...no. 2-0013 Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Founded by Sam Walton, the first Wal-Mart store opened in Rogers, Arkansas, in 1962. Seventeen years later, annual sales topped $1 billion. By the end of January 2002, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Wal-Mart), was the world’s largest retailer, with $218 billion in sales. (See Exhibit 1 for comparative financial data.) Wal-Mart’s winning strategy in the U.S. was based on selling branded products at low cost. Each week, about 100 million customers visited a Wal-Mart store somewhere in the world. The company employed more than 1.3 million associates (Wal-Mart’s term for employees) worldwide through more than 3,200 stores in the United States and more than 1,100 units in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, China, Korea, Germany, and the United Kingdom. (The first international store opened in Mexico City in 1991.) In 2001, Fortune magazine named Wal-Mart the third most admired company in America, and the Financial Times and PricewaterhouseCoopers ranked it as the eighth most admired company in the world. The following year, Wal-Mart was named number one on the Fortune 500 list and was presented with the Ron Brown Award for Corporate Leadership, a presidential award that recognized companies for outstanding achievement in employee and community relations. Wal-Mart enjoyed a 50 percent market share position in the discount retail industry. Procter & Gamble, Clorox, and Johnson & Johnson were among its nearly 3,000 suppliers. Though Wal-Mart may...
Words: 1411 - Pages: 6
...no. 2-0013 Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Founded by Sam Walton, the first Wal-Mart store opened in Rogers, Arkansas, in 1962. Seventeen years later, annual sales topped $1 billion. By the end of January 2002, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Wal-Mart), was the world’s largest retailer, with $218 billion in sales. (See Exhibit 1 for comparative financial data.) Wal-Mart’s winning strategy in the U.S. was based on selling branded products at low cost. Each week, about 100 million customers visited a Wal-Mart store somewhere in the world. The company employed more than 1.3 million associates (Wal-Mart’s term for employees) worldwide through more than 3,200 stores in the United States and more than 1,100 units in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, China, Korea, Germany, and the United Kingdom. (The first international store opened in Mexico City in 1991.) In 2001, Fortune magazine named Wal-Mart the third most admired company in America, and the Financial Times and PricewaterhouseCoopers ranked it as the eighth most admired company in the world. The following year, Wal-Mart was named number one on the Fortune 500 list and was presented with the Ron Brown Award for Corporate Leadership, a presidential award that recognized companies for outstanding achievement in employee and community relations. Wal-Mart enjoyed a 50 percent market share position in the discount retail industry. Procter & Gamble, Clorox, and Johnson & Johnson were among its nearly 3,000 suppliers. Though Wal-Mart may...
Words: 1411 - Pages: 6
...! ! ! !!!!!!!!!!! ! ! Did Wal-Mart Wake Up? How Strategic Management Handled Wal-Mart’s Reputation [ABSTRACT] The nation’s largest private corporation and retail giant Wal-Mart has faced multiple opposition from labor unions, grassroots organizations, religious groups, and even from its own employees, impacting its corporate reputation and ultimately its bottom line. This case study will demonstrate the strategic communication Wal-Mart used for its corporate reputation management (CRM). In particular, the case describes the company’s response to criticism regarding its current business policies and practices. Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………3 1. Company History……………………………………………………..5 1.1 Wal-Mart’s Early History: 1960s to 1970s…………………………….5 1.2 Wal-Mart Expands and Goes International: 1980s to 1990s…………...6 1.3 Attack of the Advocacy Groups: 2000 to present……………………....7 1.4 Repercussions…………………………………………………………...8 2. The Issue: Employee Relations and Workers’ Rights…………………9 3. Opposition…………………………………………………………….10 3.1 Labor Union-Funded Groups…………………………………………...11 3.2 Gender Discrimination………………………………………………….12 3.3 Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price……………………………………..13 4. Wal-Mart’s Response……………………………………………………15 4.1 Response to Labor Union-Backer Groups………………………………...16 4.2 Response to Gender Discrimination Lawsuit……………………………..17 4.3 Response to Greenwald’s Film……………………………………………18 4.4 Wal-Marting Across America: Jim and Laura’s...
