Competitive Strategy at Corporate, Business, and Function Levels

¶ … Mission and Vision Statements and the Company's Strategic Direction Mission/Vision/Strategic Dissection Research the challenges the organization is facing consider the objectives the organization has established for revitalization; Evaluate the mission and vision statements to determine whether these statements align with the objectives of the organization (this requires research to identify new objectives); Mission Statement & Vision Characteristics Comparison Article & Mission Statement Mission Statement Critique Quality products & services Broad in scope Increased differentiation through marketing portals Great value for customers Are dynamic in orientation Provided where & when customers want products & services Finely balanced between specificity & generality This objective is achieved Build positive, lasting relationships with customers Arouse positive feelings & emotions Shop Your Way and FitStudio Be a preferred & trusted resource for products & services Generate the impression that the firm is successful, has direction, and is worthy of time, support, and investment Genius Award and online successes promote the desirable image for Sears Enhance customers' home & family life Provide criteria for selecting strategies Sears Holdings Mission Statement: "To grow our business by providing quality products and services at great value when and where our customers want them, and by building positive, lasting relationships with our customers." Sears Holdings Vision Statement: "To be the preferred and most trusted resource for the products and services that enhance home and family life." Part 2: Analysis of the Strategies of Sears Holdings Company Background.

The Sears Holdings company was founded in 1899, and developed into a diversified specialty retailer that became a North American feature store. Two well-known subsidiaries -- Kmart Holding Corporation and Sears, Roebuck and Company -- are operated in the United States, while Sears Canada is 95%-owned subsidiary in Canada. The headquarters for Sears Holding company is located in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. As of January 31, 2015, the domestic Sears segment was operating operated 717 full-line stores located across 50 states and Puerto Rico.

The company is currently underwater with a profit margin (ttm) of -5.39%, an operating margin (ttm) of -4.59%, -5.68%, and return on equity (ttm) standing at -292.41% Company Background. The Sears Holdings company was founded in 1899, and developed into a diversified specialty retailer that became a North American feature store. Two well-known subsidiaries -- Kmart Holding Corporation and Sears, Roebuck and Company -- are operated in the United States, while Sears Canada is 95%-owned subsidiary in Canada. The headquarters for Sears Holdings is located in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

As of January 31, 2015, the domestic Sears segment was operating operated 717 full-line stores located across 50 states and Puerto Rico. The company is currently underwater with a profit margin (ttm) of -5.39%, an operating margin (ttm) of -4.59%, return on assets at -5.68%, and return on equity (ttm) standing at -292.41%. After many years of struggle, Sears Holdings reported an Adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter of 2014. The company was encouraged by the year over year improvement and anticipates that the positive trend will carry forward into the full year results for 2015.

Several strategies were mentioned in association with this positive earnings report, including the following: 1) Focusing on the best performing stores; 2) rewarding the best members; and 3) pursuing the best retail categories. The strategies are held out as a promise to transform Sears Holdings, bringing it back to a position of a retail leader, with the additional attribute of an integrated membership-focused enterprise. Corporate Level Strategies Sears Holdings is a mature company and many of the brands sold by the company are far along in the product lifecycle.

The primary corporate level strategy that Sears Holdings has pursued is horizontal integration. The strategies employed by Sears are best analyzed as a component of the chain of events experienced by Kmart as it repeatedly attempted to gain footing in a fast changing retail market. Kmart purchased Sears in 2005 for $11 billion dollars, which marked the formation of the new corporation named Sears Holdings ("Investor Information," 2015).

In the 1980s and 1990s, Kmart was striving to grow the several companies it had acquired: Borders Books, Builders Square, Lands End, OfficeMax, The Sports Authority, and Waldenbooks ("Investor Information," 2015). Around 1992, Kmart revenue peaked and two years later, the chain had closed 110 stores ("Investor Information," 2015). Competitors in the space, such as Walmart and Target, were managing their supply chains online and seeing rising online sales from their investments in technology ("Investor Information," 2015).

Kmart was diverting money that it could have used to make bricks-and-mortar and virtual stores more attractive to pay shareholders high dividends ("Investor Information," 2015). In 2002, Kmart declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy and closed an additional 300 stores as part of the bankruptcy restructuring ("Investor Information," 2015). By the end of 2003, Kmart posted a profitable quarter for the first time in three years ("Investor Information," 2015). In 2011, Holiday sales were disappointing and the decision was made by Sears Holdings to close 100 of the 120 Sears/Kmart stores ("Investor Information," 2015).

The Lands' End division was spun off, most of Sears Canada was sold, debt was issued, and loans were assumed ("Investor Information," 2015). Management reported that the actions were designed to reduce on-going expenses, make adjustments in the asset base, and speed up the business model transformation ("Investor Information," 2015).

Sears was also engaged in a number of acquisitions, but completed an initial public offering (IPO) in 1993 that distributed the stocks of Dean Witter and Allstate, such that shareholders in 1995 were left owning shares in three separate companies that no had any affiliation: Sears, Roebuck and Co., Allstate, and Dean Witter Discover & Co. (which became Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co.). Furthermore, Sears sold Coldwell Banker Residential Services, the Sears Mortgage Banking Group, and the Homart served to reduce overall corporate debt.

Once the company had fundamentally divested itself of its diversified companies, Sears, Roebuck and Co was again able to focus on retailing. About this same time, retailing was shifting to the web and Sear.com was the company's answer to the new digital age. In fact, Sears eventually excelled in the digital space and achieved genius status by the industry report L2 Digital IQ Index, joining the company of Nordstrom and Macy's. L2 analyzed top department stores to compare their e-commerce, mobile and social media according to over 850 data points.

Loyalty programs, merchandising, mobile app function, search, and social media following were all included in the L2 evaluation. Of the five rankings used in the report, Sears attained the highest genius. Sears worked to leverage technology through their.