...Strategic Audit of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. | Explore Page 1 of 70 Home Blog Contact Site Map Explore Learn. Live. Share. http://www.jacobcamp.com/2011/05/29/strategic-audit-of-lowes-companies-inc/ 5/25/2012 Strategic Audit of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. | Explore Page 2 of 70 Strategic Audit of Lowe’s Companies, I May 29, 2011 | Business Development,ERP,General Business Home » Blog » General Business » Business Development » Strategic Audit of Lowe’s Companies, In Click for PDF: Lowe’s U.S. Strategic Audit Spring 2011 Lowe’s Company, Incorporated is a home improvement retailer that has stores throughout the Unit following report is a student strategic audit for Mike Anderson’s strategic management course at th undergraduate student project team was composed of the following people: Keelie Cox, Alicia Kelly Wu, and myself (Jacob Camp) I. Executive Summary This report critically overviews the U.S. Division of Lowe’s Company, Incorporated. The purpose of accurate and current representation of Lowe’s through research using a variety of sources, method statements, recommendations, or opinions offered herein are only perspectives from the respective state that these aforementioned statements will come to fruition. The current operations, performance, and policies of Lowe’s will most certainly lead the company t the fortunate position to avert disaster. A note of exceptionally good news is that Lowe’s was evalu with a probability...
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...Lowe’s By You April 21st, 2014 University of Phoenix ECO-365 Introduction In the United States there are two major players in the home improvement industry. The biggest in The Home Depot. The other, while smaller having 502 less stores, is still a giant of the industry (Cramer, 2013). Through the recession Lowe’s stood while well The Home Depot fumbled. Lowe’s faces competition from opponents other than just The Home Depot as it expands beyond America. As Lowe’s seeks to enter the Canadian and Australian markets it will encounter more diversity than it has experiences so far. The complexities of doing business abroad and opening stores afar will become even more apparent as their international tactics change. Despite the challenges Lowe’s should expand further to become an even bigger player both nationally and globally. Global Competition’s Impact on Lowes In 2009, Lowes had 1,710 stores found throughout Canada and United States, 16 of these found outside the United States, with three stores in Mexico that opened in 2010, allowing for their exposure to bring them to a new level of sales internationally. (“Lowes Companies”, 2012) After much research it is found five competitors could impact Lowes, the #2 home improvement dealer in the world (Racine, 2012), but on different levels. The first competition is the main competition of Lowes, Home Depot, #1 in the world since 2005, (“Lowes Companies”, 2012) is expanding its sales by bringing in more Hispanics...
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...Home Depot Business Environment Communication Channel Scenarios MGT 521 March 3, 2012 Jacob Nichols Home Depot Business Environment The Home Depot is the world’s largest do-it-yourself home improvement retailer that was founded over thirty years ago in Atlanta Georgia by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank (The Home Depot, 2011). Through the lifespan, The Home Depot expanded from a two store operation into the fourth largest grossing retail store as reported by the Fortune 500 listings (CNN Money, 2012). Strategies like price matching, environmentally friendly supplies, introducing Home Depot brands and services, and offering clinics to patrons assisted in Home Depot dominating the do-it-yourself home improvement market. Throughout the lifecycle of Home Depot there have been numerous changes; markets, consumers, direction, and leadership to name a few. Home Depot made adjustments along the way and endured the constant waves of change and in the process developed the orange blooded culture enjoyed by employee and customer. Things change and the Home Depot understand this simple value, but constant is the orange apron and everything it stands for. To date the Home Depot remains a sound corporation even through the recession and unfavorable markets and is in a prime position to generate stronger ROA, ROIC, and ROE measures relative to their closest competitor Lowe’s (Sozzi, 11/2). The pages that follow will analyze The Home Depot and examine what differences...
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...strategies for your competitor is key, “The underlying goal of strategy development is competitive differentiation,” (Kurtz, 2012, p. 230). The companies presented below demonstrate the perfect example of business competition. The home improvement industry has been experiencing rapid growth since the late 70’s. Due to the capital effect, consumers would spend high amounts of cash and credit on improving their most prized and expensive possession, their homes. As a result, the home improvement industry experienced quick development and progress. This is what led to the opening of two mega home improvement stores known as The Home Depot and Lowes Companies, INC. The Home Depot which was founded, “1978 in Atlanta, Georgia and has since become the world's largest home improvement retailer, operating more than 1,500 stores”, (Brumley, 2012). Although not as international as its competitor Home Depot, Lowes is a “$26 billion retailer of a complete line of home improvement products and equipment. The company serves more than seven million do-it-yourself and commercial business customers each week through 875 stores in 45 states,” (Brumley, 2012). The difference between a Lowe's store and a Home Depot has been fairly clear-cut up to now. Presentation counts at Lowe's. Its warehouse-style...
