Office Depot Case Study Essays - Office Depot, Staples Inc., Staples

Office Depot Case Study Introduction The Office Depot case study is designed to measure the skills of success of the well known office supply chain. This study analyzes key strategic issues that are important for Office Depot's sustained growth and success. Office Depot maintains its success as the result of their relentless focus on a simple formula: To offer the broadest selection of high-quality office products, services and information that their customers need at everyday low prices. Office Depot's mission statement is to be the most successful office products company in the world. Office Depot's simple formula and mission statement has created an industry leader. Corporate History Since Office Depot was founded in 1986, they have revolutionized the way office products were sold through warehouse retailing. Warehouse retailing involves buying directly from manufacturers in high volumes, this has been successful due to its low overhead costs and savings to customers. Low overhead trickles down to the consumer, who is able to purchase its every conceivable office needed product at up to 60% off of list prices. Office Depot had opened 10 stores within its first year, following the immediate success of its first store in Florida. With direction from Office Depot's Chairman and CEO, David I. Fuente, Office Depot opened 16 additional stores in 1987. By 1989, Office Depot had a total of 67 stores. In April, 1991, Office Depot merged with another growing office supply chain, Office Club. This merge put Office Depot on top as the largest office products retailer in North America. In 1992, Office Depot went international. Office Depot entered the international arena when it acquired the Great Canadian Office Supplies Warehouse chain in Canada. After successful conversion of five Canadian Office Supplies Warehouses to Office Depots in Canada, Office Depot opened additional stores throughout the country. Office Depot continued its expansion when it entered the market in Colombia and Israel in 1993. By 1997, Office Depot had opened locations in Poland, France, Hungary, Japan and Thailand. The company ended 1999 with 825 stores in the U.S. and Canada alone. This expansion is one of the strategies used by Office Depot to lend to its successful growth and plans to continue its expansion in the future. Business Strategies In the highly competitive market of office supplies, Office Depot has proved itself to be at the top of its game, holding a strong second place over their biggest competitor, Staples. Competitors, such as Staples, have shown only a 6% increase in sales over the past year while, Office Depot reported sales of $10.3 billion, a 14% increase over the $9.0 billion reported for 1999. They have reached this level of sales and success by achieving major goals and objectives set by the company. Office Depot has developed excellent standards for customer service, successful advertising campaigns and expanded into global markets. Each of these accomplishments have aided Office Depot in gaining a strong foothold in the office supply market and brought them one step closer to becoming number one. In spite of Office Depot's growth and success, its greatest challenge may be yet to come. In order to surpass Staples and become number one in the industry, Office Depot must carefully and successfully plan and execute two key strategic plans. The first is a continued level of excellent customer service and increased convenience for their customers. Office Depot needs to maintain a knowledgeable and helpful staff, comprised of quality people that can provide an atmosphere in the stores that makes customers feel welcome. A welcome atmosphere with a knowledgeable staff is necessary in order to continue to build a larger customer base for the company. In a world of technology, customers are constantly looking for ways to receive their merchandise quicker. To maintain its current success, Office Depot must remain on top of the changing technology and expand its already established Internet ordering system. Customers, at the present time, can look through an online catalog, place an order and have it shipped directly to their home or office. Several companies, like the telecommunication company, GTE, have contracted with Office Depot in order to offer discounts of up to forty percent to their employees when they place their orders online. With this service comes the

