...Characterization of Best Buy’s competitive strategy When I ask men to name their favorite store, the answer is almost always Home Depot, Lowes, or Best Buy. Companies that are so beloved usually have strong competitive advantages. The term “usually” is emphasized because it is not always the case—Borders was a beloved store by book readers and is now out of business. Home Depot and Lowes have strong competitive advantages, while Best Buy’s are eroding in a remarkably similar way to Borders. Home Depot and Lowes are often the largest home improvement stores in their city and carry the largest selection, which gives them the advantage of scale. Similarly, Best Buy has the advantage of being the largest brick and mortar source for electronics in most cities. Borders also had the advantage of being as big as or bigger than all of its competitor’s stores. The other advantage Home Depot, Lowes, and Best Buy share is locality. If you have a Home Depot five minutes away, you are unlikely to drive a half hour away to another store. And if Best Buy is the closest place to pick up a new television, computer, or Ipad, they will likely get your business. However, Borders was also the nearest bookstore for many people before it went bankrupt. In other words, scale and locality can be very weak competitive advantages. Online Sales The main difference between being a large home improvement retailer and a large electronics retailer is online sales. Most people are very...
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...BEST BUY [pic] [pic] Making Life Fun & Easy! [pic] Tiago Alves Andrew Bornstein Mae Brana Grace Tan Meredith Walters Table of Contents Business Summary 2 Vision Statement & Corporate Values 2 Rankings 2 Market Share 3 Stock Chart – 5 Year Performance 3 Financial Highlights 4 History 5 Key Executives 6 Strategy 7 Customer Centricity 7 Value-added Services Business 9 Supply Chain and IT Systems 9 New Store Openings 10 Mergers & Acquisitions 10 Employees 11 Key Competitors 12 5-Year Performance vs Key Competitors 13 Appendix 14 Business Summary Best Buy is a specialty retailer of consumer electronics, home-office products, entertainment software, appliances and related services in a superstore format. It operates retail stores and commercial Web sites in the U.S., Canada and China, under the brand names Best Buy (BestBuy.com and BestBuyCanada.ca), Future Shop (FutureShop.ca), Magnolia Audio Video (MagnoliaAV.com) and Geek Squad (GeekSquad.com and GeekSquad.ca). As of Feb 25 2006, Best Buy operated 742 Best Buy stores, 20 Magnolia Audio Video stores and 12 Geek Squad stores in the U.S.; and 118 Future Shop stores, 44 Best Buy stores and five Geek Squad stores in Canada. Best Buy operates two reportable segments: Domestic and International. The Domestic segment is comprised of all U.S. store and online operations, including Best Buy, Magnolia Audio Video and Geek Squad....
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...Tweeter Inc. Case Report 1. Objectively and subjectively, is Tweeter price competitive? Why or why not? Since the company was founded, Tweeter positioned itself as a retailer of high quality, high-end hi-fi and video equipment offering high quality of customer service. At the very beginning Tweeter didn’t offer low price electronic devices and wasn’t actually competing with companies such as Lechmere or Circuit City who became its competitors few years later. However, after the introduction of Automated Price Protection (APP) Tweeter proved to be price competitive. As we can see from Exhibit 13, Tweeter’s prices for many overlapping products were lower or the same as its competitors’. The results of APP also showed that Tweeter’s prices were competitive even in comparison with cost-leader competitors. Even though Tweeter’s prices were objectively competitive, customers continued to perceive them as being higher than competitors’. The Tweeter’s image of a premium brand remained unchanged to public. A focus group conducted by the company confirmed that 4 out of 5 people view Tweeter as being more expensive than the competitions. The focus group also showed that 1 out of 3 consumers would come to Tweeter to figure out what to buy and then go to Lechmere or Fretter “to get there a better price.” Hence, Tweeter is not price competitive when looking at the subjective value. Ideally, Tweeter needs to convince its customers that it is the low price leader. However, with its...
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...Critical Thinking Means Business: Learn to Apply and Develop the NEW #1 Workplace Skill By Judy Chartrand, Ph.D., Heather Ishikawa, MA, & Scott Flander Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliate(s). All rights reserved. 3881-09 Table of Contents Introduction to Critical Thinking Means Business ...................................................... 1 Too Little Critical Thinking = Big Problems .................................................................. 2-3 Critical Thinking in the Workplace ................................................................................. 4 How Critical Thinking Works: Introduction to the RED Model .................................. 5 Using the RED Model in Decision Making: A Case Study ........................................... 6 For Trainers - Developing Critical Thinkers and Problem Solvers Using the RED Model: A Sample Training Program ................................................... 7 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 8 References .......................................................................................................................... 9 Critical Thinking Means Business Introduction When more than 400 senior HR professionals were asked in a survey to name the most important skill their employees will need in the next five years, critical thinking ranked the highest – surpassing innovation...
