Department stores such as Macy's, Nordstrom and Saks are showing signs of recovery after the economic slump. 'Nordstrom is expected to post earnings of 79 cents per share for the quarter, more than doubling the 31 cents it posted in the year-ago period' (Cardona 2010). Nordstrom, Saks and Barneys are direct competitors as they cater to high-end clients whereas macy's is more in the middle-priced-ranged market like JC Penny. Nordstrom had the advantage of its robust online selling and a chain of Nordstrom Rack outlets to enjoy increasing sales even during recession. Saks was hardly hit when the luxury market fell and was not able to rebound as quickly as Nordstrom. Although Macy's is slowly getting back to its knees, it's still tough for middle-priced-ranged department stores because shoppers prefer either high-end products or those at value-oriented stores. Market segmentation involves the segregation of consumers into subsets of clients with….

Macy's Corporation is a chain of middle to upper range department stores in the United States. In addition to its famous New York flagship store, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States, as well as 300 consumer electronic stores called eSpot ZoomShop kiosks. As of 2009, they posted revenues of almost $25 billion with net income of just shy of $1billion. Macy's, Inc. employees about 200,000 people, and though no longer the largest store in the world, is the annual sponsor of the New York City Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade that has been in place since 1924 (www.macys.com).
Situational Analysis - As with any number of stores that have been in business for several decades, Macy's has endeavored to keep up with the times -- albeit not without controversy. Their biggest current challenge is deciding what niche they actually wish to fill, and moving aggressively forward with that….

Macy's Inc.
Interviewed: Mark Sipnosky- (VP of store management in the South lorida/Miami market area)

Medium Used: Questionnaire

Does Macy's treat management and leadership as one in the same? YES or NO

Does Macy's rely heavily on employee training and development? YES or NO

Does Macy's use employee feedback at the lowest levels in its overall corporate decision making process? YES or NO

Is management and leadership treated in the same manner in the company in regards to cultivation? YES or NO

Do you believe all employees are aware of Macy's goals and objectives and are willing to work towards the achievement of those goals? YES or NO

Does Macy's use a centrailized structure in regards to decision making? YES or NO

If No to the above question, does Macy's use a decentralized structure? YES or NO

In your opinion is the organization structured in a way that inhibits innovation? YES or NO

Summary of Results

rom the result of the questionnaire,….

4 billion goodwill writedown in 2009. The long-term debt ratio is 39.7%, compared with 32.7% in 2008 and 26.7% in 2006, again indicating that while the level of long-term debt has remained roughly unchanged, the company has become much smaller. Overall, Macy's is solvent, but still has long-term debt issues. The company's leverage climbs higher because the company is shrinking, but cannot find a way to reduce its overall debt.
The gross margin in 2010 was 40.5%, compared with 40.4% in 2008 and 40.7% in 2006. The operating margin is 4.5%, compared with 7.1% in 2008 and 10.8% in 2006. The net margin is 1.5%, compared with 3.4% in 2008 and 6.3% in 2006. The lack of significant change in the gross margin indicates that Macy's has maintained its pricing power both with respect to its suppliers and its customers over the past five years. However, it has allowed its own….

Macy's department store, or the Macy's national brand has survived many decades of economic turmoil while becoming a popular and fully recognizable brand that has stood the test of time throughout the 20th and into 21st century. The purpose of this essay is to examine Macy's corporate strategy, specifically its marketing strategy, in order to gain understanding into how a successful national brand, in the form department store, can realize success throughout a very extended period of time. I will examine Macy's corporate vision and financial objectives that are described within the contents of their website. I will then examine how Macy's marketing strategy and tactics are used in the form of target markets, product, price our promotion and distribution.
Referring to their website at Macy's, their brand includes nearly 800 stores in furniture galleries in 45 states. Prior to June 1, 2007 Macy's Inc. was known as Federated Department Stores….

Pride and responsibility are key elements for Sales Associates working within the department areas. A sense of personal pride in terms of appearance is for example an indicator of pride in maintaining the department areas. During the interview, the managers will therefore be searching for a sense of responsibilities in all areas of the candidate's life. This will indicate whether the candidate can handle the many responsibilities of the Sales Associate.

Another key element is flexibility. The candidate needs to be not only personally flexible in terms of working with team members and customers, but also more concretely in terms of time and schedule. Sales Associates will often be required to work during nights or weekends, particularly when newly appointed. Candidates therefore need to have sufficient loyalty towards the store and its customers to give their best even during such difficult working hours. In order to determine whether this level of….

In summary, we recommend that the IESBA reconsiders the proposals in the Exposure Draft and provides more guidance on safeguards applicable to sole practitioners and small accounting firms to ensure that the benefits of the changes outweigh the costs to SMEs. Under a principle-based approach, there should be safeguards and practical relief for all practitioners rather than rules-based outright prohibitions. The rewrite of this Independence component of the Code is substantially rules-based rather than principles-based. In this regard, we also encourage the IESBA to prioritize the redrafting of the entire Code using a similar drafting convention to that used by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board in its Clarity project" (IESBA Exposure Draft of Sections 290 and 291 of the Code of Ethics on Independence - Proposed Additional equirements in relation to Internal Audit Services, elative Size of Fees and Contingent Fees 2007).
There will also be an all-time….

