Lowe's Mission Statement Analysis

Lowe’s - Never Stop Improving

Lowe’s is a large chain of home improvement outlets with more than 1840 stores in North America. Their corporate slogan is ‘Never Stop Improving’

Their mission: ‘Customer service and community service are core commitments at Lowe's — and they have been for more than 60 years. Being a good neighbor means being committed to improving the places our employees and customers call home. We see that as an investment in our future. We've grown that investment as Lowe's has grown from a small-town hardware store in North Wilkesboro, N.C., to the second-largest home improvement retailer in the world.’

Does the web site reflect the mission statement?

The ‘about us’ section of Lowes.com

is broken down into eight sub headings:

• Company Overview - This gives a brief history of the company, including some interesting statistics concerning the size of stores, number of employees and product lines. A third of the text is devoted to promoting the community services that Lowe’s support by way of volunteer hours donated by employees and large financial donations made by the company for community projects and education grants. That definitely is in line with the community service commitment, it’s hard to imagine that they could be as successful as the statistics show without great customer service, but it’s merely assumed by this information.

• Corporate Citizenship - Reiterates and expands upon the way money donated by the company and time and money donated by the employees of the company is used to support the local communities in which the business operates.

Four more sub headings are used with links to even more in depth pages entitled Our Community Strategy, Investing in Education, Improving Our Communities, Providing Disaster Relief. The company is huge but in turn so is their capacity to help, the scale and diversity in the approach to community service is undeniable. This further supports the mission statement in both community and customer service.

• Press - Even the press page takes the opportunity to continue delivering the message of the mission. Tucked in-between press release headlines about consumer conferences and sales earnings results is the very community focused ‘March 4. 2016 - Habitat For Humanity And Lowe’s To Help 1,000 Families Have A Safe, Affordable Home For The Holidays’ Contact telephone numbers and email links are prominently displayed at the bottom of the page inviting general enquires, community grant requests and public relations. Once again this area of the site is definitely in line with the company

mission.

• Social Responsibility - A collage of links to stories about the charity work and donations that the company makes. A 63 page 2015 Social Responsibility Report is available here where everything from business ethics and product sustainability is examined. The CEO Robert Niblock opens this report with a letter where he states ‘What does it mean to be socially responsible? At Lowe’s, it means we’re accountable—to customers, to our people and to the communities we serve. It means we aim to do what’s right—to find a solution that works for all of us. It means we strive to be trustworthy—to do what we say and keep our commitments.’ That sounds like customer and community service to me.

• Careers - Lowe’s employs more than a quarter of a million people and that increases in the spring and summer season by another forty-six thousand! Their employees are their community, they are also their customers. They are what drive the business and allow the mission of growth to continue. Glassdoor has almost nine thousand reviews posted from Lowe’s associates, 71% Approve of the CEO, 70% would recommend to a friend and an average rating of 70% average score in the following areas: Cultures & Values. Work/Life Balance, Senior Management, Compensation & Benefits and Career Opportunities. Happy and committed employees will help deliver on all areas of the mission statement, another tick in the box for Lowe’s.

• Sponsorships - Here you are able to create an account and build a profile to submit a sponsorship proposal directly to Lowe’s for any local, regional or national location in the United States or Canada. Having a direct point of access customised especially for making a request of this nature is a strong display of the commitment Lowe’s has to fulfilling the mission statement.

• Investors - This page focuses on the money, here you can see current share prices, access annual reports and even buy stock directly.

Their mission statement does mention investment but not the share buying type. However it does also mention the growth of the company from its single store in North Carolina to the second largest home improvement retailer in the world. This part of the ‘about us’ area of the site is somewhat neutral in relation to my interpretation of the mission statement. Of course Lowe’s needs to make money, they are a business so this is completely appropriate but it’s not directly mentioned in he mission statement though it doesn’t contradict it either.

• Request a Lowe’s - This is just as simple as it sounds! Do you want a new Lowe’s store somewhere? Just ask! A form requests your name and contact information, comments and asks if you would like to be contacted. I don’t know of another retailer who does this but what a great way to have the market place tell you where there is a need for your business to

operate.

Lowe’s ‘about us’ page definitely does live up to the mission statement. They are a well organised business with a strong reputation and a huge customer base. They are not just talking the talk with buzz words like ‘community’ and ‘donation’ they are walking the walk. Changing lives and improving the world where we live. They are doing a great job and I hope they too never stop improving.

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