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...Customer Experience at Home Depot Rev. 12-2012 During 1990’s, the Home Depot was well renowned for its orange-blooded entrepreneurial culture and outstanding customer service. From the beginning, the retailer took a long-term approach by training its associates to form enduring customer relationships rather than push for incremental sales gains. As a result, the company grew very quickly becoming the fastest retailer in history to reach sales milestones of $30 billion, $40 billion, $50 billion, $60 billion and $70 billion in revenuesi. Despite this remarkable success, Marcus and Blank, the founders of the Home Depot, stepped down as leaders stating that continued growth required new leadership with fresh and innovative business approaches. Thus, in 2001, Robert Nardelli was named Chief Executive Office of the Home Depot. Nardelli introduced many new initiatives to the company such as, centralized buying, company-wide analytics and improved information systems, which were essential for the company to remain competitive. Many of his other changes, however, led to significant dissatisfaction, low morale, high turnover, reduced productivity, and general discontent among the associates that seriously derailed the company from the customer-centric approach that made the Home Depot such a success story during the Marcus and Blank era. The result was the most dramatic decrease in customer satisfaction in retailing history. In 2001, the Home Depot and Lowe’s both had customer satisfaction...
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...7/26/2014 Home Depot vs. Lowes As a recent home buyer, I know first-hand the importance and value of having a local home improvement store. Within the first 6 months as a property owner, I have spent numerous hours, visits and money buying the essentials to complete my home. I never thought of myself as a loyal customer to Home Depot (HD) vs. Lowes (LOW) but after researching the two competitors, I have found myself take pride and loyalty with Home Depot. In this report, I will provide you with a full analysis comparing and contrasting Home Depot and Lowes. My conclusions will yield that clearly there is a difference between both company’s values and strategies, but importantly, Home Depot is a stronger investment for the short-term and long-term. My recommendations will support holding stock with Home Depot or invest soon. Quantity: The Value of Market Share In America, “size of the US home improvement retail industry is approximately $129.2B by revenues, with Home Depot leading the market with a 58.9% share; together Home Depot and Lowe’s account for 97% of the market share by revenues,” stated by William Bias. The fact remains that brand recognition drives price. There is clearly brand recognition and more importantly, brand loyalty with Home Depot compared to Lowes. And where does the brand loyal derive from…Proximity. The humanity that dwells within us tends to migrate to common and frequent people and venues. We are creatures of habits and Home Depot has strategically...
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...Riaz Industry & Company Description Home Depot is a home improvement and construction company. It has its headquarters located in Georgia, Atlanta. Founded in 1978, Home Depot is the largest home improvement retailer in the United States with 2248 stores. This includes 1976 stores in US and the rest in Canada, Mexico, China, UK, Argentina and Chile. Home Depot serves three primary customer groups; do-it-yourself (D-I-Y), do-it-for-me (D-I-F-M) and professional customers. The company offers over 300,000 different products. Home Depot operates in the home improvement and construction industry. The industry consists of other competitors like Lowe’s in USA which is the main competitor in term of size. Home depot and Lowe’s together make up only 18% of the total industry and the rest of the market share is distributed amongst big-box retailers such as Walmart and other small chains and businesses. Home improvement industry is recovering from a slum caused by the housing market collapse of 2008. The revenues of the industry got hit severely as the demand for these goods rock bottomed. But the good news is that the housing market has started a comeback in 2012 and the “Joint center for housing studies of Harvard University” suggests that the market is on the right path of a recovery. After several years as a drag in economy, the housing sector contributed positively to the GDP in 2012. Porter’s Five Forces Industry Competition Home Depot sit quite comfortably on the top as the...
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...Project 3 Rough Draft Lowe’s: Bathroom tile When people want to fix something in their house they either: do it them selves or hire a professional. Do-it-yourself workers often save more money than if they hired a professional worker. Undoubtedly, the Lowe’s company target do-it-yourself customers who are on a fixed budget because they aim to have the lowest prices. The Lowe’s Bathroom tile ad’s main technique is using an everyday-type person to appeal to a large audience. Lowe's use of an unskilled character in an everyday situation makes the ad relatable to people because most people are not professionals, and it effectively reaches everyday homeowners. Their goal is to provide the best equipment with low prices so that customers can rely on their products for small or big home improvements. When people want to redesign or fix their homes, they either stop by at the Lowe’s store or The Home Depot store for supplies and equipment. The Home Depot Company has always been a competition for Lowe’s Company ever since they gained popularity in the home improvement hardware. Even though both stores sell almost the same things, the two seem to target very different audiences. The Home Depot stores “appeal to professional customers such as contractors and tradesmen” while the Lowe’s store “appeals to a larger do-it-yourself audience”. Both stores have distinct goals, which is to attract a certain audience to make more purchases. From watching the Lowe’s bathroom tile ad, they definitely...
