely unaware of them. For this reason, simply
updating the existing guidelines would have likely had little effect in changing purchasing behavior.
The need for an educational component quickly became apparent – indeed, nearly 50% of survey
participants identified a lack of awareness/knowledge of sustainable products as the biggest obstacle
to the sustainable procurement of office supplies at UCLA.
We delved deeper into the current procurement system, learning that the UC System is contracted
with OfficeMax and that it uses an interface known as BruinBuy to make purchases. We thus
decided to use the OfficeMax Green Office catalog (available to the public online) to compile a
product recommendation list. We also made general plans to incorporate this list into an education
program set to take place during Spring

Threat Of Substitutes For Fice Supply Industry
Threat of Substitutes
A substitute is defined as a product or service that a consumer sees as the same or similar to another
product. For example, when the price of coffee goes up, people start leaning more towards cheaper
substitutes of coffee, such as tea or hot chocolate. In the office supply industry, the threat of
substitutes is very high because the threat does not only come from substitute products but it also
comes from the threat of online retailers and the general merchandisers, such as Wal–Mart, Target,
and Costco. These types of sellers are substitutes due to the fact that they are not in the office supply
industry, yet they offer office supplies at a cheaper price.
Now days, consumers rely more on digital communication ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net
...
This segment also exhibits some volatility, with sales increasing significantly during back–to–school
shopping events.
Office machines represent the second largest product segment, accounting for an estimated 28.5% of
industry revenue. Equipment includes shredders, calculators, label makers, cash registers, time
clocks and binding equipment. Although this segment represents a large portion of revenue, it has
declined during the past five years. Many of the products in this segment have been deemed
obsolete by technological change, a primary reason as to why retailers are reducing retail space in
their stores.
The technology segment, which includes computers, computer peripherals, software and other
electronic equipment such as tablets, e–readers and networking equipment, represents an estimated
12.9% of industry revenue. Competition in this segment is intense however, with office supply
stores competing against specialty retailers of computer equipment, as well as online retailers and
discount department stores. As a result, this segment has declined over the past five years.
Services include traditional copy and print services, as well as technology services (such as tech
support and cloud software) and other services (such as textbook rental and recycling). Demand for
this segment has grown during the past five years, a positive in an industry that has seen

Office Supplies Inc Case Brief
1. The legal issues the court will determine is, whether or not Sheldon Cooper was wrongfully
dismissed because Office Supplies Inc failed to provide reasonable notice and what kind of damages
does Office Supplies Inc owe. b) Failure to provide reasonable notice, is grounds for wrongful
dismissal. Therefore, the court has to consider certain criteria, established in Bardal v. Globe & Mail
Ltd., [1960] O.W.N. 253 (H.C.J.), to decide whether or not Cooper received enough termination
notice. A relevant factor is Cooper's age; 48 years old. Generally, employees are supposed to receive
a greater termination notice the closer they are to 50 years old. Cooper's position within the
company is also a relevant factor in wrongfully dismissal, and for

Staples And Office Depot Inc.
Staples and Office Depot Inc. are both office supply chains. Today both companies are doing great
considering where they came from and their competitive market. It is safe to say Staples has more
than 2000 stores while Office Depot has above 1600 stores throughout the world. According to the
case they were both originated in 1986 and while being founded early on over the next decade they
and additional office supply chains have contended belligerently in order to provide a suitable,
unfailing and inexpensive supply of office materials to smaller industries or businesses along with
other persons who have home offices. Staples and Office Depot have been extremely victorious in
the field of office supplies. They have kicked out hundreds and thousands of individual privately
owned businesses out of selling and abolished even few competitors in the office supply market by
getting hold of their business or economic failure of their business. By 1996 they had only one
existing contestant which even till today I remember and that is OfficeMax. Office Depot has been
very insistent, in addition, Staples and OfficeMax are to participate more assertively as well. The
office supply prices for staples are the cheapest in the cities that all three of the nationwide office
supply chains staples, office depot, and office max compete. Prices reach higher in the markets that
only the additional competitor is OfficeMax. Office Depot incriminates drastically with increased
prices that comes

Staples Strategic Audit
Strategic Audit Staples, Inc. Hudson Chodos Andrew Nelson David Pearson Management 3800:
Public Policy Professor Bowen 11/3/11 I. Current Situation Looking at Staples current performance
in the past year, we will look at three things: return on investments, market share, and profitability. *
Return on Investments: 9.95% * Market Share: 90% of market cap when comparing Staples, Office
Depot (5.72%), Office Max (3.89%) * Profitability – $24.5 Billion in sales; $6.7 Billion in Gross
Profit Mission Staples, Inc. is the world's leading office supplies company. The firm is committed to
making it easy for customers to buy a wide range of office products and services. "[Staples'] mission
is to bring easy to ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Staples contributes to numerous charitable foundations. Staples is a proud member of Boys and
Girls Clubs of America as well as other foundations to provide educational opportunities for all. II.
Corporate Governance A. Board of Directors Staples' Board of Directors is made up of one internal
employee, Staples' current CEO Ronald Sargent, with the remaining members being external and
independent directors. The board consists of the following members as seen in the chart below under
Appendix A. The Board of Directors are in charge of determining the corporation's leadership
structure on an annual basis and determine if the board will be led by an independent Chairperson or
an independent Lead Director. The board has decided that Ronald Sargent, the CEO of Staples, will
remain and the Chairman of the board. The Board of Directors is broken down into five committees
made up of around three or four board members. Each committee has there own responsibilities and
are in charge of making critical decisions that they must assure is communicated properly
throughout the entire company. This leadership structure assures that the Board of Directors has a
proper balance of leadership roles that allows for a system that prevents any conflict of interests that
may come from having the CEO serving on the board. With the current blend of management
oversight and independence on the board, the

Staples Stocks Executive Summary
The main impact that is driving down Staples' stocks is its struggle to keep up the foot traffic in its
stores. Staples used to be the go–to and popular choice to get your school supplies for the new year.
However, that is changing in the recent years with its struggle to compete with its competitors like
Walmart; who has very low prices and sells just about everything else in its store making it the one–
stop shop that parents love. The Back–to–School season is the main season for Staples to earn the
most revenue. In Staples' Third Quarter of 2015 Earning Release, they said their sales were down
6% compared to the third quarter of 2014, which transcribes as 5.6 billion dollars down in sales.
Since this has been a steady trend in the last few years. Staples have announced in its 2014 Annual
Report, they "...plan to close at least 225 retail store in North America by the end of the fiscal year
or 2015" as part of their restructuring plan. This plan is suppose to help offset the ... Show more
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Although in 2014, TheStreet.com reported that Staples was the ranked the second online retailer
next to Amazon. Staples is under pressure from Walmart whose "... online sales rose by 30% in 2013
to $10 billion" (Jennings), which is a substantial increase, considering the 45% of Staples' revenue
comes from online sales. Walmart is catching up in online sales with Staples. However, Staples does
have good incentives to shop online with them because you are able to your rewards card to earn
rewards coupons and they offer free shipping or pickup in store as soon as a hour. Amazon, on the
other hand, is so far out of reach for any other online retailer to catch up, that it just dominates. In
conclusion, even though there's good benefits for shopping on Staples.com, it's missing that certain
sparkle that Walmart.com was able to find from that one year