Interview
The person's name, position and organization

Position: Vice President of Store Management (VPSM)

Organization: Macys

Why you chose this person to interview

This individual exhibits all the qualities I find admirable as a leader. Irrespective of the field or industry, leadership's skills are necessary to advance. In today's global environment, where competition abounds, leaders must be effective in driving results. David, as I have seen from both his words and subsequent actions, drives results within the retail environment. This environment is characterized with changing consumer sentiments, macroeconomic conditions, and overall business dynamics. David has proven in his extensive career, to overcome many of these pitfalls, while continually improving business results. As such, he is an ideal candidate to interview. For one, he possesses skills which are in high demand and sought after. Secondly, many of the skills and abilities he possesses are transferrable. In the event that I change careers or industries, the….

Architecture of Consumption
Most of us have probably never thought a great deal about the ways in which the typical shopping mall, such as the Galleria, is laid out. We all know that there are anchor stores that are at the psychological (although not geometric) "corners" of the mall, and that in between these anchors are smaller, more specialized stores, most of them selling clothes, make-up and jewelry, with the second most important category of merchandise being items that are sold for the purpose of entertainment, including books and CDs and other forms of recorded music. The third most important single category of stores/merchandise at a typical mall (and the Galleria is in no important way substantially atypical in terms of the ways in which architecture is designed to lead to an increased degree of both the desire to consume and the actual process of consumption itself) is that of….

Operations Management
Outline how a strategy of globalization will impact on a policy of pursuing economies of scale advantages

Globalization is now becoming a critical aspect in regards to business operations. Due primarily to technological advances, and economic development, a more interconnected world is becoming standard. As such companies that rely primarily on fixed assets will depend more heavily on economies of scale to reduce the unit cost of each unit produced. Due to globalization, it is not uncommon for fixed assets to be structured geographically in a multitude of countries. By having operations domiciled in various countries, companies can further their cost advantages through economies of scale. Global auto manufactures use this technique extensively in the production of their vehicles. Auto manufacturers rely heavily on fixed assets to produce and assemble vehicles. These assets irrespective of production will cost the company. As such Toyota has incentive to spread the fixed costs….

Waiting Lines
Macy's Inc. is one of the nation's largest and well-known department store chains. Started over 150 years ago, Macy's has continually generated excellent returns for its shareholders and employees. After, the global recession, Macy's has generated huge profits with same store sales increasing 5.3% year to date in 2011. In 2012 same store sales increased 4.6% in (Macy's Inc., 2012). Both 2013 and 2014 have also created large profits for the retailer. A primary component of this increases profitability is the overall shopping environment. Consumers now demand instant gratification and quick transactions. Therefore, lines, and there subsequent wait times are very important. Lines are very important as they can deter from the consumer experience, and the overall purchasing activity of the consumer. Retailers, must be cognizant of lines and congestion to help increase sales while also increasing the overall customer experience.

While observing a local Macys location, consumer traffic was….

difficult economic timers, buying a house is a risky decision. Purchasing a home, particularly for the first time, has always been so, but uncertain financial periods -- the downturn followed by a possible upturn -- make it all the harder. Few prospective buyers are aware of the excruciating decisions that devolve around the purchase, nor are they aware of the economic minutiae involved. Investing background economic principles may make this somewhat easier and this is what this essay intends to do.
According to Nicolas Gregory Mankiw (2006), an American macroeconomist, ten fiscal decisions underlie economy as the base for decision-making. Following these principles can increase profitability, whilst reducing the risk of fiscal loss. The six pertinent principles include the following:

People face trade offs. 2. The cost of something is what you give up to get it, 3. ational people think at the margin, 4. People respond to incentives. 5. Markets….

Besides other awards, he was given a special Congressional Gold Medal by the United States Congress in 1986-87. Copland left an endowment from his estate to a Fund for Composers, which gives $600,000/annum to promote new compositions and performances (Congressional Gold Medial eceipients; Trudeau; Pollack, 548; ockwell).
Musical Examples

Copland was an active composer of numerous genres from 1925 to the mid-1960s. His works expressed a new semblance of Americana so easily identifiable that even when performed by foreign orchestras there is a sense of the pioneer days, of American patriotism, and even retelling of American mythology. A few seminal examples of this are:

Fanfare for the Common Man was written in 1942 for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and was inspired by a speech by Vice-President Henry Wallace called the era the "Centruy of the Common Man." The piece was part of a program supoprting the American entry into World War II,….

Nordstrom
Market Structure

The market structure of the retail industry is that of monopolistic competition. As its name suggests, monopolistic competition is an environment composed of a large number of firms each with a portion of the market. The firms in this type of market structure have similar products but they are differentiated in some way. Nordstrom's for example has private brands that only Nordstrom's can carry. These brands include Hotel Collection sheets, Martha Stewart cookware, Psycho Bunny for men, INC brand clothes for women, and much more. Even though these product offerings may be similar to competitors in regards to color or value proposition, they are differentiated by the fact they are only offered at Nordstrom's locations. Furthermore, there are many firms competing within the retail environment. For example, Nordstrom's must compete with JC Penny, Target, Wal-Mart, Dillard's, Sears, internet stores, and many other outlets. All of these competitors are attempting….

CPA Interview
I interviewed John Perez who is a recent graduate of Florida International University. John obtained his CPA designation shortly after graduation in 2009. He currently works for Macy's Inc., in Cincinnati, Ohio as a corporate accountant. He has been working in this capacity for the past 8 months and cites his CPA designation as a catalyst for obtaining his career with Macys.

How has having a CPA certification or consulting with a CPA helped you do your job?

Summary answer: John's job is predicated on trust. This is particularly true in the midst of the economic slowdown and the European debt crisis that has gripped world markets and businesses. John indicated in the interview that the economic uncertainty has many companies worried about the future economics of their respective industries. The CPA certification therefore provides trust within an uncertain world according to John. The certification is a sign of knowledge and….