Big Customers and Their Suppliers: A Case Examining Changes in Business Relationships and Their Financial Effects

In this case, you will analyze large retailers' increasing clout and its implications for the pricing, inventory, and credit practices of their suppliers. You will use accounting data to explore how changes in these business practices and other phenomena at the firm and industry levels affected retailers' and suppliers' financial performances. In addition, you will examine stock return information to determine how Wall Street responded to the effects of these changes on firms' profitability. As a result, the case will increase your understanding of how to use accounting data to assess the effect of marketing and managerial decisions on financial performance. You will consider these issues for four large retailers (JCPenney, Target, Toys “R” Us, and Wal‐Mart) and three manufacturer‐suppliers (Garan, Mattel, and National Presto).