Is Nordstrom Core Competencies

With the high competitiveness that comes along with the full-line market of fashion, there is a fast growing market with the off-price market as well. Over the next five years according to Adams, Nordstrom Rack stores will continue to outpace full-line Nordstrom stores in the United States, and continuing to grow within the market and gain the market share.

Nordstrom’s is classified as a department store. They are one of the largest U.S. department store chains, along with Macy’s, JC Penny’s, and Sears. As with the other department stores, each of Nordstrom’s departments are treated as separate buying centers. Each group operates independent from each other, being headed by a buyer who is responsible for the types and quality of merchandise sold, as well as any promotions that may be used. “The company has also benefited from a new computerized inventory system that gives buyers and salespeople the necessary data to make smarter decisions about

Kohl’s is a family-focused, value-oriented department store and website. Kohl’s mission: “To be the leading family-focused, value-oriented specialty department store offering quality exclusive and national brand merchandise to the customer in an environment that is convenient, friendly, and exciting.”1 In fact, the last fifteen years Kohl’s has remained true to their mission of operating as a family oriented department store featuring quality, name brand merchandise at an excellent value to its customers.2 By opening other stores throughout the U.S. during years 2000–2010 Kohl’s sales grew by leaps and bounds. Kohl’s strategy again, was simple and true to its core mission: affordable clothing, great customer service, easy to navigate stores

This report presents data describing the differences amongst the two department stores, their fundamental visions, and comparative statistics. Macy’s or Dillard’s: Differences amongst these competitors There are several aspects you can analyze from each department store. Major pieces do set each one apart from the other. Brand names carried by Macy’s and Dillard’s from an average shoppers point of view can go completely unnoticed unless price is involved. For trend shoppers brand names can either make or break a retail store. It can easily determine if he or she will walk to Macy’s or Dillard’s because they already know the store does or does not carry that brand. This is consistent with each department throughout both stores and

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

Opportunity: the company should try to expand its horizon by opening its retail outlets in even small townships. Secondly, the retail chain should try to specialize in selected items like home building materials, apparels for children or youth etc. The American family has also changed dramatically in the past decade. Because of this Nordstrom has changed its focus toward the individual. Ten years ago, it would not be a common sight to see moms shopping with their children, or dad’s waiting on the couch by the escalator with their children. Now days, it is almost unheard of to see families walking around the store. Teenagers, women, and men all come alone or with their significant other.

Nordstrom would be described as a department store. They carry a wide variety of goods, such as clothing, accessories, handbags, jewelry and cosmetics like other department stores such as Macy’s, JCPenney and Sears. They have a very high level of service as evidenced in the case study about selling just one shoe and taking a return on snow tires when they never sold auto parts. Their prices are fairly high since they carry mostly high-end brands. These are all traits that department stores share.

Wal-Mart is a company that has taken its core competencies, which are the capabilities the firm emphasizes and performs especially well while pursuing its vision (Ireland, Hoskisson, Hitt, 2008), and turned them into competitive advantages. Core competencies must satisfy four characteristics in order to be a competitive advantage. These advantages, according to our text, include: *valuable, *rare, *difficult to imitate,*nonsubstitutable.

We don’t rely on promotions, be it one-day sales, coupons, or “friends of friends” sales. We think our regular pricing has to have integrity.” Fifth is presentation, where the stores image is determined. Nordstrom is known for its relaxed upscale image. Sixth is personnel or customer service, where employees assist customers with their shopping experience. Nordstrom’s personnel are outstanding while they may not serve customers champagne they definitely will go out of their way to assist customers. I think that their personnel have to be the reason behind their success. Whether the story about the customer buying one shoe or the customer returning tires are true or not, gives the current and potential customers a sense of comfort and good customer service beats prices any day.

Recognizing any success Nordstrom enjoys basic quality of their relationships with customers, employees, vendors and communities. Striving to be a socially responsible company and know that the trust of the customers is to have is not to be taken

Expansion was not the only change Nordstrom implemented to differentiate the company from competitors. By broadening their inventory selection and making it more accessible to their customer base, Nordstrom began setting the bar for all retailers in the industry. With the additions of departments such as juniors and sportswear they began to expand and increase their target market to a younger customer. In the 80’s, Nordstrom modernization continued by adding women and men’s vendors such as Calson, DKNY, Kenneth Cole, and Tommy Bahamma. In May 2000, Nordstrom declared “Reinvent Yourself”

Weaknesses - Although Nordstrom has substantial strength, the organization is not without weaknesses. First, although Nordstrom’s has a superior selection in comparison to the majority of other retail clothing companies, their quality also comes at a cost that many consumers are not willing to pay. In a period of economic instability and uncertainty, consumers are turning to online retailers such as Amazon in order to fulfill their clothing needs. Moreover, consumers are looking for more convenient ways of purchasing products and clothing is typically something where overnight shipping is acceptable versus an immediate need. Additionally, another weakness of Nordstrom is the geographic dispersion of their retail locations which are most commonly associated with shopping malls. Coincidentally, shopping malls are also struggling to compete with online retailers, thus Nordstrom experiences less opportunistic walk-in customers. On the same token, the opportunity costs for underserved

Altogether, Nordstrom has a very unique environment. As I mentioned above, when I visit the store, I always see a diversity of individuals employed. However, there are some missing components such as what I have explained above. I believe if Nordstrom can take my suggestions into consideration, they can build a stronger organizations along with a strong recruitment and selection

Perception is important in an organizational culture. Perception is a “process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment.” (Judge & Robbins, 2011) Nordstrom has a culture of autonomy, empowerment, good judgment, and above all good customer service. The leadership communicates the company history and goals through story telling so that employees can understand the importance of customer service to the organization. For example, in 1978 a customer returned a tire to the store, the employee asked for the receipt and returned the money to the customer. When working for Nordstrom as a seasonal employee, the tire story was shared with the new employees and is currently being shared with new employees. What I perceived the organization to be is one of standing by their claim of superior customer service, using good judgment, and the customer is always right.

Core competence is one of the important concepts that were introduced for the understanding of product