Kirklin_Hannah_audit_ final_report

docx

School

University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) *

*We aren’t endorsed by this school

Course

610

Subject

Business

Date

Feb 20, 2024

Type

docx

Pages

Uploaded by Chapstik

1 Situation Audit: The Home Depot Hannah E. Kirklin University of Maryland Global Campus MBA 610: 9045 Leading Organizations and People Dr. Thamara Barthelus February 12, 2024

2 Executive Summary A 1978 brainchild turned into number 20 on the Fortune 500 list; The Home Depot is now the world's largest and most well-known home improvement retailer in the United States. With the goal of exceptional customer service, a wide variety of products, and everyday low prices, The Home Depot continues to excel in each category of this goal. There are 2300 stores across the United States, Mexico, and Canada with over 475,00 employees. The Home Depot was created in a Los Angeles coffee shop by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank, who teamed up with Ken Langone, an investment banker, and Pat Farrah, a merchandising guru. This iconic team has created the company that is now a household name. The company has donated over 840 million dollars to non-profits, veterans, communities, and associates since 2002. The Home Depot Foundation, the Homer Fund, and Orange Scholars are just a few programs the company offers to those in need, in and out of the store.

3 Introduction The Home Depot is an iconic home improvement retailer that established itself as a household name across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Founded in 1978, it has become one of the largest retailers in the world, with a staggering annual revenue of over $100 billion. The Home Depot offers an extensive range of top-quality products and services that cater to every home improvement need. The Home Depot has everything you need to create your dream home, from building materials and appliances to tools and garden supplies. With its home installation and repair services, the company ensures its customers receive the best possible assistance in their home improvement projects. The Home Depot provides its customers with high-quality products and services at reasonable prices and has earned a reputation as a dependable and trustworthy retailer in the home improvement industry. Whether you are a skilled DIY enthusiast or a seasoned contractor, The Home Depot is your go-to destination for home improvement. Fact Sheet The Home Depot was a 1978 Los Angeles coffee shop dream created by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank, and in 1979, their dream came to life in Atlanta, Georgia, in the form of two stores. The Home Depot is a household name with over 2300 stores in three countries and 475,000 employees. Ted Decker has served as the company Chair, President, and CEO since 2020 and originally joined the team in 2000 as the director of business valuation. As a company that is part of the retail industry, this hardware store is tailored to serving its customers first and foremost, with Bernie Marcus himself quoting in his book From Scratch,

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

4 "At the end of the day, we are in the people business." The stores aim to provide the highest level of customer service and support, a wide range of products, and competitive pricing. The Home Depot is a publicly traded corporation whose legal paperwork is filed in Delaware. It was initially named M.B. Associates Incorporated in 1978 when the original Certificate of Incorporation was filed. The amendment of the Certificate of Incorporation was signed in 2011 by Jack A. VanWoerkom, the Corporate Secretary. With a small beginning, growing into a company now number 20 on the Fortune 500 list, The Home Depot still remembers its communities, associates, and veterans. Since 2011, more than $500 million has been donated to veteran causes, $38 million in scholarships from the companies Orange Scholars program designed for associate dependents and children, $250 million in Homer Fund grants have been awarded to associates and works with numerous disaster relief program to provide monetary assistance and support to the community when disaster strikes. Mission, Vision, Values, and Goals Mission The Home Depot's mission, vision, values, and goals are intertwined. If you look for one, they are all mixed in a show of support. Their mission statement, "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" (FAQs, n.d.). All levels of Home Depot employees understand the mission, shown by their presence throughout the aisles, knowledge of products, willingness to help when unfamiliar, and the cashier's $50 markdown ability on all products. Home Depot's mission, vision, values, and goals are significant in all corporate and