Free Essays on Epistomolgy

‘LOGOS’ – means word Epistà §mà § = Knowledge Epistemology = the study of knowledge HOW DO I KNOW FOR SURE? (Contrasted with doxa = which is a belief or mere opinion) (How) can doxa (an opinion) = be Epistà §mà § (knowledge)? Knowledge = justified true belief (universally true). Doxa can be justified belief. 3 necessary conditions for knowledge: 1. Belief – (yours/mine) 2. Truth – (it is true) 3. Justification – (you/me justified in believing the truth) In philosophy there are 2 kinds if knowledge: Knowing How vs. Knowing That To do something â€Å"know-how†.Cannot be fully verbalizedEg:- your own way of doing things. It is not what epistà §mà § refers to. Propositional truth – truth in an idea.(propose – idea, offer)It can be fully verbalized. Declaratives, statements, propositions: the kinds of things we say. 1. Interrogative (question). Is that a door? Are you sure? 2. Explanative (!) What a nice car! Kinds of statements 3. Imperative (order) Shut that door. Each statement supposes that something is true BUT after saying all those statements, the question â€Å"Is that true† doesn’t follow. Invalid. That’s why this cannot apply to epistemology because these 3 statements leave no room for doubt. Already supposes something is true. * Only declarative statement CAN possess â€Å"truth-value†. E.g.: this is door. Difference is, in declarative, you can ask â€Å"Is that true?† therefore declarative. Components of any argument MUST be declarative statements. You cannot order, exclaim, or question within a philosophical argument. One other kind of statement that seems like a declarative statement but it’s not. (But not declarative sentences or â€Å"pseudo-statements† such as: men are from Mars; Women are from Venus (!) Cannot form part of an argument because it is an exaggeration... Free Essays on Epistomolgy Free Essays on Epistomolgy ‘LOGOS’ – means word Epistà §mà § = Knowledge Epistemology = the study of knowledge HOW DO I KNOW FOR SURE? (Contrasted with doxa = which is a belief or mere opinion) (How) can doxa (an opinion) = be Epistà §mà § (knowledge)? Knowledge = justified true belief (universally true). Doxa can be justified belief. 3 necessary conditions for knowledge: 1. Belief – (yours/mine) 2. Truth – (it is true) 3. Justification – (you/me justified in believing the truth) In philosophy there are 2 kinds if knowledge: Knowing How vs. Knowing That To do something â€Å"know-how†.Cannot be fully verbalizedEg:- your own way of doing things. It is not what epistà §mà § refers to. Propositional truth – truth in an idea.(propose – idea, offer)It can be fully verbalized. Declaratives, statements, propositions: the kinds of things we say. 1. Interrogative (question). Is that a door? Are you sure? 2. Explanative (!) What a nice car! Kinds of statements 3. Imperative (order) Shut that door. Each statement supposes that something is true BUT after saying all those statements, the question â€Å"Is that true† doesn’t follow. Invalid. That’s why this cannot apply to epistemology because these 3 statements leave no room for doubt. Already supposes something is true. * Only declarative statement CAN possess â€Å"truth-value†. E.g.: this is door. Difference is, in declarative, you can ask â€Å"Is that true?† therefore declarative. Components of any argument MUST be declarative statements. You cannot order, exclaim, or question within a philosophical argument. One other kind of statement that seems like a declarative statement but it’s not. (But not declarative sentences or â€Å"pseudo-statements† such as: men are from Mars; Women are from Venus (!) Cannot form part of an argument because it is an exaggeration...

