Cringely:
Part of Best Buy’s problem is Information Technology. In Minneapolis, Best Buy is known as a body shop. While they have something like 1000 IT workers, most of them are temporary contractors. They come and go. The number of IT people who are Best Buy employees is very small. Too few to effectively set direction or do things well. Best Buy depends on an army of consulting firms to do its IT planning and projects. They do what they are asked to. Unfortunately there is a big disconnect between what the business really needs and what IT is doing. It is not the army of contractors’ fault. They can only do what they are instructed to do. Their suggestions and opinions are not welcome. There are too few real Best Buy employees with a vested interest in the business to give direction and provide leadership.
This is true.
It will be horrible for the Twin Cities if Best Buy goes under. I hope they get their act together.