Home Depot Implements free essay sample

Home Depot was the biggest home improvement retailer which was set up in the late 1970s, to provide low price of home-improvement and construction products and services. It operates in different places in the world and follows excellent social responsibility activities in different areas. Home Depot applied new technology initiatives to satisfy the customer needs and improve its operation process. In this paper, we have tried to give a short brief on Home Depot history, challenges, achievements, social responsibilities participations and other related issues. We have divided the paper into six major parts, which are: * Introduction Facts and numbers * Improvements * Challenges * Questions and answers on the below issues: * Company strategy and performance with environmental and employee stakeholders * Home Depot charity * Home Depot recessionary strategy * Conclusion Introduction The Home Depot was found in 1979, in Atlanta and become the largest home-improvement retailer in the world with $66 billion in revenues and more than 22 million customers. We will write a custom essay sample on Home Depot Implements or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Home Depot believes in diversity and environmental care. Customer satisfaction is their concern too, by providing special services to the customers based on their needs. For example, Home Depot offer the installation services but also give the customer the right to do it by themselves and guide them to do so. Home Depot mission is to empower the customers to achieve the home or condo of their dreams. It achieved the excellence by applying different strategies to recover the fall down in the different stages [challenges section below]. Home Depot focuses in the social responsibilities in different areas, such as the environment because it believes that the customer fell more confident about companies who care about the environment [Social responsibility points under the facts and numbers sections]. It introduces different initiatives and was the first retailer to join a drive-through recycling center with one of its store. Also, it introduces the in store recycling program for CFL bulbs, which help customer to return the bulbs back to the store protecting the environment. Home Depot strongly believes in providing the employees with all training needs and career developments for both male and female equally. Technology always helps the industry to move very fast if its applied in the right way. For Home Depot applied a lot of new technology initiatives to improve customer services and become more professional [improvement section below]. Facts and Numbers * More than 40,000 different products. * Offer 250,000 special order products. * Employs more than 300,000 people and operates over 2,200 stores in the world. * Home Depot ranked number 12 in 2005 Reputation Quotient Survey. * Home Depot ranked number 6 in 2008 on Fortunes Most Admired Companies. * Lowes is the critical competitor to Home Depot. * Social responsibility activities: * Program for children to teach them carpentry skills. Kids workshops in all stores for free. * Women workshops. * Use recycled content in advertisements, signs and shopping bags. * Introduce the reverse distribution program. * Provide the effort on reasonable housing and disaster relief. * Repair home for low-income families. * 16% reduce in energy between 2004-2010. * Work with 350 affiliates of Habitat for Humanity and one of its store donate more than $30,000 to them. * Rank number 13 for Multicultural Business Opportunities in 2010. Improvements and moving toward excellence * New philosophy You can do it. We can help by providing the maxima help to the customers by explaining, marketing and provide the support needed. Employees are trained to offer the installation and design advice. * Applying new technologies such as: * Introduce mobile application. * First phone device that replaced computer on associates carts, which has a lot of benefits. * Redesign the webpage and added new features. * Reduce the customer response time from 24 hours to one hour. * Create new principles with its suppliers to minimize the conflicts. Challenges * Collapse in 2008-2009, because of customers who spend less on their home. Home Depot cut back the discounts and promotion. * Focus in improving the existing stores. * Closed the EXPO store in 2009 and cut 7,000 jobs. * Negative publicity related to customer satisfaction done by the University of Michigan. It reflects that the drop of customer satisfaction was a result to the decrease of Home Depot stock. Questions and answers 1. On the basis of Home Depots response to environmental issues, describe the attributes (power, legitimacy, urgency) of this stakeholder. Assess the companys strategy and performance with environmental and employee stakeholders. The table below reflects the Home Depot response to the different attributes. Attributes| Home Depot’s response| Power| Home Depot was the first retailer to join a drive-through recycling center with one of its Georgia store. Also become the first home improvement retailer to offer wood products from tropical and temperate forests which were certified. Also Home Depot offer large selection of products with lower price. It cares about the environments and the social responsibility activities. It sales green products and have huge impact on the community it serve. | Legitimacy| Home Depot want to apply govern principle internally and externally for good reputation and to be on the safe side. * Creating new standard and principles to govern its relationship with the supplier. * Adapt the environmental