...Whirlpool: Redefining Innovation If you look at our history, innovation had been the responsibility of a couple of groups, engineering and marketing. Now, you have thousands of people involved. It's speeded things along. It's changed the focus of innovation to trying to deeply understand the customer and a belief that we could actually build customer loyalty in the appliance industry. The way we'll know it's successful is if it changes every job at Whirlpool.1 - Nancy Snyder, Vice-president Leadership and Strategic Competency Development, Whirlpool Jeff M. Fettig succeeded David R. Whitwam, as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Whirlpool Corporation in 2004. The year 2005 had proved to be a year of exceptional achievements for the world’s number one home appliance brand company2. Whirlpool had achieved record net earnings of $422 million3 on record sales revenues of $14.3 billion4 (Annexure I), which had in turn, propelled the company’s share price to an all-time high of $92.645 by April 2006 (AnnexureII). Fettig attributed much of Whirlpool's performance to the new products and features introduced by the company over the past four years. The innovations were a result of the ‘innovation system’ established by Whitwam in 1999 to counter the company’s almost stagnant performance over the past decade, in everything from stock price to profit margin to market share. The company’s failure to introduce exciting products or product features had reduced Whirlpool’s machines to mere...
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...Sears Canada, Inc. (SCC) - Financial and Strategic Analysis Review Reference Code: GDRT32835FSA 290 Yonge Street, Suite 700 Toronto, ON M5B 2B8 Canada Phone Fax Website Exchange +1 416 3621711 +1 416 9414793 www.sears.ca SCC [Toronto Stock Exchange] Revenue Net Profit Employees Industry Publication Date: AUG 2010 5,201 (million CAD) 290.70 (million CAD) 11,240 Retailing Company Overview Sears Canada Inc. (Sears) is a multi-channel retailer. The company engages in providing a variety of merchandise ranging from apparels to electronics to house wares. Its product line includes apparels, footwear, jewellery, home improvements, furniture, appliances, electronics and several others. The company offers its merchandise through specialty stores, including department stores, outlet stores and other store formats; catalog and website. It offers various private label and national brands. Sears is also engaged in real estate business through joint venture interest in shopping centers. The company principally operates in Canada and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Key Executives Name William C. Crowley Dene L. Rogers Deidra D. Cheeks Merriwether R. Raja Khanna Jon Lukomnik Chairman Chief Executive Officer Director Director Director Title SWOT Analysis Sears Canada, Inc., SWOT Analysis Strengths Weaknesses Strong Foothold in Canada Specialized Services Declining Market Share Dependency on Leased Properties Source: Annual Report, Company Website, Primary and Secondary Research...
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...Analysis of the Target Corporation Report by Valanium Analysts: Kaleb Adams, Liza Debus, Rebecca Fitzgerald, Ken Khouri, Chuck Pearlman Investment Recommendation: MARKET PERFORMER TGT – NYSE (11/30/01) 52 Week Range 2000 Revenue Market Capitalization Shares Outstanding Dividend Yield Avg. Daily Trading Volume Book Value per Share (mrq) Return on Equity (ttm) Return on Assets (ttm) Est. 5-Yr Growth of EPS Industry: Retail $36,903M $33,800M 901.7M 0.59% 3.67M $7.76 19.28% 6.26% 15% EPS Forecast EPS Ratios P/E Forward PEG M/B 1999A $1.28 2000A $1.40 TGT 27.01 1.80 4.84 2001E $1.48 2002E $1.69 12/03/01 Competitor Average 13.28 1.96 4.02 $37.54 $57.46 $43.52 $31.27 $11.03 $16.92 $43.63 12 mo 26 % -14% 24 mo -8% 18% Valuation Predictions Actual Current Price Forward P/E Valuation Forward PEG Valuation M/B Valuation EBO (Abnormal Earnings) Valuation DCF Valuation P/S Valuation Performance of TGT Trailing TGT Relative to S&P500 6 mo -0.1% -10% • • • • • • Target operates in the discount retail industry in its Target stores but also attracts fashion minded customers through its Marshall Field’s and Mervyn’s stores. Target uses it Super Target model as its growth engine and funds this with cash flows from its Mervyn’s operations. Target has also recently partnered with Amazon to develop its online sales and fulfillment. The overall retail industry is growing at 3.8% and is competitive. Those players who can aggressively manage costs are the market leaders. Indicators suggest...
