...Finba1. i. Home Depot’s mission statement is as follows: “The Home Depot is in the home improvement business and our goal is to provide the highest level of service, the broadest selection of products and the most competitive prices. We are a values-driven company and our eight core values include the following: Excellent customer service, Taking care of our people, Giving back, Doing the "right" thing, Creating shareholder value, Respect for all people, Entrepreneurial spirit, Building strong relationships.” (Home Depot, 2014). According to Exhibit 2.1 in chapter two, Top management of a company provide strategic direction after assessing the external and internal environments. Taking a look at the external environment, some of Opportunities available to Home Depot (Circa 2005) were Restructuring, to make operations more sound and profitable, provision of internet shopping facilities to customers, and expanding the market geographically and locally, as well as targeting new market segments. It should be quite important to note that during the Nardelli era, the slogan Home Depot used was “Improve everything we touch”. Threats included declining home sales and market share, a looming credit crunch, a dip in the level of customer service and product knowledge hitherto offered due to poorly trained staff, and a saturation of the markets in North America. Increasing levels of Environmental Uncertainty as more layers of management are added to achieve a more vertical structure...
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...Analysis of Purchase of Rival Company Analysis of Purchase of Rival Company 08 Fall 08 Fall I. “Good Business” Analysis of Rival Criterion | Rival | Market position | Major competitor | Market growth | Around 1% | Market share | Holding share | Business cycle risk | Average cyclical risk | Flow cash flow generation | Positive cash flow in most years | Return on capital | ROCE above 15% | Market Stability | Stable | * Market position: Three firms (Hamilton Beach/Proctor Silex, Black & Decker/Windmere, and Sunbeam) dominated the kitchen market, capturing approximately 60% market shares. So Rivals is just a one of major competitors in this market. * Market growth: The kitchen product sector totaled $2.3 billion in sales in 1997 and was expected to grow 1% annually. * Market share: Rival didn’t perform well in the recent years is related to the depreciation of Asian currencies following the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997. So after this crisis, their performance would recover and hold the market share. * Business cycle: Sales of Rivals were dominated by The Crock Pot, the best-selling slow cooker in the U.S, which accounted for 24% of the company’s revenue and 47% of its EBIT. Slow cooker and its other products are influenced by the income of its customers. In addition, Rival outsourcing only 30% of its production in Asia, while competitors used Asian manufacturing for a greater share of their production. So as...
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...Should We Cry For Argentina Question 1: Argentina’s peso was linked to the U.S. dollar through a currency board for 10 year before it was cut loose. Why did Argentina peg its currency to the dollar in the first place? Answer: In the initial time of 20th Century, Argentina was one of the wealthiest and successful economies in the world. Situation started changing after World War I, Argentina started undergoing slow economic growth rate because of bad policy, political gridlock and adverse change in trade. In 1970’s, Outbreak of oil crises concluded severe debt crises of 1980’s in Latin America. Government spending was more than the tax, market borrowing, which ultimately gave movement to inflation. Since 1980 Argentina was badly suffering from heavy debts and fast growing inflation. In 1989, inflation peaked to 5000 %, GDP lowered down by 10% from 1989 and 20 % fall on per capita GDP. In order to stabilize the growing inflation, the convertibility plan of 1991, fixed a peg of the Argentina currency peso against the dollar which means one peso to one dollar. This laid the foundation for exchange-rate stabilization. This helped Argentines to freely convert their pesos into dollars under currency board and increased bank deposits and loans in dollar became extensive. The main reason behind this implementation was to increase people confidence on Argentina currency after way long inflation. Idea was fixing the exchange rate which shows stabilization in inflation and thus...
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...The Home Depot 2008 Annual Report Dear Shareholders: In 2008, our retail sales declined by 7.8 percent, with comp sales down 8.7 percent. Our adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations declined 22 percent. In ordinary times, these would be very disappointing results. But 2008 was not an ordinary year. Despite the difficult economic environment, we continued to improve our retail business, through investing in our associates and our stores, rebuilding our supply chain and improving customer service. We also made several strategic decisions to optimize our capital allocation, concentrating our efforts on our core business. In the first quarter, we closed 15 underperforming stores and reduced our pipeline of new stores by 50. In the third quarter, we renegotiated our private label credit card agreement, capping our cost of private label credit. In the fourth quarter, we announced our decision to exit EXPO and related businesses. These actions will make the Company stronger. On the financial side, we ended the year with a solid operating profit and $41 billion in assets. We generated cash from the business of approximately $5.5 billion, which allowed us to invest in the business where necessary and reduce our debt obligations while maintaining a healthy dividend. On the operational side, we implemented an “Aprons on the Floor” initiative, which deployed over $200 million in annualized savings onto the floor of the stores for customer service...
