Best Buy - Mahony Partners

May

2012

Best Buy’s Executive Exodus

Crisis

When the CEO exits, other senior executives often follow. At Best Buy, the resignation last month of CEO Brian Dunn has been followed by the departure of the chief marketing officer (Barry Judge), the chief technology officer (Robert Stephens) and the CFO of the international division (David Demo). An exodus of senior talent isn't good news for Best Buy, but the company has made a bad situation worse by hiding the news. Best Buy was forced to react to either news reports of an official’s departure or a Read More

Apr

2012

Things get messy at Best Buy

Crisis

Best Buy Co has accomplished something remarkable. In a few short hours, it took a fairly routine CEO resignation and turned it into a scandal. Early this morning, just after the opening of trading, Best Buy issued a brief statement saying CEO Brian Dunn resigned. It wasn’t a big surprise; after all, Dunn had been criticized for failing to address the company’s serious competitive challenges. The press release included nice words from Dunn, and from the interim CEO, Mike Mikan. So far, so good. But that apparently wasn’t the whole story. In the afternoon, a company spokesperson was forced to acknowledge – following an Read More

Apr

2012

What the Best Buy Announcement Doesn’t Say

Crisis, Taking & Managing Risk

The announcement by Best Buy Co. that its CEO Brian Dunn resigned is significant for what it doesn’t say. Although it was awkwardly announced just as the stock market was opening, the company’s news release was direct, brief and included positive comments from Dunn and interim CEO Mike Mikan. The statement was also quick to defuse any suggestion of a broader conflict or new problem that sparked Dunn’s exit. But the statement said nothing about the company’s future strategy, which suggests big changes could be in the offing. Best Buy’s business model has been under strain ... Read More