...Ghoreishi Best Buy: Strategic Audit June 8, 2015 Current Performance: Best Buy’s historical advantage has always been pricing. However, now that other specialty electronics retailers have dropped out of the market with the fall of Tweeter and Circuit City, Best Buy now must compete with discount retailers such as Kmart, Wal-Mart, Target, Sam’s Club, Costco, as well as online retailers like Amazon. Consumers no longer have to go to Best Buy to purchase DVDs because buyers can get them through dozens of online sellers or stream them online via NetFlix or Amazon. You can buy a Blu-ray player or camera at a discount online. Televisions and appliances are the two products Best Buy sells that many people are less likely to purchase online because of their size and prohibitive shipping costs. If Best Buy wants to continue to be the number one seller of electronics and electronics related accessories such as games, DVD's, and electronic wiring, Best Buy needs to focus on shoring up television and appliance dominance to ensure sufficient foot traffic. Best Buy must also address the phenomenon of 'show rooming', which is the practice of shopping for merchandise in a brick-and-mortar store and later buying online at lower prices. In the past, Best Buy has provided only one week training sessions for new hires. However, as a first step to prevent show rooming, Best Buy will provide...
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...STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT Assignment 1: Best Buy Brooke Martin Date: Executive Summary (5%) Best Buy is a multinational retailer of technology, electronic and entertainment products and services, with locations in the US, Canada, Mexico, China and Europe. Best Buy operates roughly 4,000 stores in Canada, US, Mexico, China and Turkey, and they represent about 19% of the market. Best Buy as a company has expanded from what was a small retail operation to include many subsidiaries including Geek Squad, Magnolia Audio Video, Pacific Sales and Future Shop. Best Buy needs to be aware of their competition not only in terms of other large retail electronic stores, but their competition now also includes such big box stores as Walmart and on-line retailers such as Amazon.com. Best Buy has a few major challenges that they must be aware of, and continue to improve upon. Firstly, with the downturn of the economy and the consumer cut backs on spending, they must deal with consumers spending less on the products that Best Buy offers. They must focus on differentiating themselves from both physical and online retailers. This is where their customer commitment is vital to their success. Secondly, Best Buy must continue to place a large focus on their customer service, and the knowledge of their staff. Even if customers aren’t buying new products, they continue to have previously purchased products that will need to be serviced. Best Buy needs to offer a unique “shopping experience”...
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...ST. JOHN'S UNIVERSITY (NY) [pic] Best Buy Swindled Out of $31 Million Internal Control Issues Joseph Chung Professor Jay Ranade ACC 628 Internal Auditing Overview of the Case An Illinois couple allegedly swindled computer giant Best Buy Inc. out of $31 million dollars over the duration of four years (2003-2007). Russell Cole and his wife Abby was allegedly accused of masterminding a multi-million dollar online bid-rigging scheme along with former Best Buy employee Robert Paul Bossany, who pleaded himself guilty in February 2009 to 29 counts of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and money laundering. Investigators found that the Coles had reported $15.5 million dollars in income from 2003-2007, with $14.2 million suspected to be in connection with the fraud. The Chicago Tribune said that Russell Cole called his $2.75 million dollar home in Deerfield, IL "the house that Best Buy built," but was under scrutiny by investigators who claim that the money was obtained through fraud. The Coles lavish lifestyle also included owning a Ferrari coupe, a Lamborghini convertible and nine other luxury/high performance vehicles with a total worth of about $2.8 million dollars that was confiscated by authorities. The Coles' attorney told the Chicago Tribune that the Coles' "did not engage in a fraud against Best Buy...We intend, at this point, to present evidence to the contrary if they've ever charged." As for Bossany, he cooperated fully with...
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...http://danielsethics.mgt.unm.edu Best Buy Fights Against Electronic Waste INTRODUCTION Although Best Buy has not been in business as long as other established brands, the company is a well-known name both within and outside of the United States. As the largest consumer electronics retailer in the world, it ranks number 72 on the Fortune 500. To maintain its competitive advantage against rivals in specialty electronics, Best Buy is engaging in competitive pricing strategies, international expansion, and the targeting of a younger demographic. In addition to discounted and high-quality products, Best Buy became known for its customer-centered approach and sustainable outreach. After realizing the importance of sustainability to its customers, Best Buy implemented an extensive recycling program. In the process, Best Buy earned itself a name as a socially responsible company. The company also adopted programs and systems to provide flexibility and aid to its employees. This case provides a brief history of Best Buy, including details on its expansion and the models it implemented to become a success. Next, we discuss Best Buy’s vision, along with the actions the company is taking to turn its vision into a reality. We briefly analyze Best Buy’s community outreach programs and look at its large-scale environmental initiatives, particularly those regarding energy savings and recycling. Finally, we examine some of the challenges Best Buy is encountering as it struggles to...