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...but on an adjusted basis declined 6.7 percent. At the end of 2008, the U.S. economy was in the most severe recession it has experienced since the great depression. We planned for this tough economic environment, and we executed well against our plan, exceeding the sales and earnings targets we set forth at the beginning of the year. We gained over 100 basis points of U.S. market share in 2009, a notable accomplishment on a base of fewer stores. We saw sequential improvement in our performance during the year and exited the year with a positive comp in the fourth quarter. We also saw signs of stabilization in some key macroeconomic indicators, such as Private Fixed Residential Investment as a percent of GDP. In Canada, the demand for home improvement products is showing improvement. And our Mexican team delivered positive comps for the year in a very tough economic environment. As we look to 2010, we believe we will see modest economic recovery in the markets we serve and expect our performance to continue to improve as the economy undergoes a steady, though slow, recovery. As a company, we made significant progress against our strategic imperatives in 2009. We enhanced customer service in our stores, introduced new and innovative products with compelling values, and drove productivity and efficiency. Our customer service levels, as measured by our Voice of the Customer surveys and other external sources, continue to improve. A key factor in this improvement was the...
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...depth of understanding required to conduct successful international negotiations goes far beyond what is immediately transparent. Since culture has a substantial influence on how people deliberate, converse and act, it has significant effect on many aspects of business negotiations, and therefore must be considered when conducting business internationally. All too often companies try to operate using the same business structure and strategies in multiple different countries and are unsuccessful or have extreme difficulty due to the differences in culture. This paper will discuss several cultural differences which consistently cause difficulties in international negotiations specifically during the conduct of business between America and China. These differences are broken up into several different categories including: purpose of negotiation, cultural compatibility, governmental compatibility, communication barriers, risk aversion, formalities and negotiating speed, emotional response, and successful negotiating tactics. Purpose Understanding why both business parties are negotiating as well as cultural negotiation processes are important in obtaining a favorable outcome during international business transactions. While Americans consider negotiating as a short term process to reach a formal agreement and sign a deal, Chinese cultures typically see negotiating as a process to establish a rapport and ultimately lead to a contract being signed. The relationship...
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...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 are operate under its original name “Staples”. Argentina operates as Officenet-Staples, Belgium and Netherlands as Office Center, Canada as Staples Canada and in Italy as Mondoffice. The company recorded revenues of $25.1 billion during 2012, an increase of 1.9% compared with 2011. 39% of revenues generated from North American Retail, 40% from North American Delivery and 21% from International operation. (managementparadise.com, Staples 10K, 2012). II. STRATEGIC DIRECTION A. Mission “Our mission is to bring easy to offices worldwide” (Staples Soul, 2012). B. GOALS/OBJECTIVES • Maintain our leadership position by delivering on our brand promise • Focus on customer service, customer acquisition and retention, and providing our customers a broad assortment...
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...Mechanical pumps may be submerged in the fluid they are pumping or external to the fluid. Pumps can be classified by their method of displacement into positive displacement pumps, impulse pumps, velocity pumps, gravity pumps, steam pumps and valveless pumps. Positive displacement pump A lobe pump lobe pump internals Mechanism of a scroll pump A positive displacement pump makes a fluid move by trapping a fixed amount and forcing (displacing) that trapped volume into the discharge pipe. Some positive displacement pumps use an expanding cavity on the suction side and a decreasing cavity on the discharge side. Liquid flows into the pump as the cavity on the suction side expands and the liquid flows out of the discharge as the cavity collapses. The volume is constant through each cycle of operation. Positive displacement pump behavior and safety Positive displacement pumps, unlike centrifugal or roto-dynamic pumps, theoretically can produce the same flow at a given speed (RPM) no matter what the discharge pressure. Thus, positive displacement pumps are constant flow machines. However, a slight increase in internal leakage as the pressure increases prevents a truly constant flow rate. A positive displacement pump must not operate against a closed valve on the discharge side of the pump, because it has no shutoff head like centrifugal pumps. A positive displacement pump operating against a closed discharge valve continues to produce flow and the pressure in the discharge...
