Home Depot Essay Example for Free

Home Depot EssayTodays market is characterized by highly competitive organizations which be each(prenominal) vying for consumers obedience. Firms are faced with the challenge to maintain their own competitive edge to be able to survive and be favored. Strategies are conservatively planned and executed to gain the ultimate goal of all company growth. However, external factors are not the dependable elements which influence growth. Today virtually companies sense that it impossible to create any kind of sustainable competitive advantage based on product al iodine. It is common knowledge that e very one of the successful companies sought and found a precise understanding of how it could create a customer-centered competitive advantage. Along with the changing commercial enterprise world, customers change as fountainhead, becoming more than(prenominal) demanding and knowledgeable than before. In turn, company management had shifted their focus on their clients or custome rs so as to stay successfully in business. This transition meant that organizations have to entirely reformulate their conventional business aims and purposes from being mental process-foc utilizationd to customer-centered.Hence, in align to bring out exceptional customer avails within the company operations, the management should put on fine-tuned organizational restructuring. Moreover, employing proactive customer commitment involves the consideration on culture and infrastructure (Lowenstein, 1997). Organizations that capitalize on customers active participation in organizational activities shadower gain competitive advantage through greater sales volume, enhanced operating efficiencies, positive word-of-mouth publicity, reduced marketing expenses, and enhanced customer loyalty (Lovelock Young, 1979 Reichheld Sasser, 1990).Rather than going after every potential source of revenue, companies eliminate useless assets that do not add value for customers satisfaction. Busine ss organizations implement bureaucratic policies and procedures for the benefit of the staff, customers and the company in general. According to Bowers, Martin Luker (1990), if consumers somehow become better customers that is, more knowledgeable, participative, or productive the quality of the service experience will in all likelihood be enhanced for the customer and the organization.Company Profile The Home Depot is the worlds largest home improvement retailer and second largest retailer in the United States. From one store to $73. 1 Billion in sales, Home Depot has come a long way in a short time. This organization is very familiar to this writer as he was employed here for a few years after leaving the Marine Corps and was his first noncombatant job. Home Depot stands out more than many organizations that this writer has worked for because it was his first civilian organization and many adjustments had to be made.The company distributes everyday jobs to participants and cre ates rules, policies, measures, and hierarchical organizational charts to organize various actions. Home Depot ought to continually amend their structures to become accustomed to the atmosphere shifts, technology changes, organizational grow, and leadership changes. Furthermore, structure is also a means to high-performing teams. Mindful awareness to structure and single-valued functions in teams will make the team much more successful. When it comes to leadership, structural leadership contributes a critical role in shaping organizations.It can be influential and stable, even though it is more restrained and less heroic leadership compared on some other spues. geomorphological Change In the traditional supply chain management used by businesses that import materials for production, a lot of people, time and money are invested upon to look that the demands of the manufacturers will be handled in the specified date and time required. Before being able to place an order of shipme nt of raw materials, several minutes are consulted between the supplier and the manufacturer that eats up their valued time.The supply flow normally includes the intention of order, quotation, con self-colouredation, delivery, payment and handling of receipts. Great join of time is consumed in the mere planning of the purchase orders of a manufacturing company. And since most of the time the transactions involve not only a single supplier, particularly in the case of huge international producers, manufacturers deal with sub-suppliers with several forwarders from which a number of consolidations are exchanged.The workload and time that the inventory managers handle defines the proceeding business processes that will follow that predicts and maintains the success and profit of the whole business organization. That is why, efficiency counts The best suppliers continuously update and upgrade their service deliveries in order to coiffe the demands of their customers. Customers have t he ever-increasing demand on getting their hands into the products which can lead to change in supplier if expectations are not met.This is the reason why suppliers who are also industry leaders trend toward more reliable delivery services across their customers. However, problems of delivery are usually attended by most companies through with either quick fixes that do not work or complete and comprehensive ends that take too long and are expensive. The Implemented externalise of Changes Customer Satisfaction Along with the changing business world, customers change as well, becoming more demanding and knowledgeable than before.In turn, company management had shifted their focus on their clients or customers so as to stay successfully in business. This transition meant that organizations have to completely reformulate their conventional business aims and purposes from being process-focused to customer-centred. Rethinking and reformulating the organization on the other hand, entail the consideration of several factors such as various processes, technology, the environment as well as the success factors of people (Cohen and Moore, 2000).Hence, in