Home Depot

Robert Nardelli faced many challenges when accepting the position of CEO of Home Depot.   In the short term, he had to regain shareholder confidence by proving that Home Depot had a fiscally-bright future.   He also had to transform his management style, that was developed in manufacturing and Six Sigma at GE, to accommodate the requirements of a retail, customer-focused organization.   Additionally, competition was becoming more fierce with major retailers like Wal-Mart expanding their home improvement departments and direct competitors like Lowe's stealing away the core market share by catering to the growing population of female do-it-yourselfers.   All of these challenges had to be accomplished while concurrently transitioning the de-centralized, "high-spirited" culture of Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank into one that Nardelli felt would foster the future growth of the organization.   To overcome these substantial challenges, Nardelli had to generate excitement and buy-in from his employees and help them navigate through these changes, both culturally and structurally.
After leaving GE, Nardelli came in and advanced Home Depot using a pseudo-militaristic approach that focused on metrics, processes, programs, disciplined structure, and a determination to win. Nardelli had a three-part strategy: improve the profitability of the core stores, expand the market by offering value-add services, and enter the wholesale contractor market.   His analysis for these decisions focused on quantitative assessments, not the anecdotal/ qualitative measures previously accepted at Home Depot. He had a quick and deliberate hand in his decisions-- if it was going to happen, it would happen quickly.   An example of this was the new centralized purchasing function that was in place within 90 days of his appointment.   "The restructuring was a bold and risky business move, the equivalent of a heart transplant for a big retail company, and it had to be done without missing a beat."   Nardelli...