Words: 18260 - Pages: 74
...! ! ! !!!!!!!!!!! ! ! Did Wal-Mart Wake Up? How Strategic Management Handled Wal-Mart’s Reputation [ABSTRACT] The nation’s largest private corporation and retail giant Wal-Mart has faced multiple opposition from labor unions, grassroots organizations, religious groups, and even from its own employees, impacting its corporate reputation and ultimately its bottom line. This case study will demonstrate the strategic communication Wal-Mart used for its corporate reputation management (CRM). In particular, the case describes the company’s response to criticism regarding its current business policies and practices. Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………3 1. Company History……………………………………………………..5 1.1 Wal-Mart’s Early History: 1960s to 1970s…………………………….5 1.2 Wal-Mart Expands and Goes International: 1980s to 1990s…………...6 1.3 Attack of the Advocacy Groups: 2000 to present……………………....7 1.4 Repercussions…………………………………………………………...8 2. The Issue: Employee Relations and Workers’ Rights…………………9 3. Opposition…………………………………………………………….10 3.1 Labor Union-Funded Groups…………………………………………...11 3.2 Gender Discrimination………………………………………………….12 3.3 Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price……………………………………..13 4. Wal-Mart’s Response……………………………………………………15 4.1 Response to Labor Union-Backer Groups………………………………...16 4.2 Response to Gender Discrimination Lawsuit……………………………..17 4.3 Response to Greenwald’s Film……………………………………………18 4.4 Wal-Marting Across America: Jim and Laura’s...
Words: 18508 - Pages: 75
...! ! ! !!!!!!!!!!! ! ! Did Wal-Mart Wake Up? How Strategic Management Handled Wal-Mart’s Reputation [ABSTRACT] The nation’s largest private corporation and retail giant Wal-Mart has faced multiple opposition from labor unions, grassroots organizations, religious groups, and even from its own employees, impacting its corporate reputation and ultimately its bottom line. This case study will demonstrate the strategic communication Wal-Mart used for its corporate reputation management (CRM). In particular, the case describes the company’s response to criticism regarding its current business policies and practices. Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………3 1. Company History……………………………………………………..5 1.1 Wal-Mart’s Early History: 1960s to 1970s…………………………….5 1.2 Wal-Mart Expands and Goes International: 1980s to 1990s…………...6 1.3 Attack of the Advocacy Groups: 2000 to present……………………....7 1.4 Repercussions…………………………………………………………...8 2. The Issue: Employee Relations and Workers’ Rights…………………9 3. Opposition…………………………………………………………….10 3.1 Labor Union-Funded Groups…………………………………………...11 3.2 Gender Discrimination………………………………………………….12 3.3 Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price……………………………………..13 4. Wal-Mart’s Response……………………………………………………15 4.1 Response to Labor Union-Backer Groups………………………………...16 4.2 Response to Gender Discrimination Lawsuit……………………………..17 4.3 Response to Greenwald’s Film……………………………………………18 4.4 Wal-Marting Across America: Jim and Laura’s...
Words: 18260 - Pages: 74
...garments for several well-known retailers, such as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and Sears Holding Corporation. According to the article, For Wal-Mart, Sears, Tough Questions in Bangladesh Fire, “Bangladesh has become the world’s second-largest clothing exporter, thanks in part to some of the lowest labor costs anywhere: The government sets the minimum wage for entry-level garment workers there at less than $37 a month” (Bustillo, Wright, & Banjo 2013, pg. 2). Wal-Mart Stores, Inc, faces the dilemma of seeking the lowest prices from suppliers globally to deliver low price products while projecting a corporate image of high ethical standards and corporate social responsibility. Traditionally, the purpose of a firm is profit creation, and sale of goods and services in a legal and moral manner. However, what has not always been a part of that tradition was the welfare of society and/or philanthropic endeavors. Due to numerous tragic events, like the one in Bangladesh, the issues of the role of business in social responsibility more frequently appears to be a topic of discussion. This has forced the corporate world to concern itself with the social impact of its decision-making. Firms are turning to ethical business models such as the Wall Street Journal Model to help them understand business ethics and to make ethical business decisions. The Wall Street Journal Model consists of three components: “(1) Am I in compliance with the law?, (2) What contribution will my conduct make to the...
