best practices at best buy case study

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Reinventing Best Buy

• Format: Print
• | Language: English
• | Pages: 38

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• November 2017
• Faculty Research
• Reinventing Best Buy  By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Best Buy: How Human Connection Saved a Failing Retailer

In 2019, a three-year-old boy walked with his mother into a Florida Best Buy store, clutching a toy dinosaur that Santa had given him for Christmas. Only, the dinosaur’s head had broken, and now tears were streaming down the boy’s face as his mother explained to two sales associates that he was desperate to get the toy fixed.

“At any other store, they would have been directed to the toy aisle to buy a replacement,” says Hubert Joly, Best Buy’s former chairman and CEO, who is now a senior lecturer of business administration at Harvard Business School. “But that’s not what happened in that store.”

Instead, the sales associates—nicknamed “blue shirts” after Best Buy’s trademark royal-blue collared shirts—brought the injured T. rex to a service counter and performed “surgery” on the toy as they surreptitiously traded it out for a new one.

“You can imagine the joy the child felt?” Joly asks. “But, do you think that was standard operating procedure? No! What happened that day is that the two blue shirts found it in their hearts to do this, and felt they had the latitude to do it.”

Stopping Best Buy’s freefall

Creating such a human-centered connection among employees and customers is at the core of the near-miraculous turnaround Joly spearheaded at the company during the 2010s. Joly stepped in as CEO of Best Buy in 2012, just after its quarterly profits plummeted by 91 percent and its stock price hit a nine-year low. With Joly’s focus on customer service, aggressive price-matching, and new offerings like the Geek Squad, the company’s stock tripled in 2013.

The same human connection Joly cultivated at Best Buy can be found in the pages of his new book, The Heart of Business: Leadership Principles for the Next Era of Capitalism , co-written with Caroline Lambert. The book, which published May 4, aims to reverse some of the damage done by other cutthroat leaders who have taken a slash-and-burn approach to business.

“So much of what I learned when I was at business school, or in my early years as an executive, is either wrong or dated or, at best, incomplete,” Joly says. At the top of his list of leaders who imparted the wrong lessons are Milton Friedman, who believed companies should prioritize their stock prices, and Bob McNamara, the inventor of top-down management, who measured his way to success with ruthless efficiency.

“They figured a company is owned by shareholders and is a money-making machine,” he says. “But no, a company is a human organization made up of individuals working together in pursuit of a goal.”

Leading with purpose and humanity

Based on his own track record in transforming Best Buy, Joly wrote this book to help leaders who value the role that employees play in delighting customers and growing their businesses.

“The book is really constructed as a guide for leaders who are eager to abandon the old ways and are ready to embrace leading from a place of purpose and humanity,” Joly says. “I really wanted to share a thoughtful and practical architecture of what, in my view, we need to move the world forward.”

Of course, pulling off such an ambitious effort is easier said than done. At Best Buy, Joly didn’t start with the traditional turnaround playbook of laying off employees and closing unprofitable stores. Rather, he took measures to boost revenues: matching prices at Amazon, and speeding deliveries by shipping directly from stores. He also cut costs by reducing waste and streamlining processes.

“We were breaking $200 million-worth of TVs every year,” he says. “By improving packaging, we reduced that [number] by 50 percent.”

Fewer slides, more soul-searching

Perhaps what’s most important, he instituted a training program that cast aside PowerPoint presentations and videos and replaced them with soul-searching conversations between both executives and front-line employees about their purpose in life.

“We discovered that we were colleagues, yes, but we were also human beings, and most of us were aligned on this idea of doing something good in the world. So we said, ‘Let’s use Best Buy as a platform for that.’”

Instead of seeing the company as a consumer electronics retailer, Joly and his team refocused the company’s purpose as “enriching people’s lives through technology by addressing key human needs.” Best Buy’s competitive advantage had always been the unique customer service provided by its sales associates, but that only mattered if they truly wanted to help customers. So, in trainings, blue shirts were asked to think of an inspiring friend in their lives.

“For me, it’s my brother Philippe,” Joly says. “He is such a generous soul and a great life coach, always focused on finding the best in you and bringing joy to life.”

Sales associates were then asked to be that “inspiring friend” for their customers—helping them solve their problems and improving their lives through technology. “Then, when a customer walks into the store, they’re not a walking wallet. They are a human being, and you can help them,” says Joly.

Five steps to harnessing human connection

That mindset shift took hold across the company, giving employees a greater sense of joy and autonomy in their work, and attracting customers with a new service-oriented approach. Along the way, the company’s share price grew from a low of $11 in 2012 to $110 by 2020.

In his book, Joly says the guide is one any company can follow, and he distills the formula down to five key ingredients:

• Connecting employees with what drives them , and this is usually focused around finding ways to make the world a better place;
• Creating genuine human connection among employees and customers;
• Giving autonomy to team members , as much as possible, rather than scripting what to do;
• Instituting one-on-one coaching to give employees individual training and feedback; and
• Creating a growth mindset to continue to improve.

“That’s the recipe,” says Joly, who reinforces it throughout the book with exercises that readers can use to guide themselves through the process. “It’s all about humanity. Changing the world starts with changing ourselves.”

At HBS, Joly is now working with other faculty to create a new program for senior executives to help them unlearn some of the toxic profit-focused lessons of a traditional business education and replace them with new lessons centered on human connection.

“The mistake that many leaders, myself included, have made is that they lead with their brains,” he says. “But what’s at the heart of business? Well, it’s the heart. It’s people.”

About the Author

Michael Blanding is a writer based in the Boston area. [Image: iStockphoto/Elijah-Lovkoff]

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Book Excerpt

Bringing the purpose question to work.

By Hubert Joly

“What drives you?” is not a question that gets asked often in corporate environments. Asking it more would be useful, as it can help us connect with a purpose, which in turn determines how we relate to our work. This is why Best Buy employees are encouraged to reflect on that question.