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...factors led to such successful growth. She also wanted to determine whether those factors would hold consistent going forward. At this point, Costco was one of a special breed of retailers called wholesale clubs. Unlike other retailers, wholesale clubs required that customers purchase annual memberships in order to shop at their stores. Costco operated a chain of warehouses that sold food and general merchandise at large discounts to member customers. The company was able to maintain low margins by selling items in bulk, keeping operating expenses to a minimum, and turning inventory over rapidly. Costco’s closest competitors were SAM’S Club (a division of Wal-Mart) and BJ’s Wholesale, which both operated as wholesale clubs. Other competitors included general discounters (such as Wal-Mart), general retailers (such as Sears), grocery store chains (such as Safeway), and specialty discounters (such as Best Buy). Torres first considered investing in Costco because she herself was a member. She was impressed by the company’s low prices and noticed in particular that her local Costco was always crowded. She decided to research the company and started, as always, with their annual reports. She discovered a company...
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...Scott C. Kearns MGT6890 6/20/12 Kmart and Sears: Still stuck in the middle? Just two years after filing bankruptcy, Kmart Corporation stunned the retail industry with the acquisition of Sears in November of 2004. The acquisition of Sears for Kmart was a part of a growth strategy to help build and strengthen the once dominant giant discount retailer. Between the 1960’s and through the 1980’s Kmart was the number one leading retailer in the discount department store industry. For 30 years Kmart seemed to be doing everything right but as they were growing they were also slipping into a deep hole. Many factors played into their eventual retrenchment but supply chain management was their biggest fault. During the 1990’s growing competitors like Target, Sears, and Home Depot took a piece of Kmart’s market place pie with Wal-Mart taking the biggest slice. As sales declined over time due to the increased competition, management also was neglecting the company’s supply chain operation. This neglect created a surplus of goods doomed for blue light specials that would have to be stored in semi-trucks beds behind the store because the current products on the shelves weren’t moving. By the start of 2000, Kmart locations looked like they had been foreclosed on with giant cement parking lots filled with maybe a dozen cars on a good day. Eventually retrenchment day came Kmart filed for bankruptcy in January of 2002. Kmart was able to regain control of the company and emerge from...
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...Can Sears Reinvent Itself? | Sears, Roebuck and Co. used to be the largest retailer in the United States, with sales representing 1 to 2 percent of the United States gross national product for almost 40 years after World War II. Its legendary Big Book catalogue was considered the primary (and sometimes the only) source for everything from wrenches to bathtubs to underwear. During the 1980s, Sears moved into other businesses, hoping to provide middle-class consumers with almost every type of banking, investment, and real estate service in addition to selling appliances, hardware, clothes, and other goods. This diversification tore Sears away from its core business, retail sales. Sears has steadily lost ground in retailing, moving from the Number 1 position to Number 3 behind discounters Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and Kmart Corporation. Sears had been slow to remodel stores, trim costs, and keep pace with current trends in selling and merchandising. Sears could not keep up with the discounters and with specialty retailers such as Toys R Us, Home Depot, Inc., and Circuit City Stores, Inc. that focus on a wide selection of low-price merchandise in a single category. Nor could Sears compete with trend-setting department stores. Yet Sears has been heavily computerized. At one time it spent more on information technology and networking than other noncomputer firms in the United States except the Boeing Corporation. It was noted its extensive customer databases of 60 million past...
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...Sears, Roebuck & Co G5 Investment Group Matt Nutsch Renis Kacani Melody Seely Ashley Green Wiley Eagle . G5 Investment Group December 4, 2004 Retail – Broadline Buy Stock Data Price (52 weeks) Symbol/Exchange Beta Fully Diluted Shrs Average Daily Vol Current market cap Book Value / Share Current ratio $31.21 - $55.90 S / NYSE 1.3 230.4 million 5,028,000 shrs 10.82B $28.3 1.32 Valuation (per share) Current Price Comparables DCF Analysis Residual Income DD Analysis Abnormal Earnings $34.78 $36.60 $36.94 $38.38 $27.97 $46.49 Summary Financials (in millions) for 2004 Revenue Earnings $36.6 billion $550 million 1 Executive Summary Sears is following a differentiated approach in a competitive industry. Consequently, Sears has lagged behind other broadline retailers such as K-Mart, Target, and Wal-Mart. Should Sears adjust its marketing approach, it would have great potential for success. Growth prospects for Sears include continuation and growth of sales and expansion. The development of subsidiary brands such as Lands’ End and the acquiring of 61 of-mall stores from K-Mart and Wal-Mart. of new stores abroad will fuel this growth. Financing the acquisitions should not be overly burdensome for Sears, given the company’s large cash. Also, the company’s Z-Score of 5.9 will provide easy access to financing if needed Sears has began to shift to an off-mall emphasis for its stores as it acquired stores...