Staples Research Thesis Statement
Restatement of research question and hypothesis. This paper researched the possibility of Staples
returning back to being an industry leader after changes are made. The research question presented
was to determine if Staples could successfully revise its strategy to increase its profitability and
profit growth. It is hypothesized that if Staples is able to incorporate combining methods of revising
strategies, increasing demand for office supplies, and embracing technology, then it will position
them to be profitable once again. The literature review revealed several weaknesses within Staples,
indicating that it is in a vulnerable position with all of the surrounding threats in its industry. Thesis
statement. The analysis of the research question and literature review proved to be significant in the
development of the following thesis statement. While Staples may have declined in success for
many years, it is apparent that its weaknesses are due to the ultimate demise in not having resilient
strategic plans in place, as a result has opened it up to significant threats and is drastically driving
sales and profits down. Therefore, without any major improvements to prevent such threats, Staples
will not be able to achieve a competitive advantage over its competitors.
Summary of major points of research. The qualitative research of the literature review revealed how
badly Staples is in need of completely restructuring its organization. Its marketing methods,
technological

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and Office Supplies
1.. A company earned $3,960 in net income for October. Its net sales for October were $22,000. Its
profit margin is: 1.8%. 18%. 180%. 556%. $18,040 2. On June 30 of the current calendar year,
Apricot Co. paid $8,200 cash for management services to be performed over a two–year period.
Apricot follows a policy of recording all prepaid expenses to asset accounts at the time of cash
payment. The adjusting entry on December 31 for Apricot would include: A debit to an expense for
$6,150. A debit to a prepaid expense for $6,150. A debit to an expense for $2,050. A debit to a
prepaid expense for $2,050. A credit to a liability for $2,050. 3. Prior to recording adjusting entries,
the ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The truck is estimated to have a useful life of 5 years and a salvage value of $5,600. The company
uses the straight–line method of depreciation. How much depreciation expense will be recorded for
the truck during the first year ended December 31? $4,200. $4,760. $4,950. $8,400. $9,520. 11. A
company 's Office Supplies account shows a beginning balance of $540 and an ending balance of
$460. If office supplies expense for the year is $3,280, what amount of office supplies was
purchased during the period? $2,820. $3,200. $3,360. $3,740. $3,820. 12. A company recorded 2
days of accrued salaries of $2,100 for its employees on January 31. On February 9, it paid its
employees $8,400 for these accrued salaries and for other salaries earned through February 9. The
January 31 and February 9 journal entries are: 1/31 Salaries Expense 2,100 Salaries Payable 2,100
2/9 Salaries Payable 8,400 Salaries Expense 2,100 Cash 10,500 1/31 Salaries Expense 2,100
Salaries Payable 2,100 2/9 Salaries Payable 6,300 Salaries Expense 2,100 Cash 8,400 1/31 Salaries
Expense 2,100 Cash 2,100 2/9 Salaries Expense 8,400 Cash 8,400 1/31 Salaries Expense 2,100
Salaries Payable

Explain The Skills Required By Executive Assistants
01 – Understand the skills required by executive assistants
http://sites.tums.ac.ir/superusers/111/Gallery/20120206084808AssistantSecretarialHandbook.pdf 1.1
Explain how executive assistants support effective management in organisations
Executive assistants are employees of a company who supports the executive, CEO or manager and
has ability to make decisions that affect the company. In addition, the executive assistant will
perform responsibilities involving research, communications, correspondence, and office
management. In some organisations, the executive assistant will attend meetings or conferences in
place of the executive. In addition, executive assistants are normally assigned to higher–profile
officers, such as presidents, vice ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
A management style is an overall method of leadership used by a manager. There are two main
management styles: Autocratic (leader makes all decisions unilaterally) and Permissive (leader
permits subordinates to take part in decision making and also gives them a considerable degree of
autonomy in completing routine work activities). Combining both categories with democratic and
directive styles give four distinct ways to manage:
Directive Democrat: Makes decisions participative; closely supervises subordinates.
Directive Autocrat: Makes decisions unilaterally; closely supervises subordinates.
Permissive Democrat: Makes decisions participative; gives subordinates latitude in carrying out
their work.
Permissive Autocrat: Makes decisions unilaterally; gives subordinates latitude in carrying out their
work. Managers must also adjust their styles according to the situation that they are presented with.
Additionally, there are four quadrants of situational leadership that depend on the amount of support
and guidance needed: telling, delegating, participating and selling. Different styles depend on the
situation and the relationship behaviour and task behaviour. What's more, skills in leadership,
critical thinking and organization are three general attributes that employers look for by an executive
assistant
02 – How executive assistants support organisational

The Sociological Analysis Of Alienation In The Office
"The Office" is a popular comedy show that originated in the UK and ventured into the U.S. It is
popular among mostly millennials but can be cross–generational because of the different cohort
groups that are represented in the show. The run down is that it's a mockumentary about a mediocre
paper company called Dunder Mifflin and the workers that cohabitate within. With Michael Scott
being a kind, lenient yet socially unaware and naive branch manager also having an extremely wide
variety of personalities coexisting in this primary social agent the episodes never fail to entertain.
Exemplifying very simple humor, this show can be argued as mind numbing comedy, however, I
believe there are so many sociological layers that are only evident ... Show more content on
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Whether we can supply it to them, whether they can pay for it" ("The Pilot"). He takes a pause to
scoff and finally says "I'm boring myself just talking about this" ("The Pilot"). Jim is experiencing
alienation due to the dull, unrewarding work that he performs at his job.
Another strong sociological concept I pondered upon while watching any episode was gender
biases. Sociologists have studied differences between gender and have come to the conclusion that
men and women tend to make up majority of the jobs on the opposite side of the job spectrum. For
instance, men typically obtain jobs that express power, and decision–making, such as manager, sales
rep, or a doctor. When women mostly occupy jobs that are emotion–driven and require more
emotional labor, such as social workers, nurses, and receptionists. "The Office" reflects this idea
because Pam Beesley is the receptionist and is the first face you see when walking into the office.
Pam has great emotional labor and she shows it throughout the series by smiling at people even
when she has gone through a divorce as well as when her parents were going through a divorce. In
the episode "Dream Team" Pam leaves the office to start her own paper company (Yay for Pam
transcending gender norms in the work force!) which leaves Kevin to fill in as receptionist. From
the get–go Kevin struggles at the job because he lacks the knowledge and social skills to handle the
people who call into the office. This provides further

