Introduction
Walgreen Co. and CVS/Caremark are two of the largest retail drugstore chains in the United States, offering consumers a variety of basic consumer goods including household products, convenience foods, personal care, beauty care, photofinishing, and seasonal items, as well as over-the-counter and prescription medication. In addition to their well-known retail pharmacies, both companies also operate a health services health and wellness division. Within the retail pharmacy industry CVS/Caremark and Walgreens continually battle for the retail position. This document will offer an overview and basic competitive analysis of the two companies.
Background
Location & Type of presence (brick and mortar, or internet)
According to the CVS/Caremark 2011Annaul Report, page 23; as of December 31, 2011, the CVS/Caremark Retail Pharmacy segment operated 7,327 retail drugstores with 7,271of these retail stores operating a full service pharmacy. Their stores are located in 41 states and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Additionally, within these retail stores operate 657 health care clinics conducting business under the Minute Clinic name. The retail pharmacy stores operate primarily under the CVS/pharmacy or Longs Drugs names. In addition, the Pharmacy Services segment operates under the names CVS Caremark Pharmacy Services, Caremark, CVS Caremark, Care Plus CVS/pharmacy, Care Plus, and Rx America to providing pharmacy benefit management services to employers, insurance companies, and other organizations. Their online retail sales operate under the name CVS.com offering most of the same products as the retail stores. CVS/Caremark also offers customers the ability to refill prescriptions online.1
According to the Walgreens 2011Annaul Report, Part 1; as of August 31, 2011, there were 8,210 retail locations in 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam operated by Walgreens. Additionally, Walgreens operates 357 Take Care health clinics. The 8210 retail locations are broken down into 7,761 drug stores, 355 worksite facilities, 83 infusion and respiratory services facilities, 9 specialty pharmacies, and 2 mail service facilities. Walgreens currently employs 247,000 people. Their online operations include offering includes most of their general merchandise from beauty products to health and wellness products including home medical equipment. The company has added mobile applications for mobile devices that allow customers to refill prescriptions, download weekly promotions and through location services customers can find a Walgreens drugstore near their location.2
History
Consumer Value Stores (CVS) Caremark opened their first retail store in 1963 is founded in Lowell, Massachusetts by brothers Stanley and Sidney Goldstein and partner Ralph Hoagland. The operation the pharmacy departments did not occur until 1967 in Warwick and Cumberland, Rhode Island. The company was then sold to Melville Corporation. Between 1972 and 1997, CVS acquires 84 Clinton Drug and Discount Stores, 36-store New Jersey-based Mack Drug chain, 500-store Peoples Drug, 2,500 stores from Revco, 200 stores from Arbor Drugs of Michigan, 1,268 Eckerd Stores and Eckerd Health Services, Eckerd’s PBM/Mail-order pharmacy business, Longs Drugs’ 541 stores, and 700 stand-alone Sav-On and Osco drugstores from Albertsons. In 2007, CVS Corporation and Caremark Rx, Incorporated merge to create CVS Caremark, becoming the nation's premier integrated pharmacy services provider.1
Walgreens drugstores were founded by Charles R. Walgreen, Sr in 1901, in Dixon, Illinois. In 1910 there were two Walgreen stores and the stores operated a soda fountain and served food. In 1919, had 20 stores, became a publicly-traded corporation in 1927, In 1922 Walgreens began selling it’s immortal malted milkshake created by Ivar "Pop" Coulson. in 1929, the total number of Walgreens stores was 525. In 1939 Charles Walgreen died at the age of 66 and his son, Charles Walgreen Jr., took over the company. In 1984, Walgreens opened its 1,000th store and began opening as many as 425 new stores opening each year. By 1975, Walgreens employed more than 1,500 pharmacists in 633 stores. At the beginning of 2012 Walgreens has 8,270 locations nationwide.2
Ownership, Governance, Organizational Structure, & Current Leadership
The ownership of most major corporations comes in the form of stock options. The shares outstanding for CVS / Caremark are 1.28 Bill, Institutional Ownership is 85.52, top 10 institutions 30.5, mutual fund ownership 1.91, 5% insider ownership .36. Whereas, Walgreens Institution Ownership is 66.77, top 10 institutions 25.49 and mutual funds are 29.20. (Walgreens ownership profile)
The governance practices of CVS are above average for companies within the S&P 500 and the S&P Consumer Staples sector. The board of directors is composed of 12 members, and is controlled by a supermajority of independent outsiders (outsiders make up 90%). The full board of directors is elected annually and the performance of the board is reviewed regularly. Having a board-approved succession plan in place, the outside directors meet without the CEO present, and the company does not have a poison pill in place. (J. Agnese;, 2008,Bloomberg Business ) Walgreens also holds a board of directors and anywhere from 9 to 12 members. Two thirds of the board must be independent and the board does not believe in term limits. The board states that this would cause the removal of directors who have been able to develop, over a period of time, increasing insight into the company and its operations contributing to the board as a whole.
CVS is structured on the same basis as most corporations, which includes a CEO, EVP and management underneath those divisions that report to the CEO. The current leadership of CVS / Caremark includes the CEO, Chairman and President is Thomas Ryan, reporting to him are seven (7) EVP which manage departments such as merchandising/marketing, stores, administration, legal, pharm care, CEO pharm care and chief information officer. As the management chain goes further down there are 20 departments that fall under the EVP managers that report to the CEO. Walgreens also has a CEO, President and Director - Gregory Wasson, reporting to the CEO directly are 15 departments such as CFO, Legal – Secretary, community management, human resources and e-commerce. Alike most companies those that report to the middle management departments are many. The lowest management departments reporting to the CEO are 15 departments.
Brands, Strength of Brand Portfolio, Brand Loyalty, & Brand Recognition
CVS Caremark is a pharmacy health care provider in the US that operates through pharmacy services and retail pharmacy divisions. The retail pharmacy division includes 7, 182 retail drugstores, web-store and retail health care clinics. The drugstores are in 41 states and the District of Columbia and are under the banner CVS. CVS also has a list of exclusive brands that are developed to deliver unique, quality products from beauty to baby care that are only available at CVS. Each brand is developed, conceived and produced for CVS pharmacy. CVS is a trusted and recognized name that brings quality and convenience to customers with each product line.