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...Gateway Inc. Theory in Practice Eduardo Ordóñez Professor Meilich BUS 444 May 7, 2004 Ticker: GTW Stock Exchange: NYSE Website: www.gateway.com Company Description Gateway Inc. was first incorporated in Iowa in 1986, with the name of Gateway 2000, Inc. It was then reincorporated in South Dakota in December of 1989 and later in Delaware in January of 1991. In 1993, the company went public, trading on the NASDAQ before transferring its stock to the New York Stock Exchange in 1997. Today, the company’s corporate headquarters are located in California in the city of Poway. As a major supplier of personal computers and related products and services, Gateway Inc. is a firm currently competing in the computer manufacturing industry along with Dell, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Toshiba, Apple, and others. It does not only manufacture PCs and laptops, the company also offers servers, workstations, an assortment of computer accessories (monitors, printers, software, memory, etc.), and a line of digital electronics. Gateway Inc. has a broad target market. It consists of small to large business, government and educational institutions, and home and home office. It sells its products nationally through a number distribution channels, including its Website, telephone call centers, and retail stores. The company’s mission is “to be the leading integrator of personalized technology solutions,” by “improving the quality of life through technology,” via “leadership...
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...Best Buy Co., Inc. Sustainable Customer Centricity Model Case Study Analysis Amber Keita ADMIN404 November 16, 2013 Table of Contents Executive Summary 3 Introduction and Company Overview 4 Mandate 4 Core Purpose 4 Vision & Major Goals 5 Core Values & Guiding Principles 5 Stakeholder Analysis 6 External Analysis 7 Opportunities 7 Economies of Scale 7 Complementors 7 Global Expansion 8 Threats 8 The Internet 8 Big Competition 9 Government Regulation 9 Internal Analysis 10 Strengths 10 No Commission Sales 10 Customer Centricity Model 10 Broad Market Coverage 11 Multiple Product Lines 11 Weaknesses 12 High Debt – Low Cash 12 Pricing Pressures 12 Legal Issues 13 Short Product Life Cycles 13 References 14 Exhibits 15 Executive Summary Best Buy Co., Inc. is a leading retailer of consumer electronics in the U.S. and Canada with nearly 4,000 stores worldwide. Among the extensive range of products marketed, are mobile phones, televisions, gaming systems, appliances and computers, along with all of their components and accessories. The company pursues a differentiation strategy based on excellent customer service, no commission, highly informed sales staff, and a plethora of end-to-end services. Best Buy was started in 1966, and has acquired seven companies in the path of its growth, all of which either provide a complementary service and/or additional products for its customers. The external analysis identifies...
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...An Analysis of SOPA and its Influence on the Internet, Business and Consumer Engagement Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………………….3 International Approach…………………………………………...…………….8 MegaUpload Case Study…………………………………………...…………… Pros: SOPA…………………………………………...……………………………… Cons: SOPA…………………………………………...……………………………… Ethical Considerations……………………………………………...…………… Conclusion…………………………………………...………………………………. 1 Introduction The mid 1990s were the genesis of the Internet as know and use it today. It’s immersion into every day culture and commerce, revolutionized the way we communicate and acquire information. Today, the Internet is a worldwide platform in which discussion forums, blogs and social networks dictate much of the culture of today’s society. The communication infrastructure of the Internet is one of the fastest growing in history. It’s big boom came in the late 1990s when it is estimated that traffic grew by “100 percent per year, while the mean annual growth in the number of Internet users was thought to be between 20% and 50%.”1 Experts agree that this extraordinary growth is mainly attributed to the lack of a watchdog in a virtually free space that lives in an intangible world, as is the case with the set of communication protocols that we call the Internet. The deficiency of a central administration allows the network to grow free and organically. In addition, the nonpropriety open nature on ...
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...[pic] Wal-Mart: Where did all the small businesses go? Rasha Burara Anela Sehovic Bader Al-Askari Matt Meikle Problem statement The purpose of this assignment is to analyze Wal-Mart and find out their strength, weaknesses, threats and opportunities. We will identify the company’s issues by looking at internal and external factors that influences the corporation. In the analyzing part we have made an SWOT analysis to identify Wal-Mart’s strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to get better overview of the company. In general we can say that Wal-Mart’s strength is their ability to recognize what their customer needs are by offering low prices on all their products. We have also made Porte’s five forces which help us to analyze the external factors and the position of the company. Furthermore, we have looked on the ethical aspects that Wal-Mart is facing. • Problem 1 – How could Wal-Mart avoid shutting down small town, family owned businesses when they move into an area? • Problem 2 – How can Wal-Mart avoid losing American suppliers to foreign country suppliers? History Wal-Mart Stores (Wal-Mart) was established in 1962 when Sam Walton, who had operated stores in Arkansas and Missouri, decided to open a discount store. The company went public and was traded over the counter in 1970, before being listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1972. Wal-Mart diversified into grocery (Wal-Mart Supercenters), international...
