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Lindsey Murad
4/1/14
BUS 468
Best Buy: A Sustainable Organization
Best Buy has implemented work approaches that have proven to work for the good of the
company. They have implemented programs within the organization to encourage their
employees, stakeholders, and even their customers to give back to society. Best Buy has become
more environmentally conscious and aware of their impact on the environment. Due to their
efforts, as seen in the case, Best Buy has become known for its customer-centric approach and
sustainable outreach (Solasky & Peters, 1). First I will look at the background of the company,
next I will examine how Best Buy is giving back to those vital to the organization, then I will
look at the companys sustainable practices, and finally I will discuss how the disciplines and
laws fit into the case.
History
Richard Schulze, the founder of Best Buy, started out as a consumer electronics specialist
that opened up an audio specialty store called Sound of Music in 1966 (Solasky & Peters, 1).
In the following year, Schulze acquired the Kencraft Hi Fi Company. The company continued to
be successful as they began to expand. By 1970, the company had earned $1 million in annual
revenue. Schulze was prosperous at the time because he targeted a different segment of the
market. He targeted college students who desired electronic goods at the higher end of the
spectrum (Solasky & Peters, 1). At the start of the 70s Schulze began to face an increasing
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amount of competition, so he was forced to change his strategy. In order to adapt to the new
competition, Schulze changed the name of his chain to Best Buy in 1983. He converted his
Sound of Music stores into a high volume discount chain selling electronics, consumer
appliances, and videocassette records (Solasky & Peters, 2). Since competition continued to
stay fierce from companies such as Sears and WardsSchulze was once again forced to
innovate (Solasky & Peters, 2). Schulze began to implement changes that would revolutionize
the entire industry. These changes included eliminating the backrooms of all stores, bringing all
merchandise onto the floor, paying people hourly wages rather than commissions, and retraining
salespeople to become more customer focused (Solasky & Peters, 2). To supplement their
market share, Best Buy acquired Geek Squad, which is a well-known computer repair service.
They also acquired Magnolia Audio Video and Pacific Sales. Later in the 200s, there began to
be a decline in computer sales, so Best Buy embraced what it calls Concept 5 stores- companies
that would not only sell products but teach consumers how to use them (Solasky & Peters, 2).
The company continued to expand as it opened up stores in Canada and then the United
Kingdom in 2009. Today, Best Buy operates in not only the U.S., but Canada, the U.K., China,
and Mexico. Best Buy, in 2009 alone, employed over 155,000 people and earned revenues
totaling more than $45 billion.
Giving Back
Best Buys corporate vision that they continually strive to achieve is People.
Technology. And the pursuit of happiness. (Solasky & Peters, 2). Their goal is to build quality
relationships with their customers, employees, and stockholders. For the company, technology
is an extricable part of this orientation as the company prides itself on selling quality
technological products and services to effectively meet its customer needs (Solasky & Peters,
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2). Best Buy is a consumer-centric organization with goals to achieve better customer
relationships, a greater understanding of customer needs and preferences, and continual
engagement in customer dialogue (Solasky & Peters, 3). In order to connect with customers,
Best Buy greatly utilizes social media like Facebook, Twitter, and blogs. The company wants
customer feedback, so these sites encourage their customers to share their opinions. Customer
feedback has been vital to some of Best Buys practices today. After receiving an outpour of
requests for Best Buys sustainability practices, they published a Corporate Social Responsibility
Report in 2007. From surveys that were conducted, Best Buy found that their consumers
wanted the company to find ways to recycle electronics and use less energy in its appliances
(Solasky & Peters, 3).
Just like with their customers, Best Buy listens to what their employees have to say. Best
Buy works to improve the workplace environment because they believe that happy employees
and communities translate into happy customers (Solasky & Peters, 3). To foster
communication, employees have access to online forums and an internal news site to post
feedback and contribute to the corporate culture. Best Buy also strives to improve the
experiences of both its female employees and its female customers. They even hold diversity
training for employees annually, in order to encourage its employees to practice inclusion and
generate awareness for different cultures (Solasky & Peters, 4). The company itself embraces
a more decentralized structure where employees are provided with greater flexibility and the
opportunity to engage in company operations (Solasky & Peters, 4). They have also adopted
several work approaches to encourage dedication on the part of its employees (Solasky &
Peters, 4). One of these work approaches is called the open source approach. This approach is
away for employees to give their input on whether the company should modify or enhance a
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program or initiative based on their first-hand experience or innovative nature (Solasky &
Peters, 4). The open source approach helps encourage employees to participate in the company
and create innovative inventions to increase the companys bottom line (Solasky & Peters, 4).