Walgreens is a pharmacy health care provider that has been in business since 1901. They have a PBM Express Scripts and have been dealing with problems with them since last year. AS well as having problems with Medco where both PBM may refuse to refill prescriptions at Walgreens making customers shop elsewhere. Walgreens can still regain the strength and brand loyalty by the huge presence in the Chicago area that rely on Walgreens and refer to them as “my Walgreens”. If enough Walgreen customers complain about being forced to go elsewhere the PBMs will find themselves in a tight spot.
What is Walgreen’s Management Philosophy?
According to Walgreens.com:”Our vision is to become “My Walgreens” for everyone in America by transforming the traditional drugstore into a health and daily living destination that offers a range of products and services to help customers get, stay and live well. Our pharmacies – on the front lines of health care in America – serve as a centerpiece in improving patients’ overall health, and improving access to care and lowering costs through an expanded scope of community-based health and wellness solutions. The core, fundamental strengths of our company, developed over more than a century, includes the best, most convenient store network in America and our trusted and iconic brand.” (walgreens.com)
In 2011, Walgreens introduced its Well Experience store format, which offers a new enhanced layout, a completely revamped pharmacy and health care experience, and a number of new product selections. They currently have the new format in the locations of Chicago, in a (market-wide pilot) in Indianapolis and in some Duane Reade locations in New York City.
At the core of this approach according to the website is “an effort to bring the pharmacist out from behind the counter so they can provide more counseling to patients, offer clinical services and answer questions. By advancing the role of the community pharmacist in this way, we believe we can create better health outcomes, prevent hospitalizations and save money for patients, employers, insurers and the health care system.” (walgreens.com) Walgreens philosophy is focused on customer convenience. Walgreens has developed a philosophy of trying to be the neighborhood pharmacy, by trying to locate the stores on corner lots at convenient locations close to residential areas. What is the Management Philosophy at CVS?
CRM (customer relationship management) is what is at the core of the management philosophy for CVS. CRM is a business philosophy and set of strategies, programs, and systems that focuses on identifying and building loyalty with a retailer’s most valued customers. Based on the philosophy that retailers can increase their profitability by building relationships with their better customers, the goal of CRM is to develop a base of loyal customers who patronize the business frequently.
According to (CVS customer relationship management)”Customer loyalty to a retailer means that customers are committed to purchasing merchandise and services from the retailer and will resist the activities of competitors attempting to attract their patronage. They have a bond with the retailer, and the bond is based on more than a positive feeling about the retailer. Loyal customers have an emotional connection with the retailer and they feel like the retailer is a friend. Their reasons for continuing to patronize a business go beyond the convenience of the retailer’s store or the low prices and specific brands offered by the retailer. They feel such goodwill toward the retailer that they will encourage their friends and family to buy from it.” (Bari Harlam) Programs that encourage repeat buying by simply offering price discounts can be easily copied by competitors, and these types of price-promotion programs encourage customers to always look for the best deal rather than develop a relationship with one retailer. But, when a retailer develops an emotional connection with a customer, it is difficult for a competitor to attract that customer. Emotional connections develop when customers receive personal attention.

Products offered, depth and breadth of the product line, product portfolio balance
Walgreens:
For Walgreens forty-two percent of the brand’s product assortment is exclusive to its website.Last year, Walgreens launched “Refill by Scan,” an app that enables consumers to refill prescriptions in less than 30 seconds by scanning a barcode with a mobile device.
Walgreens' March acquisition of Drugstore.com for $409 million will accelerate the chain's goal of becoming the most convenient retailer in healthy living, she said. The deal also let Walgreens expand on its product portfolio by adding Drugstore.com assets Beauty.com, SkinStore.com and SpaLook.com, as well as Drugstore.com's 60,000 products and 3.2 million customers. CVS:
Front store categories include over-the-counter drugs, beauty products and cosmetics, film and photo finishing services, seasonal merchandise, greeting cards and convenience foods. A key component of the Company’s front store is its Extra Care card program. The Company carried over 4,400 CVS/pharmacy and brand products, which accounted for approximately 18% of its front store revenues during 2011. As of December 31, 2011, it operated 657 Minute Clinic locations in 25 states and the District of Columbia; of which 648 were located in CVS/pharmacy stores. It also operates a limited number of small pharmacies located at client sites under the Care Plus CVS/pharmacy, Care Plus or CVS/pharmacy name, which provide certain health plan members and customers with a convenient alternative for filling their prescriptions. During 2011, it opened 161 new retail pharmacy stores, relocated 86 stores and closed 16 stores.
Companies tend to repeat what has worked for them in the past. Research on some companies found that the great majority of the executives surveyed “preferred internal development to external sourcing when they needed to develop differentiated products and services.” (walgreens.com) There are similar results in other industries, though the preferred growth mode may differ.
For Walgreens one area of success has been candy. Millions of consumers are drawn to Walgreens for their candy and maintaining a balance between new candy products and nationally ranked SKUs is a major focus for Paul Minger, Walgreen Co. category manager. He has developed strategies that help drive sales and reinforce in shoppers’ minds that the company is both on the cutting edge with new products and is also a consistent source for their favorite mainstream brands.
Walgreens and Alliance Boots have entered into a strategic transaction designed to bring together the strengths and expertise of both companies to create the first global pharmacy-led, health and wellbeing enterprise. (walgreens.com) When these two companies combine together they will be:
• the global leader in pharmacy-led, health and wellbeing retail with over 11,000 stores in 12 countries
• the largest global pharmaceutical wholesaler and distribution network with over 370 distribution centers delivering to more than 170,000 pharmacies, doctors, health centers and hospitals in 21 countries
• the world’s largest purchaser of prescription drugs and many other health and wellbeing products
Together Walgreens and Alliance Boots would have:
• unmatched supply chain and procurement expertise, offering customers innovative solutions and optimal efficiencies
• an unparalleled portfolio of retail and business brands (Walgreens, Duane Reade, Boots and Alliance Healthcare), as well as increasingly global health and beauty product brands (No7, Botanies and Boots Laboratories)
• diversified and robust profit pools across the U.S., Europe and key emerging markets
• a unique platform for growth in developed and emerging markets
Patents, Licenses, and Quality Control
Symbol Company Application # Date Title
WAG Walgreen 20120004929 20120105 Method and system for aligning a plurality of prescription refills to multiple alignment dates

WAG Walgreen 20110307270 20111215 System for separating and distributing pharmacy order processing for prescription verification

WAG Walgreen 20110276364 20111110 Method and system for optimizing store space and item layout

WAG Walgreen 20110125529 20110526 System and method for disease state marketing

WAG Walgreen 20100125461 20100520 System and method of using a non-retail central filling facility to process pharmacy product prescriptions in a pharmacy retail network

WAG Walgreen 20100100238 20100422 Personalized gift card templates with digital images

WAG Walgreen 20100071320 20100325 Method and system for determining an order of fill for a plurality of pills in a multi-dose medicament container

WAG Walgreen 20100031611 20100211 Method and system for determining a volume-based fill pattern of a multi-dose medicament container

Quality control Steps
Walgreens
• Quality of Store Condition: To stay in competition with the other drugstores, Walgreen is really big on its store condition, keeping it neat and organized and easily accessible to customers.