5 lower-level decisions regarding products, employee hiring, employee training, and their presence within their communities. The Home Depot stands by its mission statement and ensures that everyone representing the brand is held accountable for upholding the standards. Vision In 1978, the vision for the creators of The Home Depot was to create an all-in-one store where you could get everything you need at great prices and receive help from highly trained staff. Today, their vision is still the same but includes the desire to create diversity, equity, and inclusion within the workplace. The addition to their vision fits within the recent changes of the past few years, with the big push for inclusion, acceptance of all, and diversity. Home Depot ensures that all employees are familiar with their vision and are taught through quarterly training what is expected of them regarding equality, diversity, respect, and providing top-notch customer service. Values The Home Depot uses a value wheel that can be found on every employee's apron and throughout the breakrooms and conference rooms to show their dedication to their values. In no order, their eight values are as follows: Excellent customer service, creating shareholder value, entrepreneurial spirit, taking care of our people, respect for all people, doing the right thing, building solid relationships, and giving back. Employees who go above and beyond these values are rewarded with Homers. They receive these patches and a monetary reward when they are given a Homer. These patches can be seen on their aprons, worn as proof that they support and uphold the values of The Home Depot. Goals

6 The goals of The Home Depot are set within their mission statement, "our goal is to provide the highest level of service, the broadest selection of products, and the most competitive prices" (FAQs, n.d.). They align with the values and with the original vision of the company. However, the blanket goal statement must include the newest diversity, equity, and inclusion addition. Strategy and Objectives As the largest competitor in the home improvement industry, Home Depot uses multiple strategies to maintain its top spot, ensure customer and investor satisfaction, and offer the lowest prices. Business leadership and goal fulfillment for Home Depot's corporate mission and corporate vision are linked to the successful implementation and combination of its generic strategy and intensive strategies for growth (Smithson, 2023). Generic Strategy Home Depot's current generic strategy (based on Porter's model) combines broad differentiation with cost leadership (Smithson, 2023). The Home Depot generic strategy is focused on cost leadership; this all began in 1979 when 'everyday low prices' were emphasized to attract potential customers. Today, Home Depot uses broad differentiation to compete with its competitors, such as Lowes, to offer various products and services at price-matched costs. Broad differentiation is the primary generic strategy, and cost leadership has fallen to the secondary position. Strategic Plan The Home Depot's strategic plan aligns with its mission and vision, delivering the best customer experience in home improvement, developing differentiated capabilities, and extending its low-cost provider position. To achieve these goals, Home Depot has outsourced to find

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

7 suppliers that fit the need for products and can support low prices daily. The company continues to search each fiscal year for new suppliers and distributors to aid in this goal. The continuation of excellent customer service remains in their thorough hiring process and quarterly employee performance reviews. Home Depot uses the balanced scorecard method to evaluate its success in achieving its goals. Strategy types and Competitive advantage After close evaluation, The Home Depot has a working strategy in the four levels of organizational strategy. From my perspective as an outside consultant, the four levels are being considered and revised as the market and consumer demands progress. Global Level Strategies With stores in Mexico and Canada, the Home Depot provides its services internationally. As of November 20, 2023, The Home Depot has also used a market development strategy to acquire International Design Group (IDG) to progress its international presence and expansion. However, after the attempt was made to enter the market in China, The Home Depot executives found their strategies for expansion on an international level needed to be more successful. This closed seven regional stores in 2012 (China Store Closure, 2012). Market Development. Market development is used to acquire brands to establish a presence in new market segments; market development supports the generic strategy of broad differentiation by acquiring more firms to have a more substantial market presence. Corporate Level Strategy Internal growth is the game's name regarding The Home Depot's corporate-level strategy, emphasizing growing its digital and physical footprints. The company focuses on expanding its

8 products into multiple geographic locations at the same point in its value chain while increasing the range of products and services offered to current markets. Business Level Strategy Home Depot uses market penetration to compete with rivals like Lowes by running special offers or discount sales on products to customers in the current market to support the generic cost leadership strategy. This ties into the everyday low price (EDLP) strategy; every store offers low prices daily instead of short seasonal markdowns and promotions. To further ensure customer satisfaction, store cashiers are afforded a $50 freedom to mark down products they deem fit. As the age of technology continues to grow, The Home Depot expands its platform by offering an app that helps customers locate items in the store and offers the option to purchase products online. Digital and e-commerce solutions provide a seamless shopping experience that affords the company new ways to attract customers. Additionally, new services like PRO, tool rental, in-home installations, and free delivery have boosted the store's customer support and satisfaction while opening new positions within the company. Functional Level Strategy Home Depot uses the three E's to align with the business-level strategy. Extending the business, Expanding the market, Enhancing the core. Extending business to international locations to take over the lacking market in the home improvement industry in other countries. Expand the market by adding services such as PRO and tool rental and enhancing the core. Strengthening the core focuses on the main component of Home Depot: the associates. Each Home Depot employee receives training in their position, and some are even certified in the department in which they work .