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...1 PROBABILISTIC APPROACHES: SCENARIO ANALYSIS, DECISION TREES AND SIMULATIONS In the last chapter, we examined ways in which we can adjust the value of a risky asset for its risk. Notwithstanding their popularity, all of the approaches share a common theme. The riskiness of an asset is encapsulated in one number – a higher discount rate, lower cash flows or a discount to the value – and the computation almost always requires us to make assumptions (often unrealistic) about the nature of risk. In this chapter, we consider a different and potentially more informative way of assessing and presenting the risk in an investment. Rather than compute an expected value for an asset that that tries to reflect the different possible outcomes, we could provide information on what the value of the asset will be under each outcome or at least a subset of outcomes. We will begin this section by looking at the simplest version which is an analysis of an asset’s value under three scenarios – a best case, most likely case and worse case – and then extend the discussion to look at scenario analysis more generally. We will move on to examine the use of decision trees, a more complete approach to dealing with discrete risk. We will close the chapter by evaluating Monte Carlo simulations, the most complete approach of assessing risk across the spectrum. Scenario Analysis The expected cash flows that we use to value risky assets can be estimated in one or two ways. They can represent a probability-weighted...
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...an External Environment Analysis This essay will provide two aspects of environmental assessments undertaken on 800 Super Holdings Limited (800): a macro-environmental PESTEL analysis, and an industry analysis using Porter’s Five Forces of how 800 fairs in today’s competitive environment. 800 Super Holdings Limited 800 is a home grown company with humble beginnings in 1986 before its IPO offering and listing on the SGX-Catalist on 15 July 2011. An established integrated environmental solutions provider, 800’s business lies in waste management (WM) and recycling, cleaning and conservancy; and horticultural services. With its broad range of services, 800’s customer base is diverse and ranges from municipals to the industrial, institutional and commercial sectors (800 super, 2015). 800 has posted healthy profits year after year, with FY2014 revenue increasing 17.9% to S$115 million and net profit after tax improving 57.1% to $9.1 million (Chairman Statement, 2014); as of HY2015, revenue has already increased 95.4% to S$12.3 million, pushing current net profit to S$4.6 million (800 super, 2015). 800’s recent prominent deals include a Ministry of Home Affairs S$38.6 million three-year contract for cleaning and horticultural services in the East and West regions (shareinvestor, 2015). Winning two out of eight integrated public cleaning (IPC) seven-year contracts in the North-west and South-west regions of Singapore to the tune of S$302.2 million; receiving one out of only four...
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...To Be or Not to Be: Japan’s Reliance on Mahan’s Strategy during World War II Geographically, Japan is an island nation that is slightly smaller than the state of California, with an area of 377,915 square kilometers. However, Japan has a coastline that is almost 30,000 kilometers in length in comparison to the United States coastline, which is 19,924 kilometers in length. It is narrowly separated from modern-day Russia, North Korea, South Korea, and China by the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea. On maps the largest cities in Japan are on the Eastern side of the island chain, looking toward the Atlantic Ocean, and it boasts few natural resources, besides fishing. The geography of Japan and its proximity to its neighbors has shaped the strategic policy of Japan for centuries, and has driven the necessity of a strong navel strategy. However, it did not always have naval aims. During World War II, while Japan strongly relied on the writings on Alfred Thayer Mahan (1840-1914) in developing their national and naval strategy. However, their strategy had some fatal flaws that would prevent a victory or a negotiated settlement with the United States. Mahan is often compared to the highly esteemed Jomini and Clausewitz, who were famous for their land-based military strategy. However, many of his ideas were not new; they were derived from historical sources from which he distilled and clarified some major concepts. Mahan’s huge contribution to Navel strategy was the...