• Superiority of Customer Service: Walgreens tries to serve its best to every customer that walks in the door; there about a million customers that walk in to Walgreen’s door every day.
• Quality of Accuracy in Pharmacy Department: There are many activities that depend on quality control behind pharmacy counter such as, the accuracy of entering, filling and verifying all the prescription of the day; and free consultation for customers.
• Monitoring points by Upper management: Store condition, Customer Service, Sales figures, Inventory levels etc. Also, periodical visits by executives to check firsthand the operations at different locations.
• Excellence of Employee and Managers: In order to maintain the company’s quality, Walgreens has a well-developed training program for employee and store level managers. (walgreens.com)
CVS:
All of our pharmacy operations, including mail services, specialty pharmacies and retail pharmacies, follow comprehensive quality assurance processes for prescription safety and accuracy. The dispensing process employed in our prescription mail service operations includes extensive quality assurance measures, such as enhanced quality control, electronic imaging, quality procedures for compounded prescription items, an integrated system for eligibility verification and drug utilization review and final quality assurance checks. (CVS customer relationship management)
Describe the SWOT Analysis for Each Company
Strengths
A new Walgreens store opens approximately every 19 hours. Walgreens has considerable brand equity as a nationwide and has positioned itself as the drugstore offering the most convenience.1
CVS/Caremark was ranked as 18 in the Fortune 500 list (2010), employs about 200,000 people in about 41 states, and its revenue amounts more than $99 billion.
Weaknesses
Walgreens operates fewer stores than CVS/Caremark; Walgreens has 5,461 stores1, while CVS/Caremark has 6,163 stores2
Opportunities
In a 2008 USA Today article Dr. Robert Epstein, chief medical officer at Franklin Lakes, N.J.-based Medco, noted, “the biggest jump in use of chronic medications was in the 20- to 44-year-old age group (adults in the prime of life) where it rose 20% over the six years.”3 This fraction of the population seeking care for chronic conditions provides both companies with an opportunity to step in and take market share if the either company were to find a way to effectively cater to their needs better than its competitors.
Threats
One of the largest threats that Walgreens and CVS/Caremark face may be the gradual consumer shift to mail order pharmacies. Even if both companies expand the mail-order threat could come from overseas could because operating costs for their retail locations.1 and 2 Identify and Discuss which segments are served, target market, market share, growth rate, and customer loyalty & customer service policy.
Walgreens and CVS/Caremark have basically the same target market. Their markets include all customers seeking over the counter and prescription medications. Both companies target the same geographic areas as is visibly noticeable because in many locations CVS and Walgreens stores are built on opposing intersection corners. With Walgreens slightly edging out CVS for the largest pharmacy market share as described it the graph below. However, Walgreens has no positioned itself to move ahead in the mail-order prescription market.
Walgreens and CVS are positioned similarly. Both operate convenient brick and mortar stores to purchase beauty care items, prescriptions, and a limited number food items and other items. Their stores often open multiple locations, even in small cities. Most all stores not located in shopping malls or the downtown area of a large city offer drive thru, online, and telephone prescription ordering services. Each company caters to the coupon customer base as with excellent coupon policies. Brick and mortar retail stores are featured in blue, and mail-order pharmacies in red. Source: 2011-12, Economic Report on Retail and Specialty Pharmacies, www.drugchannels.com Identify and discuss the promotional mix, promotional budgets, advertising themes, ad agency used, sales force success rate, online promotional strategy

According to the Walgreen Company corporate website the company operates retail drugstores providing the retail sale of prescription and non-prescription drugs and general merchandise provide health and wellness solutions and worksite clinics including pharmacists who provide drug consultations and administer flu vaccines and other immunizations. Walgreen also offers infusion therapy services for cancer treatments, chronic pain, heart conditions, and other infections and disorders and provides clinical services, such as nutritional assessments and patient and caregiver education. Pharmacy services include easy access to patient prescription records, which allows access to refills and emergency supplies at any of its pharmacies, eases prescription transfers, and enables any Walgreens pharmacist to provide ongoing treatment consultation. The company's websites allow consumers to purchase general merchandise, including beauty, personal care, home medical equipment, contact lens, vitamins and supplements and other health and wellness solutions. It also offers services through Take Care Health Systems, which manages its Take Care Clinics at select Walgreens drugstores throughout the country; and Take Care Health Employer Solutions that manages primary care, health and wellness, occupational health, pharmacy and fitness centers at large employer campuses.1
According to their corporate website the CVS Caremark Corporation is a pharmacy health care provider that operates a Pharmacy Services segment operates under the CVS Caremark Pharmacy Services, Caremark, CVS Caremark, Care Plus CVS/pharmacy, Care Plus, and Rx America names; providing pharmacy benefit management services to employers, insurance companies, and other organizations. The Pharmacy Services segment also offers health benefit plans and drug benefits under the Federal Government's Medicare program. The company’s retail drugstores operate online retail pharmacy sales and onsite health care clinics. Its retail drugstores primarily operate under the CVS/pharmacy name and are located in most states, including Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. The pharmacy stores sell prescription drugs and a wide assortment of merchandise including over-the-counter drugs, beauty products and cosmetics, film and photo finishing services, seasonal merchandise, greeting cards and convenience foods.2
Describe and Discuss the distribution channels used (direct & indirect), exclusivity agreements, alliances, and geographical coverage

This information is protected by the companies as confidential and therefore not available for public release. While other sources of this information were found, these sources could not be established as creditable.
Describe and Discuss the Pricing policy, discounts, and allowances
This information is protected by the companies as confidential and therefore not available for public release. While other sources of this information were found, these sources could not be established as creditable.

Identify and discuss your company(s) marketing strategies?