9 The three E’s are used in the store to expand the product offering. The Home Depot offers 35,000 products in-store and takes recommendations from customers on what other products they would like to see. Enhancing the core makes the store more like a family by creating close bonds and respect for each employee and increasing knowledge throughout each department. Competitive Advantage The Home Depot's most significant competitive advantage is its brand recognition. Notes from the 2023 investor meeting highlight product authority, interconnected customer experience, customer-backed approach, and e-commerce business as additions to the competitive advantage. "We are also the product authority in home improvement with an exceptional merchandising organization and long-tenured strategic vendor partnerships. We relentlessly focus on delivering the best-interconnected customer experience in home improvement and look to remove friction using a customer-backed approach. Moreover, we have a world-class e-commerce business driving billions of customer engagements" (Decker, 2023). Home Depot's core competencies are customer service, product selection, competitive prices, sustainability, brand recognition, supplier relationships, and values. A competitive edge is created and maintained at the value of products, low prices, in-store shopping experience, and positive recognition of the brand. With the implementation of the Home Depot app, the in-store experience rating rose to an all-time high. The option to search for products on the app and be directed to their location within the store in real time has created a competitive advantage for the company. Organizational Size and Structure

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

10 Since its start in 1978, The Home Depot has surpassed the expectations of many, becoming the world's largest home improvement retailer and finding its way to number twenty on the Fortune 500 list. Organizational Size There are 2,300 stores across North America, Canada, and Mexico. There are two thousand three stores in the United States. California has the most Home Depot locations in the US, with 233 stores as of January 11, 2024. This is about 12% of all Home Depot stores in the US. Texas has 179 locations, and Florida has 155 (Home Depot USA Locations, 2024). Only two stores were in Georgia when the store first opened in 1979. With the massive growth and expansion of the store and the success of locations thus far, it is safe to conclude that store leadership is competent in growth strategy. As the store continues to discuss expansion to an international level, the need for employees grows too. There are 475,000 Home Depot employees across the United States, Mexico, and Canada. California and New Jersey are home to the two biggest stores with the most employees. The Home Depot supported 2.2 million jobs last year, more than 400,000 of which were directly created by the company, and supported billions of dollars in wages, salaries, and benefits. In 2022, the company promoted 65,000 associates in the U.S. (Home Depot Jobs, 2023). Customers can access the location of 35,00 items in the store using The Home Depot app. An even more impressive number of 1 million products are available online. According to the 2023 Responsible Sourcing Report, Home Depot has roughly 12,000 suppliers in over 30 countries. Organizational Structure

11 The Home Depot follows a divisional organizational structure. In divisional structures, departments represent the unique products, services, customers, or geographic locations the company serves (Organizational Structure, n.d.). There are three structural characteristics: geographical divisions, global functional groups, and a global hierarchy. Geographic Divisions The Home Depot is divided into divisions, each led by a president or vice president. The three divisions of the United States are northern, southern, and western. These divisions play a part in Home Depot's marketing mix, which determines geographic and regional variations throughout the market based on economic factors. The geographic divisions are the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. These divisions provide feedback on purchasing and customer preferences. Global Functional Groups Within the organizational structure, functional groups have subcategories below them. For example, the company has a global Human Resource Management group and a global Merchandising group, among others. The Merchandising group comprises the Hardlines Merchandising group, the Décor Merchandising group, and the Building Materials Merchandising group (Greenspan, 2023). These groups help to assess the needs of the business and highlight the pros and cons of each department within the company. Global Hierarchy The Home Depot operates under centralized corporate control, which provides a transparent chain of command for employees and investors. This hierarchy exists at the global and store levels. Globally, Home Depot's organizational structure's hierarchy is observable in the lines of command and authority (Greenspan, 2023). Each Home Depot store also has a chain of command to assist in the reporting procedures. Associates are trained to know their in-store and