Proposed Merger Between Staples And Office Depot
Anticompetitive Effects and Price Effects: Proposed Merger between Staples and Office Depot
(1997) Xueqi Ji 6252074952 Abstract FTC employed structural, documentary, statistical,
econometrics and financial evidence to verify that the proposed merger of Staples and Office Depot
will lead to increase in market concentration, market prices and stock prices, and thus support FTC's
contention that this merger will cause an anticompetitive effect on Office Superstore market. Staples
and Office Depot made a plain and useless contradiction. Finally, the Court announced to agree with
FTC, and granted a preliminary injunction on this merger. This paper mainly focuses on FTC's
evidence and analysis. Keywords: antitrust, horizontal merger, ... Show more content on
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Staples (2006), Orley Ashenfelter, David Ashmore, Johnathon B. Baker, Suzanne Gleason and
Daniel S. Hosken leveraged extensive public record to provide a detailed discussion of the
econometric models used in this merging case and to show how differences between the models led
to the discrepancy between these estimates. FTC claimed that based on various analysis and
evidence, proposed merger between Staples and Office Depot will harm competition in office
superstore chain market and raise market price which will lessen customers' welfare. Nevertheless,
two parties of merger casted doubt on every detailed statement, and interpreted that this merger will
reduce costs, broaden scale of economies, improve economic efficiency, and optimize resource
allocation, and then lower market price efficiently. Finally, the Court chose to agree with FTC's
contention. II.Background In 1996, there were three largest and absolutely dominant office
superstores (OSS) chains in United States office supply market, Staples, Office Depot and
OfficeMax. Office superstores can get access to much more convenient and cheaper supply of goods
than small retailers through signing a mass of contracts with suppliers. They are mostly located in
downtown business districts, and own considerable floor areas, a wide variety of product types and
sizable supply size. Therefore, they can provide consumers with great user experience and
convenience by

Staples Competition In The Office Supplies Retail Industry
Staples has been able to create a largely successful chain of office supplies stores globally. The main
problem for Staples now is to maintain the lead that they have over their competitors. The rivalry
that exists in the office supplies industry has increased since Staples first opened, and while they
have managed to maintain their lead thus far, they will have to make some changes in order to
remain the office supplies retailing leader.
Porter's 5 Forces
Rivalry among established firms in industry There are 2 main competitors that Staples has in the
office supplies store industry: Office Depot & Office Max. This force has a moderate impact due to
several factors. The first main factor is that this industry is consolidated, which lowers ... Show more
One complement provider would be water delivery services, such as Crystal Springs & Ozarka.
Staples sells water bottle towers for offices, and a company that specializes in water delivery would
be a necessity when owning one. Another complement provider would be a framing service. Offices
often have employees that display their credentials, such as a diploma, and a framing service would
be complementary to other office needs. Magazine/newspaper subscription companies could also be
considered complement providers to office supplies. Physical magazines and newspapers are
provided in many offices for customers to browse, and even though physical copies are not as
desired these days, online subscriptions can be helpful in workplaces such as financial planning
offices that need to keep updated on the latest happenings in their line of work. All of these
complements make this force low, because they do not add a significant value to Staples. While they
are complementary, if they were to suddenly go away, Staples would not suffer a material

The Person I Picked For My Assignment
The person I picked for my assignment was a women I work with, Jenny. She must accomplish
many duties throughout the day. Jenny is in charge of making sure everything runs smoothly at the
University Relations office at Hofstra Hall. She has a student aid secretary to help her with phone
calls and small tasks. Jenny takes most of the calls herself and sets appointments or meetings for
everyone in the office. She is also in charge of ordering all office supplies, cross checking names
and addresses for all mailing lists, and she helps plan many events on campus. To accomplish all of
these goals, Jenny is constantly working. She is always delegating work to her student–aid
secretaries, answering phones to set appointments or help people. ... Show more content on
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This is the main building that the original campus was build around. The University Relations office
is located on the second floor and you take a small set of stairs to reach the first door on the right.
Once inside there is a room with two desks. Jenny sits at a large L shaped desk in the left hand
corner. There is a table against the opposite wall were incoming mail for the department head is
placed here, as well as a lamp and some candy in a large bowl. On the right hand side, there is
another desk on the far wall, this is where student aids work. Opposite this desk is two chairs for
people to sit on and a small table with newspapers from the past three days organized on top. In
between the two desks in a door into the office of the department head. To the right of the seating
area is a hallway that spans the rest of the office. There are four rooms each containing one to three
people. At the end of the hallway there is a small room with a sink, a coffee maker, a water
dispenser and a miniature fridge. This kitchen–like area also contains the large printer and copier, as
well as filing cabinets full of supplies, documents, and some snacks as well. All of the desks in the
office have little bowls or containers full of small snacks or candy. These are for both workers and
guests to snack on. I got to observe the office setting and Jenny working in it, in a very intimate way.
This is because I am one of the student aides who

Herman Miller Case Study Essay
Case Six: Southwest Airlines
Introduction
Herman Miller has a deep–rooted history as a quality manufacturer of office furniture. The company
has been recognized on Fortune's "Most Admired Companies," and "100 Best Companies to Word
For" lists, as well as Fast Company's "Most Innovative Companies" list (Shipper, Manz, Adams, &
Manz, 2011). Due to the company's innate ability to reinvent itself, Herman Miller has been able to
stay relevant through the years despite the great depression and several recessions over the years
(Shipper et al., 2011). With the right planning Herman Miller will continue its tradition of
innovation well into the future.
Company Information In 1909, Dirk De Pree was hired as a clerk at The Michigan Star ... Show
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Some are part of the museum's permanent collection (Shipper et al., 2011). Even before other
companies recognized the importance of being green, sustainability and environmental stewardship
were part of the Herman Miller culture (Shipper et al., 2011). Herman Miller became a founding
partner of the U.S. Green Building Council and the Tropical Forest Foundation (Shipper et al.,
2011). The company discontinued the use of endangered wood and chose to use wood from
sustainable sources instead (Shipper et al., 2011). Some of Herman Miller's products were
recognized for use in buildings attaining a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)
certification (Shipper et al., 2011). Environmental stewardship is just a small part of the values that
are important to the Herman Miller culture. (See Exhibit 1.) Each member of the Herman Miller
organization recognizes these core values and are held to these standards – from plant worker to
board member (Shipper et al., 2011). Herman Miller saw tough times in the early 21st century. Sales
fell flat as the dot–com bubble burst (Shipper et al., 2011). Shortly thereafter, the events of
September 11th, 2001 caused sales to continue to decrease (Shipper et al., 2011). The difficult
decision to abandon the company's long–standing no–layoff policy was made to keep the company
alive. The workforce was cut by 38% and a plant was closed in Georgia (Shipper et al., 2011). CEO
Mike Volkema and President Brian Walker