Words: 1033 - Pages: 5
...Case Study 1-2 Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., in 2010 In 1979, Wal-Mart store was an unknown retailer compared to Kmart, the industry leader. “In less than 25 years, Wal-Mart had risen to become the largest corporation in sales,” (Barney & Hesterly, 2012, PC 1-13). Wal-Mart had many challenges to face in the discount trade. This case displays Wal-Mart’s competitive advantages, how they developed them, if they are sustainable and how they have battled with their competitors. Furthermore, through the VRIO Framework and Porter’s Five Forces Model, it helped analyze how Wal-Mart has strived passed its competitors and what keeps it the market’s frontrunner. Competitive Advantages Wal-Mart has a competitive advantage over other discount stores. Competitive advantage is described as, “When it is able to create more economic value than rival firms,” (Barney & Hesterly, 2012, p 10). The most critical competitive advantages over their competitors would be pricing. “Large discount retailers such as Wal-Mart derived considerable purchasing clout with suppliers because of their immense size,” (Barney & Hesterly, 2012, PC 1-7). Due to the fact that Wal-Mart has so many stores, they can negotiate price. Competitors were not able to get their products pricing down as low as Wal-Mart’s, which in return allowed them to offer their customers lower prices. “Economic value is simply the difference between the perceived benefits gained by a customers that purchases a firm’s products...
Words: 2413 - Pages: 10
...1. Introduction 1.1 Purpose The purpose of this report is to determine, discuss and demonstrate how the management of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. can apply the concepts of organizing and motivating to reach the organizational objective of resolving the ethical issues regarding wages and employee welfare by June 2012. 1.2 Background Vesilind (1988) defined ethics as the study of systematic methodologies which can assist one in making value-laden decisions when one is guided by his or her individual moral values. Hence, one is said to be practicing ethics when he or she is implementing ethical values in decision-making. When managers and employees do not practice ethical values, an organization will face ethical issues. In this report, the organization that is being discussed is Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. In the United States, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. run large discount department stores and also warehouse stores. Even though Wal-Mart is the largest groceries retailer, the management of it has caused many ethical issues regarding wages and employee welfare as they did not practice ethical values. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. paid their workers low wages that are even lower than the federal poverty line. Bianco and Zellner (2003) stated that in 2001, documents filed in a lawsuit that is against the corporation showed Wal-Mart sales clerks earned $8.23 an hour, or $13,861 a year on average. The wages is definitely low and insufficient, especially for a family of three, as the federal poverty line...
Words: 3529 - Pages: 15
...DO Wal*Mart Stores, Inc. In Forbes magazine’s annual ranking of the richest Americans, the heirs of Sam Walton, the founder of Wal*Mart Stores, Inc., held spots five through nine in 1993 with $4.5 billion each. Sam Walton, who died in April 1992, had built Wal*Mart into a phenomenal success, with a 20-year average return on equity of 33%, and compound average sales growth of 35%. At the end of 1993, Wal*Mart had a market value of $57.5 billion, and its sales per square foot were nearly $300, compared to the industry average of $210. It was widely believed that Wal*Mart had revolutionized many aspects of retailing, and its was well known for its heavy investment in information technology. David Glass and Don Soderquist faced the challenge of following in Sam Walton’s footsteps. Glass and Soderquist, CEO and COO, had been running the company since February 1988, when Walton, retaining the chairmanship, turned the job of CEO over to Glass. Their record spoke for itself—the company went from sales of $16 billion in 1987 to $67 billion in 1993, with earnings nearly quadrupling from $628 million to $2.3 billion. At the beginning of 1994, the company operated 1,953 Wal*Mart stores (including 68 supercenters), 419 warehouse clubs (Sam’s Clubs), 81 warehouse outlets (Bud’s), and four hypermarkets. During 1994 Wal*Mart planned to open 110 new Wal*Mart stores, including 5 supercenters, and 20 Sam’s Clubs, and to expand or relocate approximately 70 of the older Wal*Mart stores (65...