12 out-of-store chain of command, which also helps with the flow of information from lower level to higher level and vice versa. Critical Resources Resource-based theory examines what resources could be implemented to create a competitive advantage. Proponents of the resource-based view (RBV) of strategic management suggest that bundles of VRIN (valuable, rare, inimitable, and nonsubstitutable) resources provide a competitive advantage to organizations that can accumulate them (Newbert, 2007). While resource dependency theory examines the relationship between an organization and those they depend on for resource acquisition. This theory focuses on organizational behaviors and how they relate to resource acquisition. Human Resources People are the most significant resource for day-to-day operations in most organizations; with The Home Depot having 475,00 employees, this resource plays a large part. When managed effectively, people and the work they can accomplish together are also likely to serve as valuable, rare, inimitable, and nonsubstitutable strategic resources for organizations. The Home Depot recruiting process happens on two fronts: in-store and outside. Employees have a portal through their intranet, MyApron, where they can search and apply for all open positions within the company. Those who are not employees can find Home Depot positions on their website and various job-sourcing pages. For non-employees, the hiring process includes an application, a 53-question assessment, and an in-person interview. You undergo a background check and a drug test if offered the position. The hiring process aids the company's mission, vision, values, and goals by selecting knowledgeable candidates, providing excellent customer service, and realistically improving the company.

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

13 Home Depot emphasizes product knowledge for their employees; often, the company will hire people certified in the department they are hired for. For example, Home Depot creates custom doors and windows, and an employee who is a certified carpenter or has experience as a foreman will be hired for this position. This saves the company money on training and certification and ensures the employees’ tasks will be completed to a higher standard. There are quarterly performance reviews for associates and employees at all levels at The Home Depot. Employees sit down with their supervisor to discuss what they have done throughout the quarter and what they can improve and have detailed directions for the next quarter. Quarterly training courses for each employee cover customer service, proper use of machinery and safety, and ethics. These performance reviews, training, and guidance help build the team, create a safer environment, and develop The Home Depot's human resources. This resource is valuable because hardworking, knowledgeable employees improve efficiency and effectiveness. Home Depot's human resources are not rare, inimitable, or nonsubstitutable because they do not create a competitive advantage against their competitors. Lowes and other home improvement retailers have similar hiring criteria and customer-backed approaches. Financial Resources The Home Depot has a finance committee of three or more directors meeting four times each fiscal year. As of October 2023, Home Depot's total assets are $75.57 billion, including cash, equipment, properties, and inventories. Furthermore, the total debt is $49.25 billion. The Home Depot's leading acquisition of funds is from selling their home improvement products, with building materials accounting for 36.43% of Q1 total revenue in 2021.

14 The Home Depot uses financial leverage to fund company growth. Financial leverage is the practice of using invested money to finance the purchase of new assets, with the goal being the return on assets exceeding the cost of borrowing. The Home Depot's top investors are Vanguard Group Inc., BlackRock Inc., State Street Corp, Capital World Investors, and VTSM (Fintel, 2024). The financial resources used by Home Depot support the company's mission, vision, values, and goals by growing the company and keeping its debt-to-equity ratio positive. This resource is valuable but is expected, inimitable, and nonsubstitutable. Technology Resources The Home Depot uses an intranet called MyApron for employees to access their training, pay slips, time clock, and other essential resources. A Sidekick app also allows on-floor associates to restock shelves, prioritize products, and find excess products. These two apps aid in performance and store-wide communication by collating all pertinent information in one place. A 2018 report on The Home Depot corporate page states, "Since our first online sale was recorded in 2000, we have embraced cutting-edge technologies to make shopping as easy as possible." Since then, five implementations have been made to how customers can shop online or on the app. The additions include voice search, chat 3D augmented reality, mapping, and machine learning. In fiscal year 2023, the quarter three report shows a 5% increase in sales on The Home Depot's digital platforms. The technology resources used by Home Depot play a part in supporting the company's mission, vision, values, and goals by providing comfort and ease in shopping, low prices, and delivery prices all online, customer support through chat and a map of the store to make ins tore shopping more efficient. However, they cannot create a competitive advantage against their rival

