INDIVIDUAL PROPOSAL
TO: DEVON BAZATA
FROM: ANN ANDERSON
SUBJECT: PROPOSAL FOR ANALYTICAL REPORT
DATE: SEPTEMBER 21, 2015
The individual will be researching these two companies, Home Depot and Lowes. However, this individual has chosen to do these two companies for research purposes with evaluating on comparison.
Background
In providing a brief summary of the background history information on these companies, Home Depot founded in 1978 by Arthur Blank and Bernie Marcus. On June 22, 1979, in Atlanta, Georgia were the first two Home Depot stores opened as a vision of the one-stop shopping for do-it-yourself, along with an investment banker Ken Langone and merchandising Guru Pat Farrah, the founders. Since that time the Home Depot
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went public in 1981, on NASDAQ when they moved in 1984 to the New York Stock Exchange.
Although, with spawning an overwhelming growth for the company in the 80’s and 90’s, along with the celebration of its 100th store opening of 1989. In 1994, the company arrives in Canada with the acquisition of Aikenhead’s home improvement centers, in 2001; where the flag was put up to fly arrogantly in Mexico through the acquisition of Total Home. Therefore, the company in 2006 had expanded by acquiring The Home Way to its reach in China, a 12 store chain
(https://corporate.homedepot.com/ourcompany/history/pages/default.aspx).
. Lowes was founded in 1921 by L.S. Lowe who opened a hardware store in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, with the business name of being Mr. L.S. Lowe’s North Wilkesboro Hardware. Although, James Lowe, his son took the business over following his death. During the period of the World War II, James Lowe, and his brother-in-law, Carl Buchan, served in the U.S. Army where Lowe’s mother and sister had run the business. In 1943, Buchan had been wounded and discharged from the army where he returned to North Wilkesboro in helping with the operations of Lowe’s hardware store. On one hand,
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Buchan took half of the interest in operating the store the year of 1946, where he sold much inventory. On the other hand, Lowe was then discharged from the army, in returning to aid Buchan with the operations of the business. However, they both open a second store to use the profits in buying an automobile dealership cattle farm. A third store is opened in 1952 three months later by Buchan, in Asheville, North Carolina. Therefore, with Buchan extending the operations, from 1952 to 1959, sales had increased to 27 million. In 1960, Buchan had 15 stores in operation for business. Although, with the death of Buchan, in 1960 the major force for the home-building market and office of the president was created. By 1961 the company was renamed and went public to Lowe’s Companies, Inc. In the 70’s the fluctuations in the housing market, Lowe’s revenues more than $900 million with more than 200 stores in its chain. The 80’s the housing market decreases and Lowe’s income fall’s 24 percent. During the 90’s the chain had reached 550 stores which revenues $15.45 billion in dollars to make it the 15th largest retailer worldwide. By the 2000’s the total of stores in operation was between 1,800 and 2,000, through this expansion Lowe’s profits approximately $43.24 billion record year in fiscal 2005 (http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/10/Lowe-s-Companies-Inc.html). Scope The scope of this report is to present communication styles of both companies and how public opinion has impacted their communication styles and changes that have implemented their press release, ads, websites, community service, and annual reports through these relations. Both companies have different communication styles in business along with some similarities. In todays ‘business-related; financial it is fundamental for every feature of an organization’s communication to strengthen their visions and tasks in order to trust and respect its investor. The report will answer the following questions: • Who is the audience of each company?
• What is the differences or similarities of the two company’s press release-tone, timeliness
• What is the differences or similarities of the two company’s advertisements-look, images
• What are the differences or similarities of the two company’s websites? Particularly, how they would compare in terms of look, ease of navigation
• What is the differences or similarities of the two company’s public relations/community service activities
• Which company has a better overall communication style than the other?
• Or, does each company have its own strength and weaknesses
This report will NOT include any type of survey questionnaire that relates to the company’s customer contact or employees.
Methods
To complete the project, this individual will review the company’s past and recent press releases, past and recent ads, websites, annual reports. The individual will only use secondary information in locating material through various search engines along with the Florida Tech library. The individual will focus only on relevant information along with answering questions with the scope of work section of this proposal.
Project
Management The project will be completed as by means of the schedule included below, and the final of this project will be submitted to the professor for grading. Project Schedule Weeks 2-3 Determine the focus of the report and whether to work independently or as part of a team. Match due dates accordingly for the work that must be completed. Week 4 Proposal must be uploaded to turn-it-in. Compare press releases of the two companies. Compare the annual reports of the two companies. Weeks 5-6 Compare ads of the two companies. Compare community service/charity work of the two companies. Submit progress report to include all interesting information rediscovered so far in the search. Weeks 7-8 Compile all of the sections to give one voice of the presented information. Gather required visuals for the report. Revise, edit, and structure the visuals in the body of the report. Submit the final to turn-it-in. Deadlines for deliverables: September 24, 2015 Proposal Due October 4, 2015 Progress Report Due October 20, 2015 Final Project Due Conclusion At the conclusion of this project, the individual plans for delivering a thoroughly researched document, being well presented the proposal for analytical report. The report will discuss the communication styles of both companies, concentrating on each company’s differences and similarities that include the company’s press releases, ads, websites, public relations/community service activities, and annual reports. The report will present the secondary information to answer the questions located in the scope of work section of this proposal. Attachments The attachments provided with this proposal are a list of references that were gathered from the use of data as of the date of this proposal used to track the progress of the report date.