order to bring out exceptional customer services within the company operations, the management should employ fine-tuned organizational restructuring. Moreover, employing proactive customer commitment involves the consideration on culture and infrastructure (Lowenstein, 1997). Online Marketing The tremendous growth of technological advancement has become the driving force of contemporary industries. The diffusion of the internet has revolutionized the business arena.The use of the Internet is changing high-tech marketing overnight while different industries have been trying to use it as part of their marketing system. It has not only reconfigured the way different firms do business and the way the consumers buy goods and services, but it has also become an effective instrument in transforming the value chain from manu facturers to retailers to consumers, creating a new retail distribution channel (Appelbaum et sl, 1998). E-marketing is a powerful tool used by different business organizations around the world.It is defined as the process of achieving marketing preys through the use of electronic communications technology. Smith and Chaffey (2001) have provided a 5Ss mnemonic for how the internet can be applied by all business firms for different e-marketing tactics. These 5Ss are selling, serve, speak, save and sizzle. E-marketing is also known to be the online marketing strategy utilized by different company whose objective is to be the best company in their field. In various countries worldwide, more and more business firms have been using e-marketing strategy in order to be competitive.From books, foods and beverages, automobiles and other products and services, various firms, irregardless of their company sizes, are trying to survive by means of e-marketing strategy. Aside from being a promot ional medium, the internet is a tool for marketing communications as well. Due to its interactive nature, the internet is an efficient method used in communicating with the consumers. Hence, several companies are theme to realize the advantages of using the internet as a tool for communication.Companies hence started to concentrate on designing web-related strategies and employing interactive agencies that will facilitate their development of modified(prenominal) company web sites as part of their integrated marketing communication strategy. There are companies however, that are effectively using the internet by incorporating their web-related strategies with the other areas of their IMC strategies. The approach now becomes integrated and more strategic. On-line marketing is considered to be the most expensive yet seems to be the most comprehensive marketing strategy that every company wants to implement and apply.At present, people, particularly those in the business arena, ten d to engage themselves within the trend of rapidly growing technology so as to stay competitive. Upon surfing the internet, various companies have put up their official sites online for customers and potential consumers to view. Online or e-marketing is the latest marketing approach for any firm who wants to effectively market its products and services. In addition, e-marketing enables the company to be known worldwide since more and more people are able to access information derived from the internet. at bottom the business world, where competition is strict, internet marketing is one essential marketing strategy applied by most industries. Service Delivery Service intangibleness means that services cannot be seen, tasted, felt, heard, or smelled before they are bought. For example, people undergoing cosmetic surgery cannot see the result before purchase. Airline passengers have cipher but a ticket and a promise that their luggage will arrive safely at the intended destination, h opefully at the same time. They shake off conclusions about the quality from the place, people, price, equipment, and communications that they can see.Therefore, the service providers task is to make the service tangible in one or more ways. Although there are also times when product marketers try to add intangible offers, service managers try to add tangibles to their intangible offers. Physical goods are produced, then stored, later sold, and still later consumed. In contrast, services are first sold, then produced and consumed at the same time. Service inseparability means the services cannot be divide from their providers, whether the providers are people or machines.If a service employee provides the service, then the employee is part of the service. Because the customer is also present as the service is produced, provider-customer interaction is a special feature of service marketing. Both the provider and the customer affect the service outcome. Service variability means th e quality of services depends on whom provides them as well as when, where, and how they are provided. For example, some hotels say, Marriot have reputations for providing better service than others.Still, within a given Marriot hotel, one registration-desk employee maybe cheerful and efficient, whereas another standing just a few feet away maybe unpleasant and slow. Even the quality of a single Marriot employees service varies according to his or her energy and frame of mind at the time of each customer encounter. Service perishability means that services cannot be stored for later sale or use. Some doctors charge patients for lost(p) appointments because the service value existed only at that point and disappeared when the patient did not show up.The perishability of services is not a problem when the demand is steady. However, when demand fluctuates, service firms often have difficult problems. For example, because of rush-hour demand, public transportation companies have to ow n much more equipment than they would if demand were even throughout the day. Thus, service firms often design strategies for producing a better match between demand and supply. For instance, hotels and resorts charge lower prices in the off-season to attract more guests. Restaurants hire part-time employees to serve during peak periods.