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...Marketing 331 Assignment 4 Best Buy, No. 56 on the Fortune 500 list wants your junk. At a Best Buy store located in Roseville, Minn., it has rolled out its take-back program. This program is geared toward service to the community and environment by offering a massive recycling program that allow customers to conviently bring in their old and outdated electrical junk to Best Buy and shop while they are at the store instead of having to travel to a recycle center or just discarding the junk in the trash. * Retailer – A Channel intermediary that sells mainly to consumers (Chapter 12 Page 125) * New Product – A product new to the world, the market, the producer, the seller, or some combination of these. (Chapter 10 Page 145) * Early Adopters – The second 13.5 percent to adopt the product. They are not the very first, they do not adopt early in the product’s life cycle. (Chapter 10 Page 153) * Planned Obsolescence – The practice of modifying products so those that have already been sold become obsolete before they actually need replacement. (Chapter 9, Page 134) * Supply Chain – The connected chain of all the business entities, both internal and external to the company, that perform or support the logistics function. (Chapter 12 Page 173) * Target Market – A defined group most likely to buy a firm’s product. (Chapter 3 Page 32) Christine Cartwright, a store manager at Best Buy in Roseville, says she never expected to get into the recycling business...
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...Best Buy disaster plan Christian Jones Qazi Ali CIS 359 May 25, 2012 Abstract Through this paper I and my partner will be discussing number of things about one of the biggest computer retail company in the United States of America. First is that we will provide some background information on the Best Buy company such as how it came about and how it has evolved from the past and to the present date. Basically we will give up a little bit of information on the owner as well as the company itself. In addition, we will also cover some of the problem that we face will developing this reasech paper. We will also cover some key points that we reasech or were told there disaster recovery plan. Also we provide solutions to their disaster recovery by point out some problems that they might face in the near future. We will also discussion how the plan will work in some cases and how it will not be as successful in other cases. Disaster Recovery for Best Buy A disaster is defined as an unexpected, unplanned catastrophic event that renders the Organizations ability to perform mission-critical and critical processes, including the ability to do normal production processing of systems that support critical business processes. A disaster could be the result of significant damage to a portion of the operations, a total loss of a facility, or the inability of the employees to access that facility. There were a lot of challenges that occurred during the development of this...
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...Best Buy Corporation - S. Bensen, A. El Haddi, K. Fitzsimmons, A. Hussein, H. Marotske -- UST EMBA [1] “Best Buy Corporation: Strategic Management Analysis” S. Bensen, A. El Haddi, K. Fitzsimmons, A. Hussein, H. Marotske Strategic Management University of St Thomas, College of Business Executive MBA program, Cohort 62 Abstract Best Buy’s news coverage of the last few years has been consistently negative. The company’s performance and reputation suffered greatly. Its Earnings per Share fell by more than 200% in 2012 alone. These negative events were the result of governance problems, a changing market landscape (cloud computing, music streaming, online purchasing, online gaming, etc.) and a significant leadership turnover in a period of crisis. The company’s value stream is in a state of flux and could be said to be a master of none at this time. This paper presents strategies to deal with these problems by creating a strategic road map that will first stabilize Best Buy and eventually put it on a growth path. As a result of our analysis, we recommend that the company employs new strategies that include growing its online business by capitalizing on Geek- Squad’s expertise and exploring an internal fix-it strategy with the development of a compelling mission and vision. Finally, we recommend that BB explore the formation of an alliance with its rivals and leverage opportunities presented by new markets. 1. INTRODUCTION The purpose of this paper is to examine Best...