15 Lowes, who also shares app and intranet similarities. The resource is valuable in this case but does not fall under rare, inimitable, or nonsubstitutable categories. Physical Resources As the world's largest home improvement retailer, The Home Depot has many physical resources. There are over 2,300 stores across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The Home Depot also has 35 flatbed delivery centers and 90 distribution centers throughout the United States. Home Depot stores typically stock around 35,000 products yearly, including proprietary and national brand-name items; they also have 1 million online products in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. The Home Depot's physical resources fully support the company mission, vision, values, and goals by providing a wide range of products, distributors that provide the 'everyday low prices,' and stores in each of the 50 states to improve the customer experience. Physical resources are valuable but must meet rare, inimitable, or nonsubstitutable criteria. Leadership, Governance, and Management Management, Leadership Styles and Effectiveness The Home Depot uses the Total Quality Management style. The definition of total quality management mentions a significant hallmark, customer satisfaction, making this the clear management style. The significant hallmarks are customer satisfaction, quality as the responsibility of all employees, and teamwork (Management Styles, 2009). This type of management is geared towards The Home Depot's mission, vision, values, and goals because it focuses on their customer-backed approach, quality of care and items offered, and working as a team.

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

16 Managers typically work their way up to this position from a floor associate, which provides them the experience of being a subordinate, learning what leadership style they do and do not like, and allows them to tailor their approach when they meet the time to become a manager. On the other hand, those hired in managerial positions typically come to the company with certifications or experience in leadership positions. The Home Depot has quarterly training for each employee to learn the store, products, and expectations and for those in higher-level positions to know how to handle a department properly. Management Control Systems Within the management framework, management control systems (MCSs) gather and use information to evaluate how well organizational resources and functions are performing within an organization's objectives and strategies (Anthony & Govindarajan, 2007). The Home Depot implemented 'Homers,' a positive reinforcement for employees who go above and beyond in their line of work. In any case, store leadership and higher leadership can hand out these Homers. The award comes with tiers that have monetary rewards attached. This helps bring forth better results throughout the store because employees strive to be rewarded monetarily. Employees also undergo quarterly performance reviews with their direct supervisor to discuss what needs to be improved and what the employee is doing right. These reviews not only help the employees but also show higher leadership in the quality of the employees throughout their stores. This helps outline the performance goals and expectations for every employee, leadership, in-store management, and floor associates. Lastly, there are biweekly agile learning or scrum meetings. These meetings include all store leadership to discuss quarterly earnings and losses, employee problems, department to-dos,

17 and other pertinent information to be passed down the chain to each department head's team. This allows new information and do-outs to be identified and quickly corrected and helps employees understand what needs to be done. Organizational Leadership The Home Depot chair, President, and CEO, Ted Decker, has been part of the company since 2000. He holds a bachelor's degree in English and a master's in business administration. In 2000, Ted joined The Home Depot as a director of business valuation, and throughout the years, he has served in several strategic positions in the company. From 2020 to 2022, he served as the President and chief operating officer for global stores, sourcing, and supply chain operations. In March 2022, Ted became the company CEO. Ted is credited with ensuring the blend of online and in-store experiences that helps customers shop seamlessly today. This plays a role in the company MVVGs by supporting the superior customer service experience. The Home Depot claims to promote 17,000 people annually to leadership positions and has 32 top executives whose bios are readily available on their website. Governance Corporate governance is part of our culture and is founded on our daily commitment to living values and principles that recognize our ethical obligations to our shareholders, associates (employees), customers, suppliers, and the communities in which we operate (Overview, N.D.). The company has a formally documented governance structure on its corporate website. In 1999, the company committed and adopted the SEC Blue Ribbon Committee and has continued to commit to strong corporate governance by improving the financial reporting process. During 2002 and 2003, the company implemented a disclosure committee, a corporate