Mutually Exclusive

Mutually Exclusive Mutually Exclusive Mutually Exclusive By Maeve Maddox A reader asks, Could you write a piece on the use of the term â€Å"mutually exclusive†? I always get a little befuddled when someone says, â€Å"This and that are not mutually exclusive.† I have to stop and do the math to make sure I follow. The expression â€Å"mutually exclusive† is used in statistics to refer to events that cannot occur at the same time. For example, with $10 in my pocket, I go into a store intending to buy a battery and a jump drive, but each item costs $10. I can buy the battery or I can buy the jump drive, but not both. The purchases are â€Å"mutually exclusive.† Writers use the term when discussing subjects that seem to be so opposed in nature as to be incapable of coexisting but which, in their opinion, can in fact do so. For example: Feminism and Christianity dont have to be mutually exclusive. Interpretation: Feminism, which advocates the equality of the sexes, is being contrasted with Christianity, a patriarchal religion that teaches female submission. Privacy and Security Are Not Mutually Exclusive. Interpretation: Security, in the sense of government defenses that rely on surveillance and data gathering, is being contrasted with privacy, the condition of being free from public attention. Are Religion and Science mutually exclusive? Interpretation: Religion, which requires adherents to believe in events that defy the laws of physics, is contrasted with science, which insists on physical proofs before belief. The Germans don’t see brains and brawn as mutually exclusive. Interpretation: â€Å"All brawn and no brains† is an idiom that reflects the popular belief that athletic qualities and intelligence are not to be found in the same person. The statement, from a sports site, posits the idea that intelligence can be expected of athletes. Three other common expressions that use the adverb mutually to mean a reciprocal action or status are: mutually beneficial: good for both parties. Example: After 1940,  Mexico  and the  United States  slowly crafted a  mutually beneficial  relationship. mutually delighted: good feelings on each side. Example: By the end of their first term together, in the spring of 1874, it was  clear  that teacher and pupil were  mutually delighted.   mutually assured destruction: a state of hostility in which two equally strong opponents are capable of destroying one another in open conflict. Example: Fifty years ago this week the idea of mutually assured nuclear destruction was outlined in a major speech. But how did this frightening concept of the Cold War fade from peoples psyches? Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Passed vs Past"Gratitude" or "Gratefulness"?Supervise vs. Monitor

Staples.com Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Staples.com - Essay Example Would you pursue wallet share or market share as the first priority? Or would you pursue both? Staples.com strategy is very timely as the only online competitor they had was Office Depot and as per the Forrester Research online sales of office supplies were expected to reach $65 billion by 2003. Their cohesive marketing campaign aimed at offering multiple channels so they could reach more customers. They were realistic in their approach as far as advertising budgets were concerned despite having ample capital. They did not want to follow what others were doing and wanted to use the traditional, cost-effective direct marketing strategies. They were not following a ‘get big strategy’ because they differed in their marketing approach. They had a balanced approach. Lewis’ strategy to first capture the market share holds more importance. To expand and achieve the target growth, competing with mass discounters and mass merchants would not commensurate with the image that they were trying to build. Once the market share is captured, wallet share would happen auto matically. Staples.com should expand into the SOHO services market because for small businesses it is time and cost effective to find all services from one source. To offer services like intranet, telecommunications, take care of payroll and other accounting services, it would be better for Staples.com to tie up with external service providers. Creating services would require more manpower and there is the possibility that their focus might shift from their primary goal. They can oversee the services to ensure quality and professionalism is maintained. Staples.com should not compete with mass discounters and merchants. This adversely affects the image of the company. They should aim at capturing the market share which would help them to meet their growth targets. If they start offering discounts to match competition, they might have to compromise on services. Besides, the

Vicarious Liability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Vicarious Liability - Essay Example The concept of vicarious liability can be substantiated in this case in numerous ways. The first evidence can be observed on the agreement signed between Robert Courtney and Eli Lilly and Company. Whereby, Elil Lilly and company were supposed to supply Courtney with Chemotherapy drugs. However, Robert Courtney started participating in pharmaceutical fraud by buying drugs from a grey market and at the same time diluting Taxol and Gemzal drugs supplied by Eli Lilly and company. This means that Elil Lilly and company had a vicarious liability due to the tortuous acts committed by Robert Courtney of whom they had a special relationship based on the agreement they had signed (Giliker, 2011). The second evidence of vicarious liability can be observed between Doctor Hunter and Robert Courtney. Doctor Hunter was supplied cancer drugs by Robert Courtney pharmacy whereby, he used those drugs to diagnose his patient without the knowledge that Courtney had diluted the drugs. This resulted to substantial harm to the patients diagnosed by Doctor Hunter. Therefore, based on this relationship Robert Courtney had vicarious liability towards Doctor Hunter’s patients. This is because Courtney was responsible for the harm that doctor hunter had caused towards his patients (Moses & Jones, 2011). The organizational parties that could be held liable in this case include: Eli Lilly and company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Kansas City General Hospital where Doctor Hunter was working and finally Research Medical Towers Pharmacy Owned by Robert Courtney. Eli Lilly and company were liable because the organisation had a special relationship with Courtney. This relationship was established via an agreement whereby, Eli Lilly pharmaceutical company agreed to be supplying Robert Courtney Pharmacy with chemotherapy drugs. This means that Eli Lilly and Company had a corporate