In their 10K Form Annual Report reported; “Walgreens goal is to provide the most convenient multichannel access to consumer goods and services, pharmacy, health and wellness services through our 7,761 community based drugstores, as well as through our specialty pharmacy, home infusion and respiratory services, worksite health centers and retail clinic businesses. As of August 2011, approximately 73.8% of the United States population lived within five miles of a Walgreens and 6.1 million shoppers visited our stores daily. In addition to store shoppers, Walgreens.com received approximately 16.8 million visits per month in fiscal 2011.
We seek to grow pharmacy, front-end and online market share through new store growth, comparable store sales increases, pharmacy prescription file purchases and strategic acquisitions. In fiscal 2011, we expanded our ecommerce capabilities with the acquisition of drugstore.com which complements our site, Walgreens.com, in providing customers with access to our merchandise. In fiscal 2010, we supplemented organic growth by expanding our presence in the New York metropolitan area through the acquisition of 258 Duane Reade drugstores. Beyond our purchases of drugstore.com and Duane Reade, we continue to make strategic acquisitions of prescription files, buy and- operate locations and other regional drugstore retailers as well as other complementary health care services.
We utilize our extensive retail network as a channel to provide affordable quality health and wellness services to our customers and patients, as illustrated by our ability to play a significant role in providing flu vaccines and other immunizations. We market our products and services to employers, governments, managed care organizations and pharmacy benefit managers, expanding beyond our traditional retail consumer model, to contract directly with our payers. With our more than 75,000 health care providers including pharmacists, nurse practitioners and other health related professionals, Walgreens expects to continue to play a growing role in government and employer efforts to control escalating health care costs.” In their 10K Form Annual Report CVS/Caremark reported: “The Pharmacy Services segment provides a full range of PBM services, as described more fully below, to our clients consisting primarily of employers, insurance companies, unions, government employee groups, managed care organizations and other sponsors of health benefit plans and individuals throughout the United States. In addition, through our SilverScript Insurance Company (“SilverScript”), Accendo Insurance Company (“Accendo”) and Pennsylvania Life Insurance Company (“Pennsylvania Life”) subsidiaries, we are a national provider of drug benefits to eligible beneficiaries under the Federal Government’s Medicare Part D program. Currently, the Pharmacy Services business operates under the CVS Caremark® Pharmacy Services, Caremark®, CVS Caremark®, CarePlus CVS/pharmacy®, CarePlus™, RxAmerica® and Accordant® names. As of December 31, 2011, the Pharmacy Services segment operated 31 retail specialty pharmacy stores, 12 specialty mail order pharmacies and four mail service pharmacies located in 22 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Pharmacy Services Business Strategy - Our business strategy centers on providing innovative pharmaceutical solutions and quality client service in order to enhance clinical outcomes for our clients’ health benefit plan members while assisting our clients and their plan members in better managing overall health care costs. We produce superior results for our clients and their plan members by leveraging our expertise in core PBM services, including: plan design and administration, formulary management, discounted drug purchase arrangements, Medicare Part D services, mail order and specialty pharmacy services, retail pharmacy network management services, prescription management systems, clinical services, disease management services and pharmacogenomics.
In addition, as a fully integrated pharmacy services company, we are able to offer our clients and their plan members a variety of programs and plan designs that benefit from our integrated information systems and the ability of our more than 25,000 pharmacists, nurse practitioners and physician assistants to interact personally with the many plan members who shop our stores every day. Through our multiple member touch points (retail stores, mail order and specialty pharmacies, retail clinics, call centers and proprietary websites), we seek to engage plan members in behaviors that lower cost and improve health care outcomes. Examples of these programs and services include: Maintenance Choice®, a program where eligible client plan members can elect to fill their maintenance prescriptions at our retail pharmacy stores for the same price as mail order; Pharmacy Advisor®, a program that uses our Consumer Engagement EngineTM technology to facilitate face-to-face and telephone counseling by our pharmacists to help participating plan members with certain chronic diseases, such as diabetes and cardiovascular conditions, to identify gaps in care, adhere to their prescribed medications and manage their health conditions; compliance and persistency programs designed to ensure that patients take their medications in the proper manner; enhanced disease management programs that are targeted at managing chronic disease states; and an ExtraCare® Health Card program which offers discounts to eligible plan members on certain over-the-counter health care products sold in our CVS/pharmacy stores. In addition, we are working with our clients to (i) decrease unnecessary and expensive emergency room visits by encouraging plan members to use MinuteClinic locations for everyday common ailments and (ii) create pilot programs that offer convenient and unique services available at MinuteClinic, such as injection training for specialty pharmacy services.”
The marketing strategies of both companies offer a diverse attempt to reach all segments of the population in need of prescription medication. It appears neither company has left any marketing strategy described by Boone and Kurtz (2012). Both companies operate brick and mortar stores, online segments, and have attempted to reach the majority of their customer base focusing on gender, age, race, geographic location, medical conditions, and just about any other segment of the consumer base in the United States. Employees, Key Employees and Skill Sets
Over the past five decades, CVS / Caremark grew in upwards of 200,000 employees. CVS continues to make progress in diversity and was recognized as one of Diversity Inc.’s Noteworthy Companies for 2012. Ethnic minorities comprise eight percent of the Board of Directors, and 37% of the total workforce. Women comprise 25% of the Board of Directors and 66% of the total workforce. Of the total number of employees 89.9 percent are in the retail business, 7.6 percent in pharmacy and 2.5 percent in the corporate positions.
CVS / Caremark has, like many other companies, Integrity Training Programs which offers high ethical standards and practices that comply with laws, regulations and company policies. They also assess and monitor a broad area of compliance risk across the organization and maintains a compliance auditing program to help detect non-adherence to the Code of Conduct. Any CVS employee has the ability to raise a compliance issue and seek guidance regarding a potential legal or ethical violation. Diversity training is another training session offered as a set of classes for leaders that enables participants to build their skills in managing diversity as a strength of their team.
In contrast Walgreens, employees 247,000 employees as of 2011 and has an equal opportunity stance on employing a diverse population of employees. This company has necessary assessments that are needed to be passed prior to employment. The tests are computerized skills assessment testing, math skills, customer communications skills testing and personality testing. Key principles each employee is responsible for are integrity and compliance, communication, ethical question reporting violations, cooperation, and non-retaliation. Compensation, Benefits, Morale, and Retention Rates
CVS offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes personalized health care and wages that reflects the knowledge and experience required for the specific job. Employees that work an average of 30 hours a week are offered a full benefits package which includes a 401K and employee stock purchase plan; comprehensive medical, prescription, vision, dental, fertility, adoption benefits, life, accident and disability insurance, flex spending accounts, paid time off, tuition reimbursement and employee discount at the stores.
