Case Study Circuit City's Original Core Competencies

CIO Interview Project Recent advancements in technology offer the organizations of today and the future boundless opportunities for improvements in service delivery. Although experts agree that the alignment of technology and the overall business strategy is both necessary and imperative, no clear path to optimum alignment exists. Christopher Nuckles, a IT Director I interviewed demonstrated full awareness of this fact. he and the company’s CIO, Matt Carey, and the executive IT leaders and displayed optimism the “interconnected retail strategy” they have for the company will ensure that Home Depot remains the product authority for home improvement. As part of the technical team that developed, enhanced, or supported several of the technological systems at Home Depot, Nuckles believes that the key to a successful technological future is innovation. Nuckles recognizes that the biggest hurdle for the Home Depot technology is the emerging e-commerce and he adds that Home Depot is ready for the boom. He explains that plans are underway to optimize the Home Depot mobile application entirely and make it available on all platforms so that the company remains relevant as technology keeps advancing.

Q1) Cisco Systems Cisco Systems, Inc. is an international American corporation; its head officer is in San Jose, California. It works in designing, making, and selling networking tools. The Systems of Cisco was established in 1984 by Leonard Bosack , Richard Troiano, and Sandy Lerner.

Running head: SEARS CORE COMPETENCIES EXAMINED Sears Core Competencies Examined July 8, 2012 Sears Core Competencies Examined All companies have core competencies that they use to differentiate their company, product, or service from the competition, Sears is no exception. Also, it is common for a company’s core competencies to change, as their industry progresses through phases and shifts its emphasis between product and process innovations (Regis University, 2011), Sears is no exception. Yet, when a company’s core competencies become misaligned and no longer supports their strategic intent the business is in danger of becoming obsolete (Regis University, 2011), as their customers no longer perceive the unique benefits the company has

Foxconn: Impact of globalization on labor conditions. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd which trades as Foxconn Technology group or as the media calls it Foxconn has been in media limelight recently due to labor problems that have surfaced from the organization. Foxconn is a major equipment manufacturer supplier to electronics giants like Blackberry, Apple, Microsoft Xbox, Sony PlayStation and the Nintendo Wii. The internet has several articles and controversies regarding the deplorable worker conditions and cases of suicides by the workers.

1. A bill-and-hold transaction is when the seller bills the customers for a product and records it as revenue, but does not ship the product to the customer until a later date. FASB states that revenue can not be recognized until the product is shipped to the final customer. Kelly Electronics will be receiving the products by March 31, 2017, but the final customer, Victor Systems will not, so under FASB, revenue should not be recognized until the goods are shipped to Victor Systems. The SEC also has certain criteria that needs to be met before South City Electronics can recognize this revenue. A few of these criteria’s are: “the risks of ownership must have passed to the buyer”, “the buyer, not the seller, must request the transaction be on

Cisco Systems: Web-enablement Mission Cisco’s mission is to solve their customer’s most important business challenges by delivering intelligent networks and technology architectures built on integrated products, services, and software platforms. They accomplish this by making everything thing do about the customer. Strategy John Chambers was hired in 1991 and quickly became CEO of

Circuit City was first established in 1949 under the name of Wards Company in Richmond, Virginia by Sam Wurtzel. What started out as a little storefront would later flourish into a national chain of superstores retailing electronics and appliances. Interesting enough, this retail giant would eventually close its doors and

1. What are the chief elements of Apple’s overall competitive strategy? How well do the pieces fit together? Is the strategy evolving?

Apple incorporation, previously known as Apple Computer, is a multinational corporation that not only produces personal computers, consumer electronics, computer software, and servers but also a digital distributor of the media content. It has chain of retail stores known as Apple Stores. However, company’s information is summarized below:

Critical Essay Introduction Apple Inc. is a globally recognised pioneer in the tech industry. It is a corporation that designs, develops and sells electronic products such as tablets, computers and phones. Founded by Ronald Wayne, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in 1976, it is a multinational corporation with headquarters in Cupertino, California. Tim Cook has been CEO since Jobs’ passing in 2011.

Price matching and service are the core competencies for in big-box retails. The upgrading speed of in-box goods is very fast, and the cost is more and more low, which leads to more and lower price. Price has always been a most important factor that customer focus on, so the

Stephen Woziniak and Steve Jobs founded Apple Computer in 1976, which was called the Apple I, then in year 1978 just two years after, Apple II was introduced. More than 10,000 units were sold which relatively was a success, Macintosh (Mac), which dramatically change personal computer. iMac, iBook, iPod, iPad, iPhone, and other come from the lineage of Apple.

Industry Rivals – Industry Rivals such as Circuit City and Radio Shack have been hurt in some markets due to the expansion of Best Buy, but by having a better customer service rating, some customers are coming back.

Assessment 2 – Case Synthesis: Apple and Foxconn Introduction The consumer electronics magnate Apple Inc. has been accused of labor abuse in its Asian supply chain. The acquiescence of underage labor, excessive working hours and illegitimate low wage in China-based Foxconn factories is clear evidence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) omission. In fact, such acquiescence is the result of an exploitation chain, with Apple at the top, Chinese workers at the bottom and Foxconn in between.

Competitiveness Is one of EMS’s (electronic manufacturing services) that despite the direction in market and competition is focused in its core competence that is circuit