Landscaping Essay
Commercial Interior and Exterior landscaping segments will be very different. One is going to have
lots of outdoor space for our product placement and others will need limited internal space for a
light presentation. In an attempt to find the number of office buildings; with waiting rooms or with
receptionists or simply the total amount of office building in Los Angeles, it seemed that the
information was not categorized in any reasonable fashion to get a numerical answer from a search
of: How many office buildings are in LA? Therefore, several searches for specific types of office
spaces in use doing business became the key to finding a numerical number of offices with some
sort of waiting room that could be a target market for ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Commercial properties might spend larger sums of money on landscaping maintenance that is
divided by the property owner and distributed amongst the tenants. Carnations need to be watered
once or twice a week, while Lillis need to be watered twice a week. Drought resistant landscapes
such as So Many Succulents intents to install for its customers will not use anywhere near the
amount of water a standard lawn consumes. Caring for sand art terrariums, succulents and cacti only
dribble water carefully around plant at bottom to not disturb outer part of container sand designs and
to avoid getting water on leaves or plant. A small cup measuring device, eye dropper or a small
syringe is best for controlled watering one time every two weeks or less. Place in windowsill or any
brightest location available, the more light it gets the longer it will live. However, it is not
recommended to put succulents in glass out in direct sunshine for very long as they can sunburn due
to the glass element. Use common sense and caution in any case. Less water is better, especially for
fall ~ winter. Water lightly only after it gets dry once every three to four weeks, depending on
conditions and never overwater. Watch the terrarium closely until its drying pattern. "Too much
watering can is worse for the plants than too little water at the base of the plant and not the leaves
because they can

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
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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

Halliburton Argumentative Essay
Some high–profile takeover targets share price for the steep discount, they signed the agreement
price, showing cracks that may be lurking in the current trading boom. Such as Take Office Depot
Inc. The company's stock trades 29% below the price Staples Inc. agreed in February to pay for its
smaller rival. I believe the growing number of investors worried about antitrust regulators will block
an agreement, combined with the country's two largest office supplies chain. Cigna Corp.'s stock is
22% below the value of Anthem Inc.'s $48 billion offer, while oil–field–services provider Baker
Hughes Inc. trades 17% cheaper than the price of its pending $35 billion sale to Halliburton Co.
These gaps show investors that trading has helped to promote ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
The Federal Trade Commission has delayed its ruling on Staples–Office Depot as it seeks sworn
testimony from others in that market.
There may be more than just antitrust concerns at play. Arbs lately have had a lot of deals to choose
from, with roughly $4 trillion struck world–wide this year, according to dialogic. There has been a
particular surfeit of takeovers valued at more than $10 billion. That has caused the investors to stay
away from some deals, widening their discounts. The upshot is that investors are taking the view
that certain trades aren't worth the risk.
And some funds are shedding riskier investments like deal bets amid broader market turmoil. "It's
ironic. This is the best arbitrage environment that's existed in years, with so many big deals to
choose from," said Ira Gorsky, an analyst at research firm Elevation LLC. It is possible most or all
of the deals in question will close on their original terms and if so, arbitragers who brave the current
trend and pick the right ones stand to profit handsomely. If, however, too many of them come
undone, it could cause executives contemplating deals to reconsider and threaten the red–hot M&A

Staples Is The Number One Office Supplies Superstore Essay
Company Overview
Staples is the number one office supplies superstore. Tom Stemberg, Staples' founder broke his
typewriter one day and went out to buy a new one but, couldn 't find any. His struggle had struck an
idea in his head, to create a superstore that sells office supplies. This idea became Staples, a retail
store that sells all the needs for an office. Staples serves as a marketing intermediary, selling
products from technology and furniture for the office to supplies like plain old notebooks and
pencils. These products can also be bought online from their website. Not only this staples also
provides copying and printing services. They are part of a monopolistic competition and their top
three competitors are Office Depot,Inc., Essendant Inc., and Amazon.com,Inc. These companies also
sell many of the same products as Staples which is why Staples considers them as competition. They
have tried to buy Office Depot, however, were not able to. Their profits are also declining due to the
recent shutdowns of 14 stores in North America. In the future, they are planning to shut down 50
more stores in the North American region due to their sales constantly slipping. Staples is trying to
convince the government to let them buy office depot however the government isn't too sure if they
should let them which increases Staples' spending and decreasing their sales. These 50 stores are
also slowing their already declining sales which are the main reason why they are closing them

Staples Market Structure
Staples Market Structure
ECO/365
August 1, 2012
Moises Rodriguez
Abstract "Market structure refers to the physical characteristics of the market within which firms
interact." Currently the office supply market is saturated and the competition is tight. The leading
contenders for this type of market are Staples and Office Depot, but there are many choices
available to consumers looking to get the most value for office supplies. It is ironic that both Staples
and Office Depot opened for business in 1986. These companies fall under a monopolistic
competition structure. Staples and Office Depot maintain a high marketing presence and are
recognized in the office supply industry. But because of the fierceness of the ... Show more content
on Helpwriting.net ...
This company has worked hard to create a positive image and it will more than likely be around to
meet the needs of Fort Bliss, SBA and GSA business contracts.
Market Structure Choice
Staples, Office Depot, Office Max, Reliable, Medical Arts Press, Quill, and Pencil Cup are all office
supply vendors and the difference between all these vendors are minuscule. Staples and Office
Depot each manufacture their own private label. Each vendor then provides the customer with a
substitute to purchase against a name brand item. For example, sticky notes are a popular office item
and for the longest time the market was held by Post It Notes. The times are changing and many
items are being cloned by these big vendors and the pricing comparison against the name brand
result in cost savings with the use of the private label items. Both Staples and Office Depot are in an
elastic relationship with their customers. With the availability of substitutes and price savings,
ultimately the factor separating Staples and Office Depot is price. These businesses fall under
monopolistic competition and the activity is watched closely by each other.
Competitive Strategies
Staples has the buying power to provide the lowest pricing to its valued customers. Staples meets
with potential clients and works with them to provide cost savings over the current vendor. Usually,
the competition is Office Depot. In preparing an