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...As a former business owner (of an idea that didn't last long), I can tell you that ethics for me wasn't anything past my own level of sincerity and rapport that I would maintain with MY customer-base. To give you an idea of the realm of customer relation, your boss is the customer. Any rules set forth by a company, called "by-laws", are with the customer in mind. Any time a decision must be made, it is within the best interest of maintaining a solid reputation with said customer. ~~~~~~~~ Instead of listing rules/principles, let me provide you with some core truths about small business: 1. It is MUCH harder to KEEP a customer than it is to GAIN one. 2. In order to achieve the highest chances of securing A FEW new customers, a company would generally have to ensure advertising in a place that would offer traffic to MANY possible customers. When I had my business, this meant that I would have to make my business known to at least 20 people to secure 1-3 as new (then work twice as hard the second time around to keep them). 3. Communication must be kept active at all times while a transaction is taking place. This is because the customer is the financial "lifeline" of the business. 4. Customers desire OPTIONS at their disposal, instead of ULTIMATUMS placed by the company to which they pay money. In other words, they want their demands known because they are supplying you money. They don't want to pay money then be told, "This is what we expect of you.."...
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...Cover Story Renovating Home Depot; Skip the touchy-feely stuff. The big-box store is thriving under CEO Bob Nardelli's military-style rule By Brian Grow, with Diane Brady in New York and Michael Arndt in Chicago 6 March 2006 BusinessWeek 50 Volume 3974. Don D. Ray is one tough hombre. The 39-year-old Kentucky native spent three years with the 82nd Airborne Div., one of the U.S. Army's elite units, serving at the head of a maintenance crew during the first Gulf War and an additional seven years on active duty. Then, after the September 11 terrorist attacks, Ray suited up for service again, this time as the commander of a special forces A-team that followed the U.S.-led invasion into Afghanistan. His 12-man squad of snipers, demolition experts, and communications specialists hunted renegade al-Qaeda and Taliban. Combing mountain villages, he grew a thick beard, wore traditional Afghan garb, and rode on horseback to blend in with local Muslims. Ray and his men never killed anyone, he says, but they arrested dozens of suspected militants. Nowadays, Ray commands a different kind of operation. He has replaced crack-of-dawn physical training and green Army fatigues with sunrise store openings and an orange Home Depot apron. A store manager in Clarksville, Tenn., Ray runs a 110,000-square-foot box with 35,000 products and a 100-member staff, 30 of them former military. Many days start at 4 a.m. That's when he wakes, eats breakfast, catches some CNBC news, then heads to the store, where...
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...The Home Depot Financial Management Project Company Financial Analysis For: Professor Ana Machuca Submitted by Team A: Betcher, Rhonda Cammack, Cheryl Desai, Shekhar Barnes, John Babatunde, Lasisi Adamson, Christopher Submission Date: February 26, 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: ...................................................................................... 3. COMPANY INTRODUCTION: ............................................................................... 5. FINANCIAL ANALYSIS: ......................................................................................... 8. WEIGHTED AVERAGE COST OF CAPTIAL (WACC): ........................................ 11. FUTURE CASH FLOWS: ...................................................................................... 16. HISTORICAL STOCK PRICE: .............................................................................. 22. SECURITY ANALYST’S REPORTS: .................................................................... 25. DIVIDEND and CAPITAL STRUCTURE: .............................................................. 26. CORPORATE GOVERNANCE: ............................................................................ 28. MERGER and INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY: .................................................... 29. REFERENCES: .....................................................................................................
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...CONFORMING LETTER Home Depot Inc. Dear Home Depot Inc. Management, As a partner of KNAM LLC, it is my pleasure to present you with the results of our initial review. Included with these results is our assessment of Home Depot Inc.’s performance is our proposition of areas we’d like to review further to determine improvements, efficiency, functionality, and health of your organization. Background Your organization’s core service is in the DIY home improvement market. You sell goods that consumers need for home improvement as well as advice on said projects, contracting services, lawn and garden, and appliances and tools. Your organization was founded in 1978 with the purpose of providing DIY one-stop shopping. Since inception, Home Depot Inc. has grown to become a multinational company with foundations strongly in the United States with roots in the Canadian, Mexican, and Chinese markets. Shortly after inception, Home Depot Inc. enlisted on NASDAQ and the NYSE. Your company has seen considerable growth in its main business as well as developments in subsidiary businesses and services. Home Depot Inc. has become one of the fastest growing retailers in America and as such, you would like to review the operations of your organization to determine areas of further growth and areas that may need to be leaner. Objectives of the Operational Review As a result of our initial review and interviews with your executive management...