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...Case Study I: Sears, Roebuck and Co. vs. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Chao Han Junliang Shi Zhongyi Hu 2/25/2015 Azusa Pacific University Case Study I: Sears, Roebuck and Co. vs. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. are the two big retail companies in U.S. Although Wal-Mart was acknowledged powerhouse of the U.S. retailing industry, Sears’ ROE exceeded Wal-Mart’s 2%, which can show that this firm was the true powerhouse. Therefore, Don Edwards, an analyst with a prestigious investment bank. He compared two financial performances of these two companies and he wanted to figure out which company performed better in different areas. Sears, Roebuck and Co. was founded in 1891. It started originally with a sole catalog business and then expanded into retail stores in 1924. Its stores were primarily located in shopping malls, including a large variety of merchandise. Sears has become the world’s largest retailer in terms of annual sales. By the early 1980s, Sears faced increased competition and declining market share. In 1992, The CEO of Sears, Arther C. Martinez has carried out three methods to improve profitability. The first was to cut costs. The second was to re-oriented the product mix in which the target audience was set to be middle-class female shoppers. The third was to offer customers more flexibility through the use of the company’s proprietary credit...
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...crowd. Fairholme Ignore the crowd. This presentation uses Sears Holdings Corporation (“Sears” or the “Company”) as a case study to illustrate Fairholme Capital Management’s investment strategy for the Fairholme Fund. In the pages that follow, we show Fairholme Fund shareholders why we “Ignore the crowd” with regard to our portfolio positions that are currently out of favor in the market. However, nothing in this presentation should be taken as a recommendation to anyone to buy, hold, or sell certain securities or any other investment mentioned herein. Our opinion of a company’s prospects should not be considered a guarantee of future events. Investors are reminded that there can be no assurance that past performance will continue, and that a mutual fund’s current and future portfolio holdings always are subject to risk. As with all mutual funds, investing in the Fairholme Fund involves risk including potential loss of principal. Opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Fairholme Capital Management, L.L.C. and should not be considered a forecast of future events, a guarantee of future results, nor investment advice. The Fairholme Fund’s holdings and sector weightings are subject to change. As of May 31, 2012, Sears securities comprised 10% of the Fairholme Fund’s total net assets. The Fairholme Fund’s portfolio holdings are generally disclosed as required by law or regulation on a quarterly basis through reports to shareholders or filings with the SEC within 60 days after...
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...source of unfairness. This issue may be faced through the adoption of automated assessment tools for essays. A system for automated assessment would at least be consistent in the way it scores essays, and enormous cost and time savings could be achieved if the system can be shown to grade essays within the range of those awarded by human assessors. This paper presents an overview of current approaches to the automated assessment of free text answers. Ten systems, currently available either as commercial systems or as the result of research in this field, are discussed: Project Essay Grade (PEG), Intelligent Essay Assessor (IEA), Educational Testing service I, Electronic Essay Rater (E-Rater), C-Rater, BETSY, Intelligent Essay Marking System, SEAR, Paperless School free text Marking Engine...
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...introduced its first button-down Oxford shirt upon which the Lands’ End legacy would be built. Also in 1978, operations were moved from Chicago to Dodgeville, WI. Another significant shift in operations at the time was the introduction of fulfilling customers’ orders by telephone. Lands’ End set up its toll free 800- number ad staffed it with eager operators who were answering customers’ calls in less than 2-rings! With clothing offerings soaring, the company broke ground on an office building and a 33,000 square-foot warehouse in 1979. By 1980, Lands’ End moved into its new space with phone ordering shifting to 24 hour operation. Throughout the 1980’s, with several physical expansions, clothing and soft goods offerings, and store openings, annual sales and profits saw a gain of 40%. Key Players In 1963, Gary Comer along with his 2 partners and 2 employees started a company whose initial offering was sailing goods with a few soft goods....
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...Marketing Communications | Syndicate assignment Case 1 Prius Launch: Harmony Installations 2011 Bronze | Media Innovation Case 2 Canon Eos Cameras: Photography beyond the still 2011 Silver | Consumer Electronics Case 3 Southwest Airlines: Grab your bag it’s on/ Bags fly free 2011 Gold | Transportation Case 4 Ocean Spray Cranberries: Straight from the Bog 2008 Gold | Renaissance 2011 Silver | Sustained Success Case 5 Sears: Don’t just go back. Arrive 2010 Gold | Retail¬ Case 1 Prius Launch: Harmony Installations 2011 Bronze | Media Innovation GET: Echo/Tech friendly minded people WHO: Are environmentally and technologically aware and enjoy innovation. TO: Think Prius is the car they should buy versus the car they want to own. See Prius as an Icon of progress. Encourage consumers to put a Prius in the mainstream consideration set. BY: Outlining that hybrid motoring is good for the environment, endorsing the idea of being proud to own a Prius. LIKE THIS: By highlighting the “harmony between man, nature and machine”. Happiness, Optimism, Pride, Imagination SUCCESS: Desired 20% increase in sales of Prius. Increase hybrid vehicle market share. Engage social media metrics. $4.5m in earned media desired through Solar flower installations/social media. Market/Commercial insight The reported market decline in the Automotive Industry for passenger cars has declined by 37% in FY2011. Financial modelling of passenger...