“What drives you?” has become a central element of the Best Buy Holiday Leadership Meeting, which gathers some 2,000 managers to kick off the holiday shopping season. I always find the simplicity and humanity of the answers striking. Often, managers talk about friends, family, and colleagues. For a market retail field trainer, it is “being able to see the corners of the world with Grandma Shirley, my favorite person on this planet.” For a district manager, it is “helping employees and customers fulfill their hopes and dreams.” For a senior HR manager: “teaching, developing, growing and inspiring [people] to do more than they ever thought possible.” Encouraging and inspiring everyone at Best Buy to reflect on what drives them may seem a small and woolly step, but it truly has been central to changing how we approach our work.

Understanding your own purpose is one thing. It’s just as critical for leaders to understand what drives the individuals around them—and how it connects to the purpose of the organization. To find out what drove each member of Best Buy’s executive team, I organized a dinner in 2016, in a room overlooking Minneapolis’s beautiful Lake Bde Maka Ska. It was part of one of our regular quarterly retreats. Everyone had been asked to bring pictures of themselves as babies or young children, and to tell a personal story about that picture and about growing up.

Earlier in the day, we had explored the notion of being “all in.” Being all in, I figured, has to connect with who we are and who we want to be. So, I wanted to understand what drove each member of our team and how it fit in their lives and their histories. Where did they come from? Why were they excited to work at Best Buy? How did their personal purpose connect with what they were doing at work? I did not feel I could lead our team if I could now answer these questions.

What might sound like a warm and fuzzy game became one of my most memorable and inspiring moments of my time at Best Buy. We truly connected with each other, as the 10 of us took turns talking about what gave us energy and what gave our lives a sense of purpose. I was moved while listening to each of them describe what drove them personally, from treasuring relationships through unconditional love, infinite support, and the constant fostering of growth, to watching colleagues grow beyond their own expectations by helping them do new things and take on more responsibility.

As inspiring as it was, it was also useful. For it made a huge difference in helping us shape our ambitious and meaningful purpose for Best Buy, a purpose that would drive our sustained success in the following years.

Reprinted by permission of Harvard Business Review Press. Excerpted from The Heart of Business: Leadership Principles for the Next Era of Capitalism by Hubert Joly with Caroline Lambert. Copyright 2021 Hubert Joly. All rights reserved.

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Transformation and resilience: An interview with Best Buy’s executive chairman Hubert Joly

In this episode of Inside the Strategy Room , we share an excerpt from a webcast interview with Hubert Joly, the former CEO and executive chairman of North American technology retailer and services provider Best Buy. The interview was recorded at the 2020 Global Business Leaders Forum, scheduled to take place in New York in early April but held virtually instead. In this session, Joly speaks with Becca Coggins, leader of McKinsey’s North America Retail Practice, about Best Buy’s organizational transformation and how the coronavirus pandemic is changing the key measures of performance. This is an edited transcript. You can listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , or Google Podcasts . For more on the Best Buy story, see the companion piece, “ Leading with purpose and humanity: A conversation with Hubert Joly .” See also Hubert’s forthcoming book provisionally titled, The Heart of Business .

Becca Coggins: As you know, Hubert, this conference explores the themes of transformation and resilience, so we would love to dial into your experience at Best Buy. Let’s start with the summer of 2012: you are the CEO of Carlson, the global hospitality and travel company, and you get a call about a certain iconic retailer that is coming off a $1 billion-plus loss. What drew you to the opportunity to lead Best Buy?

Hubert Joly: I got the call from a friend and I told him, “I don’t know anything about retail and the place is a mess.” So, before any interviews with the board’s search committee, I did an outside-in analysis on Best Buy and the sector. I did store visits, I read everything I could, and what I saw was that, of course, this was the all-you-can-eat menu of challenges. You had strategic challenges with Amazon and some of the technology companies vertically integrating. You had operational challenges with the service quality having gone down significantly. You had leadership challenges, since my predecessor had been fired, and you had shareholder challenges with the share price dropping significantly and the company’s founder and lead shareholder, Dick Schulze, trying to take it private.

But this outside-in diagnosis revealed two things. One, there were real strengths in the company. Technology is exciting but, for many of us, it’s a bit challenging, so there was a service-oriented role that Best Buy could play. There was also a role with the world’s foremost tech companies that needed a place to showcase the fruit of their billions of dollars of R&D investments. Two, all of the company’s problems were self-inflicted. The poor quality of service in the stores had nothing to do with Amazon. It was on us. So that gave me the confidence that we had enough to effect a turnaround.

Becca Coggins: So, you take the job in late summer 2012. How did you approach architecting the actual turnaround?

Hubert Joly: The problem with turnarounds is that we have this image of cut, cut, cut. Analysts were telling me, “You will have to close a lot of stores.” I have the opposite view. In a turnaround, and in business life more generally, you start with people. I learned many years ago that there are three imperatives in a company: the people imperative—you need the right people properly engaged and equipped; the business imperative—you need happy customers; and the financial imperative, which is the performance. You never start with finance, you start with people, so that is what I did.

I spent my first week on the job in the local store listening to the front-line workers and I learned so much more than I would have learned in a windowless conference room looking at spreadsheets. One of the associates told me, “Hubert, the website search engine is not working. Type in ‘Cinderella.’” And I typed “Cinderella,” and what I got was a bunch of cameras, not DVDs or CDs. Not very helpful. Nobody in headquarters would have told me this.

Also, I was able to observe the interactions between the associates and the customers. There was this phenomenon of showrooming, with customers coming to our stores, spending a lot of time with a Best Buy “blue shirt,” and then leaving empty-handed because they assumed the price online was lower. That’s where the idea of matching online prices came from. I also looked at the floorplan: there was a lot of room set aside for CDs, movies, video games that, in the digital age, didn’t make any sense. So, we focused on two things. Revenue was going down, and profit margin was going down. How hard can it be to solve two problems?

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Becca Coggins: You branded the turnaround Renew Blue. What were you trying to signal with that branding?

Hubert Joly: I’m a big believer that a strategy needs a name. If you don’t have a name, you don’t have a plan because people cannot relate to it. Renew Blue was signaling two things. Blue, of course, is the color of the shirts at Best Buy, so there was a lot of strength in the history, the values. This was not about becoming somebody else; this was us. But we knew we needed to change. Years later, the team told me that I had conveyed that if we did not change, we would die. That tends to focus the mind. So, it was a clear invitation for us to build on our past but also reinvent the company.

