Research Paper on "Best Buy Company"

Research Paper 5 pages (1363 words) Sources: 5

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Best Buy

The company that I am studying is Best Buy. According to its website, Best Buy is a "multi-channel consumer electronics retailer with stores in the United States, Canada, China, Europe and Mexico." Best Buy is the 11th-largest online retailer in the United States, have a strong customer loyalty program and the company has over 165,000 employees (BestBuy.com, 2013). Best Buy is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BBY. The company, as noted, is in the consumer electronics retail industry. The major competitors for Best Buy are other companies that sell consumer electronics, whether that is their primary business or not. As such, the following companies are all competitors: Amazon, Wal-Mart, Apple and other manufacturers, Costco and other warehouse store, other discounters like Target, and smaller Internet-based businesses like Tiger Direct (2012 Best Buy Annual Report).

The leadership of the company is based around the CEO Hubert Joly, who is the President and Chief Executive Officer. He joined the company in late 2012. He worked previously as CEO of Carlson, a hospitality and travel company. The Chief Financial Officer and Chief Administrative Office is Sharon McCollam, who came to the company in December 2012 from a similar position with Williams-Sonoma. The other executives have been with the company longer. Keith Nelsen is the Chief Risk Officer, Carol Surface is the Chief Human Resources Officer, Shari Ballard is the President of the International side of the company, Susan Grafton is Chief Accounting Officer and Christopher Gould is the VP, Treasurer (2012 Best Buy Annual Report).

Recruiting and training for most e

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mployees is at the local level, guided by head office but implemented by local managers. The employees are not unionized, and organized labor does not appear to be a major factor in the company's future either. Employees are subject to a training program after hiring to ensure that they are familiar both with the products that Best Buy sells and with the corporate culture and customer service standards as well.

Best Buy makes extensive investments in it. The company's inventory system provides real-time data to store managers that help in ordering. Management routinely uses dashboards and decision support systems (DSS) to provide it with information about internal performance measures and competitive data as well. The company makes regular capital investments to upgrade its information technology infrastructure. The first 11 months of the 2013 fiscal year, the company invested $394 million in it upgrades, after a $274 million investment for the same the year prior.

Last year, Best Buy lost money. The net loss was $441 million, compared with a net loss of $1.231 billion the year before. Prior to that, Best Buy was profitable. In both years of losses, the company recorded operating profits on continuing operations, but had to write down over $1 billion in both years, leading to the losses (MSN Moneycentral, 2013). If there are no further writedowns, the company can expect to return to profitability, since it is still profitable on an ongoing operations basis. This assessment is based on the understanding that there will not be major changes in the macroeconomic environment. It is understood that the economy is growing slowly, and it is believed that many of the changes that Best Buy has implemented recently reflect moves to prepare the company to succeed in that environment. The expectation is that the leadership team can restore growth to Best Buy.

Best Buy is not a deep discounter, like some of its competitors. The company has a differentiated strategy whereby it provides the best selection of consumer electronics, and has staff members who are trained in these electronics. The company also offers services as well, to help consumers get the most out of their electronic goods. The company believes that its position as a specialist will attract more customers, because for many potential customers there are knowledge barriers to consumer electronics purchases. Best Buy aims to help consumers overcome those barriers and by reducing the risk involved with consumer electronics purchases the company hopes to outcompete deep discounters who cannot offer the… READ MORE

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Quoted Instructions for "Best Buy Company" Assignment:

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Fortune 500: In-depth BUSINESS study

Complete a report (with a minimum of five pages) for best buy company using the directions provided below. (Notice that there are at least 10 points to be covered in at least four separate and flowing paragraphs; be certain to use the language of business ***** appropriate jargon or all business terms -- in your report.)

Introduction/History

1. Go to www.fortune500.com and select the company from the FULL LIST bar on the right hand side

1. Identify how that company is listed and under what letters it is trading in the stock market (e.g., the symbol used)

2. Identify or determine the industry that this company belongs (e.g., auto, aircraft, beverage, etc)

3. Identify who are its competitors (the firms producing/selling similar products and services, or are very likely to do so with a new product that will displace a major money earner for the company you are studying)

4. Identify the CEO of the company (Find out whether s/he came from another company and/or another country.) Find this by calling the company from its *****Contact us***** section on its website, reading company stories, etc). Identify the balance of the management team, the sections (divisions) of the company

5. Identify how the company recruits, trains and develops its employees. Is there a labor union presence? If so, what role does the union play company life?

6. Identify and/or determine the company*****s use of IT (information technology)

7. Identify last year*****s profit level (At the end you need to make a statement that given today*****s business climate and market conditions ***** an industry perspective would be great -- whether or not your company can expect to see an increase in sales and profitability.)

8. Clarify what strategy the company is using. Identify last year*****s revenue figures (At the end you need to make a statement that granted today*****s business climate and market conditions ***** an industry perspective would be great -- whether or not the company selected can expect to see an increase, an uptick or a decline in revenue in the fourth quarter)

9. Go to www.wallst.net or www.bloomberg.com

2. Nature and Structure of Company:

1. Go the company*****s website: Use *****Contact Us***** ***** if necessary -- to

2. Identify on which stock market the firm is listed

3. Copy the graph into your report, giving the trading price of the stock over a range of at least four weeks. Make logical and reasonable comments on: (a) the behavior of the stock price; and (b) what may have caused that performance (up or down). These should be based too, on online stories/articles from the resources given (extra credit for reasonable/credible statements).

4. Identify whether the company is (a) a conglomerate, (b) a holding company, (c) a subsidiary, or (d) an MNC (multinational corporation) or an MNE (multinational enterprise).

5. Identify the full range of products and/or services that this company produces

3. Stakeholders:

1. Identify who are its suppliers and vendors (whether or not there are strategic partnerships or alliances between them for JIT production)

2. Identify who are its customers, clients and so on (broadly and/or specifically ***** in B2B relationships)

4. Outlook for the future:

(Theme: Sales, profitability, and sustainability)

1. Competitiveness

2. Identify potential competition for the firm ***** products, services, new technologies and upcoming firms that you can identify (Extra credit)

3. Identify potential competitive products (new products being developed or those that are already on the market ***** from the online articles using the online sites, e.g., Forbes, Businessweek, Wall Street Journal, economist.com, Ft.com, Washingtonpost.com, nytimes.com, ) for the firm (Extra credit). Determine according to product life cycle theory, at what stage of the cycle any of its products or its main products are.

NOTE: YOU MUST ATTACH A COPY OF THE or any other COMPANY*****S STOCK CERTIFICATE AS PART OF THIS EXERCISE ***** on a separate page

in addition to a copy of stock market performance over a reasonable time period.

RESOURCES:

Go to:

www.wallst.net

www.forbes.com

www.fortune.com

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500

www.nytimes.com

www.Ft.com

www.Businessweek.com

www.Economist.com

www.Wsj.com

www.bloomberg.com *****

How to Reference "Best Buy Company" Research Paper in a Bibliography

“Best Buy Company.” A1-TermPaper.com, 2013, https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/best-buy-company/3788770. Accessed 5 Oct 2024.

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[1] ”Best Buy Company”, A1-TermPaper.com, 2013. [Online]. Available: https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/best-buy-company/3788770. [Accessed: 5-Oct-2024].

1. Best Buy Company [Internet]. A1-TermPaper.com. 2013 [cited 5 October 2024]. Available from: https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/best-buy-company/3788770

1. Best Buy Company. A1-TermPaper.com. https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/best-buy-company/3788770. Published 2013. Accessed October 5, 2024.

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