Officemax Merger Essay

Across the United States, Mexico, and Canada these two giants have industrialized characteristic strategic priorities, and brand images. Despite the strategic differences, Home Depot and Lowe’s both share one major objective. The fact of customer-based increasingly active online, both companies being committed to allowing their customers to move perfectly online and offline channels. For example, a customer may order online and have the item shipped to their nearest store, or may even identify the item in store and have it arranged so it could be shipped to their worksite. (Home Depot Vs. Lowes: The Home Improvement Battle (HD,LOW),

Back in October 2013 the major outdoor retailer Bass Pro Shops struck a deal to to acquire a major competitor, Cabela’s, for about $4.5 billion in cash. These are two major sellers of outdoor related gear, and they have both spent decades as competitors building over-the-top megastores.

Strategy means the approach, plan and knowledge that is used to move in the direction that will allow the company to satisfy the customer’s wants and needs, and obtain their goal, while reaching and maintaining an economical benefit over the competition (Defining Your Business Strategy, 2016). It can further be defined as a means of evaluating at what success level they are currently sustaining, and what success level they desire to obtain and the means they will need to use to get to their desired level (Bryson p. 11). A practical understanding of the value that strategy brings to an organization, is the course that the company is to take and the positioning that the company has for the future, and very possibly survival in a very competitive

As discount stores such as Walmart and PC makers such as Dell began to compete with Best Buy, new services such as in-home installation were needed to create value for customers. Now, just as change in competition created an opportunity for Geek Squad, it is also leading to another level of competition as Staples has introduced EasyTech services and Office Depot has introduced Tech Depot services. The economic situation for electronics continues to improve as prices decline and demand increases. (McGraw Hill, 2017)

It is significant to note that there are a variety of strategic reasons throughout history that lead these two companies into a merger. The Coors family had built an iconic brewery in Colorado that grew based on their quality and ability to innovate in the mid-twentieth century. They were the first brewery to develop refrigerated trains for transportation, a cold filtered brewing process, and the first aluminum can. Yet, there were some events that lead to some turmoil in the organization. One instance involved the selling of $130,000,000 in shares to the public in order to alleviate a Coors family member from debt. Although the shares did not hold any voting rights, the family ventured into the world of stockholders for the first time. Perhaps the

Home Depot and Lowe’s are two of the largest competitors in the home improvement market. When comparing the two, they both operate under very similar business models targeting the DIY and professional markets, but there are differences in their strategies which provides them both success within this industry. One specific area is in market saturation which Home Depot is ahead of Lowe’s. Home Depot has moved into the global market with stores in the U.S. Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Canada, Mexico and China, many of which Lowe’s have not infiltrated. Other areas where the two companies differ are in customer options and store layouts. For example Home Depot is still considered to appeal to professional customers such as

Both Lowe’s and Home Depot have close relationships with their suppliers. As a result, suppliers are often time discouraged from doing business with competing firms – which is a weakness to the supply chain, and hinders business developments and limits one’s market strategies. Home Depot faces the threat of substitutes as a result general merchandiser i.e., Walmart and online retailers availability of home improvement products. Given the fact that the vast majority of Home Depot’s revenues are generated in the American market, the slowdown of the U.S. economy extends a major threat. Based on these facts it is recommended that Home Depot should concentrate on developing a strong competitive advantage by diversifying its business to minimize risk in the home improvement retail market. In addition, it should consider expanding its operations into high-growth markets in developing

Alluding to mergers and acquisitions, we ask, where are these organizations contributing? To the extent Wal-Mart goes, they have made more than 25 mergers and acquisitions since 1980 and would be considered to have an incredibly dynamic corporate system. This system has helped them to extend universally and drove them to their present spot as the #1 retailer on the planet. Wal-Mart has fanned out to more than 16 nations and has 3,000 or more stores working outside of the

