Essay about Lowe’s Home improvement

Submitted By junkmopar
Words: 1154
Pages: 5

Lowe’s Home improvement

Kathy Jones

November 3, 2012

Lowe’s values their reputation for maintaining high ethical standards in the workplaces and around the world where they do business. Integrity, one of Lowe’s core values, is demonstrated every day through interaction with customers, fellow employees, vendors, shareholders and nonprofit organizations, like the American Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity. Every employee, while acting on behalf of the company, must comply with all applicable governmental laws, rules and regulations, and should avoid engaging in any conduct that, even though legally permissible, is inconsistent with the ethical principles to which Lowe’s subscribes. Although not labeled as a “mission statement,” Lowe’s publishes a vision statement: “We will provide customer-valued solutions with the best prices, products and services to make Lowe’s the first choice for home improvement.” In order to make their vision a reality, Lowe’s focuses its employees on these values: Customer focused, teamwork, ownership, passion for execution, respect and integrity. The Lowe’s North Wilkesboro Hardware store opened in Wilkesboro, NC in 1921 by Lucius S. Lowe. The business changed hands between family members, and was eventually purchased by Carl Buchanan, the brother-in-law to James Lowe. Even though Bachanan wasn’t a blood relative, he kept the Lowe’s name in the purchase deal. The headquarters of the Lowe’s Home Improvement chain is located in Mooresville, NC, about sixty miles from where the first store was located. Lowe’s commitment to responsible corporate citizenship and long-term growth of their business starts at the top. Lowe’s board of directors oversees the sound governance practices that have guided their success for decades. Through constructive engagement with management and shareholders, and informed by their core values, the board provides oversight and counsel that strengthens their culture of integrity, accountability and responsible business practices. Lowes expectations are contained in the Lowe’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, which confirms their commitment to maintaining an environment in which all of their employees work together with respect. Every new employee is asked to read, review and understand the Code of Conduct, which is available to them on Lowe’s intranet site and to the general public on Lowes.com. Lowe’s also offers a companywide ethics course online to give employees the information they need to use the Code of Conduct as a guide to conduct business. Additionally, each year employees are asked to certify their compliance with the Code of Conduct by reviewing the code and respond to an online certification request. Think Lowe’s, and you think home improvement. But if the nation’s second-largest chain succeeds with plans to harness mobile technology to improve store sales, smartphone, could soon become synonymous with Lowe’s as well. Lowe’s named by U.S. News as one of America’s most connected companies for its embrace of mobile communications, has embarked on an effort to grow its business with the distribution late last year of more than 42,000 iPhones to employees nationwide at its 1,725 stores. The devices, retrofitted to serve as price scanners and powered with extra batteries, make it easy for sales reps to handle customer requests on the spot. The iPhones connect to the Internet through in-store wireless networks and are equipped with credit card readers that will eventually be activated to ring up sales. Reinforcing the emphasis on mobility, in February store managers were outfitted with iPads. On the customer side, to attract more Internet sales, the chain launched a new website in October, MyLowes.com, that has generated considerable buzz in retail circles. The site enables consumers to experiment online with home renovations, retrieve data about past purchases, schedule reminders to order items, and create personalized profiles with information