Employee retention is at a high rate in part due to the emerging leaders program and other leaders programs that allows promotions. Another avenue that allows for a higher retention rate is hiring heroes and well as partnering with communities to work with government leaders to build recruitment and training programs and create jobs. (1)
Walgreens employees’ compensation ranges from $123,000 to $17,000 depending on the position held in the company. Benefit packages include paid life insurance, sick time, holiday pay, medical and dental coverage and prescription coverage. If a corporate employee, they will receive the above mentioned benefits as well as on-site childcare, shuttle service to work and an on-site store to shop.
Walgreens believes that if employees do their best job it will increase employee retention rates. To date Walgreens has the best retention rate in the business. (2) After each year of service employees receive a pic to denote their milestone. With stores opening up every 17 hours this leads to many opportunities for employees. Another inventive for employees to stay with Walgreens is after 6 months they have access to a profit sharing program with a three to one match for every dollar and employee puts in. (3)

Management Strength and Management Style
Caremark managers look at their SWOT analysis to make decisions in their daily stores. Several strengths they can gain advantages over competitors are market positions, large retail network and strong inventory management. Externally they look at the aging populations, growing market for generic drugs and store growth. Caremark focuses on the culture it shapes from the over 200,000 talented employees. By developing a company identity they can accurately define, the who and why we are will serve as the guiding beacon for how business is conducted every day.
Managers are responsible for hiring talented people that truly believe in what they need to accomplish. They realize that in order to help millions of customers on a path of better health, they must offer a best in class workplace that attracts colleagues who truly want to make a difference.
“The best boss I ever had” This is a phrase I have heard and said at some point, but what does it actually mean? What do great managers do? They discover what is unique about each person and capitalize on it. Great managers know the value of unique abilities and how best to integrate them into a plan. In Walgreens there is something that is called “resets and revisions” A reset involves stocking an isle with new merchandise (end of summer sun creams will replace allergy medicines). A revision takes the new line of an item and displays it at the end of the row. Each isle requires this revision at least once a week. In most Walgreen stores each employee “owns” an aisle. They are responsible for cleaning, tagging items and conducting resets and revisions. Managers also have the ability to see the strengths of an employee and make adjustments to the set plan. If an employee is best at resets and revisions and not customer interactions he/she can decide to place an employee over such section as their full time job. Corporate strategy
Identify and Describe your company(s) objectives, mission statement, growth plans.
Walgreens
Mission Statement
“Our Vision -to be “My Walgreens” for everyone in America—the first choice in health and daily living … owning the strategic territory of “well.” (www.walgreens.com)
“Our Mission-is to be the most trusted convenient multichannel provider and advisor of innovative pharmacy, health and wellness solutions, and consumer goods and services in communities across America. A destination where health and happiness come together to help people get well, stay well and live well.”
Our Values Based on the principles upon which Walgreens was founded more than a century ago:
Honesty, trust, and integrity with our customers, our shareholders, suppliers, the communities we serve, and among ourselves; Quality through consistent and reliable service, advice, and products across every touch point and channel; Caring, compassionate and driven to delivering a great customer and patient experience through outstanding service and a desire for healthy outcomes;
A strong community commitment and presence built through service, expertise, and the personal engagement of every Walgreen team member.
Company growth Walgreens remains among the fastest growing retailers in the country with a growth rate between 2.5 and 3 percent in 2012. Their health clinics and growing specialty pharmacy business complement they’re drugstores. Walgreens operates more than 700 health and wellness clinics in their stores and on employer worksites. Their health centers on or near employer campuses offer diverse services including primary and acute care; wellness, pharmacy and disease management services; and health and fitness programming. Employers recognize the significant value and cost savings these centers can provide.
Specialty pharmacies are the fastest growing sector of the pharmacy sector and it complements core retail pharmacies. Walgreens built their specialty business primarily through acquisitions. Most recently, Walgreens acquired Bio Scrip, Inc.’s community specialty pharmacies and centralized specialty and mail service pharmacy businesses. The community specialty pharmacy business includes a national network with 30 locations in 16 states across the U.S. and the District of Columbia, primarily serving HIV, oncology and transplant patients. In 2010 Walgreens acquired the Duane Reade drugstore chain in New York City, and immediately began building many of its unique “urban retailing” and store design concepts into Walgreens stores across the country. Building on its core business, Walgreens advanced their multi-channel strategy with the acquisition of a leading e-commerce site, drugstore.com, in 2011. Walgreens gained not only the drugstore.com and Beauty.com websites and their customer service and distribution centers, but also access to more than 3 million online customers and 60,000 drug, health, beauty and skincare products, expanding their already strong online offering. Walgreens also introduced “Web Pickup” services at many locations, enabling customers to shop online and pick up their orders at a store in as little as an hour. Walgreens plans to grow their store base by approximately 2.5 to 3 percent in fiscal 2012.
Identify and Discuss your company(s) core competencies?
The core, fundamental strengths of Walgreens, includes the best, most convenient store network in America and their trusted brand. In 2011, Walgreens introduced its Well Experience store format, which offers a new, enhanced layout, a completely revamped pharmacy and health care experience and a number of new product selections. Currently they have the new format in select locations in Chicago, in a market-wide pilot in Indianapolis and in some Duane Reade locations in New York City. At the core of this approach is an effort to bring the pharmacist out from behind the counter so they can provide more counseling to patients, offer clinical services and answer questions. By advancing the role of the community pharmacist in this way, Walgreens believes they can create better health outcomes, prevent hospitalizations and save money for patients, employers, insurers and the health care system. Also, transforming the customer experience at stores through the interaction of employees and their new Health Guide role will help Walgreens become more than a drugstore, it will transform it into a trusted resource and health partner for every part of the customer’s shopping, pharmacy and health care experience.
Identify and Discuss your company(s) distinctive competency?