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...This article was downloaded by: [Manchester Metropolitan University] On: 18 November 2011, At: 08:18 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rirr20 Failure in international retailing: research propositions Steve Burt , John Dawson & Leigh Sparks a a b c Institute for Retail Studies, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK E-mail: s.l.burt@stir.ac.uk b The University of Edinburgh Management School, 50 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9YI, UK E-mail: john.dawson@ed.ac.uk c Institute for Retail Studies, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK E-mail: leigh.sparks@stir.ac.uk Available online: 15 Apr 2011 To cite this article: Steve Burt, John Dawson & Leigh Sparks (2003): Failure in international retailing: research propositions, The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 13:4, 355-373 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0959396032000129471 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-andconditions This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling...
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...Strategic Management: Strategy is a long-term plan framed to gain a competitive advantage. Strategic management is a domain wherein strategies are transformed in to actions. It even comprises decisions made based on priorities, say, tasks to which time is devoted like resource allocation. These plans and decisions are aligned to goals of an organization. (Amason, A. 2010) Strategic management focuses on clients to know their expectations and serve them brilliantly. It involves action plans to reduce attrition and to retain the best talent. Its scope involves the functions and activities which make the organization innovative and pioneering. (Karami, A. 2007) Need for Strategic Management: Need for its strategic management arises to fulfill the priorities of an organization few of which include: o To accelerate its growth in this global business. o To augment the operational excellence of the organization. o To become globalized. It aims towards value creation to all shareholders at the same time even being centered towards society. (Amason, A. 2010) Executive Summary: Strategic Management involves formulation and implementation of strategies to improve the performance and to gain competitive advantage. It involves decisions and acts that managers undertake in order to attain the desired goals. Strategies are planned means to attain end results. Strategic management is long term in nature and gives a direction to the organization. Before...
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...Miguel Beer–the Company’s flagship product–is one of the largest selling beers and among the top 10 beer brands in the world. While brewing beer is the company’s heritage, San Miguel subsequently branched out into the food and packaging businesses. From the original cerveza that first rolled off the bottling line, San Miguel Corporation has since expanded its portfolio to produce a wide range of popular beverage, food and packaging products which have–for over a century–catered to generations of consumers’ ever changing tastes. It has also diversified into heavy industries including power and other utilities, mining, energy, tollways and airports. The Company’s manufacturing operations extend beyond the Philippines to Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. Its products are exported to major markets around the world. Continuing a tradition of product quality, San Miguel is capitalizing on its unique strengths in brands and distribution to weave its products more deeply into the fabric of everyday life. Not just in the Philippines but in the Asia-Pacific region.World Class PartnersSan Miguel’s partnerships with major international companies have given the Company access to the latest technologies and skills. Our marketplace experience, technical expertise, and innovation capabilities, while largely homegrown, also...
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...Staples Equity Valuation and Analysis David Lecky Chad Loudermilk Bennett Matkins Kara Reynolds Amanda Rhodes David.Lecky@ttu.edu Chad.loudermilk@ttu.edu Bennett.Matkins@ttu.edu Karereyddd@yahoo.com Amanda.b.Rhodes@ttu.edu Table of Contents Executive Summary……………………………………………………….. 2 Overview of Staples and the Industry………………………………... 7 Five Forces Model……………………………………………………………………….. 9 Rivalry among Existing Firms……………………………………………………….. 9 Threat of New Entrants……………………………………………………………….. 15 Threat of Substitute Products………………………………………………………. 17 Bargaining Power of Buyers………………………………………………………... 17 Bargaining Power of Suppliers…………………………………………………..... 18 Classifying the Industry………………………………………………………………. 18 Key Success Factors……………………………………………………………………. 19 Competitive Advantage Analysis………………………………………………….. 19 Accounting Analysis………………………………………………………. 25 Key Accounting Policies………………………………………………………………. 25 Accounting Flexibility………………………………………………………………….. 26 Evaluation of Actual Accounting Strategy……………………………………… 29 Quality of Disclosure…………………………………………………………………… 30 Screening Ratio Analysis….…………………………………………………………. 33 Revenue Diagnostics………………………………………………………………….. 34 Expense Diagnostics…………………………………………………………………… 37 Potential “Red Flags”………………………………………………………………….. 39 Undo Accounting Distortions……………………………………………………….. 41 Ratio Analysis………………………………………………………………. 44 Liquidity Ratio……………………………………………………………………………. 44 Profitability Ratio……………………………………………………………………….. 56 Capital Structure...
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