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...MOUNT KENYA UNIVERSITY VIRTUAL CAMPUS DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT MASTER OF ARTS, GOVERNANCE AND ETHICS CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT TEST I MDS 521 GOVERNANCE AND LEADERSHIP SKILLS DEVELOPMENT Instruction to students * Deadline October 30th 2013 or earlier * Assignment should be typed in prose not on bullet points * Font: new times roman * 12 points * Normal margins * minimum of 30 pages 1.5 spaced * Should indicate at least a minimum of 5 reference books. * No late submission * Plagiary will lead to no grade Question Critique leadership in the public sector and suggest reforms that are needed to ensure that vision 2030 is realized. Be careful to hinge your discussion on the pillars of Kenya’s vision 2030.20marks MOUNT KENYA UNIVERSITY VIRTUAL CAMPUS DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT MASTER OF ARTS, GOVERNANCE AND ETHICS CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT TEST II MDS 521 GOVERNANCE AND LEADERSHIP SKILLS DEVELOPMENT Instruction to students * Deadline November 15th 2013 or earlier * Assignment should be typed in prose not on bullet points * Font: new times roman * 12 points * Normal margins * minimum of 30 pages 1.5 spaced * Should indicate at least a minimum of 5 reference books. * No late submission * Plagiary will lead to no grade Question Using the public/private synergy model, come up with a case study and discuss the synergy or lethargy brought about by of...
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...402 DESIGNING AND MANAGING THE SUPPLY CHAIN rlX\s '-----' E ~\C)I\ The Great Rebate Runaround Ah, the holiday shopping season: Santa Claus, reindeer-and rebate hell. Those annoying mail-in offers are everywhere these days. Shoppers hate col lecting all the paperwork, filling out the forms, and mailing it all in to claim their $10 or $100. But no matter how annoying rebates are for consumers, the country's retailers and manufacturers love them. From PC powerhouse Dell to national chains Circuit City and OfficeMax to the Listerine mouth wash sold at Rite Aid drugstores, rebates are prolifer ating. Nearly one-third of all computer gear is now sold with some form of rebate, along with more than 20% of digital cameras, camcorders, and LCD TVs, says market researcher NPD Group. Hal Stinchfield, a 30-year veteran of the rebate business, calculates that some 400 million rebates are offered each year. Their total face value: $6 billion, he estimates. Office-products retailer Staples says it and its vendors alone pay $3.5 million in rebates each week. TAX ON THE DISORGANIZED sees lower redemption rates during the Christmas shopping season, when consumers may be too dis tracted to file for rebates on time. Credit this bonanza for retailers and suppliers partly to human nature. Many consumers are just too lazy, forgetful, or busy to apply for rebates: Call it a tax on the disorganized. Others think the 50 cents, $50-or even $200---is just not worth the hassle of...
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...Hal Stinchfield, a 30-year veteran of the rebate business, calculates that some 400 million rebates are offered each year. Their total face value: $6 billion, he estimates. Office-products retailer Staples (SPLS) says it and its vendors alone pay $3.5 million in rebates each week. TAX ON THE DISORGANIZED. Why the rage for rebates? The industry's open secret is that fully 40% of all rebates never get redeemed because consumers fail to apply for them or their applications are rejected, estimates Peter S. Kastner, a director of consulting firm Vericours. That translates into more than $2 billion of extra revenue for retailers and their suppliers each year. What rebates do is get consumers to focus on the discounted price of a product, then buy it at full price. "The game is obviously that anything less than 100% redemption is free money," says Paula Rosenblum, director of retail research at consulting firm Aberdeen Group. The impact on a company's bottom line can be startling. Consider TiVo (TIVO). The company caught Wall Street off guard by sharply reducing its first-quarter loss to $857,000, from $9.1 million in the same period last year....
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...Best Buy MGT/521 - MANAGEMENT BUSINESS Description Best Buy or BBY is one of the leading developers of technology products and technology services. Best Buy is broken down into two segments; domestic and international, and works under a variety of names. In the domestic region there is Best Buy, Best Buy Mobile, Magnolia Audio Video, Pacific Sales, and Geek Squad. The international regions include; Canada, China, Mexico and Europe and use the brand names; Best Buy, Cell Shop, Best Buy Mobile, Five Star, Future Shop, Connect Pro, Geek Squad, The Carphone Warehouse, Geek Squad, and The Phone House. (Reuters, 2012) Best Buy stores currently make their money in six categories: • Consumer Electronics – Video products like TVs, DVD and Blu-ray players. Audio products like MP3 players, home theater audio systems and components, • Entertainment – Video games, DVDs, Blu-rays, CDs, and computer software, • Services – Installation from home theater and mobile audio, warranties, and repair, • Computing and Mobile Phones – Laptops, desktops, tablets, and printers, • Appliances – Major and small appliances, Other – Snacks and beverages History To understand the history of Best Buy, one would have to know the history of its founder, Richard M. Schulze. Mr. Schulze and a partner started Sound of Music, Inc. in 1966 with their first store in St. Paul, Minnesota. Four years later Schulze bought out his partner and decided to expand. His first step to expand came in 1982...