Established as the older company of the two, Lowe’s ranks forty-second as a Fortune 500 company. Established in 1946 as a small hardware business, Lowe’s has grown into a 40,000 product, global market enterprise that consist of 1,710 stores nationwide expanding into the countries of Canada, Mexico and Australia (Lowe's Internal, 2010) Home Depot, founded in 1978, is the fastest growing retailer in the United States. Ranked twenty-ninth as a Fortune 500 company, Home Depot continues to remain the number one do-it-yourself retail store in America. These two companies may sell products of the same nature, but comparing their Code of Ethics is their way of setting themselves apart. (Home Depot Internal, 2009)
Home Depot is the brainchild of Bernard Marcus and Arthur Blank and came about after both men lost their job in the home improvement industry in 1978 (Parnell, 2014). Home Depot has acquired several smaller home improvement stores in both the U.S. and abroad through the years which enabled it to position itself as the world’s largest home improvement chain (Parnell, 2014). Home Depot focuses on the do-it-yourself segment of the market and sells sells tools, construction products and services. Marketing is a strong point for the company. They are able to maintain a competitive advantage by keeping themselves available to their customers at all times. Home Depot has been using both online and offline marketing efforts. The internet has become a very useful tool for the company and part of the reason that they are leading the market in DIY stores. Home Depot currently provides DIY videos on YouTube and Vine that cover current topics that consumers are likely to be interested in. They also have social media pages on Facebook and Twitter, where they have a huge following. They provide online communities where actual employees answer consumer’s questions and provide assistance on
Lumber companies such as Rough and Ready Lumber Co. and The Swanson group have been providing jobs for the last several Decades. Specifically, Rough and Ready Lumber Co. began in 1922 in Cave Junction Oregon by the Krauss brothers, additionally, the Swanson Group was founded in 1951 in Glendale Oregon. In brief, these lumber companies create direct and indirect jobs for thousands of citizens in the surrounding areas of their locations. While there is a natural need for the product these companies provide, there have been several barriers preventing logging, which is necessary to keep business doors open.
Rouse, M. M. (2005). Lowe’s Companies, Inc. In T.L. Wheelen & J. D. Hunger (12th ed.),
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’
We compared the two companies in a variety of ways. To start, we will give a brief background
...for Home Depots earnings, with the numbers overall being so close Lowes would probably be a better choice for investing. But, really either company is probably not a bad investment.
Dillard’s Inc. is a retail chain that specializes in fashion apparel, cosmetics, and home furnishings. It is ranked among the nation’s largest fashion retailers. Dillard’s stores compete with fashion retail names such as Macy’s, JC Penney, and Sear’s. They carry items from national brands as well as items manufactured exclusively for Dillard’s. William Dillard founded Dillard’s Incorporated in 1938. The first store was opened in Nashville, Arkansas, his wife’s hometown. The next year he sold this store, opened a new one in Texarkana. Within 5 years it was the most successful store in the city. He continued expanding locations until 1940 when he opened his fist location inside of a shopping mall. This changed Dillard’s whole operation. Before
Home Depot was founded in 1978 by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank in Atlanta, Georgia. With their store, Marcus and Blank revolutionized the do-it-yourself home improvement market in the United States. Home Depot began as a very basic store, operated in a large, no-frills warehouse. Home Depot carries over 35,000 products, with national brand names along with the Home Depot brand. At the start, Home Depot was able to offer exceptional customer service with knowledgeable employees who could guide customers through home renovation projects. Since its opening, Home Depot has experienced incredible growth, and today is North America's second largest retailer, and the largest home improvement retailer. Internationally, Home Depot has expanded into Canada, Mexico, and is beginning to operate stores in China. Home Depot's competition includes Sears, Ace Hardware and Lowes (the main competitor).
The two companies that I will be comparing in this project are McDonalds and Wendys. Both of these companies are competitors in the same industry. I am using the information from their 2005 Financial Statements.
The 3 percent decline in sales causing a 21 percent decline in profits can be attributed to the identification of the accounting concept of operating leverage. Operating leverage is what business managers apply to boost small changes in revenue into sizable changes in profitability. Fixed cost is the force managers use to attain disproportionate changes between revenue and profitability. Therefore, when all costs are fixed every sales dollar contributes one dollar toward the potential profitability of a project. Once sales dollars cover fixed costs, each additional sales dollar represents pure profit. A small change in sales volume can significantly affect profitability (Edmonds, Tsay, & Olds, 2011). So, therefore, if sales volume increases,
Lowe’s Companies, Inc. is averaging the opening of about two stores per week. This is part of an unprecedented two billion dollar store expansion, which is the most aggressive expansion in the company’s fifty-five year history; thus, magnifying Lowe’s locality and customer convenience in the United Sates home improvement marketplace. Lowe’s new superstores are currently the largest in the home improvement marketplace, averaging a retail space of about 150,000 square feet. (http://www.lowes.com)
Home Depot is built on the principle of creating value for our stockholders while never forgetting our values. We seek to be profitable, responsible, and balance the needs of our communities. Throughout our company, our associates are challenged with finding ways in which we can provide the best products for our customers, provide the best possible work environment for our associates, have a positive impact on the communities in which we operate, and provide excellent returns for our stockholders. Working in a Store Support Center, rather than a corporate headquarters, their leadership team knows that the most important people in the fabric of the company are the store associates and store leadership teams. Frank Blake was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Home Depot in January 2007 (Sellers, P.).
In 1974 our first Bass Pro catalog was mailed out. My store spread like wildfire and soon became the world's largest fishing and outdoor sporting goods store.
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