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Sears leadership problem
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I. Executive Summary
Sears began as a small retailer but as the years have gone by, they have become the second largest retailer of the national chains. In the environmental analysis you will discover that Sears’ marketing toward women differentiated them from their competitor’s and increased their sales as well as their market share. They have had many social/cultural problems that they have had to overcome, such as problems with stakeholders. There has also been a change in the company culture that has improved the mood within the company.
In the SWOT analysis, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats will be discussed. These would include employees, competition, global marketing, and the repercussions that Sears has had to face when going against the Federal government.
The Strategic Analysis will show some of the steps that have been taken to overcome some of the difficulties that Sears has had. The newest CEO, Arthur C. Martinez, has been a motivating leader for the company. He has implemented many changes that have increased sales and moved Sears back up to the top of the retail chain. These changes would include store remodeling, Internet strategies, differentiation, and human resource management.
In section V, I will give my analysis of Sears and some suggestions for things that they can do to change their strategies such as keeping customer’s and employees happy and staying out of trouble with stakeholders.
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II. Environmental Analysis
When Richard Sears first began a small retail business selling watches in 1886, he could have dreamed of his store becoming a success but the success it has become, had to be beyond his expectations.
Sears has seen many different changes in business and has had to adjust to t...
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Sears. If Sears continues to provide employees with all of the perks and benefits that they have been, then they won’t have a large turnover and they will have their loyalty.
Sears does have a fairly good reputation despite the bad press that they may have received because of problems they have had with the federal government. If they can keep out of trouble and try to keep their reputation clean, they should be able to leave these problems behind them. People will forget unless they run into similar problems again.
Sears has gotten a good start on their Internet venture. They do have a lot of competition in this regard and a “new” business does take a while to get off the ground. Therefore it’s not surprising that they have had a slow start but they are beginning to pick up with the alliances and partnerships that they have entered into to boost their exposure. Their e-commerce trade could become as big as their chain of retail stores. All-in all, I believe that Sears is on the right road to recovery.
Lowe’s tries to foster collaboration and strength in a variety of methods; many are through leadership training tracks and supporting employees and their families. During times economic uncertainty, it is important that individuals know that they an organization that cares and supports them. In a comprehensive report released by Lowes, the company detailed improvements Lowe’s achieved in important focus areas, including the health, safety and engagement of employees, the company’s advancement towards its 2020 goals and its partnership with suppliers to maintain the highest ethical standards and improve the products it sells (Lowe’s Companies, 2015a). According to Lowe’s Companies (2015a), “For the first time in Lowe’s annual Employee Opinion Survey, all of its U.S. stores, distribution centers and customer support centers all reached the company’s benchmark engagement goal of 65 percent, indicating a highly engaged and satisfied staff” (para 4).. “Career Bliss recognized Lowe’s as one of the 10 happiest retailers to work for in 2014” (Lowe’s Companies, 2015, para 5). To keep an organization running efficiently and effectively, you need a good customer base; you cannot achieve this without helpful, courteous and willing employees. Lowe’s understand that to keep up in the industry, they need to ensure they employees are taken care of
Lowe’s grew through strategic choice by heavily focusing on key functional areas involving research and development (R&D), marketing, and logistics. Lowe’s important R&D investments included the creation of two prototype stores. The first prototype with 147,000 square feet catered to large markets and the other with 120,000 square feet catered to smaller markets (Rouse, 2005). Lowe’s used these store prototypes to help guide their continued growth and store placement. The prototypes also aided the company in designing future stores more efficiently with respect to energy and sustainability (Lowe’s Companies, Inc., n.d.). Furthermore, Lowe’s marketing strategy concentrated on attracting new customers and enhancing current customer satisfaction. To bring new customers to the store, Lowe’s engaged in a pull marketing strategy (Wheelen & Hunger, 2012). The com...
Ron Johnson spent a great deal of time and money to promote his ideas of “stores-within-stores” by turning floor space into an area to house several branded boutiques. He did this in order to attract a target market of a wider demographic which includes age, gender, and generation. One of the m...
As James Flink points out in The Automobile Age, the village store and the local banks were the businesses most vulnerable to the new competition (47). Robert E. Wood, former vice president of Sears, explains how businesses moved to the suburbs, "When the automobile reached the masses, it changed this condition [the funneling of consumers into the town centre] and made shopping mobile. In the great cities Sears located its stores well outside the main shopping districts, on cheap land, usually on arterial highways, with ample parking space (Wollen 13)." Thus city centers came to be seen as sites of congestion, whereas the surrounding areas were regarded as accessible and convenient. The rapid proliferation of shopping complexes outside of the city center in the 1950s left down town a crime-ridden wasteland of vacated stores. City centers no longer featured traditional shops; instead they contained gas stations, parking lots, and inns whose focus was on the travelers and their cars (Wollen 13).
The Wawa story began in a small rural town of Pennsylvania called Wawa. There the owner George Wood started a small dairy farming and processing plant in 1902, after relocating the family iron foundry business from New Jersey. As home delivery of milk declined in the early 1960s, Grahame Wood, George Wood grandson opened the first Wawa Food market in 1964 as an outlet for dairy products. Today, Wawa is a paradigm of success with 645 conveniences store located in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland and Central Florida. Wawa has succeeded where others have failed due to exceptional leadership. One of such leaders is Howard Stoeckel former President and Chief Operating Officer of Wawa. (Stoeckel & Adelman, 2014).