Just looking at what Walgreens offers, it is easy to determine that there is value. Walgreens' locations are valuable resources and their employees are valuable resources. However, Walgreens' locations are their most valuable resources. These resources separate them from their competitors, because most all of the other retail pharmacies in competition with Walgreens do not have valuable real estate. The competition has to settle for less desirable locations therefore, Walgreens' resources are valuable and a tangible asset. Walgreens' locations are not inimitable, although there may be a cost disadvantage, because the competition does have the opportunity to set up shop on adjacent corners to Walgreens and in a lot of cases they do. Because companies can use the same resource such as land to their advantage, Walgreens does not have the opportunity to exploit this asset. However, most of the other companies are not using this strategy. It may be that their mission is to not put a shop on every corner in the country, which is Walgreens' goal. Looking at the way to analyze the VRIO (Value, Rarity, Imitability, Organization) Framework, Walgreens has a temporary competitive advantage, and they have organizational strength and distinctive competence.
CVS
Our Mission: We will be the easiest pharmacy retailer for customers to use.
Our Vision: We help people live longer, healthier, happier lives
Emphasis on convenience, service, and accessibility
“We continually challenge ourselves to redefine convenience for the diverse needs of our customers.” (Pharmacy Field Report, 2010) From selecting sites, to the layout of the store, to the hours they operate and the services they provide, CVS’ goal is to deliver increasingly greater convenience. Every store is renovated, on average, at least once every five years and this freshly renovated environment keeps their customers coming back. A record of success
CVS has a drive to always serve customers better and a real estate strategy that calls for not just the opening of many more stores to serve a number of new communities, but also the moving of existing stores to more convenient locations. CVS remains committed to a strategy of growth and is aggressively seeking out new sites. For CVS this strategy has resulted in sustained profitability and widespread customer acceptance.
Partnering with communities
CVS wants to be the pharmacy that is providing the most convenient locations possible to allow access to the health care and prescription needs of individual communities. It is also trying to be sensitive to the various cultures that make up a community. That is why CVS has external signage that reflects the languages of those particular cultures on their stores.
Partnering with local and minority suppliers
CVS also tries to work with qualified local and minority owned contractors, sub-contractors, and vendors. When working with these companies, CVS is looking to select firms based on their financial backing and stability that will be able to adequately staff our projects and maintain schedule and price competitiveness. CVS was awarded the African American Contractors Association (AACA) Outstanding Business Development Award in March 2004 for their commitment to individual communities when building new stores along with support for the community through diverse hiring practices.
Core Competencies
CVS Caremark Corporation is a market leader in the retail drug industry. CVS has united its resources and capabilities in a way that creates core competencies and allows the company to maintain a competitive position within the industry. It has been successful in maintaining its competitive advantage over rivals by successfully innovating new and unique products and services in the market which is very hard for its competitors to imitate. CVS claims to have always been first to introduce innovative services. As of December 31, 2009, CVS has 4,300 CVS brand products including vitamins, general merchandise and beauty products. CVS has been recognized from different organizations for excellent customer service. CVS has a core competency in its marketing capability which is always innovative. In the pharmacy industry, CVS is the only company that is implementing the Extra Care Loyalty program. The program enables CVS to attract new customers and to retain existing customers. CVS has developed a marketing mix that brings in customers from all demographic areas of consumers.
Industry Competition
The top two ranked retail pharmacies in the United States are CVS (6288 stores) and Walgreens (5274 stores). Having discussed these two throughout, there are many competitors that fall beneath these two that need to be discussed. The next three in line of the top ranked pharmacies are Rite Aid, Wal-Mart, and Kroger in order as listed. Rite Aid pharmacy has (4608 pharmacy stores) and first opened in 1962 as Thrif D Discount Center. It was officially named Rite Aid Corporation in 1968 and after many acquisitions Rite Aid was up to 3000 stores in 1995. Shortly after 1999 the new corporate management came in and completely overhauled the way the company was doing business. Stricter financial controls, improved company operations, financial performance and balance sheet returned the company back to the health it needed. Rite Aid has approximately 4,700 stores in 31 states and the District of Columbia with a strong presence on both the East and West coasts, with a fiscal 2012 sales of $26.1 billion. (2) Wal-Mart pharmacy has (3646 pharmacy stores) and the first pharmacy was opened in 1978. However, pharmacies were implemented in the Superstores in 1988. (1) Wal-Mart also offers flu shots, specialty prescriptions, and pharmacy care for conditions including HIV, hepatitis and fertility. They also provide smoking cessation tools, weight loss aids, first aid and cold and flu medication. One of the other attributes Wal-Mart offers is the $4 prescription plan. (3) Kroger has upwards of 1900 pharmacy stores and started into the drugstore business around the 1960’s. (4) Kroger looks at employing individuals who share passion for customer service, fairness, respect, openness, leadership and honesty. Whether the employee likes working with people, numbers, ideas, food, or pharmaceuticals most can find their match. Kroger has a set of values not unlike other pharmacies in the competitive market place; they look at these values to guide them in decision making. The company seeks employees that are honest, have integrity, respect, diverse in their individuals, offers safety and secure workplace, and their voices matter- inclusion. Kroger feels their competitive advantage in the marketplace is the wide range of talent they bring. Kroger offers competitive wages, insurance, flexible hours, 401K program and generous vacation time which allows for the loyalty of the employee to feel confident and enjoys promotions to be held within whenever possible. Their goal is to attract and retain employees with regular career development activities; encouraging open dialogues to discuss career objectives. Like other retail pharmacies they also offer the discount plan of the $4.00 generic and $10.00 90 day price plans. (5)
With the increasing amount of individuals taking medications there will always be a need for pharmacies and especially those that offer discounted pricing. One opportunity in the different pharmacies would be the newly formed alliances of insurance companies and mail order pharmacies. A threat would be the entry of mail order market by an already established company. (6) The other threats that would be an issue are union and non-union pharmacies. Some think and feel if an employee is hired in a union based pharmacy, where benefits and pay is better than others, they don’t care of how hard they work. Another issue would be the stress level. The less busy pharmacy may be important for those just entering in the market place or not willing to work at a high pace.