principle. | Urgency| Time is very important for any success especially when it is related to customers satisfactions. Home Depot focus on: * Respond immediately to the growing need for large corporations to be economically responsible. * Build a strategy based on the situation. Example include in the challenges section above. * Minimize the time response to the customer from 24 hour to 1 hour. | Home Depot’s strategy in environmental area and employee stakeholders shows positive impact and good performance by applying different approaches. I believe that overall Home Depot is using a positive approach and doing more than what is required by the industry especially in the social responsibility field. Home Depot certified in many different organizations and donated millions for the disaster relief, affordable housing and philanthropy support. In the environmental issues, Home Depot: * Save energy * Use recycle products * Store recycling program for CFL bulbs In the employees stakeholders issues, Home Depot: * Involve the employees in the community – volunteer and civic activities * Provide 2 million volunteer service hours each year. * Diversity in population with equal treatment on career development and payment. 2. As a publicly traded corporation, how can Home Depot justify budgeting so much money for philanthropy? What areas other than the environment, disaster relief, affordable housing, and at-risk youth might be appropriate for strategic philanthropy by Home Depot? Being one of the publicly-traded companies, shareholders prefers budgeting large amount of money which would justify the current situation of Home Depot doing so. In 2007, a stock buy-back program was suspended by the company  so as to avoid possible losses as well as  the need to borrow additional money. As a result, committing available resources to  serve both social and environmental causes is the step is that is taken by the company, fulfilling the need for the customers and the public in general to have something to hold onto. Giving funds to save the rainforest could also be one of the things that House Depot takes advantage from with the purpose of drawing the public’s attention toward this issue and other similar issues. Taking such a step would greatly benefit the company in terms of achieving a better image and appearance for the company which would accordingly help them gain more publicity and customers in their side; this is emphasizing that the company cannot take any advantage specific to the rain forest area. The company might then be able to claim uniqueness as the single lumber sales company, which despite cutting down trees being in its core business; it seeks to save as many trees as it can simultaneously. I think that this has a great influence in soothing people’s concerns with regards to the company’s environmental responsibility. Additionally, Home Depot can provide the support and donate to the hospital and especially for people who are suffering from cancers. Focusing on patients and people heath will get people attention and will really care about the companies who funds patients. Is Home Depots recessionary strategy of eliminating debt and halting growth a wise one? What would you recommend to the CEO? The strategy followed by Home Depot in the time of recessionary is of a wise strategy as it is highly dependent on getting rid of debt and cutting short growth. This led to the fact that nobody can deny that Home Depot stands ahead when compared when Lowes which stands right behind as number two. Therefore, Lowe is taking a serious risk with their strategy with the possibility of over-expanding. The risk here is that the company might be dragged into big losses, not to mention the likelihood of being pulled to the back instead of securing the second place at lease ending up in the tail end during the recession. On the other hand, Home Depot has its place secured with a strategy that smartly does not do good to company, nor does it hurt them at the same time. It is expected by this that the company would be back to where it was before the recession. This would be more advantageous, I think, as it leads towards achieving the status of debt-free and preventing possible losses. In addition, being on top will be secured as they are already there, and they will keep striving even after the recession has come to an end and people are back to the â€Å"habit† of spending once again. Another point worth mentioning is that despite Lowe’s violent strategy and its ability to make a complete repayment as the succession fades away,  Ã‚   as soon as Home Depot along with other department stores are put back in that hard race, they are more likely to eventually become obligated to cut expenditure again and therefore being force to close the majority of the stores. Conclusion Home Depot had a big social responsible reputation with stakeholders. Although it receives low scores in the past on the customers surveys, it has worked hard to bring those scores back up. Home Depot concerns about its environmental impact by creating new principles to direct its relationship with its suppliers. Moreover, Home Depots humanitarian activities and its promotion of its products low prices and high value continue to make it a popular shopping destination. The most important thing to Home Depot is that they care about their customers as well as the environmental and social issues. In conclusion, all industries in the world should survive in order to success by applying dynamic strategies and knowing their customer’s needs. References Fraedrich,J. , Ferrell,L. , Ferrell,O. (1976). Ethical decision making in business a managerial approach. Canada: Nelson Education, Ltd.