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...9-705-475 R E V: APR I L 21, 2011 P A N K AJ GH E M AWAT T H OMA S M. H O U T JO R D A N S I EG EL Haier's U.S. Refrigerator Strategy The objective of most Chinese enterprises is to export products and earn foreign currency, exploring easier markets first like Southeast Asia. . . . Our purpose is to establish a brand reputation by first penetrating difficult markets such as the United States. . . . All success relies on one thing in overseas markets—creating a localized U.S. brand instead of an imported Chinese brand. We see an opportunity to compete against established, slow moving companies there by being more customer-focused than they are. To win over those customers we have two approaches—speed and differentiation. — Zhang Ruimin, CEO Haier Group1 The Haier Group was one of China’s most accomplished and important companies, with estimated global sales in 2007 of $16 billion. Founded in 1984 as the Qingdao Refrigerator Company, the original company was a collectively owned enterprise in the same northeast coastal municipality that produced the popular Tsingtao beer. Haier became a conglomerate electrical home appliance and consumer electronic products company. Its core business was white goods—refrigerators and freezers, ranges, and microwave ovens, dishwashers, and washing machines and dryers—and room air conditioners. Later, it diversified into mobile telephones, television receivers, personal computers, and even financial services and pharmaceuticals...
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...------------------------------------------------- Introduction to strategic management report: August 2013 Company: Mace Group Ltd. Zahid Table of contents 1. Introduction 1 2. Mace Group: A brief overview 1 3. Strategic analysis 2 3.1 Industry Analysis 2 3.1.1 Porter’s five forces 2 3.2 Strategy Description 4 3.2.1 Ansoff Matrix 5 3.3 Strategy Evaluation 5 SWOT analysis 6 Strengths 6 Weaknesses 7 Opportunities 7 Threats 7 3.4 Strategic Issues 8 3.5 Strategic Recommendations 8 4. Strategy formulation 9 5. Strategy implementation 12 6. Conclusion 14 References 15 Table of figures Figure 1: Porter's five forces model 2 Figure 2: Ansoff Matrix 5 Figure 3: SWOT analysis 6 Figure 4: Strategic formulation and implementation 9 1. 2. Introduction Strategic management is the integratedaction to manage the resources and performance of the firm, aiming the optimum output. The whole process initiates with the commencement of specific mission and visionary objectives for the organization, following the policies and plans required to achieve these. In simple sense, strategic management is the combination of strategic analysis, strategy creation, implementation and monitoring(Thompson, 2001). The final outcome is the competitive advantage which in turn ensures the sustainability of the firm for the long run. According to Rothaermel, F. T. (2012) strategic management is an integrative management field that combines analysis, formulation, and implementation...
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...Financial Analysis of Jc Penny A brief overview of the rebrand Financial Analysis of Jc Penny A brief overview of the rebrand History J.C. Penney Company, Inc has about 1,100 stores in all 50 states. J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (JCPenney) is the second largest department store in the United States behind Sears Roebuck. JCPenneys’ name came from James Cash Penney who started his first retail store in 1902 in Kemmerer, Wyoming, a small mining town when his was 26 years old called Golden Rule. Even though the local banker cautioned Penney against opening a "cash only" store, since three other previous investor attempts failed, Penney still proceeded. In Penney's 1st year, the store successfully made $28,898 in sales. By 1913, Penney changed the company’s name to J.C. Penney Company, Inc. and moved the corporate headquarters to New York City to be closer to manufacturers and suppliers. Private label brands were a major reason for the success of the company; JC Penney could determine the price and used this to increase his profit margin. Some private label examples include Belle Isle, Ramona, and Honor Brand. In 1929 the company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. When the Great Depression hit, the company cut back its inventory and purchased goods at lower prices so it could pass the savings on to customers. The company's profits even increased during the Depression and the number of stores grew to 1,496. During World War II, Materials and merchandise were scarce...
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