HUM300 Module 5
Case Study: Home Depot Implements Stakeholder Orientation
1. On the basis of Home Depot’s response to environmental issues, describe the attributes (power, legitimacy, and urgency) of this stakeholder.
Home Depot seems to have been very responsible and responsive to the environmental issues. It initiated several practices and principles that are key to protecting the environment as a large corporation, but also in creating awareness and social responsibility. It is obvious that our environment is what sustains us as human beings, and that we are not doing enough as a society. This is a very urgent issue to attend to. I know that I personally, might choose Home Depot over other home improvement centers, armed
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Home Depot seems quick enough to ramp up growth again when it is more fiscally safe and in the mean time they have taken the time to improve upon what already existed. The greater good is served by not going further into debt, especially at a time when building is down. Regardless of the money one can save by buying land and expanding cheap, if there’s nobody to shop at the stores and no money to be spent there, it is ultimately going to result in failure.
Understanding who they impact and what their needs are enables Home Depot to act accordingly, with high moral standard. Home Depot did not have to befall any sort of huge scandal or impropriety in order to understand the need to be socially responsible. Their leadership has allowed them to be aware of the customer, fix mistakes when they happen, aim for the highest customer satisfaction, offer value and honesty in product information, care for the environment, give back to the community, foster diversity and act responsibly with their shareholders money. It seems that Home Depot really is a “feel good” company.
GRADING: your case study provided some great case information, but did not include much module information beyond that. The paper does not integrate any real life personal experiences. You addressed all the questions, but the answers do not include any insights from
Home Depot has clearly set itself up to be successful in the recent upswing in the housing markets. Their technology upgrade has proven to be successful in keeping stores stocked and employees more engaged with helping the customers.
The Home Depot mission statement reads as follows: “The Home Depot is in the home improvement business and our goal is to provide the highest level of service, the broadest selection of products and the most competitive prices. We are a values-driven company and our eight values include the following: excellent customer service, taking care of our people, giving back, doing the “right” things, creating shareholder value, respect for all people, entrepreneurial spirit, and building strong relationships.”
Home Depot’s corporate-level strategy is one of internal growth. This conclusion was reached based on the increased focus that Home Depot has placed on growing its existing online and traditional retail operations. Between 2016 and 2018, Home Depot is expected to invest approximately four billion dollars into improvements in its online and physical retail locations in order to make both work more synergistically and grow sales (Petro, 2016). Home Depot hopes that these investments will continue to increase sales at both its physical and digital retail locations, thereby growing the company without adding significant numbers of physical locations.
Financially, Home Depot has had a strong fiscal year with “ reported sales of $24.9 billion for the second quarter of fiscal 2015, a 4.3 percent increase from the second quarter 2014” (The Home
From its roots as a vision in 1978 of a home improvement superstore The Home Depot has become a giant in this sector. Influenced by the “do-it-yourself” customer or the corporate contractors each policy and business plan is developed with a consumer stake holder emphasis. As its founders stated “We’re in the people business” (Planning), and this is maintained in its business structure today. Set up as a direct to consumer warehouse of home improvement and building products
Home Depot is the fastest growing retailer in the U.S. by some accounts. It has a fascinating history of innovation and entrepreneurship. The company had some difficulties in the mid-2000s that some attribute to cultural clashes. However, during this period the company was able to take full advantage of the housing boom. Yet when the bubble burst, Home Depot was forced to claim substantial losses. Despite these loses Home Depot has weathered the storm fairly well and is in prime position to take advantage of an economic recovery; if it ever comes.
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)
A strong ecological awareness may be an opportunity for The Home Depot since the company can offer retail space for ecologically friendly products to meet consumer demands/needs. This would also be an incentive for suppliers to be innovative and improve their products, so they are more ecologically
The Home Depot knows that they must stay on top of technology and management must be able to organize this function in a way that surpasses the competition, pleases the customers, and keep the employees satisfied.
Home Depot strives to provide the highest quality service to its customers. Home Depot achieves this by hiring professionals such as, carpenters, plumbers, and paint specialists. These experts are invaluable resources for less knowledgeable customers looking for a certain product or working on a new project. The Home Depot staff can help customers pick out larger and more difficult items such as showers, vinyl siding, carpet, appliances, and plumbing. After the purchase, Home Depot will have the items delivered and installed in the customer’s home. Home Depot’s focus on “product authority” is one of the main and drivers for the company’s high quality service.
Home Depot is a for profit organization that is a family owned organization that was started with the beliefs that all their products should be natural and non-toxic to the user and the environment. It was started by an individual with an idea to be different from the rest. It was built on the principle of creating value for their stockholders while never forgetting their values. They seek to be profitable, responsible and balance the needs of communities. The Home Depot 's stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: HD) and is included in the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor 's 500 index. The Home Depot 's proposition was to build home-improvement warehouses, larger than any of their competitors ' facilities.
The Home Depot (NYSE: HD) is a home improvement, construction products and services retailer operating over 2,000 big-box stores in the United States and abroad. The Home Depot was founded in 1978 by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank with the vision of one-stop shopping for do-it-yourself (DIY) customers, installation services for do-it-for-me (DIFM) customers and competitive products for the professional market. Their DIFM installation programs include products such as carpeting, flooring, cabinets, countertops, and water heaters. In addition, the company provides installation of various professional products like generators and HVAC systems.
There are a number of stakeholders for Home Depot. The list of internal stakeholders includes the Board of Directors, the senior management team, the shareholders and the employees. All of these stakeholders have a direct stake in the success of the company, especially in terms of finances and their livelihoods. All draw some form of income from the company, though with the shareholders that mostly comes in the form of capital gains. The external shareholders include the customers, the suppliers, the business partners, the governments and people living where Home Depot operates and the environment. There may also be unions or activist groups that feel (rightly or wrongly) that they have a stake in Home Depot's operations. For example, Home Depot pays taxes to the municipalities, states and countries in which it operates. It buys goods from its suppliers, many of which are dependent on Home Depot's business. Customers are natural stakeholders, since they buy goods from Home Depot. The people in the communities in which Home Depot operates benefit not only from the taxes, but charitable ventures, the jobs the company creates and the way that a Home Depot store transforms the local environment, landscape and business climate.
When disaster strikes, The Home Depot is among the first organizations on the scene to ensure its customers have the supplies, resources and support they need to rebuild their homes and communities.
Home Depot 's target market is individual homeowners/small contractors. Even though the traditional ideology is that cost leadership and product differentiation business strategies are mutually exclusive, Home Depot was successful at using a combination strategy. First, Home Depot optimized the cost leadership strategy by offering low and competitive prices to its customers by emphasizing higher sales volumes with lower margins, while instituting a high inventory turnover. Home Depot successfully offered a warehouse product strategy to the individual consumer for the first time. Previously, this type of price discounting was only available to professional contractors who earned product price