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A Fortune 500 Company LaChelle Davis-Moore December 12, 2011 MGT 521 Tracy Bomar-Howze Walgreens a Fortune 500 company ranking at 32 on the list, seems to be a successful company over its 100 years of business. Charles R. Walgreen, of Chicago is the founder of the continuous growing company, which opened in 1901. As a mutual fund investor identifying Walgreens strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) will be imperative in deciding to invest in the company. The decision to invest in Walgreens will be based on all four areas of SWOT, special focus on results from the opportunities the company has acquired between last year and this year. The purchase of New York, base drug store Duane Reade, April 2010 (cnnmoney.com) has been one of the company’s flourishing opportunities. To purchase a company such as Duane Reade is a risk which for Walgreens was a risk worth taking. As a result of acquiring this new business the company has already reaped benefits; Walgreens sales have increased since the 2010 acquisition of Duane Reade (cnnmoney.com). Walgreens also purchased drugstore.com in March 2011, to tap into the online purchasing (Walgreens news intranet). Drugstore.com offer a variety of beauty needs and health needs just as Walgreens does in-store and online. Although, the company has its own online ability at Walgreens.com the acquisition of drugstore.com will eliminate a little competition. Soon, Walgreens will be offering health insurance policies "As always, we're looking at a number of options in light of health care reform as we continue to seek ways to help our customers better navigate today's health care system," a Walgreens spokesman said (articles.courant.com). Another, success is Walgreens contract with CVS Caremark, this partnership allows for millions of CVS Caremark customers to fill prescriptions at Walgreens generating increase profits (Abelson, Singer.2011). In addition, Walgreens has made a decision to focus on store brand selling to increase overall profits (cnnmoney.com). “To help consumers make that choice, the drugstore chain will begin the first national advertising campaign for Walgreens branded health and wellness products on Sunday” (Vega, 2011, Walgreens Launches, para.2). Focusing on Walgreens brand is a great opportunity because brand sales increase profits, not just for the company but for the stakeholders as well. Store brand products cost less and produce greater profit for that reason Walgreens has tapped into promoting their brand aggressively. “For its new television commercial and the print ads, Walgreens worked with its agency of record, Downtown Partners. The work emphasizes the theme of pharmacists recommending the Walgreens private-label products” (Vega,2011, Walgreens Lauches,para.14). Employees involved in profit sharing receive greater returns on investment the more Walgreens brand products are sold. The aforementioned opportunities reveal that the company has a vision, and are aware of where they’re going. With new innovations in technology, service, and product Walgreens can continue to be a market leader now and in the future. Company strengths play a role in ones decision to invest in a company. When driving around most cities you will find a Walgreens at almost every major corner. In Kissimmee, Florida commuting down highway 192/441 US, one will find roughly five Walgreens all less than two miles apart. This strength of location allows for the company to have a strong presence in the market, customers can find a Walgreens at anytime and quickly. Today customers look for convenience and speed, something Walgreens provide by setting up at major corners and short distances apart. Open 365 days of the year, this company is ready for the customers. Walgreens locations and store hours shows that they know how to meet customer’s needs. During holidays there is usually the last minute shopper for a gift or food item, Walgreens employees are ready to receive the customer and increase sales too. They have a photo department too' The company can develop precious moments captured. Walgreens is a pharmacy first but they have many needs and wants for most customers who walk through the door. For instance, the photo department, beauty department, inkjet machine, grocery and a section for every season; like Christmas, Valentine Day, Easter, and more. Walgreens is a one stop shop. Weaknesses the company has encountered is losing a major contract with express scripts international (ESI)). “It’s fair to say we’re still at this impasse. We’re still far apart and there hasn’t been an update since our last announcement. My responsibility is to prepare us to live in a world without ESI come Jan. 1, 2012” (Davis,2011, Walgreens Speaks,para.5).This contract failure leads to the company losing profits from prescriptions early because some customers would like a smooth transition into 2012, so customers have been advised by ESI to transfer their prescription from Walgreens (esi.com). Lose of ESI contract can correlate with the decrease of labor hours since fewer prescriptions are expected to be filled daily. This may result in unhappy employees. Wal-mart private founder, Sam Walton, keeps his prices so low by purchasing in bulk. Wal-mart is one of Walgreens major competitors. Due to how large Wal-Mart is and their ability to purchase in bulk Walgreens is unable to compete in the area of low prices. This weakness allows them to compete in areas of customer’s service and satisfaction so customers will shop Walgreens first. In a previous interview a Walgreens employee stated “Whatever is in the ad we should have on the shelf, but yet we write a ton of rain checks”. Being out of product can result in lost sales hurting profit and unsatisfied customers. Walgreens will need to keep a close on inventory so they can improve on out of stock items. Although, this may not be likely to stop their customers from shopping with them but Walgreens is in business to build loyalty and happy customers. The stakeholders involved with Walgreens are employees, vendors, customers, and community. Employees seek competitive wages and consistent work hours, affordable health coverage, vacation time, sick time, and retirement planning. Team members have an option to sign up for profit-sharing to begin planning for their retirement. They also have stock options which is a great enhancement for retirement as well. Good benefits create loyal employees. Vendors needs consist of Walgreens staying in business therefore vendors can continue to bring in product, so their jobs stay functional. Some vendors are UPS, FedEx, Pepsi, Cardinal health, and Merita bread. If Walgreens where to go out of business, vendors lose thousands of contracts and in turn vendors can suffer sales as well. Staying knowledgeable will benefit Walgreens and its stakeholders. Customers look for the company shelves to have what they need at all times, out of stock result to unhappy customers. Customers also want to feel cared for and appreciated. The company front line is expected to have knowledge about the company they work for customers will be more prone to shop at Walgreens. The communities look for support with funding baseball games, cancer walks, diabetes research, and blood drives. Walgreens host free photo shoots during holidays for their customers. It’s a way for the company to give back and show care toward the customers. Walgreens held a blood drive in July 2011, along with a mini picnic where they gave each blood donor a pint of ice cream for a pint of blood. This was in collaboration with Redcross. Communities enjoy supporting a company with a track record of giving back. Investing in Walgreens is a wise decision. The company is growing still in the economic down fall. The focus is “Well at Walgreens: healthy, happy, creating value together” (Walgreens handbook, 2011). With this type of focus Walgreens is on the right path of knowing the needs of their many stakeholders. The abundance of knowledge internally and eternally demonstrate Walgreens motivation to continue growth as the market leader by building more stores and acquire more of their competitors. References Vega,Tanzina (2011). Walgreens Launches Campaign to Push Store-Brand Products. New York Times Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com Abelson, Reed. Singer, Natasha (2010) New York Times Davis, Andrea (2011) Walgreens speaks out on withdrawal from ESI network, Employee Benefit News Retrieved from http://www.ebn.benefitnews.com Walgreens Handbook, 2011