Another work approach that Best Buy uses is called the ROWE system. This stands for Results
Only Work Environment. Under this system, employees can choose when and where they work.
Since the company judges employees based on their productivity, it allows their workers to work
in the environment they feel they can be more productive in. This program was successful and
led to an increase in employee satisfaction and overall productivity.
The company also believes in giving back to the local community. Best Buy believes that
being socially responsible enables them to connect to not only their employees and stakeholders,
but also to their customers. The company has created programs like the @15 program, TagTeam
Awards, local giving programs, and they even contribute to disaster relief funds. Best Buys goal
is to make positive contributions to society through their corporate culture because they see
themselves as part of the larger picture. The @15 program empowers teenagers to become
involved in civic engagement, encouraging them to develop and share their points of views on
the world along with recommendations on how to stimulate positive change (Solasky & Peters,
5). This program also gives out millions of dollars in scholarships to students and schools
annually. Since the program was started in 2006, Best Buy has awarded over $9.5 million in
scholarships. They have also donated more than $17 million to over 6,000 schools. The
TagTeam Awards is a program specifically for the employees as a way to encourage them to
give back to society. This program depends upon employees to determine the amount of awards
to nonprofit organizations, providing them with a philanthropic incentive to volunteer (Solasky
& Peters, 5). Employees can either volunteer with their time or their skills in various
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organizations. Through this program, in 2009, over $4 million was given to local nonprofit
organizations. The employees also have a say in how the money from the Best Buy Childrens
Foundation is allocated among local organizations (Solasky & Peters, 6). Best Buy also
partners with disaster relief organizations to donate money and aid to hard-struck areas around
the world (Solasky & Peters, 6). The company has donated money as well as items such as
walkie-talkies, tents, and other items.
Sustainable Practices
In order to comply with their business model and strategy, Best Buy has implemented
several eco-friendly practices into their daily operations (Solasky & Peters, 6). Best Buy has
shown that they are truly making the effort to also change their products to align with their
mission of having sustainable practices. This is shown by how they have partnered with various
companies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to reduce waste and become more energy
efficient (Solasky & Peters, 6). Best Buy also ensures that their vendors are using ethical and
sustainable practices. The suppliers must adhere to the companys Supplier Compliance
Standards, and to ensure compliance, Best Buy audits its various suppliers each year (Solasky &
Peters, 7). If any vendors are found to be noncompliant with the standards, then Best Buy can
cancel their contracts. In 2009 alone, Best Buy found 26 factories to have unethical practices like
worker exploitation and pollution problems, so their contracts were cancelled.
Best Buy has redesigned their stores so they are more energy efficient. The company has
grown to be more sustainable in energy conservation through various changes such as improved
lighting systems, implementing a no-idling policy that prohibits trucks from idling their
engines outside the stores, and investigating new energy-saving technologies (Solasky &
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Peters, 7). They not only strive to save energy in their operations, but they also sell energy-
saving products (Solasky & Peters, 7). The company has partnered with ENERGY STAR to
save its customers money on energy costs and help the environment by selling energy-efficient
items (Solasky & Peters, 7). ENERGY STAR qualified products sold in Best Buy stores
include electronics such as refrigerators, laptops, and printers. Best Buy estimates that its
ENERGY STAR products have saved customers in utility bills over $89,000,000 overall.
Another way that Best Buy has increased their sustainability is with their recycling
program. The program, Greener Together, is an electronic waste recycling program.
Consumers are allowed recycle up to two electronics a day at any of their stores. Recyclable
items include cell phones, DVD players, and more other electronic products (Solasky & Peters,
8). At recycling kiosks located at each store, consumers are able to recycle their used items
regardless of their condition or brand (Solasky & Peters, 8). Besides Best Buys recycling
program, they also have a trade-in program and recycling kiosks. The trade-in program offers
consumers two option: trading electronics online or in-store (Solasky & Peters, 8). Recycling
kiosks are located at every Best Buy location across the United States and are used to recycle
smaller items such as rechargeable batteries and cell phones. Best Buy has found that their new
sustainable practices have not only been beneficial to the environment, but to their company on a
business level.