Marketing Analysis : Staples, Inc.
Positioning
Positioning is where a firm fits in the minds of their target markets. It is also where a firm stands
against their competitors and what sets the firm apart from their competitors. Staples, Inc. is one of
the top competitors in the office supply industry, with competitors such as Office Depot and Wal–
Mart. The company has positioned itself to be a more convenient solution to office supplies
shopping for consumers with the Easy Button. The easy button accentuates the ease of purchasing
for office supplies at Staples at the click of the button. To ensure their consumers received an
experience that was stress free, Staples equipped their employees with the knowledge on products
and services to be helpful towards the consumers and provide a hassle free shopping experience.
Staples have also positioned the company to be the office supply retailer for the corporate industry
and to do so Staples removed unneeded products such as cartoon character backpacks. Staples
provide their consumers everyday office supply products such as ink and toner, packing and
shipping supplies, and coffee and snacks. The technology Staples offer is laptops and computers,
printers and scanners, computer software, and so on. Staples also offer to their consumers design
services, tech support services, textbook rentals, and shipping services.
Consumer Attitudes
According to the Better Business Bureau, Staples has one positive review, 3 neutral reviews, and
112 negative reviews. The positive

Summary Of Response To Orientation By Daniel Orozco
Response to Orientation by Daniel Orozco In Daniel Orozco's Orientation, a nameless character is
shown the ropes of the inner office workings as a new employee. The conflict is the surprising
contrast between what appears to be normal, monotonous office procedures with the disturbing
insights into the personal lives of the employees that work there; professionalism versus
unprofessionalism. This conflict affects everyone in the story by the sheer discomfort of everyone
knowing everyone else's businesses, while maintaining the facade of not knowing or "you may be
let go" (Orozco). The main characters in the story are the narrator and the new employee being
oriented. The narrator speaks in first person, "That's my cubicle there" (Orozco), yet the reader is the
new employee the narrator is speaking to, "...and this is your cubicle. This is your phone" (Orozco).
Thereby, the narrator moves the reader through the office in first person and the reader sees the story
through the employee's eyes in second person. Both are static characters, showing no change or
growth in the story. The narrator or the character giving the orientation is disconcertingly
professional as he moves through the office describing protocols and disquieting, personal
information on each employee. The theme of the Orozco's Orientation is there is a story behind
every person in the work place, yet it is no place to draw attention to one's self or allow personal
tragedies, choices, or emotions to interfere with the work life. Delving into Daniel Orozco's
background, one can discover some aspects of his life that may have influenced his writing. Orozco
grew up in the San Francisco (Kevin). Used to city life on the coast, it is not surprising Orientation
takes place in an office building with a view of "A segment of the bay" (Orozco). In addition,
Orozco was an office assistant for about ten years, in an office complex near the Bay, until he
decided on a career change (Kevin). He was thirty–years–old when he decided to return to school to
work on his Master's Degree (Kevin). His background of working in an office would have given him
the knowledge of office protocols and the dynamics of office protocol and relations. Not to mention,

Outsourcing at Office Supply
OFFICE SUPPLY, INC
OUTSOURCING IT INFRASTRUCTURE TO MAXIMIZE BUSINESS VALUE
S544 – 12235 – DECEMBER 7, 2009
Aditi Parekh | Brian Honaker | Johann Fischer | Matt Blair
Recommendations for Outsourcing at OSI
2
Business Strategy Costs/Benefits Implementation Change Management Risks
Decrease infrastructure costs by utilizing a more specialized, third–party staff. Experience cost–
savings during the 2nd year, but face increased expenditures during 1st year. Maintain availability
and performance through SLAs with the vendor. Ensure a smooth transition through a formalized
change–management program. Mitigate risks by documenting procedures and improving employee
awareness.
Strategy
Costs/Benefits
Implementation ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Operating Procedures Communications Plan Metrics and Reporting Quality Assurance
Risks
Outsourcing at OSI – Team 4
A state–of–the–art IT infrastructure has five steps
10
 
Solution: IT infrastructure outsourcing Step 1 – Identify
 Overview
of given service levels  Analyze actual IT–architecture


Step 2 – Define
 Definition
of the processes  Evaluate required data management and technology

Step 3 – Implement
 Transferring
given IT and purchase new IT  Restructuring of IT infrastructure
Strategy Costs/Benefits Implementation Change Mgmt Risks
(cont'd) A state–of–the–art IT infrastructure has five steps
11
 
Solution: IT infrastructure outsourcing Step 4 – Review
 Testing
of implementation  Improve performance  Cut–over to new IT–infrastructure

Step 5 – Maintain
 Ensure
provided SLA levels  Continuous improvement initiatives
Strategy
Costs/Benefits
Implementation
Change Mgmt
Risks
The transition to new systems will take one year
12
Q1 2010 Q2 2010 Q3 2010

Q4 2010
Q1 2011
Identify processes & architecture Definition of processes Transferring IT Restructuring IT

Office Supply
Page 1 of 4 Case #8: Outsourcing at Office Supply Inc. Through the initial integration of
information technology into its core business, Office Supply Incorporated (OSI) attained a large cost
advantage over its competitors and reaped rewards in both profits and stock prices. Unfortunately, as
Nicholas Carr outlines, IT is becoming more of a commodity for companies and less of a source for
strategic differentiation. Moreover, lack of IT expertise within OSI has begun to inhibit the growth
of business operations and rising IT costs are shrinking profits. Jim Anfield's proposition for OSI to
outsource its IT infrastructure to Technology Infrastructure Solutions (TIS) provides the opportunity
to not only match the pace of business growth, ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
In line with Carr's second point, OSI was beginning to have trouble both managing and maintaining
their IT infrastructure as increased server loads threatened "round–the–clock reliability". This
created a large risk to the business, as losing just one server for a few hours could mean the loss of
millions of dollars in revenue and the alienation of loyal Page 2 of 4 customers that rely on the
consistent availability of OSI's products. Therefore, the successful outsourcing of OSI's IT
infrastructure would not pose a threat to the fundamental business strategy and could even help
reduce risks in their highly competitive market. In analyzing the factors that could make outsourcing
IT infrastructure to TIS valuable to OSI, it's useful to consider Carr's three main "Rules for IT
Management." The first of these rules says to "spend less," as more is not necessarily better when it
comes to a commodity input such as IT. In outsourcing, TIS will provide cost savings to OSI in a
few main ways. First, there would be a lower capital investment in hardware for OSI, as these costs
could be diverted into operating expenses paid on a monthly basis to TIS. Moreover, these operating
expenses could be based around a "per–transaction" model so that their costs could more closely
follow fluctuations in the market. This means that if one month OSI saw a reduction in online sales
and thus a corresponding reduction in server usage, OSI's costs could scale with