Becca Coggins: You talked about starting with people. How did you go about getting the full company to have the energy and belief in the turnaround?

Hubert Joly: In a turnaround, you have to create energy. In physics, we learn that energy is a finite quantity. In business and organizations, it’s not. It is something you can unleash. A company is a human organization made up of individuals working together in pursuit of a goal. If this is your central idea, it has significant implications for how you lead. You are not trying to be the smartest person in the room—you are trying to create an environment in which you can unleash this energy.

So, we started by being very transparent. We shared the diagnosis with the entire team. We were also optimistic; people need optimism, including during this time of crisis. Realism, yes, but also optimism. I think as leaders, how we show up is probably more important than what we say. If you were to ask Best Buy people who were there in 2012, they will probably remember I was high-energy, and I had a sense of optimism. Do they remember exactly what I said? Probably not. But I conveyed that I saw the possibilities. Then you nurture the optimism along the way by looking for green shoots and communicating early wins.

In a turnaround, you have to create energy. In physics, we learn that energy is a finite quantity. In business and organizations, it’s not. It is something you can unleash.

Next was the co-creation of the plan. In the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s, you would create a plan, cascade it down and then roll it out. You put incentives in place and hoped things went well. That does not work anymore. The co-creation of the plan was really important. And you’re not looking for perfection—because of the activist investor interest in Best Buy, we had eight weeks between the day I joined and the day I presented the Renew Blue plan to Wall Street, which was great because it forced us to come out with the plan. There is a philosophy that the quest for perfection is evil. You can confuse perfection with performance. You don’t go for a perfect plan—you set the direction and then you apply what I call the bicycle theory. If you have tried to direct a bicycle from a standstill, it’s very hard; you fall. If the bicycle is moving, it may not be moving in the right direction but it doesn’t matter; you can course-correct.

There is this idea that the difference between great leaders and good leaders is not the quality of their decisions but the quantity of their decisions. It may not be true in capital-intensive industries with long cycles, but in most customer-oriented businesses, it’s a good approach. Then you focus on unleashing the human magic. I found defining what to do was usually not that difficult; it was mobilizing and doing it that was hard. How do you create the new mindset and new capabilities? That was the essence of the strategy.

The last thing I would say in terms of mobilizing the organization is about corporate purpose and stakeholder capitalism. You could say that this is something you focus on when everything is going well, right? No. This is something you do all the time. In fact, our 2012 Renew Blue presentation to investors had five pillars: the customers, the employees, the vendors, the communities in which we operate, and the shareholders. We were treating shareholders as important stakeholders but one of five stakeholder groups. That creates meaning for the organization, one where even during dark days people feel they are part of something to which they are ready to commit.

The difference between great leaders and good leaders is not the quality of their decisions but the quantity of their decisions. It may not be true everywhere, but in most customer-oriented businesses, it’s a good approach.

Becca Coggins: You also took some bold decisions, especially during the early years of Renew Blue, such as getting out of international businesses, and revamping the cost structure. Were some harder than others?

Hubert Joly: International was easy. I don’t believe that retail is a global business. It’s a local business. There are some exceptions, as when you are vertically integrated or a brand-driven business, but in a business like ours, there is no benefit to being global. The previous team had expanded in Europe and in China. We quickly reviewed that and decided to exit.

As for the performance improvement around cost, let me pause to explain something. In a turnaround, you don’t start with cutting heads. The first lever you go after is increasing revenue. So, as part of our turnaround plan, we put a lot of emphasis on our online business. We did the price match to take price off the table in customers’ decisions. We invested in the customer experience in the stores. We put emphasis on reigniting the growth engines. Now I’m a big believer that it is never either/or—it’s and . Revenue is number one; number two are non-salary expenses, which at most companies are 70 to 80 percent of the cost structure.

One example of this: today the biggest TVs are large and very thin, so they’re fragile. If we sell a lot of TVs, we will break many of them. We looked at the entire value chain to reduce damage, working with the vendors on the design of the TVs and the packaging, considering how we store the TVs, how we move them, the advice we give to customers when they install them, and we saw that as a $400 million opportunity. By now we have taken out $2 billion of costs and probably three-quarters is non-salary expenses.

The third thing you look at is optimization of competition and benefits. We implemented a host of new benefits for employees, including backup childcare and mental health support. But there are some costs of providing the benefits that you can go after—in particular, in healthcare by having wellness programs. Only if one plus two plus three is not sufficient do you go after headcount, and we did reduce that. We de-layered the organization, we de-emphasized several areas, we looked for efficiencies. If you do this as a last resort, you send the signal that human resources are not a resource, they are a source—an engine of the company. And when you do reduce headcount, there are different ways to do this. A couple of years ago we decided to close Best Buy Mobile’s stand-alone stores but instead of letting those employees go, we worked with them to offer them opportunities within the company. These were people with five or ten years of experience. They were a real asset.

Becca Coggins: That’s an interesting thread. Can you tell us a bit about the vendor program?

Hubert Joly: When we decided that our prices had to be competitive, one reaction I got from investors and the media was, “Before, you were going to die because your prices were too high, and now you will die because your costs are too high.” Because we are a more service-oriented organization, we had higher costs than Walmart or Amazon. But that was without accounting for our idea of partnering with the world’s top tech companies.

In 2012, we already had a small Apple store within our stores but for Samsung, there was nothing meaningful. The CEO of Samsung Electronics visited us in December of that year. He had heard from the Renew Blue presentation that we were open to these partnerships and over dinner we did a handshake deal. In a matter of months, Samsung had 1,000 Samsung stores within Best Buy, where highly trained staff could showcase their products just across the aisle from the Apple store within our store. It was good for the customer, because they could see and compare. It was good for Samsung, because how long would it have taken them otherwise to build 1,000 stores in the US? And it was good for us. Then we did a similar partnership with Microsoft, and we expanded the partnership with Apple. We did it with Sony, LG, Google, and Amazon.

Now Amazon was the company that was supposed to kill us back in 2012. Some retailers were refusing to sell Amazon’s hardware such as the Kindle tablets. We had always sold Amazon products and over time we added an Amazon store within our stores. Then we did something else: we partnered with Amazon whereby Amazon gave Best Buy the exclusive rights to its Fire TV platform to be embedded in smart TVs.