18 compliance council, independence standards for board members, and a detailed policy of procedures for retaining independent auditors. The board of directors has a majority vote to allow for proper election standards within the company. As The Home Depot continues to grow, so does its commitment to equal opportunity standards. The Home Depot commits itself to its value wheel, which is displayed throughout all stores and on the aprons employees wear. The structure of corporate governance used by Home Depot does follow their values by respecting all people, taking care of their people, and building solid relationships . Strengths and Weaknesses The Home Depot has a variety of perceived strengths and weaknesses. Each is assessed regularly by the company's chain of command. As the trends in technology, purchasing, supply, and demand change, the store is forced to change or be left behind. It is clear that so far, The Home Depot has complied with the trends, as it stands as the world's largest home improvement retailer. Strengths As the world's largest home improvement retailer, Home Depot's most considerable strength is within its numbers: its employees. The company has excellent human resource policies, programs to help its employees, and several reward-based initiatives that drive not only the loyalty but also the work ethic of its employees. Another strength is their excellent customer service, which ties into their loyal customer base and how they treat their employees. Happy and motivated employees make for better customer service and interactions, which drives the number of return customers. The Home

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

19 Depot also has customer-based rewards and incentives, like the PRO program and credit cards, for extraordinary purchasing power. Another considerable strength is their online and in-store purchasing options. Their implementation of the BOPIS (buy online, pick up in-store) lockers accounts for 40% of online orders and allows customers to skip the wait in line and receive their products promptly. Their push into the e-commerce world has spiked the number of in-app and online purchases and brand recognition. It allows for a wider variety of merchandise to be offered to customers. Weaknesses The Home Depot's major weakness is its dependence on its North American stores. Although Home Depot has stores in Canada and Mexico, the Mexican market has been unstable due to conflicts with labor unions and workplace environments. This threat has been a cause for concern in the outcome and stability of the stores located throughout Mexico. Another weakness as of late is regarding the negative publicity surrounding the company. The co-founder Bernie Marcus has supported former president Donald Trump and his plans to run in the 2024 presidential election. After consumers caught wind of the billionaire's comments in the new interview, outrage erupted online, and a call for a boycott of the home improvement chain was initiated (Battle, 2023). Lastly, a considerable concern is their direct competitor, Lowes. Lowes offers similar, if different, products, services, and customer service. Although there are several differences between the stores and their mission, vision, values, and goals, they are not as similar. Lowes, being a direct competitor, can hurt the market share and revenue of The Home Depot. Learning and Change

20 As a significant player in the home improvement industry, Home Depot has struggled to adapt to change regarding supply and demand, technology, and order fulfillment. One of the most prominent learning curves that implemented change was the push for e- commerce and a more prominent online presence. The Home Depot was behind the curve when implementing e-commerce and stayed behind the trend until 2021, when the One Home Depot strategy was launched. Home Depot launched its website in 1999 and online store in 2000, making small changes throughout the years. Lowes, their direct competitor, was ahead of the curve, implementing their first website five years prior in 1995, then opening an online store in 2000. Another change that has been implemented is the store's asset protection specialists. With the crime rate on the rise, The Home Depot stores have experienced nearly 100 billion dollars of loss from shoplifting and organized retail crime. Scott Glenn, the vice president of asset protection, has been warning about threats employees face as they attempt to stop shoplifters, and Congress has been called to pass a bipartisan organized retail crime bill to help the stores stop the crime. Lastly, there has been a push since 2019 for the company to 'go green.' This change is still in the process and may never come to fulfillment as the green initiatives change each year. The Home Depot has an Eco Actions program that educates customers on how they can reduce environmental impact during their projects. The company has also partnered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star program to offer energy-saving and water products in-store and online. Updates are also being made to the way that products are packaged. All our private-brand fiber packaging for new SKUs in our U.S. and Canada stores will be