Alcoholism Essay -- Persuasive Argumentative Essays

Alcoholism Alcohol consumption was initiated on reservations when traders in the nineteenth century started to offer it to oppressed and depressed Native Americans. Natives represent, in fact, the ethnic group with the highest degree of alcohol consumption in the United States. Confinement on reservations after displacement brought for Native Americans identity conflicts and assimilation problems. This situation promoted the abuse of liquor to mitigate the psychological pain inflicted by the dispossession of the land and enclosure in a limited and controlled space. Both the stereotype of the â€Å"Noble Savage† and the â€Å"drunken Indian† are recurrent figures in mainstream literature of the US. Native American Literature of the 70s and 80s (American Indian Literary Renaissance) focused on restoring the tribal inheritance of mixed blood Indians who had been alienated both by whites and fellow Indians. Serving in the army during World War II or in the VIETNAM WAR, some tried to gain the respect of their fellow soldiers only to collapse completely and dive into an ocean of solitude after the conflicts ended. Partial consolation seemed to be found in drinking. Assimilation to white culture often times means drinking as whites, thus, CEREMONY, HOUSE MADE OF DAWN, WINTER IN THE BLOOD and LOVE MEDICINE, among others, introduced the topic of the alienated Indian destroyed by liquor. James WELCH, Louise ERDRICH, Leslie Marmon SILKO, and Scott MOMADAY deal with the issue of alcohol abuse in most of their novels; they express a true concern about the situation of their tribes due to alcoholism and propose the return to the ancient ceremonies and traditions to cure tribal members addi cted to liquor and restore their link with the earth. ... ...n Blues. New York: Warner Books, 1996 Brave Bird, Mary E.& Erdoes, R. Ohikita Woman. New York: Grove Press, 1993. Crow Dog, Mary E. & Erdoes, R. Lakota Woman.New York: Harper Perennial, 1990. Dorris, Michael. The Broken Cord Erdrich, L. Love Medicine (New and Expanded Edition). New York: Harper Perennial, 1984. Gunn Allen, Paula. The Sacred Hoop, Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Tradition. Boston: Beacon Press books, 1986. Mc. Farland, R. James Welch. Lewinston (IH): Confluence Press Inc., 1986. Momaday, N. Scott. House Made of Dawn. New York: Harper and Row, 1968. Silko, Leslie Marmon. Ceremony. New York: Penguin, 1977. Stookey, Lorena Laura. Louise Erdrich : a critical companion. Westport (Connecticut): Greenwood Press, 1999 Welch, James. Winter in the Blood. New York, Harper & Row 1974 Imelda Martà ­n-Junquera

