Autozone Executive Summary

Table 2
• Unemployment based on data retrieved from the US Census Bureau (2014) and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (n.d.).
• Net sales figures retrieved from Advance Auto Parts’ 2014 Annual Report, Norona (2015) and AutoZone’s Annual Report, Rhodes (2014).

Government Regulations and Their Effect
One of the main weaknesses and key threats to the auto parts industry is legislation. In many instances, older vehicles are creating excessive pollution through emissions. These vehicles are becoming more expensive to meet government pollution standards. It is not possible to determine what new government regulation will pass in the years to come, but there is a threat that they may financially cripple the whole auto parts industry.
Government

Hybrids and electric cars are now quickly appearing everywhere. To meet this need head-on, AutoZone has begun expanding their inventories to carrying basic repair parts for electric vehicles. Because of all the new ecological concerns, AutoZone now offers a wide array of parts and products which create fewer emissions and help reduce fuel consumption (AutoZone, Inc., n.d.). Additionally, to further help with ecological concerns AutoZone has begun recycling wood pallets and cardboard boxes. They also offer the consumer a place to drop off used motor oil, so it does not create pollution, and it can be recycled. Additionally, to add to the customer value, without adding costs, AutoZone offers free diagnostic testing for many common vehicle problems. AutoZone does not charge for diagnostic testing, professional advice, or recycling. However, all these services add to the value of their products and services, making them more competitive on the

Oland came from managing over 7,000 grocery stores (Battle, 2001). Odland was brought in to add a new approach to AutoZone’s retail tactics, and he was more familiar with working under a go-green strategy than the previous CEOs. Odland’s presence enabled AutoZone to connect better with newly emerging cultural trends and demands.
To further add to AutoZone’s competitiveness, these use a just-in-time (JIT) logistics strategy. They do maintain bulk storage in their several distribution centers. However, individual stores work on a JIT strategy. Additionally, AutoZone also uses the Grey Chance Constrained Programming (GCCP) formula to determine the location of their distribution centers. This is an algorithm that calculates the most strategic distribution location for maximizing prompt delivery times.
Mistakes in Decision