Case Study on Dakot Office Supply
A Case Study on Dakota Office Supply
Case: Dakota Office Products
1. Background Information
Dakota Office Products (DOP) is a regional office supply company with a strong reputation for
customer service and quality supplies. Additionally, DOP is unafraid to adopt new services such as
its desk top deliver option which delivers smaller orders directly to individual sites as well as its
traditional commercial freight delivery. DOP has also introduced and Electronic Data Interchange
(EDI) in order to ease data and payment transfer from and to customers as well as building a
customer website that acts as an order and account interface for its customers.
2.1 People/Key Players
John Malone General Manager
Melissa ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
2. Problem Statement
The existing traditional costing system is inadequate for Dakota Office Products because it is
incapable of accounting for all of the known costs associated with its products and services.
3. Problem Causal Analysis
Since Dakota uses a traditional method of cost accounting they cannot identify areas of weakness or
inefficiency in their pricing and how those inefficiencies translate to lower bottom line profits.
4. Management Theory, Process, or Approach
In implementing an activity–based costing program, Dakota will need to take steps to move away
from their current cost accounting method. Ideally, a team of cost accountants and managers would
work together to define and implement an ABC program (Latshaw & Cortese–Danile, 2002).
This would entail an analysis of all activities, cost gathering, associating cost with activities, base–
lining outputs, and cost analysis to determine the true cost for each activity identified.
5. Recommendation
My first recommendation would be to move as many customers as possible over to the internet
based ordering and billing system. Approximately 9,500 labor hours can be removed from the
current ordering process. Additionally, the cost drivers of processing manual orders and the manual
entry of item would be

Staples Case Study
Staples – 2011 Forest David A. Case Abstract Staples is a comprehensive strategic management case
that includes the company's year–end 2010 financial statements, organizational chart, competitor
information and more. The case time setting is the year 2011. Sufficient internal and external data
are provided to enable students to evaluate current strategies and recommend a three–year strategic
plan for the company. Headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts, Staples's common stock is
publicly traded under the ticker symbol SPLS. Staples is the #1 office supply superstore operator in
the US. selling office products, furniture, computers, and other supplies through its chain of some
2,280 Staples and Staples ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
7. Unemployment rate continues to be just below 10%. 8. Consumer spending has been flat over the
last 2 years. 9. National customer satisfaction has been flat over last 2 years. 10. Office Depot and
Office Max are large global competitors. Competitive Profile Matrix [pic] EFE Matrix [pic] [pic] E.
Internal Audit Strengths 1. Staples has an excellent pricing system. 2. Efficient e–commerce system.
3. Integrated supply chain. 4. Uniform adoption of new financial performance indicators which
helps identify trends on a more reliable basis and does not give false impressions. 5. Staples brands
account for 22% of sales with 10–15% saving to customers. 6. Overall sales growth of 5.2%. 7.
Currently operates in 24 different countries. Weaknesses 1. Have many stores close together
possibly cannibalizing profits. 2. Over reliance of North American retail market. 3. Low sales per
employee ratio compared to the industry average. 4. Non–participation of employees in the decision
making process.(top–down management) 5. Own–branded goods will eventually cause problems
between Staples and third–party suppliers. 6. Inability to repay long–term debt. 7. High rates of
employee turnover in international stores. 8. Debt of $2.54

Court Street Office Supplies Case Summary
Introduction
Mr. Joel Brach is a key employee and serves an integral role at Court Street Office Supplies, Inc. He
was instrumental in developing and transitioning the company to adapt into what it has become: an
e–commerce hub. However, while Mr. Brach served as an executive at Court Street Office Supplies
and was expected to receive stock compensation in the company, he was forced to be suspended on
June 28, 2016 due to erratic behavior, the breach of his fiduciary duties, and suspected
embezzlement.
Chronology of Events
On ???, Mr. Jacob Guttman and Mr. Lazar Abramowitz acquired Court Street Office Supplies, a
retail stationary store with an address at 13 Court Street, for approximately $???. The duo made a
dynamic partnership with Mr. Guttman, composed and collected in nature, serving as the Chief
Executive Officer and in charge of strategic planning, while Mr. Abramowitz, being more aggressive
and ambitious, serving as the Chief Operating Officer and in charge of the daily operations.
The business prospered and grew into a landmark in Downtown Brooklyn with $??? In annual sales.
The company also expanded it wholesale division to obtain large and sustainable accounts
amounting to ??? in sales. Thus, to sustain the growth of the company, Mr. Guttman and Mr.
Abramowitz decided to hire Mr. Joel Brach in ??? to manage ... Show more content on
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This step was necessary to remain relevant at a time in which brick and mortar was seen to be in
decline in favor of online shopping. Accordingly, the company broadened their outlook to keep up
with current economy trends and started selling their products on Amazon. Joel was designated to
take charge of the e–commerce division, which included a company website and an Amazon store.
He delegated the day–to–day operations to Leo Freund and was tasked with managing and
overseeing Leo's activity, including resolving any complications that may

A New Business Adventure Of Fice Supply Industry
Staples was founded by two gentlemen, Tom Stemberg and Leo Kahn that were ready to start a new
business adventure in the office supply industry. Both men had worked in the retail industry, and
was open to building a company with a design twist of "Toys R Us", which would be a business
model structure into an office chain supply company that would service smaller business owner.
According to Alan (2009) the business idea was created by Tom Stemberg from the concept being
able to supply consumer with office supply at the best price. Due to financial situations Mr.
Stemberg incorporate a business partner by the name of Leo Kahn that could supplied the company
with the started up funds of $500,000,which, is a remarkable investment being that the company due
more than $11.6 billion in sale (Alan, 2009). Staples was created to supply small business with
office products that would be offered at smaller quality merchandised, lowest cost, and this is a new
avenue that no other company have marketed, or expanding upon the industry of being profitable.
There are no other businesses to leverage a business model of to ensure the vision of Mr. Stemberg
would positive to work and be profitable. Also, having the ability to advocate for change in the way
other business was operating, increase the awareness of the benefits of sale of small quality,
branding the company, marketing the opportunity, as well as ensuring the consumer that the new
office supply product would be beneficial for