Rite-Aid Corporation
Rite Aid Corporation, incorporated in 1968, is a retail drugstore chain in the United States. As of March 3, 2012, the Company operated drugstores in 31 states across the country and in the District of Columbia. As of March 3, 2012, it operated 4,667 stores. In the Company’s stores, it sells prescription drugs and a range of other merchandise, which it calls front end products. During the fiscal year ended March 3, 2012, prescription drug sales accounted for 68.1% of its total sales. The Company sells a lot different front end products, which accounted for 31.9% of its total sales in fiscal 2012. Front end products include, over-the-counter medications, health and beauty aids, personal care items, cosmetics, household items, beverages, convenience foods, greeting cards, seasonal merchandise and other every day and convenience products, as well as photo processing. It offers a variety of products under its private brands, which contributed to approximately 17% of its front end sales in the categories where private brand products were offered in 2012. As of March 3, 2012, the Company had opened over 2,100 of what they call GNC stores-within-Rite Aid-stores. During fiscal 2012, the Company sold two owned operating stores to independent third parties. During fiscal 2012, its stores filled approximately 295 million prescriptions and served an average of 2.1 million customers per day. The overall average size of each store in its chain is approximately 12,600 square feet. As of March 3, 2012, 60% of its stores were freestanding; 51% of its stores included a drive-thru pharmacy; 24% included one-hour photo shops, and 46% included a GNC store-within-Rite Aid-store. The Company’s customers may also order prescription refills over the Internet through www.riteaid.com, or over the phone through its telephonic automated refill systems for pick up at a Rite Aid store. It has a strategic alliance with GNC, a retailer of vitamin and mineral supplements.
Mr. Leonard Green, the newly elected chairman of the board, said that, "Rite Aid is one of the top three drugstore chains in the U.S. and is fundamentally a very solid company with powerful competitive positioning in the marketplace, excellent locations, good cash flow, a dedicated employee base, a sustained record of increases in same-store sales and outstanding potential for growth. Clearly, it is also facing some significant challenges at this time, particularly the need for tighter discipline and procedures in the financial management of the company. I believe, however, that issues arose from Rite Aid's attempting to do too much too quickly, particularly in its fast-paced acquisition program, the widespread refurbishment of its stores and the redirection of its marketing and advertising. All of these actions were clearly well intentioned but stretched management too thinly. I am totally committed to implementing a focused, efficient and realistic business strategy. We will concentrate our resources in a disciplined, consistent manner to build on Rite Aid's indisputable competitive strengths. The imperative now is to put a sharp focus on the challenges and work in a more direct way to put the company on track to profitability and reap the benefits of being a premier, nationwide drugstore retailer." (Rite-Aid Strategies, 2012) Here are some of the basic competitive strengths that the company has according to the web site: (Rite-Aid Strategies, 2012)
• 85,000 dedicated employees
• Good cash flow and sufficient liquidity
• Consistent history of increases in same store sales
• Modern stores - one of the most modern store bases in the industry
• Excellent positioning in key geographic markets
• Low-cost operating structure
• Recently modernized distribution system, and
• State-of-the-art pharmacy technology
Mr. Green said that he believes the company has now clearly identified the key issues that need to be addressed and is taking the right steps to correct them.
Those issues are:
• The inability to finance the purchase of PCS Health Systems, Inc. on a permanent basis
• The overly aggressive store-expansion and store-refurbishment programs and
• A marketing strategy that was not entirely appropriate for the drugstore industry, having focused on image-building rather than on promotions for generating in-store traffic.
Some of the significant steps the company has already taken to address these issues are:
• Hiring J.P. Morgan to evaluate strategic alternatives, including the sale of PCS. There appears to be a high level of interest on the part of a number of potential buyers in acquiring PCS.
• Dramatically reducing store expansion.
• Revising the marketing strategy to emphasize promotion of products, sales and services through print media, with the aim of driving traffic to Rite Aid stores.
• Instituting a program to enhance financial discipline and procedures.
Rite Aid has retained the services of The System Advisory Group, a cash-flow-management group in New York City, and Ten Eyck Associates, Inc., financial reporting consultants based in King of Prussia, PA, to assist the company in these efforts. "We are making progress in addressing the critical issues. At the same time, we will do everything possible to intensify our efforts to improve the performance of Rite Aid," Green added. (Drug Retail Weekly Notes, 2012) The company also said that in light of its recent announcement concerning a restatement of earnings, it decided to change audit firms. As a result, the company is having pre-engagement discussions with another "Big Five" accounting firm with regards to that firm becoming Rite Aid's new auditors. The company intended that its present audit firm, KPMG International, would remain with the company for some period of time in order to perform a re-audit of the company's past financial statements in connection with the pending restatement. Rite Aid, however, has been notified by KPMG that it is resigning as the company's auditors and will not be available to perform the re-audit that was anticipated by Rite Aid. The company will continue pre-engagement discussions with the other "Big Five" firm. The company intends to complete its appointment of new auditors and the re-audit of its financial statements as quickly as practicable.
According to the web site, Drug Retail Weekly Notes, “there has been recent speculation that Walgreens may be considering buying Rite Aid to strengthen its position against reimbursement rate pressure from the PBMs, particularly after splitting with Express Scripts.” (Drug Retail Weekly Notes, 2012) Rite Aid’s stock shot past the $2 mark in part due to these rumors last week. Also, CVS Caremark is closing down its prestige beauty retail stores, Beauty360, and its corresponding e-commerce business to focus on the growth of its core CVS pharmacy beauty business.
CVA & Walgreens
How They Relate to Porter’s Five Analysis
Michael E. Porter wrote a book in 1980 the “Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors.” Within the book he identified five competitive forces that shape every industry and market. First in the analysis is: the Threat of New Entrants, the more new companies that enter in the industry the more cutthroat competition there will be. A few examples are loyalty to major brands, frequent shopper programs, and high costs of switching companies. This particular force pertaining to CVS and Walgreens is the existing loyalty to customers. CVS and Walgreen shoppers get other items than prescriptions such as makeup, school supplies, etc. and gain the benefit of the frequent shopper programs, (CVS and Walgreen cards). (cvs website)
The second force is the Power of Supplies; meaning if one business has enough impact over a company’s margins and volumes it holds substantial power. For example if there are no substitutes, buyers cannot do without product, and very few suppliers of a particular product then the supplier has power over a business. CVS and Walgreens both compete within the same business and have very little power. However, some personalities can exert a greater influence over items being marketed within a certain pharmacy. (2)
The third force is the Power of Buyers; this is the amount of pressure customers can place on a business. A few reasons why a customer may have this power are - purchases large volumes, switching to another product is simple, and customers are price sensitive. This can also be called a monopsony – a market in which there are many suppliers and one buyer. CVS and Walgreens have buyers that are powerful because they have a significant market share and purchase a significant proportion of products. They realize also that each buyer can change easily to other products.