I feel there is too much focus on zero-sum games. Sometimes, when companies develop strategies, they say, I want to be number one. Of course, there is only room for one number one, and when you are number one, where do you go? It is much better to be inspired by your purpose and then see how you can partner with others in pursuit of that goal.

Becca Coggins: In late 2017 you unveiled a new chapter in the transformation. Can you help us understand what was different about this shift to New Blue?

Hubert Joly: In 2016, one of our board members said, “Hubert, you need to declare the turnaround officially over and enter a new chapter.” In the turnaround, we had to focus on growth, but that had to be a somewhat risk-averse strategy. The purpose of this next chapter was about growing the business and becoming the best version of Best Buy we could be. So, we did customer research, market segmentation, but we also focused on our purpose. We declared that our purpose was to enrich lives through technology. We are not in the business of selling TVs or computers. And we are not fundamentally a retailer. We are in the business of enriching lives by addressing key human needs, whether it’s entertainment, health, productivity, or communication.

This purpose has the benefit of vastly expanding what we can do for customers. The key is to make it the bedrock of the strategy. Let me make it come to life with a couple of examples. One is our entry into the healthcare space. There is a global trend of aging populations and a big movement toward helping seniors stay in their homes longer because it is better for them, it is better from a healthcare cost standpoint, and it is certainly better in the context of the current crisis. So, we did a series of acquisitions and now have a business focused on that. One of the things we do is put sensors into seniors’ homes and, using artificial intelligence, we monitor their daily activities. Are they drinking, are they sleeping well? We have care centers that are alerted if any concerns emerge. That service is sold through insurance companies and it’s a high-growth opportunity for us. And we would never have thought of it if we had just looked at the business in a traditional way.

This presentation was recorded on April 3, 2020. The situation surrounding COVID-19 is evolving daily. For the most current information and insights on the implications of COVID-19 for your business, please visit Coronavirus: Leading through the crisis , a regularly updated collection of McKinsey briefing notes.

Becca Coggins is a senior partner in McKinsey’s Chicago office.

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Reinventing Best Buy – Case Solution

Best Buy Company, Inc. is the largest retailer of appliances and consumer electronics in North America. From 2010 to 2013, the company experienced declining store sales. This was mostly attributed to Amazon.com's showrooming practices. Amazon directs customers to look at products from any physical stores including Best Buy but customers are encouraged to buy them at lower prices online. CEO Hubert Joly grabbed this Amazon's strategy by coming up with competitive prices. As a result, a turnaround was experienced. Over time, CEO Joly concluded the "Renew Blue" program and is now planning on the creation of "New Blue" in the hope to curtail Amazon's advances.

​John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth Harvard Business Review ( 716455-PDF-ENG ) March 31, 2016

Case questions answered:

What were the strategic challenges facing best buy in 2012 why was the company finding them hard to respond to, what did joly see as best buy’s key strengths and weaknesses do you think his assessment was accurate.

• Do the Renew Blue goals address the issues Best Buy was facing? Which initiatives in Renew Blue made a strategic difference?

Not the questions you were looking for? Submit your own questions & get answers .

Reinventing Best Buy Case Answers

This Reinventing Best Buy case study tackles how the company was able to make a turnaround despite the competition in the market, specifically with Amazon.com’s practices.

Best Buy Company, Inc. is the largest retailer of appliances and consumer electronics in North America. From 2010 to 2013, the company experienced declining store sales.

This was mostly attributed to Amazon.com’s showrooming practices. Amazon directs customers to look at products from any physical stores, including Best Buy, but customers are encouraged to buy them at lower prices online.

CEO Hubert Joly grabbed Amazon’s strategy by coming up with competitive prices. As a result, a turnaround was experienced.

Over time, CEO Joly concluded the “Renew Blue” program and is now planning on the creation of “New Blue” in the hope of curtailing Amazon’s advances.

The strategic proposition of Best Buy was to become one of the largest retailers of consumer electronics and appliances. The company seeks to improve the incapacity of managing its international business.

However, broad-based discounters like Walmart are growing. At the same time, companies with online sales business models, like Amazon, are scaling high.

With these competitors, Best Buy experienced an overall decline in its market share. This is one of the major challenges that this company faces.

Furthermore, Best Buy’s Marketplace program failed to capture an adequate share of online sales. The intense market competition of other platforms like Amazon.com and Buy.com allows customers to compare Best Buy’s store prices with their own products. This contributed to the failure of Best Buy’s program.

Nevertheless, the company struggled to face this new challenge. Added to this, however, are other internal management problems.

Best Buy management fails to do what they said they would do. Low customer satisfaction and poor price perception also contributed to the challenges.

During the 2007 and 2009 recession, the company continued to open new stores, which negatively affected the company.

Moreover, the company couldn’t adapt to other companies’ online business services due to inconveniences like offering the best experience for the customer or failure to deliver all the information about the electronic products they were selling.

Best Buy’s key strengths were strongly related to the leadership they had within the North American market, allowing them to continue their growth in the most important categories.

The company had a considerably large customer base, with millions of consumers belonging to the loyalty program. This was achieved thanks to the “unique and compelling” selling proposition (pg. 4) used as a strategy by the company.

This consisted mainly of a good advising service, competitive prices in a wide list of categories and products, support, and multi-channel service, all of which were framed in a productive model directed to increase sales and productivity.

The key weakness that Joly saw in Best Buy was…

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Case Studies

Best buy: a focus on delivering solutions and sustainability, june 3, 2011, the challenge.

In an industry facing growing concerns about e-waste, the “rapid obsolescence” of products, and continued supply chain human rights issues, the senior leaders at Best Buy aim to transform the company’s business model from one based on selling only products to one that focuses on delivering “digital connections”—those technologies and services that help “connect customers to people, knowledge, ideas, and fun.” Recognizing that sustainability is key to that future, Best Buy partnered with BSR to turn that vision into a practical strategy aligned with the company’s other key priorities.