The key issues for K-Mart strategies are finding the right cost level for an opportunity to be aggressive, and differentiating the product for consumer in terms of different consumer and different intangible product attributes. K-Mart and Sears should be combined with a new overall corporate competitive strategy using a cost focus. This may turn out to be the only sensible strategy, and the one which best describes the strategy adopted. Strategies of cost leadership and product differentiation are often described as if they were mutually exclusive you can either pursue one or the other, but not both.
When Sears implements these acts a positive outcome to society occurs. When anyone has access to either working in a Sears store or being able to shop at one it benefits everyone by being courteous to the needs of people with
When our professor first presented this project paper to us my mind began to wonder. What is a good company to research and present it to my fellow classmates. My first selection was “Chik-fil-a”, but I wasn’t sure if we could write about fast food franchises. So I continued to brainstorm about a topic to expound on, even going as far as in asking my buddies and co-workers for suggestions. “Walmart”, “National Football League”, “National Basketball Association”, “Nationwide Insurance”, and “LG” were a few ideas that were presented to me. A few of those sounded ok but none really grasp my attention. As I was visiting an outlet mall, I came across Nike store. “Wow that’s going to by my topic of choice”, is what I told myself. Week four (4) arrived and my professor asked for every student’s topic. Before he made it to me, at least four (4) others said Nike! As usual, I was the last person to give him my topic of choice. That’s when I went with “Under Armour. Researching this topic presented many roadblocks, due to this company only being around since 1996. I wasn’t sure if Under Armour practices corporate sustainability or even if they were socially responsible; but countless hours later researching this company, enlightened me of the answers I was searching for.
Selfridges & Co. had one of its most important moments on the celebration of its 16th birthday, when a television set was presented for the first time. In addition, the company ended up later leading the way of selling it. In 1929, Selfridges was the largest retail group in Europe, being c...
It should capitalize on the cost-leadership strategy and improve its customer service to edge out Ace and steal a chunk of its market share. Lowe’s should also seek to negotiate for favorable contracts with the major Australian suppliers on a cost-advantage level and thus increase its bargaining power. Moreover, such a strategy would create an entry barrier for Australian start-up competitors who might seek to use their home advantage to outcompete
My company of choice for this report is Macy 's. 'The Magic of Macy 's ', as the company advertises it, has inspired me to shop there, take advantage of their incomparable discounts and great online shopping experience. Macy 's, Inc. is one of the largest department store chains in the United States of America. Macy 's manages stores under the Macy 's and Bloomingdale 's brands. I enjoy shopping at both of the company 's store brands, Macy 's and Bloomingdales. Bloomingdales provides a more personalized experience
I got most of my information off the Internet and the rest from one of my friends who used to work at Sears. My friend told me some of the things that they have done in the past, and I analyzed it. I used www.sears.com and a page off www.yahoo.com. The page I used was wysiwyg://49/http//biz.yahoo.com/rf/010419/n19537340.html. The rest of the information was brought to you by my fiancée, Autumn. As far as clothing goes, Autumn has extensive knowledge in Sears.
Some core competencies that must be exploited are: Brand Kmart is an existing well-known and trusted national brand in USA Kmart has private label and designer clothing that is well endorsed Infrastructure Kmart has a large number of well-located, low-cost, leased stores in urban far away from competitors through out the country ( Appendix B ). Staffing Confidence by the market in Kmart is created by the achievements of its staff and management. With the turn-around strategy in place, new blood has been put into the top management structures. In any renewal there will be retrenchment as unprofitable stores are closed. This can be used as an opportunity to retain and move high performing staff to where they are needed and to get rid of non-performing staff. Anderson the chairperson of Kmart is well supported by Wall Street and the board of Directors. These new staff members enter the company with needed skills to address problems in certain areas that previously were poorly managed such as inventory control and merchandising. Store locations, layout and Performance Stores conveniently located away from competitors like Wal-mart and Target therefore less to compete for customers face-to-face. There are 250 non-performing stores who have already been identified as being more cost effective to close than continue with running costs. Expertise exists in-house for the planning of store layout and appearance to meet different customer segments. This concentration of effort will enable focus on key areas Technology Kmart has already invested in good retailing systems. The system can be use to control inventory, supplier payments, track customer buying and monitor income versus profit margins across all stores. Research and Development The planning department is well established and in cross-functional to provide various perspective. The planning department to ensure that strategies at all levels are executed can further use the access to past data and knowledge of changes in buying patterns. Financial Backing JP Morgan Chase has agreed to support Kmart to avert the current threat of closure due to bankruptcy.
This paper discusses the strategic problems that led to Kmart's poor performance. The first Kmart store was opened in Garden City, Michigan, in 1962 (the same year that Wal-Mart and Target began operations) by the S.S. Kresge Co., a five-and-dime chain that was founded at the turn of the 20th century in Detroit by Sebastian Spering Kresge. By the end of 1963 Kmart had 63 stores converted from Kresge's. By 1977, Kmart generated nearly all of Kresge's sales, and the company changed its name to Kmart Corp.
Shipper, F., Manz, K., Adams, S. B., & Manz, C. C. (2011). Herman Miller Inc.: The Reinvention and Renewal of an Iconic Manufacturer of Office Furniture (Vol. In Elizabethtown College, Corporate Strategy, pp. 491-504): Mcgraw-Hill.