The fourth force is the Availability of Substitutes and the likelihood that someone will switch to a competitive product. If the cost of switching is low then that possesses a serious threat. Several examples could be pricing elasticity; as more substitutes become available the demand becomes more elastic since customers have more alternatives. (3) CVS and Walgreens fall into this particular category as well because of the company’s ability to offer company branded products at a lower price than brand name items.
Lastly, is the Competitive Rivalry which describes the intensity of competition between existing firms in an industry? The cost of competition is high leaving earnings low. A high competitive market may result is many players of the same size, little differentiation between competitors’ products and services, and the possibility of using channels of distribution. CVS and Walgreens are influenced by the following industry characteristics such as they both have a large number of pharmacies, they are fighting for market share, both have high fixed costs, they have low switching costs, and low levels of product differentiation. Whereas, the rule for stable markets it is clear that market stability and changes in supply and demand affect rivalry.
Compare and Contrast review of CVS and Walgreens marketing strategies.
CVS and Walgreens have increased their opposing marketing campaigns. The focus of each company remains their pharmacies and their retail offerings. Both companies offer loyalty programs that offer discount rewards to the customer. Walgreens Rewards members earn 10 points for every dollar they spend and 100 points for every dollar spent on prescriptions. CVS members earn 2% back on every purchase and an extra reward dollar for every two prescriptions. Walgreens launched their Walgreens’ Rewards loyalty program in 2010. While the CVS' ExtraCare loyalty program began in 2001.(1) (2) Both companies also market their health and beauty products heavily using newspaper ads in addition to their loyalty rewards programs. In researching advertisements posted on the internet it appears that the same company is producing their ads. Both stores conduct online sales through their e-commerce sites and e-mail marketing programs, offer in store clinics in various locations, and other types of health services that support their brand.
In regards to marketing their locations in an online Lake Voice News article titled “Duluth residents say they have been displaced by CVS/Walgreens battle,” Ahmed Maamoun, an assistant professor of Marketing in the Labovitz School of Business & Economics at the University of Minnesota Duluth said, “Walgreens has a reputation for spotting the best locations while CVS/pharmacy always follows and copies them.”2
In reading several articles it appears that both companies use and have used every marketing strategy available and continue to grow their online business to compete not only with each other, but he growing market for the online sales of pharamaicals. Based on Walgreens & CVS/Pharmacy marketing strategies they are in a fundamental dead heat.
Keys to success for CVS and Walgreens
Walgreens and CVS are both leaders in the retail pharmacy industry operating first and second respectively. CVS is able to offer an advantage to their customers through the benefits of their prescriptions through their Pharmacy Benefit Management section. Both have a strong customer base and offer incentives to their loyal customers and continually expanding their stores into new and existing markets. Besides CVS and Walgreens operating as competitors both companies must also contend with Wal-Mart cutting into their profits and sales of their pharmacy and health and beauty and general merchandise and must continue to market their front end store items.
Currently, both companies continue to their environment and all competitors. According to the annual report of both companies; baby boomers continue to have an influence on the retail drug industry. Each company intends to capitalize on this large segment of the aging population. Additionally, both companies have generated growth by acquiring the various smaller competitors operating in key sections of the country.
As both CVS and Walgreens continue look for success they must; capitalize on offering one-stop shopping and low prices, understand and develop marketing strategies that consider Wal-Mart as a serious competitor. Their main focus should be competing with each other in the areas convenience and customer service. The latest move by both companies in the development of mobile websites as well as applications that notify customers via text message when their prescriptions are ready is a move in the right direction.
Recommendation
CVS and Walgreens have traditionally operated brick-and-mortar stores, with locations on opposing street corners. Their brick-and-mortar pharmacies must remain more about service than convenience understanding the store experience is essential. While breaking into the online market that allows customers to receive their prescriptions in the mailbox both must focus on their roots in helping their customers understand their medications and being a convenient health consultant. Take advantage of technological advancements to adjust their business model may enable future success.
To compete with large super stores chains such as Wal-Mart the prioritization of customer service is key for both CVA and Walgreens. Both stores offer a swift, stress-free, and pleasurable shopping experience. The design of their stores offers shorter lines at the cash register, smaller parking lots, and individualized customer service. With various locations of each store that include a clinics offer a competitive advantage over larger super stores.
The main recommendation to move toward the future remains the online market. It is a must that both Walgreens and CVS aggressively market their online offerings including pharmacy sales. The branding of their online pharmacy sales websites must show an affiliation with their respective company. With the mail-order pharmacy business being relativity new ensuring that marketing strategies developing customer association with their well-known and trusted brands could bring in new customers or the return of customers that may have sought the convenience of the online market. Their online markets should be combined with the mail-order options promoting to customers who receive their prescriptions by mail that in-store pharmacists is available to provide prescription information in person. By training employees and pharmacists to provide mail-order customers the same service as in-store customers, routine in store traffic could be increased. This increase in traffic could create an improved in-store experience for service-seeking customers and increase sales of their general merchandise products.
References:
www.walgreens.com www.cvs.com www.caremark.com
Agnese, J. (2008) C VS the Drugstore of Choice, Bloomberg Business Week
Harlam, B Customer Relationship Management, www.warrington.ufl.edu
Buckingham, M, What Great Managers Do, Harvard Business Review
(2012) MSN Money, Stocks
(2011) Cogmap, CVS Corporation
(2012) Drug Retail Weekly Notes, www.trefis.com
(2012) Rite-Aid Strategies, www.rite-aid.com
(2010) Frequently Asked Questions, www.walgreens.com
(2010) Pharmacy Report, www.cvs.com
(n.d.) Funding Universe, www.fundinguniverse.com/company
(n.d.) Kroger Company Information, www.kroger.com
(n.d.) Pharmacy Marketing Plans, www.myplans.com
(n.d) Quality Control, www.walgreens.com
(n.d.) Slideshare Finance, Walgreen Corporate Governance Guidelines
(n.d.) Yousigma, Comparative Analysis, www.caremark.com
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http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/IROL/99/99533/CVScaremark2011_A http://investor/walgreens.com/secfiling.cfm http://info.cvscaremark.com http://info.cvscaremark.com/our-company/history http://www.walgreens.com/marketing/about/history/default.jsp http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-05-14-medication-nation_N.htm http://news.walgreens.com/images/20007/10k2011.pdfWalgreens www.riteaid.com/company/history (n.d.) The Official Board, Company Executive
(n.d.) Employee Retention Walgreens, Management Paradise
(n.d.) Turnover Prevention, Cleanlink