Our Strategy

Our three-phase approach allowed Best Buy to set a clear direction for its sustainability objectives:

1. Assessment

Given Best Buy’s rapid growth in sales and its move into new services and businesses, we began by conducting interviews with 40 Best Buy executives and more than 20 external sustainability experts and stakeholders. We used this information to examine Best Buy’s business direction, management perspectives on sustainability, and current gaps in the company’s sustainability-related activities. Next, we mapped near-term trends affecting the consumer electronics industry, such as new regulations and the increasing costs of input materials. We also reviewed outside perspectives on Best Buy’s role in developing more sustainable products and the opportunities associated with the company’s desire to transition from products to solutions.

2. Materiality

We analyzed more than 60 sustainability issues—from digital privacy, to access to technology, to product safety, to transportation—based on how they affect Best Buy’s business and based on their importance to consumers, communities, governments, NGOs, and others. We presented the results to Best Buy’s Sustainability Team and Advisory Group, which used the presentation to agree on four priority areas: Product Stewardship, Sustainability Solutions, Access, and Inspired Workplace.

3. Strategy Development

Once Best Buy's senior leaders validated BSR’s conclusions, BSR and the sustainability team defined goals for each area:

• Product Stewardship: to lead the industry from product design to end-of-use solutions
• Sustainability Solutions: to provide products and services that allow customers to lead more sustainable lives
• Access: to build business models that enable people who don’t have it today to access all the benefits of the connected world
• Inspired Workplace: to become the preferred place of work because of sustainability efforts

We also helped Best Buy develop specific targets for each area, and we proposed a sustainability governance structure that creates clear leadership and accountability within the company and a structured review process that incorporates external input.

By nature, strategy projects set the direction for changes that come into practice fully over the medium to long term. Best Buy has made significant progress in establishing its sustainability strategy and a foundation for progress. To begin implementing this strategy, company leaders have started to develop relationships with consumer products manufacturers that are focused on sustainability and are key to the achievement of Best Buy’s sustainability goals.

• Consumer Products

Let’s talk about how BSR can help you to transform your business and achieve your sustainability goals .

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Please note you do not have access to teaching notes, best practices at best buy: a turnaround strategy.

Journal of Business Strategy

ISSN : 0275-6668

Article publication date: 1 December 2003

Best Buy, the huge retailer of electronics and appliances, was searching for a way to keep itself on an expansion curve yet temper its brashness with some much‐needed management discipline. Retail senior managers began a highly successful, large‐scale change effort that would result in a historic turnaround for the company of 30,000 people with a small team of internal change agents and the support of a consulting team.

• Change management
• Turnarounds

Gibson, E. and Billings, A. (2003), "Best practices at Best Buy: a turnaround strategy", Journal of Business Strategy , Vol. 24 No. 6, pp. 10-16. https://doi.org/10.1108/02756660310509442

Copyright © 2003, MCB UP Limited

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The best buy turnaround: purpose-driven leadership with hubert joly.

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When Hubert Joly took over as CEO of Best Buy, the situation was grim. The previous CEO had been fired after a scandal, share value was plummeting, and the investment community was predicting Best Buy’s demise.

As the incoming CEO, Joly was new to Best Buy and also new to the retail space.  On Joly’s first day of work, he donned a blue Best Buy polo shirt, with a “CEO in Training” tag and spent time walking the St. Cloud Minnesota store, listening to what front liners and customers had to say.

After a week of walking the stores, Joly reached a crucial conclusion, “I realized” he says, “the world needs Best Buy.” Customers needed a place to see, touch and feel technology. Customers wanted a place for expert advice, and many vendors needed a place to showcase their products. The idea that the world needed Best Buy, and that the company could have a higher purpose set the wheels in motion.

Hubert Joly orchestrating Best Buy's stunning turnaround by focusing on a Noble Purpose bigger than ... [+] money.

In what has been characterized as one of the most stunning turnarounds of the last decade, Joly took Best Buy from a flailing retailer that was losing money, with disengaged frustrated employees and a brand bordering on being irrelevant, to a thriving organization. Joly drove five consecutive years of sales growth, a 263% increase in shareholder return, and doubled online sales What’s most notable is that Joy achieved outsized financial results by focusing on a purpose bigger than money.

Unlike most turnarounds which tend to focus on finance and “cut, cut, cut,” Joly looked at the people and the impact they could have on customers. He shifted the company from thinking of themselves as a retailer who sold products to becoming an organization company focused on enriching the lives of our customers through technology. 

Is Leadership an Art or a Science

Apple confirms innovative iphone 16 pro upgrade, wwe smackdown results winners and grades after wrestlemania 40.

He says, “We achieved this turn around by pursuing a noble purpose, and treating profit as an outcome, not a goal. This is what I believe is at the heart of business”

This mindset shift was crucial. Clarity about their Noble Purpose translated into concrete strategic initiatives; it drove decision making and innovation. Best Buy’s purpose also helped employees be proactive about “enriching customers’ lives.” Joly says, “This allowed us to evolve from selling products through transactions to selling solutions and building long term relationships with our customers.”

In his new book, The Heart of Business: Leadership Principles for the Next Era of Capitalism Joly draws from his Best Buy experience to provide a template for other leaders. It is as much a business case study as it is a personal transformation story. 

As a former hard-charging McKinsey consultant, Joly says he’s come to realize that much of what he learned at McKinsey and at business school is “either wrong, dated or incomplete.”  The traditional model of strategy formation and implementation focuses on making changes in a company based on top-down decision making and putting the right economic incentive in place. “This approach does not work anymore” asserts Joly. “It is now proven that financial incentives tend to deteriorate performance . If you use carrots and sticks, you get donkeys.”

Joly now embraces a concept he calls human magic . He writes, “When the company’s noble purpose aligns with the employees own individual search for meaning, it can unleash the kind of human magic that results in an irrational performance (beyond any logical explanation).”

We see similar transformations in our own consulting practice when we help teams get clear about their noble purpose and how they want to make a difference to customers. When employees understand their work has meaning, and the organization aligns around customer impact, engagement goes up, turnover goes down, and everyone becomes involved in creating magic for customers. When Joly stepped down as CEO in 2019 to become executive chairman of the Best Buy board, employee engagement was at record high, turnover was at record low.  The financial results speak for themselves.

After orchestrating Best Buy ’s record-setting turnaround, Joly is both energized and reflective about how the world of work can and should change. He says, “Companies can be a force for good by serving people.” 