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...tMARKET RESEARCH REPORT E-Commerce In the Middle East Contents Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 3 E-Commerce Market Trends ................................................................................................. 3 Online buying habits: ........................................................................................................... 7 Demographics of Online buyers: ........................................................................................... 9 Challenges for e-commerce implementation ........................................................................ 11 Group buying players of Middle East .................................................................................. 13 Online Payment gateways in Middle East............................................................................ 15 Confidential Page | 2 Introduction Electronic commerce, or E-Commerce, involves the sale of goods and services via electronic means—principally over the internet, although sales via television (terrestrial, cable, and satellite) are also included. E-Commerce can be further divided into the following sectors: business-to-business (B2B), business-to-government (B2G), consumer-to-consumer (C2C), government-to-business (G2B), government-to-citizen (G2C), and business-to-consumer (B2C). Retailers that rely primarily on E-Commerce to sell goods...
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...Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 13 References ...................................................................................................................... 14 - 15 1.0 Executive Summary Borneo Safe Haven Bed and Breakfast is a bed and breakfast hotel business that is located exactly at the hearts of Kuching City. Kuching has millions of foreign travellers coming in and out every year ever since year 2010. Kuching has attracted many tourists due to the cleanliness of the city, the many tourist attraction places like museums and national parks, the friendliness of the citizens in Kuching also welcomed a lot of the tourists that visited Kuching. We will be utilising an old shop house and convert it into a modernized bed and breakfast hotel yet providing the customers the feel of staying in Borneo. We will also have a rooftop swimming pool with chilling areas and lounge that will serve light snacks and beverages while customers overlook the city of Kuching which will make us the first bed and breakfast in Kuching to have such facilities to provide a better stay experience for both the...
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...three key technologies? A) TCP/IP, HTML, and HTTP B) TCP/IP, HTTP, and packet switching C) Client/server computing, packet switching, and the development of communications standards for linking networks and computers D) Client/server computing, packet switching, and HTTP 3) The method of slicing digital messages into parcels, transmitting them along different communication paths, and reassembling them at their destinations is called: A) multiplexing. B) packet switching. C) packet routing. D) ATM. 4) The telephone system is an example of a ________ network. A) peer-to-peer B) wireless C) packet-switched D) circuit-switched 5) Which of the following is not a characteristic of packet switching? A) Packets travel independently of each other. B) Packets are routed through many different paths. C) Packet switching requires point-to-point circuits. D) Packets include data for checking transmission errors. 6) In TCP/IP, IP is responsible for: A) disassembling and reassembling of packets during transmission. B) establishing an Internet connection between two computers. C) moving packets over the network. D) sequencing the transfer of packets. 7) In a telecommunications network architecture, a protocol is: A) a device that handles the switching of voice and data in a local area network. B) a standard set of rules and procedures for control of communications in a network. C) a communications service for microcomputer users. D) the main computer in a telecommunications...
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...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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...College Athletics: Deserving of More Compensation Western Governor’s University There has been a buzz in college athletics, as of late, about a topic that has been around since the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) put restrictions on amateur athletes. Is education enough compensation for representing a college in sport, and should an amateur athlete be allowed contractual representation? The NCAA and their affiliated schools hide behind the word “amateur”, while making billions of dollars from revenue generated from student-athletes and their likeness. When presenting my research we will dive into certain aspects of compensation not offered, and how the NCAA exploits young men and women through their no pay rules. Maybe outright paying kids is not the answer, but with all the outcry and settlements out of court, it appears that something more must be offered. Amateurism. (2014). NCAA.org. Retrieved from http://www.ncaa.org/amateurism says to qualify as amateur, “an athlete is not permitted to: sign contracts with any professional team, receive salary for participating in athletics, collect prize above actual and necessary expenses, play with professionals, tryout/practice/compete with a professional team, accept benefits from an agent or perspective agent, agree to be represented by an agent, and delay initial full-time collegiate enrollment to participate in organized sports competition.” So, before young athletes can start their...
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...Electronics FOR DUMmIES by Gordon McComb and Earl Boysen ‰ TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine ! Electronics For Dummies® Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 111 River Street Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, (317) 572-3447, fax (317) 572-4355, e-mail: brandreview@wiley.com. Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written...
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