21 compostable, recyclable, or recycled content beginning in fiscal year 2027 (Reducing environmental impact, n.d.). Conclusions and Recommendations Conclusions In conclusion, The Home Depot is a home improvement giant of a company that has succeeded, flourished, and reached new heights throughout its existence. There are noticeable things that could be improved in how the company and its leaders decide to conduct business, but constant changes are being made to these flaws. Ted Decker, the CEO and headquarters in Georgia, has maintained the vision and goals of the founders Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank. The culture and values of The Home Depot were ingrained in its founders and are now ingrained in each employee who finds work through the company. There is no question about what the founders expect; from their distributors to the floor associates, the goal is clear. Excellent customer service, everyday low prices, and various products. Recommendations The Home Depot is capable of identifying its weaknesses and implementing change. However, the company should focus on the most significant weakness and work its way down the list. From the shortcomings listed in the report, their dependency on the North American economy is the most crucial topic that should be focused on. Should the American economy plummet, there will be a shortage of need for home improvement items. The Home Depot leadership should take proper measures to ensure the company's continuity and legacy.

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

22 References 2023 responsible sourcing report. (n.d.). https://corporate.homedepot.com/sites/default/files/2023- 07/2023_Responsible_Sourcing_Report_Final.pdf Battle, P. (2023, November 29). Home Depot co-founder’s controversial comments cause cries ... - the street. The Street. https://www.thestreet.com/retail/home-depot-co-founders- controversial-comments-cause-cries-for-boycott Decker, E. P. (2023, June 13). The Home Depot, Inc. (HD) - investor relations. The Home Depot. https://ir.homedepot.com/~/media/Files/H/HomeDepot-IR/reports-and-presentations/ 2023-iac-transcript-vf.pdf FAQs. (n.d.). https://ir.homedepot.com/investor-resources/faqs#:~:text=What%20is%20The %20Home%20Depot’s,and%20the%20most%20competitive%20prices. Fintel. (n.d.). HD - The Home Depot, Inc. stock - stock price, institutional ... - fintel. Fintel. https://fintel.io/so/us/hd Five technologies are changing how we shop. The Home Depot. (2018, August 20). https://corporate.homedepot.com/news/company/5-technologies-changing-how-we-shop Greenspan, R. (2023, June 15). Home Depot’s organizational structure (an analysis). Panmore Institute . https://panmore.com/home-depot-organizational-structure-analysis#:~:text=The %20main%20advantage%20of%20Home,under%20former%20CEO%20Nardelli’s %20leadership. Learning resource. Organizational Structure. (n.d.). https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/scor/uncurated/mba/2218-mba610/learning- resourcelist/organizational-structure.html?ou=916133

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

23 Number of Home Depot locations in the USA in 2024. ScrapeHero. (2024, January 11). https://www.scrapehero.com/location-reports/Homedepot-USA/#:~:text=Number%20of %20Homedepot%20stores%20in%20the%20United%20States%20in %202024&text=There%20are%202%2C003%20Homedepot%20stores,Homedepot %20stores%20in%20the%20US. Overview. The Home Depot. (n.d.-a). https://ir.homedepot.com/corporate-governance/overview QUARTERLY EARNINGS. 2023 | The Home Depot. (n.d.). https://ir.homedepot.com/financial- reports/quarterly-earnings/2023 Reducing environmental impact. The Home Depot. (n.d.-b). https://corporate.homedepot.com/page/reducing-environmental-impact Smithson, N. (2023, June 14). Home Depot’s generic strategy is Intensive Growth Strategies. Panmore Institute. https://panmore.com/home-depot-generic-strategy-intensive-growth- strategies Ted Decker is the chair, president, and chief executive officer. Home. (n.d.). https://corporate.homedepot.com/bio/ted-decker-chair-president-chief-executive-officer The Home Depot closes Seven big box stores in China. The Home Depot. (2012, September 13). https://ir.homedepot.com/news-releases/2012/09-13-2012 The Home Depot supported 2.2 million jobs nationwide in 2022, creating four additional jobs for every employed associate. The Home Depot. (2023, December 6). https://corporate.homedepot.com/news/company/home-depot-supported-22-million-jobs- nationwide-2022-creating-four-additional-jobs

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

Kirklin_Hannah_audit_ final_report

Related Documents