The Kiss: Brancusi and Rodin

Auguste Rodin was a French artist most famous for his sculpting. He was born in 1840 and survived into the Twentieth century, dying in November of 1917.   He possessed and innate ability to sculpt in clay, creating dynamic movement in roughly pock marked human figures with a high degree of realism. His work was not well received initially though he came into vogue rather quickly.He was schooled in a traditional manner on the Ecole de Beaux Arte in Paris but in his work he was in the vanguard of the movement toward modern sculpture (Wikipedia.org Rodin).   Constantin Brancusi was born in Romania in 1876 and died in 1957. His sculptures were simple, reflecting his background as a stonemason in his native land. Having run away from home at an early age to escape the abuse of his father and brothers, he impressed an employer with his carving ability and the man financed his secondary education at a crafts school where he graduated with honors. He then attended the Bucharest School of Fine Arts (Wikipedia.org Brancusi).Brancusi made his way to Paris, the center of the world of art at that time, and made the acquaintance of fellow artists and intellectuals (Franck & Liebow). For two years he labored in the workshop of   Antonin Mercie of the Paris Ecole des Beaux Arte. At that point he was invited to work with the master, Auguste Rodin. Brancusi recognized the genius of Rodin but apparently felt smothered by the essence of the great sculptor and left after a few months. He was quoted as saying that, â€Å"Nothing can grow under big trees,† (Wikipedia.org Brancusi) Rodin was, at his core, a naturalist, and as consumed with the emotion and character he found in the model as he was in faithfully rendering an exact likeness.He also, it was said, believed, more so than other sculptors, that a human’s character is revealed in his physical features. His theory was that every portion of the sculpted work had a part to play in communicating the feeling, po wer and inner strength of the work. The grip of the toes, for instance, in his Thinker, is depicted to show the intensity with which the subject is going about his task. â€Å"What makes my Thinker think is that he thinks not only with his brain, with his knitted brow, his distended nostrils and compressed lips, but with every muscle of his arms, back, and legs, with his clenched fist and gripping toes† (quoted in Wikipedia.org Rodin)   he said.While most of Paris’ sculptors were working in clay and having their work cast in bronze, Brancusi most often labored as a carver and utilized the direct method of creating his sculpture. He removed the superfluous material and was left with his creation. In the case of his original The Kiss, (there are several versions), as the old saw goes, he simple cut off everything that did not look like a pair of kissers. Carved in limestone, it measures 23† x 13  ¾ â€Å" x 10  ¾Ã¢â‚¬ . It is a highly stylized depiction of a man and woman face to face, their arms entwined, their lips pressed together and their bodies touching.The work gives the impression that the two are so engrossed and joined in love and sensuality that they have become one. Rodin’s   version of the same subject is likewise carved directly into stone, in this case, marble, though there exist many replicas of the work in bronze, cast from Rodin’s original carving. The original title was Francesca da Rimini and depicted a scene from Dante’s Inferno. It represents an Italian noblewoman who falls in love with her husband’s younger brother. The couple are nude and embracing, with their lips close, each to the other, but not actually touching, so the kiss is not consummated.Both works by these two contemporary masters, working in the same city, are of the same subject and both are carved directly into stone. Here the similarity between the two ends. Rodin’s powerful style is seen in the work and   t here is no question as to what he means to say. The sensuality of the Rodin work is manifest in the texture of the piece and the rendition of muscle and bone. There is a tension in the work that is palpable. Brancusi’s Kiss is simple and direct. It is highly stylized and cubistic in its conception.There is more than a hint of the primitive in the statue. The two artists chose to handle form in a drastically different manner while addressing the same theme. Rodin’s work and even its original title suggest sensuality, passion and perhaps even outright sin. Brancusi’s Kiss is more suggestive of love than of passion (Art 101). It is static and has no movement to it.   The two humans depicted in Brancusi’s work are bonded as if they are one unit, suggesting a stability and deeper emotional unity than that conveyed by RodinThe two artists have, as would have likely pleased Robert Frost, taken different roads. It is not certain which of the two men chose the o ne less traveled but there are differences that make it obvious that they diverge. As to which is the better work, that is not possible to determine, for art, like much of life, is subjective and largely up to individual taste.But Rodin’s work is more academic and conventional where Brancusi’s work is more primal and addresses a basic emotion in the heart and soul of humanity in perhaps a more direct manner. It is possible to dismiss Brancusi’s work at first glance, saying that a child could have done it, while Rodin’s piece has a realism that would belie such a thought.There are those critics who suggest that the Emperor is indeed nude and the Brancusi work is a joke foisted on the art public much like the attitude many take toward the works of Picasso. Rodin’s work became acceptable after a period of adjustment and the public began to understand what he meant to convey. Brancusi’s work is similar in that aspect, and more acceptable as the public gets past their original assessment. Still, both pieces are from the hand of a master who has chosen his own method of bringing his vision to the world.Works Cited.Franck, D. and Liebow, C. Bohemian Paris: Picasso, Modigliani, MatisseAnd the Birth of Modern Art   New York: Grove Press 2001Wikipedia.org   Auguste Rodin 2007 Retrieved 6-7-07 from:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auguste_Rodin  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantin_Brancusi#_note-brainjuice