For instance, Nordstrom has recently invested in digital technology which includes a mobile sales app BevyUp, as well the investment in Messageye, which will help to better understand consumer data.58 Nordstrom has gained competitive advantage from their willingness to invest in new technology. To invest in new technology, like digitization, it requires a substantial capital investment, as back in 2013 Nordstrom vowed to invest approximately $1.2 billion into technological developments over the course of the next five years.59 So being able to keep with top retailers in terms of research and development can prove to be extremely costly. Nordstrom’s investments into technology are almost impossible to imitate and immensely valuable giving them a sustainable competitive advantage over competitors like HBC and

Home Depot strives to maintain quality customer service. Based on the philosophy of customer service Home Depot succeeds by engaging their customers with relevant communication. Using the mobile devices and social media Home Depot can get feedback from their customers instantly. “Instant surveys can be used to find out, for example, what area of the store do customers spend most time in, are they gardeners, do they like to paint often, are they avid power tool users” (Zmuda, 2011). Home Depot also uses the electronic product marketing and social media to promotion their rebates and discounted prices. Consumer can sign up for text messages or email from Home Depot on their website to receive discounts. In the newspaper you will still see Home Depot ads. Lastly, is place, “a firm’s distribution strategy can vary across locations because of cultural, economic, or other considerations” (Parnell, 2014). “Home Depot has restructured its supply chain to integrate the experiences of online and in-store shopping” (Bond, J., 2015). “That restructuring included the development and deployment of a network of distribution centers for store replenishment and, more recently, direct-to-customer fulfillment” (Bond, 2015). Home Depot is in the process of setting up “direct fulfillment center (DFC), designed to support omni-channel capabilities like direct-to-consumer fulfillment and store pickup for online orders” (Bond,

This paper will examine companies that have merged, companies that have been acquired by other, privately held and those that choose international strategies. This paper will discuss merger strategies, why a company would be a profitable target for acquisition and international business and corporate level strategies.

Home Depot is the largest home improvement retailer in the world. Their goal is to provide a large selection of products to their large customer base at competitive prices. Home Depot was established in 1978 by Bernard Marcus and Arthur Blank. These two men were relieved of their jobs as managers for the Handy Dan home center chain, after a major corporate downsizing within the management department. These two men took their knowledge and know-how for home improvement and opened their own home improvement store. Home Depot opened two stores the summer of 1979 in Atlanta, Georgia. At this time they did not have the financial backing to open a store at that size with a lot of products on their own, so Home Depot partnered with a New York

The declared merger was technically an acquisition which failed due to the lack of synergy which is the base for an efficient operation and success of the newly formed company. The merger became the most discussed merger and the most accurate option for case study due to it being the biggest merger (till now in terms of valuation) and its failure.

In just a month of its establishment Amazon was selling books to all 50 states of the US and Canada. From the onset the company had ambitions of being an “everything store” (funding universe, 2004). Over the years Amazon increased its offerings to include DVDs, electronics, furniture and other consumer goods (Amazon.com, 2015). The product range increase was accompanied by a series of acquisitions. Oliva et al (2003) describes Amazon to be using a get big fast (GBF) strategy which is premised on keeping prices low while expanding market

The two firms combined will be the country’s dominant cable and Internet provider. Cohen’s rebuttal to the negative feedback of this news was that Comcast already has competition to worry about such as Amazon, Netflix, and Apple. Cohen is right to the extent that these corporations are giving Comcast some form of competition. But the competition isn’t remotely as effective as having a newly merged company with control of roughly 40 percent of the high-speed broadband Internet market. Cohen mentioned 3 companies that don’t even dabble in the cable business at the current time. Yes, Netflix looks to become a premium channel and have the successful model of HBO. However, both Netflix and Amazon are primarily on the Internet and focus on their streaming and renting service. Apple, on the other hand, focuses mainly on their gadgets that improve the television experience. It is certainly not hurting Comcast sales. If anything, Apple increases Comcast sales in some ways, especially when it comes to their gadgets that require Internet to get the full