Reference no: EM13514

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

A. Board of Directors

Best Buy's Board is elected by the shareholders to oversee the business and affairs of the company.  The board counsels, advises and oversees management with a long-term view regarding a broad range of subjects (Best Buy Co.). The Board values effective corporate governance and adherence to high ethical standards (Best Buy Co.).

In 2013 two key board members resigned. G. Mike Mikan accepted the role as interim CEO after the former CEO, Brain Dunn, resigned in April 2012 because of a scandal (Epstein, 2013). The corporate policy requires directors to relinquish their board seats within five years of retiring from their primary careers (Epstein, 2013). In April 2008, Director Matthew Paull retired from his former role of chief financial officer of McDonald's(Epstein, 2013). These two additional resignations resulted in Best Buy having four vacant seats on its board (Epstein, 2013).

B. Top Management

Richard Schulze, the founder of Best Buy and former chairman for thirty-six years, returned to the company as its Chairman Emeritus (Furman, 2013).  Mr. Schulze has nominated Brad Anderson and Al Lenzmeier to serve on the Board of Directors (Furman, 2013). Schulze plans to make a bid for Best Buy with his control of twenty percent of the stock (Furman, 2013).  Without the financing from private equity firms and financial institutions, the likelihood of taking the company private is not favorable (Best Buy Co).

The company has implemented several effective corporate reforms recently.  Kathleen Edmond, a C-level executive and attorney has accepted the position as Chief Ethics Officer(Moran, 2011).  She has interjected a strong dose of candor and transparency at Best Buy (Moran, 2011).  Kathleen has incorporated an online chat room to encourage employees to post interactive questions and ethical violations to encourage a strong culture of corporate ethics in the workplace culture(Moran, 2011).  The Best Buy Code of Business Ethics is well designed and provides team members a mechanism to tackle situational ethics, addressing head-on what is a difficult challenge to implementing a code of ethics(Moran, 2011).

Best Buy considers Corporate Responsibility as an essential business process.  Goals are provided in the corporate responsibility report (Moran, 2011). 

• Consumer Advocacy: Putting the customer at the center of business decisions.
• Employee Engagement:Creating an environment in which employees can do their best.
• Community Relations:Making a difference in the communities where we operate.
• Environmental Sustainability:"Going green" along with our employees, customers and suppliers.
• Ethical Supply Chain:Driving efficiencies by protecting the environment and worker rights.

IV.INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT:  STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES (SWOT)

A. Corporate Structure

B. Corporate Culture

C. Corporate Resources

• 1. Marketing
• 2. Finance
• 3. Research and Development (R&D)
• 4. Operations and Logistics
• 5. Human Resources Management (HRM)
• 6. Information Technology (IT)
• Summary of the Internal Factors (include in an IFAS Table)