The Role of a Financial Manager, Research Paper Example

Macy’s is the department store holding company that has nearly 80 years of successful development history, located in Cincinnati, Ohio, and owing over 850 stores in all US states. The company’s staff almost equals 200,000 employees, the series produced by the company have various consumer groups, together with the middle class target customers and luxury-class products gathered under the trademark “Bloomingdale”.

The company was founded in 1930 by John Shillito and developed on the course of the 20^th century. The company actively participated in WW II and after that, with the new stage of social development in the USA, began to cater for the customer needs of the post-war period. From the 1940s to the 1960s the company changed its focus from a holding company to an operating company, so the period was marked with a large-scale expansion and enlargement of Macy’s, Inc. with the enormous increase of sales.

The process of the company’s development moved on smoothly and favorably in the course of time, until 1980s that brought about the rapid, dramatic change for Macy’s, Inc. In 1988 a Canadian firm became interested in the Macy’s Inc., arranged the takeover and made the company announce its bankruptcy. Only in 4 years the company finally managed to recover from the stress and disaster and to get established in the US market again.

At the present moment the success of the company is undisputable – even despite the context of financial complications in the world Macy’s, Inc. remains a reliable and committed partner for many US citizens:

“The company continues to prosper by adapting and flowing with new demands on department stores in an ever-changing society. Embracing the words and philosophy of one of its founders, Fred Lazarus Jr., Macy’s, Inc. succeeds by striving to be “a living mirror of our civilization in which we see the constant changing needs and wishes of our people” (Macy’s, Inc. History, 2009).

The financial highlights of the Macy’s, Inc. show that in general the company has a good, perspective future in the financial context because of the figures showing dividends paid to the stakeholders. Judging from the 2007 and 2008 figures, it is clear that despite the financial crisis and the overall economic breakdown all over the world Macy’s, Inc. still managed not only to sustain a good level of dividends paid, but to raise them as well. The figure showed $0.1275 at the beginning of 2007 and $0.1325 at the end of 2008, thus revealing the good, positive state of affairs in the company.

Macy’s Financial Information

The current information about stocks of the Macy’s is the following: M (Common Stock); Exchange NYSE (US Dollar); Price $20.69; Change (%) – 0.03 (0.14); Volume 1,347,186 (Investors Relations, 2009). This financial data shows a considerable breakdown in the revenues of Macy’s within the period of the world crisis, which was supported by the official information of 2008 – “sales are down, meaning any capital improvements will reflect more dramatically on the bottom line, and consumers are more demanding and discriminating than ever” (Fasig, 2008).

Responsibilities of CEO and CFO

The Board of Directors of Macy’s includes a number of CEOs who are responsible for different aspects of the company’s functioning and for different regional subsidiaries. For example, Terry J. Lundgren is a Chairman, President and CEO (Macy’s, Inc.), Joseph Neubauer is the Chairman and CEO of the ARAMARK Holdings Corporation, Joyce M.Roche is the President and CEO (Girls Incorporated) who are all responsible for establishment of major policies: marketing, personnel or advertising ones, as well as presenting the results of the work done by the company to the Board of Directors and to the stakeholders. Karen M. Hoguet is the CFO of Macy’s (Fact Book, 2009). The main functions of the CFO in Macy’s is to continuously assess the situation at the financial market, to assess the opportunities and performance indicators of the company, to make up the financial development strategy and to submit financial reports together with the financial forecasts to the Board of Directors.

References

Corporate Fact Book (2009). Macy’s Inc. Retrieved October 16, 2009, from http://www.macysinc.com/Investors/vote/2009_factbook.pdf

Fasig, L.B. (2008). Macy’s CFO: Retailer must ready itself for turnaround. Business Courier. Retrieved October 16, 2009, from http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/ 2008/06/09/story9.html

Investor Relations (2009). Macy’s Inc. Retrieved October 16, 2009, from http://www.macys inc.com/investors/default.aspx

Macy’s, Inc. History (2009). Retrieved October 16, 2009, from http://www.macysinc.com/pressroom/History/