Disciplines and Laws of a Learning Organization
Best Buy as a company has successfully integrated the various disciplines into their
organization. The five disciplines include personal mastery, mental models, shared visions, team
learning, and systems thinking. They strive to provide an environment that will help not just their
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employees grow, but their customers as well. From the case, I gathered that Best Buy exhibits
four out of the five disciplines. Best Buy displays the discipline of personal mastery. Personal
mastery is the discipline that involves growth and learning among individuals in the
organization. The company is constantly encouraging its employees to innovate and be engaged
in projects to improve the companys products and operations (Solasky & Peters, 4). Best Buy
engages their employees through this approach by pushing them to be better and create better
products. Another discipline seen in the case is building shared visions. In this disciple, the entire
organization contributes to their mission People. Technology. And the pursuit of happiness.
(Solasky & Peters, 2). Everyone involved in the organization, from the employees to vendors, are
charged to pursue sustainable practices and encourage innovation that is environmentally
conscious. Team learning is another discipline that is important in Best Buys corporate culture.
Employees participate in group projects as they work to achieve the higher goal of improving
company products and structure. The final discipline that Best Buy displays is systems thinking.
Initially, Best Buy didnt think about how their practices would affect the systems around them.
After hearing feedback from customers regarding their lack of sustainability practices, Best Buy
implemented an extensive recycling program to meet customer desires. Through this, the
company learned how much of an impact they can have on the environment. They continued to
learn innovative and sustainable technology from employees, customers, and from within the
company itself.
The case about Best Buy also used some of the eleven laws/rules. The first law I found
that applies to the case is that todays problems come from yesterdays solutions (Senge, 57).
Best Buy does the opposite of this law. They are able to listen to what customers were telling
them and instead of not doing anything about it, they completely shifted their strategy. Best Buy
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realized that they need to be responsible for their unsustainable activities and work to be more
eco-friendly. Another law that correlates to the case is that small changes can produce big
results (Senge, 63). Best Buy, in the 1970s, made a huge decision when major changes had to
be made in order to adapt to the increasing competition. In more recent years, the company has
been making smaller decisions regarding the company strategy. They have slowly been
introducing various sustainable development strategies that include recycling programs, and
energy consumption. The law about you can have your cake and eat it too- but not at once also
relates to the case (Senge, 65). When it comes to the sustainable practices of its vendors, Best
Buy will cancel their contracts if they find a vendor to be noncompliant with their standards.
This is turn could drive up costs because they would need to switch factories, but in doing so
they ended up benefiting. In 2008, the company reduced 187 metric tons of paper (Solasky &
Peters, 7). Best Buy has been highly thought of for their social and environmental concerns. The
final law is the easy way out usually leads back in (Senge, 60). Best Buy has been successful
because they began to not take the easy way out when it comes to the production of their
products. Instead of making items that dont save energy, and are not eco-friendly, they
partnered with companies to make products that conserve energy. They began to implement this
approach because their customers could save money and the company itself could reduce their
waste and energy consumption.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I believe that Best Buy is an organization that strives to implement a
degree of systems thinking into their everyday practices. Best Buy feels that happy employees
and communities translate into happy customers (Solasky & Peters, 3). They promote programs
for consumers, their employees and the community. This idea of benefiting the community as a
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whole fits into the disciplines of the learning organization. Best Buy has been able to
successfully integrate four out of five of these disciplines into their everyday operations. In my
opinion, they have most successfully integrated the discipline of systems thinking. Best Buys
perspective has changed over the years. Instead of being solely focused on their company and its
operations, they have begun to envision their entire company and how they fit into society. They
are listening to outside opinions about what they can do to be more socially aware, and then they
are following through by implementing programs that are sustainable and designed to help others
besides the corporation. Best Buy has been named on Ethispheres 2010 list of Most Ethical
Companies as well as other numerous honors, including the Corporate Responsibility Officers
2009 100 Best Corporate Citizensand the Reputation Institutes 75 Most Reputable Companies
in the U.S.( Solasky & Peters, 1). Best Buy deserves these numerous awards because they are a
shining example of a corporation that is listening to the people within their organization and
outside the organization. They have realized that looking at the larger picture, the system as a
whole, is beneficial to their operations. Best Buy has embraced their vision and become a
dominate force in the consumer electronics industry.









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Works Cited
Senge, Peter M. . The Fifth Discipline;The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization.
Doubleday, print.
Solosky, A., & Peters, S. (n.d.). Best Buy Fights Against Electronic Waste.