Joly is on a mission to help with what he calls “The necessary foundation of business and capitalism.”  He now teaches at Harvard Business School helping leaders find their noble purpose and create their own human magic. In this new model, Joly says, “Work is love made visible.”

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A Comprehensive Look at the Best Buy Code of Ethics

• Company Policies
• October 20, 2023

In today’s business landscape, ethical practices are crucial for the success and reputation of any organization. Best Buy, a leading retailer in consumer electronics, understands the importance of conducting business ethically and has developed a comprehensive Code of Ethics to guide its employees. In this blog post, we will explore the key principles and values of the Best Buy Code of Ethics, how it is enforced, and the benefits it brings to customers, employees, and shareholders alike.

Key Takeaways

• Best Buy’s Code of Ethics outlines clear values, principles and standards for employees to adhere to in order to maintain ethical conduct.
• The Best Buy Code is founded on key principles such as integrity, respect, and accountability.
• Adopting industry best practices helps retail companies remain competitive while upholding strong ethical standards.

Understanding the Best Buy Code of Ethics

Best Buy’s Code of Ethics includes the following core values, principles, and standards that promote honesty and integrity in all business operations:

• Accountability
• Diversity and inclusion
• Safety and well-being
• Sustainability

These values serve as a solid foundation for the company’s ethical conduct.

This ethical framework is applicable to all employees of Best Buy, including its subsidiaries, affiliates, and joint ventures, ensuring that the company’s reputation remains strong and uncompromised.

Purpose of the Code

The primary aim of the Best Buy Code is to guide employees in making principled choices and upholding a superior standard of behavior. Ethical decisions at Best Buy involve:

• Treating customers fairly
• Delivering exceptional customer service
• Maintaining trustworthiness
• Being honest and transparent when providing customers with accurate information.

The Code of Ethics aligns with the company’s overall corporate mission and values, emphasizing:

• Ethical conduct

This creates a culture of compliance and ethical behavior.

Scope and Applicability

The Best Buy Code of Ethics extends to all personnel, including:

• Part-time staff
• Contractors
• Third-party vendors

To maintain high ethical standards, Best Buy has developed a Supplier Code of Conduct, outlining specific requirements to ensure adherence to the Code of Ethics across various roles within the company.

Furthermore, they prohibit any form of retaliation against individuals who report concerns, fostering a safe environment to address potential ethical violations.

Key Principles and Values of the Best Buy Code of Ethics

At the heart of Best Buy’s Code of Ethics are the key principles and values that serve as the foundation of their ethical conduct. These principles include integrity and honesty, respect and fair treatment, and accountability and responsibility.

Adherence to these essential values ensures Best Buy operates ethically and responsibly, which helps foster customer trust and build a strong industry reputation.

Integrity and Honesty

Best Buy emphasizes the importance of honesty and integrity in all aspects of business, from interactions with customers to dealings with suppliers. Employees are expected to refrain from misrepresenting the coverage, benefits, or reliability of services, warranties, or products to customers, especially when a new buy launched in the market, as it directly impacts Buy’s reputation.

The company also implements a range of measures to ensure honesty and integrity in their business dealings, safeguarding assets, avoiding insider trading, and maintaining confidentiality.

Respect and Fair Treatment

The principle of respect and fair treatment is integral to Best Buy’s daily operations. The company is committed to:

• Treating customers, employees, and suppliers with respect, honesty, and fairness
• Providing a safe and healthy workplace
• Upholding integrity in business dealings
• Ensuring fair treatment in all aspects of the company’s operations.

Promotion of a culture of respect and fairness fosters a positive work environment at Best Buy, enabling employees to thrive and contribute to the company’s success.

Accountability and Responsibility

Best Buy is dedicated to promoting a sense of accountability and responsibility throughout the organization. Employees are expected to take responsibility for their actions, be accountable for their decisions, and adhere to corporate social responsibility and sustainability initiatives.

Integration of these values into core business practices enables Best Buy to lead the industry in accountability and responsibility, ultimately benefiting all stakeholders involved.

Ethical Policy Example

An ethical policy example demonstrates a set of guiding principles and standards that an organization adheres to in conducting its operations while considering the ethical implications of its actions. Such policies outline the acceptable behavior and decision-making criteria that align with the organization’s values and societal norms. For instance, a company might establish policies regarding fair labor practices, environmental sustainability, responsible sourcing, and transparency in financial reporting. By articulating these principles and integrating them into its operations, an organization showcases its commitment to responsible business conduct and upholds a sense of accountability to stakeholders. These policies serve as a compass, directing employees and stakeholders on the ethical path and reinforcing the organization’s dedication to acting in a socially responsible and morally sound manner.

Reporting Unethical Behavior at Best Buy

Best Buy is committed to creating a culture that encourages employees to report any unethical behavior they witness or suspect. The company has established a process for reporting such concerns, ensuring that appropriate action can be taken to address any issues that may arise.

This process allows employees to access the Ethics Office, report concerns, and remain anonymous while being protected against retaliation.

Access to the Ethics Office

Employees have access to the Ethics Office for guidance and support when reporting ethical concerns. They can report concerns through multiple channels, including:

• Text message

The Ethics Office is responsible for reviewing and investigating any reports of unethical behavior within the company, collaborating with other departments to ensure that ethical standards are met according to the company’s ethics policy. The Ethics Office is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, providing employees with a readily available resource for addressing ethical concerns.

Anonymous Reporting Options

Best Buy provides options for anonymous reporting to encourage employees to come forward with concerns without fear of retaliation. Employees can utilize the Open & Honest reporting system to submit an anonymous report.

The details of the report will be reviewed by the relevant team to determine if any further action is necessary, ensuring that all concerns are addressed and resolved appropriately.

Protection Against Retaliation

Best Buy takes measures to protect employees against retaliatory action after reporting unethical behavior. The company’s Code of Business Ethics strictly prohibits any form of retaliation against individuals who report a concern or make a complaint in good faith.

Employees are encouraged to report any ethical concerns they have, knowing that their reports will be handled confidentially and that they will be protected from any potential retaliation.

