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I'd be hard pressed to blame the CEO for the all of the ills that plague Best Buy, though I have to give the man credit for knowing when to step aside. After 28

by walru 15y ago

I'd be hard pressed to blame the CEO for the all of the ills that plague Best Buy, though I have to give the man credit for knowing when to step aside. After 28 years with the company I'd say he deserves a rest. The problems that exist with the company, I think, mostly stem from the pool from which they have to select their work force. It's hard to keep up any sort of reputable service when you get so big. Saying that, Apple seems to be doing okay..

bilbo0s 15y ago
To be fair... Apple is training an Army of people on the same 4 products. Best Buy is trying to train an Army of people on a myriad number of products. Just sayin'.
awayand 15y ago
whatever a company does wrong is always the leadership's fault
- righteous 15y ago
  The fish rots from the head back.
LargeWu 15y ago
The problems start at corporate HQ. I worked there as a contractor for a few years. Getting anything done there is a huge political struggle. When I was there, at least, B&M and dotcom were two separate concerns, often with conflicting goals. Product was off doing its own thing. Everybody there seemed to forget they were all playing for the same team. I routinely worked with MBA's from supposedly reputable schools who could put excel spreadsheets together, but couldn't interpret the results. Most full-timers spend their days in meetings while contractors do the real work. When I finally left, they offered me a few plush full time positions, in which I would have vague responsibilities and ill-defined deliverables. No thanks, I told them. Everybody there felt pretty smug when they were kicking Circuit City's ass. Now the shoe's on the other foot.
- darksaga 15y ago
  I can back you up on this. I also worked at corporate as a contracter on the dotcom team and it was a total circus. After outsourcing the work for their website for so many years, the entire site was a disaster. Not to mention the "business" side was running on waterfall while our team was trying to do agile. Worse? Mangers on both sides knew it and did nothing about it - this was just considered "normal" there. I pulled the plug after only 8 months - it was crazy what was going on there. Afterwards, a few of my friends who also did short stints there were amazed I lasted that long.
Corrado 15y ago
>"I'd be hard pressed to blame the CEO for the all of the ills that plague"... That's exactly what the CEO's job is and that's why they get paid so much money. It's their responsibility to look out for everything that happens in their company. As other comments have stated, change happens from the top down. Now, I don't know the specifics around Best Buys problems or how the CEO could have fixed it, but that doesn't mean that its not his job to figure it out. I recently purchased some things at an Apple store and it couldn't have been easier. I never saw a cash register, in fact never moved from where I was. I said that I would like to buy a MacBook Pro and they brought one out to me, I swiped my card, signed my name (on an iPhone), and walked out of the store. The last time I purchased something at Best Buy it was much more complex, took longer, and I had to run all over the store. I think there is some innovation left in the brick and mortar model but it's not going to be easy and they are running out of time. Most of my purchases are completed on the Internet now and I don't see Best Buy (or any other retailer) giving me any reason to change that.

by walru 15y ago

bilbo0s 15y ago

To be fair... Apple is training an Army of people on the same 4 products. Best Buy is trying to train an Army of people on a myriad number of products. Just sayin'.

awayand 15y ago

whatever a company does wrong is always the leadership's fault

righteous 15y ago
The fish rots from the head back.

LargeWu 15y ago

The problems start at corporate HQ. I worked there as a contractor for a few years. Getting anything done there is a huge political struggle. When I was there, at least, B&M and dotcom were two separate concerns, often with conflicting goals. Product was off doing its own thing. Everybody there seemed to forget they were all playing for the same team. I routinely worked with MBA's from supposedly reputable schools who could put excel spreadsheets together, but couldn't interpret the results. Most full-timers spend their days in meetings while contractors do the real work. When I finally left, they offered me a few plush full time positions, in which I would have vague responsibilities and ill-defined deliverables. No thanks, I told them. Everybody there felt pretty smug when they were kicking Circuit City's ass. Now the shoe's on the other foot.

darksaga 15y ago
I can back you up on this. I also worked at corporate as a contracter on the dotcom team and it was a total circus. After outsourcing the work for their website for so many years, the entire site was a disaster. Not to mention the "business" side was running on waterfall while our team was trying to do agile. Worse? Mangers on both sides knew it and did nothing about it - this was just considered "normal" there. I pulled the plug after only 8 months - it was crazy what was going on there. Afterwards, a few of my friends who also did short stints there were amazed I lasted that long.

Corrado 15y ago

>"I'd be hard pressed to blame the CEO for the all of the ills that plague"... That's exactly what the CEO's job is and that's why they get paid so much money. It's their responsibility to look out for everything that happens in their company. As other comments have stated, change happens from the top down. Now, I don't know the specifics around Best Buys problems or how the CEO could have fixed it, but that doesn't mean that its not his job to figure it out. I recently purchased some things at an Apple store and it couldn't have been easier. I never saw a cash register, in fact never moved from where I was. I said that I would like to buy a MacBook Pro and they brought one out to me, I swiped my card, signed my name (on an iPhone), and walked out of the store. The last time I purchased something at Best Buy it was much more complex, took longer, and I had to run all over the store. I think there is some innovation left in the brick and mortar model but it's not going to be easy and they are running out of time. Most of my purchases are completed on the Internet now and I don't see Best Buy (or any other retailer) giving me any reason to change that.