Bargaining Power Of Suppliers Case Analysis
The industry boundaries have to be properly identified in order for Staples to analyze its competitive
forces that are in the office supply industry environment to pinpoint its opportunities and threats
(Hill, et al., 2015, p. 47). Bargaining power of suppliers. Suppliers have the ability to leverage,
control, and negotiate the cost of their products (Hill et al., 2015, p. 56). In the case of the suppliers
of the office supplies industry, more so for Staples, the bargaining power is weak and is considered
to be low. The reason for its power being weak is a result of large companies having several
suppliers that will easily compete against each other to provide the lowest cost of products. Risk of
entry by potential competitors. The risk ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
58).
Intensity of rivalry among competitive firms. In the past, Staples has been successful in fighting
against its competitors with its low prices and brand loyalty, but recently against Amazon there are
bigger obstacles to overcome. The rivalry with Amazon, Walmart, Target and wholesale clubs is
intense as they have more resources to use against Staples, such as the range of its customers and a
thriving business line. Therefore, seeing that the rivalry is intense, it presents a threat to their
profitability (Hill et al., 2015, p. 51). From this perspective, the competitive rivalry will be
considered as high for Staples.
Macro–environment Forces.
The changes or forces within the macro–environment is able to alter the competitive structure of an
industry (Hill et al., 2015, p. 69). The varying uncertainty of these forces can have definite impacts
on the Staples' competitive structure in forms of opportunities or threats.
Economic forces. According to Hill et al., (2015) "macroeconomic forces affect the general health
and well–being of a nation or the regional economy of an organization, which in turn affect
companies' and industries' ability to earn adequate rate of return" (p. 69). The foreign exchange rates
are important factors in regards to Staples international relationships, currently the U.S dollar is
seemingly weak against

Financial Analysis of Office Depot
Financial Appraisal of Office Depot
Part 1 Background introduction for Office Depot
Office Depot is a supplier of office products and services. The company's selection of brand name
office supplies includes business machines, computers, computer software and office furniture,
while its business services encompass copying, printing, document reproduction, shipping, and
computer setup and repair. An S&P 500 company, Office Depot generates revenues of over US
$14 billion annually and has 42,000 employees worldwide. It is headquartered in Boca Raton,
Florida. Office Depot is one of the biggest office supplies retailers, but its sales revenue decreased
dramatically 26% from 14.5 billion dollars in 2008 to 10.7 billion dollars in 2012. ... Show more
The technical products sales revenues accounted for only 20.9% of all, the ratio were 44.6% and
40% compared with Staples and Office Max respectively. 2. Weak Financial Performance A
significant number of its vendors demand accelerated payments or require cash on delivery, such
demands could have an adverse impact on its operating cash flow and result in severe stress on its
liquidity. A downgrade in its credit ratings or a general disruption in the credit markets could make it
more difficult for it to access funds, refinance indebtedness, obtain new funding or issue securities.
3. Weak Operating Performance Sales per retailing stores was average 6.4 million, the level stayed
behind Office Max and Staples. The gross profit margin averages 30% while the operating profit
margin almost 0%.
Opportunity
1. Expand online services As more consumers transfer their purchasing place from physical stores to
online, OD could enhance the online selling power. 2. Acquisitions Staples's revenue was twice the
OD's revenue, OD could merge with Office Max in order to compete with Staples at the same level.
In addition, after that the alliance could integrate the source effectively and efficiently and cut more
operating cost. 3. Emerging markets and expansion abroad Although the economy of America was
sinking into mud, the emerging markets like the Golden Brick countries have much bigger
purchasing power

Staples Incorporated, By Founder Tom Stemberg
Corporate Overview
Staples Incorporated, began in 1985 by founder Tom Stemberg. Tom Stemberg with experience in
the supermarket chain eventually became an entrepreneur. Tom wanted to make a local supply store/
stationary store to buy a supply Tom needed, many stores didn't offer what he desired. The idea then
came to him that "The world needed a supermarket for office products" (Stemberg 1985). Staples
then became the very first office supply store. The first store was opened May 1, 1986 in Brighton,
MA. In the years to come, competition started to arise, in result Staples came up with their very first
slogan "Yeah, we've got that" this help staples get a lead in the competition with Office Depot, but
the slogan that carried them to the ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The Demographic, is practiced by the occupation and how the business is based on office supplies,
Demographic is the main one on Staples market segmentation, most of the consumers come in
because they are looking for products that must do with office supplies, where it be paper, file
cabinets, binders and most things one can think of. The last and final one is Psychographic, in
marketing this is the most needed and it focuses a lot on Pathos. Pathos is used in Staples by once
again the Eco Easy. The Eco Easy focuses on making the environment greener and by buying
products from staples you are helping the environment. Now this attracts "green people" especially
the business men who want to see a change in the environment they can contribute by buying these
products. "Evaluating market segments is critical to marketing strategy development."
(FrogDog2012.) These market segments I think are very important to companies because it helps
them get the competitive edge and advantage when trying to market the products. This also comes
with the slogan that Staples has, the marketing from "That was Easy" is the bread and butter of the
company.
Product and Service Analysis
The product that Staples provides targets the geographic, demographic, and psychographic by
slogans the advertisement that Staples has. The Eco Easy products has been a big hit for the
company ever since it came in to play. The

Background. As An Office Supply Retailing Company, Staples
Background
As an office supply retailing company, Staples was founded by Leo Kahn and Thomas G. Stemburg
on May 1, 1986 in Brighton, Massachusetts, and the current headquarter is located in Framingham,
Massachusetts. The company is operating over 3000 stores in 26 countries selling office supplies,
promotional products, technology and business services via online or physical stores. Staples had its
Initial Public Offering on April 27, 1989, and 3,250,000 shares were sold at $19.00 per share at that
time. The company became a Fortune 500 company in 1996, and it is ranked as #497 in 2017. Now
Staples' stock is traded on the NASDAQ with the ticker symbol: SPLS. In order to better the
communication with the market, the company releases the ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net
...
Total compensation is $9,863,575 for Sargent in 2015. His compensation consists of $1,249,208
base salary and $8,225,007 stock reward.
As the CEO of Staples, Ronald Sargent believes that a democracy management style can urge the
Executive Committee to act in the best interests of shareholders. In the annual report, we can see
that most senior executives are responsible for collaborating with the Audit Committee to provide
oversight to the risk management. Top management has a very close relationship with subordinate
teams. Senior members of management make up an Enterprise Risk Committee to control the risk of
the company. They have very close collaboration to share information and thoughts for all types of
risks. Independent directors also regularly meet without management present to discuss the
company 's strategy. A diversity management team is very important to Staples. Board of directors is
consisted of the people who has different experience, skills, gender and ethnic backgrounds.
Management & Stockholders
Although stockholders are not directly participated in the management team of the company, it has
adopted a series of methods to keep the company head in the direction to fully represent the interest
of shareholders and maximize their profit. The Staples Board is established and committed to highly