The Role of Management in Upholding the Best Buy Code of Ethics

Management plays a crucial role in maintaining ethical standards at Best Buy. They are responsible for leading by example, providing training and education to employees, and addressing any violations of the Code of Ethics.

Ensuring commitment from all levels of management to uphold the company’s ethical principles allows Best Buy to foster an environment where ethical conduct is the norm and unethical behavior is swiftly addressed and resolved.

Leading by Example

Managers at Best Buy are expected to:

• Model ethical behavior
• Set the tone for their teams
• Demonstrate the company’s values and principles in their actions and decisions
• Create a positive and ethical work atmosphere.

When leaders consistently exhibit ethical behavior, employees are more likely to follow suit, leading to a culture of integrity and responsibility throughout the organization.

Training and Education

Best Buy provides comprehensive training and educational resources to managers for upholding ethical standards. Managers are expected to:

• Adhere to all policies and laws that apply to their job
• Complete all assigned trainings
• Proactively report any unethical behavior they observe or suspect

Equipping managers with the necessary knowledge and resources ensures that all employees at Best Buy understand and adhere to the company’s Code of Ethics.

Addressing Violations

Management is responsible for addressing and resolving any ethical violations that occur within the company. If an employee fails to adhere to the company’s Code of Ethics, they may be subject to disciplinary action, including possible termination of employment.

Managers are expected to act promptly upon receiving reports of potential illegal or unethical conduct, ensuring that all violations are dealt with in a timely and appropriate manner.

Code of Conduct Examples

Code of conduct examples are crucial in establishing a clear framework for expected behavior within a particular community, organization, or online platform. These examples provide concrete guidance on how individuals should interact, communicate, and collaborate in a respectful and inclusive manner. They often outline specific actions that are encouraged or discouraged, aiming to foster a positive and safe environment for all participants. Effective code of conduct examples may cover topics such as respectful communication, inclusivity, diversity, conflict resolution, and adherence to community guidelines. By showcasing real-life situations and responses, these examples serve as practical illustrations to help members understand and internalize the expected norms, ultimately promoting a more harmonious and productive community or workplace.

How the Best Buy Code of Ethics Benefits Stakeholders

The Best Buy Code of Ethics offers numerous advantages to various stakeholders, including:

• Customers: By adhering to a strong ethical framework, the company is able to foster trust with customers.
• Employees: The Code of Ethics promotes employee satisfaction by providing clear guidelines for ethical behavior.
• Shareholders: Adhering to ethical standards can increase shareholder value.

In the following sections, we will explore these benefits in more detail.

Building Trust with Customers

The Best Buy Code of Ethics helps to build trust and credibility with customers by promoting customer-centricity, providing accurate information, and emphasizing transparency, honesty, and integrity in service delivery.

Adherence to these ethical principles enables Best Buy to earn trust and develop long-term relationships with its customers, contributing to the company’s ongoing success.

Fostering Employee Satisfaction

A strong ethical culture can lead to increased employee satisfaction and retention. The Best Buy Code of Ethics establishes a platform for voicing questions and concerns, promotes open communication, and provides a structure for addressing and escalating matters.

Moreover, the code encourages fairness, respect, and integrity in the workplace, which helps create a positive work atmosphere and contributes to employee satisfaction.

Enhancing Shareholder Value

Ethical business practices can contribute to long-term shareholder value by safeguarding assets, upholding financial probity, avoiding insider trading, and maintaining confidentiality.

Adherence to these principles allows Best Buy to:

• Sustain the trust and confidence of shareholders
• Positively affect the company’s financial performance
• Increase shareholder value
• Achieve long-term success

Comparing Best Buy’s Code of Ethics to Competitors

It is important to consider how Best Buy’s Code of Ethics compares to those of its competitors, such as Walmart, Amazon, and Target.

In the following sections, we will explore the key differences, shared principles, and industry best practices in ethical conduct among these companies.

Key Differences

When comparing Best Buy’s Code of Ethics to its competitors, some unique aspects of the Code include the emphasis on doing well by doing good, operating ethically, and treating customers and stakeholders fairly and honestly.

For example, Walmart focuses on acting in accordance with their values, making ethical decisions, and taking responsibility for their actions, while Target encourages team members to always do what is right for Target and to use the reporting options to share any concerns without any pressure or coercion to act unethically.

Shared Principles

While there may be differences in the Codes of Ethics among Best Buy and its competitors, they all share common ethical principles. These shared principles include:

• Promoting honest and ethical conduct
• Ensuring consumer trust
• Abiding by specific codes of conduct
• Upholding high moral and ethical standards.

Adherence to these shared principles positions companies in the retail industry to build trust and credibility with customers, employees, and shareholders alike.

UPS Ethics Hotline

The UPS Ethics Hotline serves as a crucial mechanism for reporting any ethical concerns within the organization. Employees are encouraged to utilize the UPS Ethics Hotline to confidentially report any potential violations of the company’s code of conduct or ethical standards. The UPS Ethics Hotline provides a secure and anonymous channel through which employees can voice their concerns without fear of retaliation. This hotline underscores UPS’s commitment to maintaining a culture of integrity, transparency, and accountability within the company. Reports made through the UPS Ethics Hotline are thoroughly investigated, and appropriate actions are taken to address and rectify any identified ethical breaches, fostering a culture of compliance and ethical behavior throughout the organization. UPS values and prioritizes the well-being of its employees and the integrity of its operations, making the UPS Ethics Hotline an essential tool in upholding these principles.

Industry Best Practices

In the retail industry, some of the best practices in ethical conduct include:

• Implementing fair business practices, such as transparency and avoiding deceptive advertising
• Providing fair salaries to employees
• Fostering trust and honesty with customers

Following these industry best practices allows companies like Best Buy and its competitors to maintain high ethical standards and continue succeeding in a competitive market.

In conclusion, Best Buy’s Code of Ethics plays a vital role in guiding the company’s ethical conduct and promoting a culture of integrity and responsibility. By adhering to the core values and principles outlined in the Code, Best Buy is able to build trust with customers, foster employee satisfaction, and enhance shareholder value. In comparison to its competitors, Best Buy’s unique approach to ethics highlights the company’s commitment to doing well by doing good, setting it apart in the competitive retail landscape. Ultimately, the Best Buy Code of Ethics serves as a strong foundation for the company’s ongoing success and a model for ethical business practices in the retail industry.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is best buy’s code of ethics.

