Home Depot Case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Home Depot - Case Study Example Home Depot Inc became the fastest growing firm in the world after its establishment and no one would have ever thought that such a firm would be faced with the challenge of operating in an interconnected world of retail which led to of slowed growth rate and reduction in revenues. The business environment had changed due to customer empowerment and development of on-line retailing. To cope with this problem, the firm embarked on standardization, centralization and performance metrics. Home Depot was established in 1978 by Marcus and Arthur Blank together with other associates. Marcus and Blank had enough experience in home improvement firms as they had both worked in Handy Dan Home improvement Centers before they were fired. They had an idea of creating their own firm which would be bigger and much improved from the one they had been working in. Home improvement industry in the U.S was at its climax and each day new firms were being establishment. They had an idea of establishing the irs that would be much competitive in the industry. (Hagg A, 2011). The reputation of the firm in the country was built by its commitment to service of customer. Different from many other firms they adopted an inverted pyramid in their ways of operation putting the customers in front of the firm and the administration. The main customers of the firm were the do-it-yourself customers. These customers are those that purchase products and go ahead to install on their own. There was a need by the firm to have proper arrangements and training people in the firm on how to handle customers and explain to them on how to install the products in their homes. The other kind of customers to be targeted was professionals. These were mainly those that are trained such as plumbers and masons. Thou their number was much less than the other kind, they were the most frequent and contributed a considerable amount of revenue to the firm. Home Depot faced strong competition from Lowe’s which had a great share of pro customers in the market. After the massive drop in revenues