Orozco Orientation Summary
In Daniel Orozco's Orientation, a nameless character is shown the ropes of the inner office workings
as a new employee. The conflict is the surprising contrast between what appears to be normal,
monotonous office procedures with the disturbing insights into the personal lives of the employees
that work there. This conflict affects everyone in the story by the sheer discomfort of knowing
everyone else's businesses, while maintaining the facade of not knowing or "you may be let go"
(Orozco). The main characters in the story are the narrator and the new employee being oriented.
The narrator speaks in first person, "That's my cubicle there" (Orozco), yet the reader is the new
employee the narrator is speaking to, "...and this is your cubicle. This is your phone" (Orozco).
Thereby, the narrator moves the reader through the office in first person and the reader sees the story
through the employee's eyes in second person. Both are static characters, showing no change or
growth within the course of the story. The narrator, the character giving the orientation, is
disconcertingly professional as he moves through the office describing protocols and disquieting,
personal information on each employee. The theme of the Orozco's Orientation is there is a story
behind every person in the workplace, yet it is no place to draw attention to one's self or allow
personal tragedies, choices, or emotions to interfere with the work life. Delving into Daniel Orozco's
background, one can

First Logistics Aviation Supply Office
Chapter I
The Problem/Situation
Introduction/Background
First Logistics Aviation Supply Office was established on October 1, 1941 in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania with 200 civilian employees and 14 officers (NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support,
2013). Their mission is to support navy aviation and weapon systems. Aviation Supply Office's
number of employees has grown to 5, 332 civilians, 507 officers, and 676 enlisted personnel four
years later since they opened on October 1, 1941 (NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support, 2013). On
October 2, 1995 Aviation Supply Office merged with Ships Parts Control Center from
Mechanicsburg and changed their agency's name to Naval Inventory Control Point. According to the
Department of Defense, "the purpose for merging was to bring together all of the Navy's Program
Support Inventory Control Point function under one command. This was also supposed to reduce
cost and infrastructure to standardized inventory management procedures" (NAVSUP Weapon
Systems Support, 2013). On July 1, 2011, Naval Inventory Control Point changed its name again to
Naval Supply Weapon Systems Support. Naval Supply System Command wanted all to be under
One Naval Supply, "Enterprise–wide branding initiative where each Naval Supply activity supports
the 'Global Logistics Support Network' as a node in the network vice as individual entity. No
organization structural changes were made" (NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support, 2013).
Naval Supply Weapon Systems Support, formerly known as

Political And Global Forces Of Staples
Global forces. Global forces that affects Staples ever so often presents itself as high threats, which is
why global expansion of its international business have not gone quite well. In instances where
associating laws or regulations may be involved in the increase of employee minimum wages in the
United Kingdom, the price of fuel increasing in China, war and terrorism issues in the Middle East,
and the growing unemployment rate in Australia, all have a way of affecting either the supply chain,
the sales and revenues, or the increase in the cost of products (Christodoulou, 2010). Demographics
forces. Demographic forces will not have much of an impact in either which direction as the office
supplies industry has over and over again facilitated all age groups, taking into account small and
large businesses, school goers, young children, and tech friendly customers. Staples carries a wide
range of inventory for all, whether it is available in the store or online. Therefore, any changes in the
population's characteristics will not bring about any new fluctuations that it has not brought forth
already.
Political and legal forces. These are both correlated to the changes in laws and regulations that as
well can generate associating threats and opportunities (Hill et al., 2015, p. 72). This has affected
Staples over the years through threats. Government regulations and policies have the greatest
potential to disrupt an organization's plans, especially in cases such as determining

Office Space
The movie Office Space, directed by Mike Judge in 1999, evaluates different organizational
practices in our society. In Office Space, the main character, Peter, works at company called Initech.
Intitech is a software programming company. Peter's job consists of working in a small cubicle
reviewing numbers and reports all day. Office Space goes through the course of Peter's meltdown of
hating his job. Office Space portrays the side of the unsatisfactory view of the working people in an
endeavor to show corrupt and unsuccessful practices that many businesses and organizations use.
We can recognize that there are many components in Office Space that are bizarre and exaggerated.
By showing the daily problems that such organizations can create, ... Show more content on
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In most cases the best thing a manager or employer can do is show recognition or appreciation for
hard work or a job well done. This type of acknowledgement will be a motivation to employees to
achieve and be their best. Motivation is the process of arousing and sustaining goal–directed
behavior. (Nelson pg. 75) The hard part about staying motivated is when you are doing work that is
boring and uninteresting. In the movie, it just seemed as though the Initech employees just came to
work to fill a seat and receive a pay check. A comprehensive approach to understanding motivation,
behavior, and performance must consider three elements of the work situation, the individual, the
job, and the work environment and how these elements interact (Nelson pg. 75). At Initech the
employees are told what do you and not encouraged to do more or to achieve the best. The text
states that, many skills and abilities influence work outcomes. The General Mental Ability (GMA)
measures an individual's intelligence. GMA includes a person's skills and abilities, is the single best
predictor of work performance across many occupations and across different cultures. (Nelson pg.

Staples Inc
I. BACKGROUND Staples Inc. founded in 1985 by Thomas G. Stemberg and Leo Kahn in
Brighton, Massachussets. It is headquartered in Boston and employs 89,000 employees worldwide.
Staples sells office supplies at more than 2,000 stores as well as through its catalog and call centers,
the internet site, and contract sales force. In additional to typical office supplies, stores offer
computer hardware and software, furniture, art and school supplies and printing and copy services (
Staples 10k, 2012). The company has 3 operating division: North American Delivery, North
America Retail and International. The retail stores in Australia, Brazil, China, Denmark, France,
Germany, India, Norway, Portugal, United Kingdom and the United States ... Show more content on
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B. BARRIERS TO ENTRY: POTENTIAL ENTRY OF NEW COMPETITORS Most office supplies
have little brand loyalty, low end–user switching costs, low government regulation, and easy access
to suppliers and distribution channels attracts potential new entrants.Economies of scale provide a
significant advantage over the larger office supply that allow them to compete with high–volume to
lead the market. Company with a strong financial able to gain better profit by negotiate better
contracts with suppliers.Entry can be achieved on a smaller scale by focusing on specific
productrange or by developing an online retail shop. The low growth in this industry also makes it
less attractive to new entrants. Overall, the threat of new entrants is strong (Merketline, 2102)
C. SUBSTITUTES There is a big challenge for those operating primarily with paper–based office
products because many companies move towards a paperless office format to decrease the
operational cost and environmental friendly. Office services such as photocopying, printing and
binding may be substituted by electronic forms of communications. Switching costs are moderate
due to already developed ICT systems by market players. Therefore the threat of substitutes within
this industry is moderate. (Pearson–Jones, 2010; Merketline, 2102)
D. POWER OF SUPPLIERS Numerous suppliers especially from low

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