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...overall strategic decision and focus on how it will be done. These will be made by department directors and heads of departments. One way DSGi have done this is to try increase customer service. Another example for DSGi which Niall O’Keeffe, DSGi marketing director made, is the recent advertising campaign which featured Star Wars characters, R2-D2 and C-3PO, which was focused to highlight the dual branded Currys and PC World megastores, which have recently undergone a reformatting part of the strategic plan to raise the brands identity (Baker 2010). This advert is part of how DSGi intent to accomplish the overall strategic decision. Operational decisions are made to address present issues and focus on how resources are to be allocated best; they can be made quickly allowing the overall desired strategic outcome to be achieved. An example for DSGi could be where to put new stock in the shops; this will be different for each store so shop...
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...ROWE Program at Best Buy Craig Doss John Mitchell Leadership and Organizational Behavior BUS-520 8/30/2011 Abstract Previous to the implementation of the Results-Only Work Environment or ROWE for short. Best Buy had a really high turnover rate. Jennifer Janssen works in the finance department at Best Buy. She was often called to put out fires at her job that may have required her to stay late at the risk of not being able to pick up her children. She was definitely a team player and wanted to do what she could to help the company which employ’s her. However, her demanding schedule was causing havoc or her other tasks outside of work. For people like Jennifer, Best Buy created a program where you take the time you need, come in when you want. Leave or take off if needed as long as the job was done. And while there was some hesitation and apprhension when this program was first implemented. With time people have come to value this new system and retention has improved among employees. When anyone mentions where to purchase the newest electronics, most people first thought is Best Buy. It has become a consumer favorite. Over the years, Best buy has become a household name. Best Buy is a multinational retailer of technology and entertainment products and services with a commitment to growth and innovation. The Best Buy family of brands and partnerships collectively generates more than 45 billion in annul revenue and that...
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...at 7am or you can rock up at 3pm. You can work whatever hours you like … and still get paid a full-time wage. Sounds too good to be true, right? Well, it actually exists. It was a trend that was started in 2004 by Best Buy, a retail chain in the US. The organisation introduced a system in their head office of 3000 workers called ROWE – Results Only Work Environment. In essence, it meant one thing: employees were judged on their performance, not their presence. The result was a 35 per cent increase in productivity as employees started working at more convenient times and during periods when they were more energetic. Since then, ROWE – or variations of it – has been rolled out in just a few companies. It is an innovation so radical, for now at least, that the vast majority of businesses prefer to stick with what they know, the nine-to-five grind. Only the brave attempt it, and one of those that's taken the plunge in Australia has been BigCommerce, a fast-growing SME of 65 employees, specialising in online stores. Advertisement: Story continues below BigCommerce’s co-founder and co-CEO is Eddie Machaalani. I asked him why he put such an extreme version of flexibility in place. “From day one we set about creating a supreme company culture in order to attract the best talent and keep our people happy,” he said. “We wanted to create a performance-driven culture. Performance doesn't start at 9am and end at 5pm. Sometimes it starts at 10am, sometimes it ends on Saturday morning...
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...competitive intensity and therefore attractiveness of a market. These strategies affect the ability of a company to serve its customers and make a profit. A change in any of the strategies normally requires a company to re-assess the market place. Bargaining Power of Customers Is high when buyers have many choices of whom to buy from and low when the choices are few. By offering your customers high quality fresh food, they will come to your café instead of your competitors. One way to reduce buyer power is to implement Loyalty Programs. A Loyalty Program that can be implemented in the Corner Shop Cafe is to have a customer purchase card. Every time a customer makes a purchase, this card gets "stamped" and after 7 purchases of a sandwich, their 8th one is free or 50% off. Bargaining Power of Suppliers Corner Shop Cafe will want its supplier power to be low. The café should seek out and search suppliers that will offer the lowest price. Since there are many suppliers of basic commodities (e.g., flour, sugar, bread) they all will be vying for your business. A private exchange or a reverse auction could be done in order for you to get the best possible price from your suppliers. Threat of Substitute Products Ideally, you would like to be in a market where there are few substitutes for the product or service you offer. It is true that a potential customer can ultimately make their own sandwich or cup of coffee. Yet do these customers have the time and resources to...
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