I’ve worked for both large and small companies. Along the way, at certain times of the year (holidays, pre-release "crunch" times, previews of an upcoming Hollywood blockbuster) we balanced the good and bad, the long hours and the service to customers. One thing that remained constant was paperwork– it dragged everyone down and hampered performance. But what is a company like, say, Home Depot, done about streamlining paper and other processes? And what has happened since they handled the clutter?
I found an October 2004 BusinessWeek article on how Home Depot and their beleaguered store managers were "drowning" in paperwork.
"Endless communiques from national, regional, and district headquarters bombarded them with demands to change a kitchen display, or to restock screws. "We’d get a fax, an e-mail, a call, and a memo, all on the same project." says Michael A. Jones, former manager of a Home Depot in Thornton, Colo. Even staffers back at headquarters in Atlanta saw how ridiculous things had become. One exec managed to wallpaper an entire conference room — floor to ceiling, windows included– with just three week’s worth of memos."
The paper "blizzard" in 2003 moved Chief Executive Robert L. Nardelli to make changes in their process by eliminating duplicate paper messages, introducing technology and creating focus groups. Nardelli also chose to be innovative with new store designs, like their glitzy Manhattan store– 7% of which is devoted to closets and closet design. But one thing is for sure, we can all learn from their challenges, paper or otherwise.
The result? Their stock was moving up, and while it’s still difficult to catch up with rival Lowe’s, innovation and simplicity are moving HD forward.
How much forward is the question– and how are Americans benefiting from all this? Well, in big ways. According to Kris Morrison of BetterManagement, victims from Hurricane Katrina gained from Home Depot’s efficient work systems and distribution networks:
"Home Depot has a strategic infrastructure in place that supports an efficient, planned supply chain ready to respond to natural disasters. Likened to the logistical strategy seen in a war room, the company sets up a command center that tracks incoming storms, communicates with location managers, and routes critical materials to needed locations."
Pretty kewl, eh? I just wish the Home Depot on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood would catch up and lose their "lumberyard" service mentality. I’ll take the drive to Lowe’s in Burbank any day… and to me, it’s clear that additional work is needed here in Hollywood– this might be the reason HD stock is at just $42.360 this afternoon and $54 when the BusinessWeek article hit newsstands in 2004.
Read BusinessWeek’s 2004 Home Depot: Thinking Outside the Big Box article by writer Brian Grow in Atlanta.
Read Kris Morrison’s 2005 BetterManagement.com analysis of Home Depot’s response to Katrina.
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