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...The financial statement evaluation is complete as agreed. Outlined in this memo is an outline of the corporate stability of Company G. Listed are 13 ratios used to determine financial strengths and weaknesses. Each ratio is individually explained so there is a clear knowledge of what the gathered numerical information implies. Lastly, the company is compared with other companies in the home improvement industry to determine if it meets market standards. Current Ratio – 1.75 The company’s has a current ratio of 1.75 placing it in 58th percentile which is an indication of weakness. The Company G’s current ratio compared to last year is on a downward trend. That means that for each dollar spent, only 75 cents can be saved. This ratio is used to establish the company’s capacity to cover short-term financial obligations. It is calculated by dividing current liabilities by current assets. A company ratio of less than one is an indicator that signals the likelihood of Company G’s inability to cover short-term debts if they became due and payable. The company with the lowest ranking was Home Depot and Company G is vaguely beating their numbers. This is a weakness for the Company G. The company’s current ratio drops beneath the first quartile of 3.1 and also under the second quartile of 2.1. Acid-test Ratio – 0.42 This is a stringent indicator calculated similarly to the current ratio determining a company’s ability to pay off short-term debt. A ratio less than...
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...Dow 30 Case Table of Contents 1.1 Bordered Covariance Matrix 3 1.2 Determination of Target Return 3 1.3 Solver Parameter 4 1.4 Efficient Frontier Creation 4 1.5 Asset Weights 5 1.6 Weekly Rebalancing 6 1.7 Portfolio Calculations 6 2.0 Firm Analysis: Home Depot 7 2.1 Trends 7 2.2 Analysis of current Macro-economic conditions 8 3.0 Analysis of Return & Benchmark 8 4.0 Analysis of Porter’s Five Forces 10 4.1 Intensity of Competitive Rivalry 10 4.2 Threat of entry for new competition 10 4.3 Threat of Substitutes for Product & Services 11 4.4 Supplier Power 11 4.5 Buyer Power 11 4.6 Closing Remarks 11 5.0 P/E 12 6.0 Individual Company Analysis 12 6.1 Growth ratios: 13 6.2 Gross profit margin: 13 6.3 Financial Strength: 14 6.4 Efficiency ratios: 14 6.5 Management Effectiveness: 14 7.0 Dividend Discount Model Analysis 16 7.1 Calculations 17 7.2 Methodology & Result 17 8.0 Modeling: Free Cash Flow to Firm & Free Cash Flow to Equity 18 Appendix A 22 Appendix B 25 1.0 Asset Allocation Model 1.1 Bordered Covariance Matrix The chapter 7 in class spreadsheet model was a strong foundation that helped teach the group how to find an optimum portfolio. To create our portfolio model, a bordered covariance matrix and an efficient frontier was developed to find our minimum variance portfolio in the DOW 30 trading case. A screen shot of our model developed on October the 8th, 2010 is in the...
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...Business Ethics Tajah Yesher El BUS 610 Week # 4 Instructor: Barbara-Leigh Tonelli November 3, 2013 Introduction Robert Nardelli was heavily criticized for his leadership style and methods he used during his tenure as CEO of Home Depot. The purpose of this paper is to describe Robert Nardelli’s style of leadership and take a position on whether or not his actions rose to the levels of unethical. This paper will attempt to incorporate the trait theory, behavioral theory, and situational and contingency theories then determine whether Roberts’ Nardelli’s actions were ethical or unethical. History Robert Nardelli was born in Old Forge Pennsylvania on May 17, 1948. Nardelli served in the Reserve Officers Training Corp. While serving in the reserves in 1971he earned a B.S. in business. Upon graduation Nardelli joined General Electric (GE). His father had also been employed there as an engineer and middle manager. In 1975 Nardelli went on to earn an M.B.A. from the University of Louisville, in Kentucky while working at GE. BY the year of 1988 Nardelli had climbed the corporate ladder and had become a company vice president. During his time at GE , they passed him over for a general management position so he left to take a position as a division leader with Case Equipment Co. Later, Nardelli returned to GE as the head of its appliance-manufacturing subsidiary in Canada from 1991-1992 and then held the top jobs at GE Transportation...
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