Best Buy’s code of ethics emphasizes treating customers equitably, providing excellent customer experiences, preserving trust and honesty through accurate information, and living out values such as respect, humility and integrity.

What is the open and honest ethics line for Best Buy?

If you have any ethical concerns, you can reach out to the Open & Honest Ethics Line at 800-520-1132 or via www.BestBuyEthics.com for assistance. You can also ask questions anonymously and contact an independent third party 24 hours a day, 7 days a week via 833.BBY.OPEN.

Is Bestbuy ethical?

Best Buy is honored to have been included for a ninth year on Ethisphere’s World’s Most Ethical Companies list, and is one of only three retailers to make the 2023 list. Despite recent ethical lapses such as stories of employees playing hide-and-seek with merchandise, Bestbuy is committed to ensuring ethical practices.

Why is Best Buy an ethical company?

Best Buy’s commitment to carbon emissions reduction and its equity-driven customer experiences demonstrate its ethical approach, preserving customers’ trust and providing accurate information for informed buying decisions.

What is the purpose of Best Buy’s Code of Ethics?

Best Buy’s Code of Ethics is designed to set clear expectations for employee behavior and provide guidance on how to make ethical decisions.

Important Disclaimer:

The article presented here does not serve as a representation of the company’s actual policies or code of conducts mentioned in this article.

Our discussions and insights regarding the policies or code of conducts are based on assumptions about what may be considered significant in this companies’ policies. These assumptions are drawn from available information and industry knowledge. Readers are advised that the content provided is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as an exact reflection of any company’s official policies or procedures. For precise and accurate details regarding a company’s policies, individuals should refer directly to the company’s official documentation or consult with appropriate representatives.

Please be aware that the content on this page has been generated by using artificial intelligence language models and may contain errors, inconsistencies, or outdated information. It is provided as-is without any warranties or guarantees of accuracy. We strongly recommend using this content as a starting point for further research. We disclaim any liability for damages or losses resulting from the use or reliance on this content.

Tehsin Bhayani

AirMason was born when Tehsin was trying to create a digital culture book, but couldn’t find any solutions in the market that had all the features he needed. In 2016, AirMason officially launched. In five years, AirMason has created thousands of handbooks for more than 1,000 clients around the world.

Crafting an Ethical Policy Example: A Comprehensive Guide

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Good Case Study On Best Practices At Best Buy

Type of paper: Case Study

Topic: Workplace , Human Resource Management , Staff , Company , Productivity , Time Management , Schedule , Best Buy

Published: 12/28/2021

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The ROWE program is a new initiative inspired by Best Buy HR managers Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson and aims to introduce deep corporate culture change by measuring performance based on productivity, not working hours. First applied in company's headquarters, ROWE is delivered in four phases company-wide: (1) Culture Audit (implemented and repeated at company's headquarters for acculturation and education purposes), (2) Corporate Communication (delivered to staff company-wide in order to communicate underlying philosophies and educate managers on control methods), (3) Department-By-Department Adoption (implemented according to each department's requirements and functions), and (4) Follow-Up (Culture Check model applied to assess outcomes). If anything, advantages include more flexibility in work-life balance and enhanced manager-subordinate relationship. On flipside, drawbacks include a more "laid back" attitude to work, leading to long-range decline in productivity and possible bottleneck crises, particularly during wide-scale emergencies, as one or a group of critical staff members may not be available readily or collectively for immediate meetings and/or issue handling. Personally, paper's author believes Google and Best Buy adopt a particularly innovative practice. Frequently referred to in an increasing body of labor literature as work-as-play approach, a flexible working hour policy does open up more space for further innovative contribution by staff. In permitting flexible hours for staff to work on personal projects, Google helps accommodate needs of highly skilled and innovative staff for whom a winning currency is more investment on innovative creations as opposed to more conventional monetary incentives. Similarly, Best Buy manages to raise productivity by putting in place an innovative ROWE program permitting staff to work according to own schedules as opposed to a conventional, corporate schedule. This approach does not, however, match different labor relations and corporate arrangements. If anything, Google and Best Buy employ highly skilled and innovative labor force for whom flexibility is shown to work best for company and staff. Yet, for more conventional labor relations, let alone specific ethnic, gender and educational backgrounds, a flexible work schedule is shown not to be attainable by 73% of US workforce (Golden, 2001). As a manager in Best Buy business ecosystem, paper's author would adopt ROWE program in respective department but would introduce a novelty in order to further examine maximum productivity outcomes. Specifically, in addition to monitoring staff performance according to ROWE, paper's author would adopt different work schedules from different departments, after proper surveying and permissions. This should embed best-in-company practice into respective department's work schedules developed by staff. This should not mean, of course, department staff is required to adopt suggested modifications but should, significantly, be incentivized by so doing. Moreover, paper's author would monitor performance (and, for that matter, productivity) using a special, customizable calendar by which a worker's schedule is registered and charted. By comparing different schedules for individual workers and department staff, a best-in-company schedule can emerge and be adopted for possible company-wide application. The case for flexible working hours in healthcare industry is long debated. Notably, flexible working hours are shown to improve productivity by 10% in a pharmaceutical context (Shepard III, Clifton & Kruse, 2008). This finding is, in fact, aligned to paper's author conviction of confirmed positive productivity outcomes in healthcare industry in general. Given high unpredictabilities in healthcare contexts (particularly in emergency services and/or round-clock, senior healthcare), a flexible working schedule is apt to help a service provider manage her own schedule more effectively and, more significantly, more collaboratively with a care recipient as opposed to more conventional, fixed, corporate-imposed schedules.

Golden, L. (2001). Flexible Work Schedules: Which Workers Get Them? American Behavioral Scientist, 44(7), 1157-1178. Sage Journals. doi: 10.1177/00027640121956700 Shepard III, E. M., Clifton, T. J., & Kruse, D. (2008). Flexible Work Hours and Productivity: Some Evidence from the Pharmaceutical Industry. Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, 35(1), 123–139. Wiley Online Library. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-232X.1996.tb00398.x

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