Words: 11673 - Pages: 47
...Walmart Stores, Inc. vs. Samara Brothers, Inc. : Commercial Law 1. Summarize the facts associated with Walmart Stores, Inc. v. Samara Brothers, Inc. Samara is a manufacturer of children's clothing. The core of Samara's business is its line of spring/summer seersucker children's garments. Wal-Mart is a national chain of retail stores which sells a variety of items, including children's clothes. In 1995, Wal-Mart contracted with Judy-Philippine, Inc. (“JPI”) to have JPI manufacture for Wal-Mart a large quantity of children's seersucker garments to be offered for sale under Wal-Mart's house label, “Small Steps,” in the 1996 spring/summer season. The samples on which the Wal-Mart buyers' orders of JPI garments were based were actually Samara garments. In other words, the Wal-Mart paperwork preparatory for placing an order bears photographs of the garments being ordered, and in many of those photographs the name “Samara” is readily discernible on the hangtags and/or neck labels of the garments. When JPI manufactured the clothes, it copied sixteen of Samara's garments with some small modifications to produce the line of clothes required under its contract with Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. then sold these items in its stores under the “Small Steps” label. Samara holds copyright registrations on thirteen of the sixteen garments copied. In early June 1996, a buyer at J.C. Penney, one of a number of stores which...
Words: 2260 - Pages: 10
...2011 The Business Mission and Vision of the Wal-Mart Company Q 1 A) Find and list the names of the Board of Directors for the Wal-Mart Company. Members of the Board of Directors of the Wal-Mart are: Aida M. Alvarez (joined Wal-Mart in 2006) - a director for UnionBanCal Corporation; James W. Breyer (joined Wal-Mart in 2001) - a director of RealNetworks, Inc., Marvel Entertainment, Inc., and several private companies; M. Michele Burns (joined Wal-Mart in 2003) – a director for Cisco Systems, Inc. James I. Cash, Jr. (joined Wal-Mart in 2006) - a director of The Chubb Corporation, General Electric Company and other private companies, and former director of Microsoft Corporation. Roger C. Corbett (joined Wal-Mart in 2006) - a director of The Reserve Bank of Australia, Fairfax Media Limited, and Chairman of the board of directors ALH Group Pty Limited. Douglas N. Daft (joined Wal-Mart in 2005) - a director of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Michael T. Duke (joined Wal-Mart in 2008) - Chairman of the Global Compensation Committee Marissa A. Mayer (joined Wal-Mart in 2012) - Vice President of Local and Maps for Google Inc. Gregory B. Penner (joined Wal-Mart in 2008) - Former general partner at Peninsula Capital, an early stage venture capital fund Steven S Reinemund (joined Wal-Mart in 2010) - A director of Exxon Mobil Corporation, American Express Company, and Marriott International, Inc. H. Lee Scott, Jr. (joined Wal-Mart in 2009) - Member of the Strategic Planning and...
Words: 2302 - Pages: 10
...VALUING WAL-MART-2010 Contents: 1. Background of Wal-Mart stores, Inc. 2. Valuing approach 3.1 Dividend Discount model 3.2 Capital asset pricing model 3.3 The Price/Earning multiple approach 3. Recommendation 1. Background Wal-Mart stores, Inc. Wal-Mart was the world’s largest retailer, operating more than 8,400 stores worldwide. Wal-Mart’s strategy was to provide a broad assortment of quality merchandise and services at ”everyday low prices”. In general merchandise area, Wal-Mart’s competitors included Sears and Target; In terms of specialty retailers, its competitors included Gap and Limited; Department store competitors included Dillard’s and Macy’s; Grocery store competitors included Safeway and Kroger; The major membership-only warehouse competitor was Costco Wholesale. 2. Valuing approach In this case, I will use three different methods, including the capital asset pricing model (CAPM), the dividend discount model, and the price/earnings multiples, to value the War-Mart, Inc. and to determine whether this company was fairly valued. 3.1 Dividend Discount model * Method introduction According to the dividend discount model(DDM), the current stock price of Wal-Mart represents the present value of all expected future dividends, discounted at an investor’s required rate of return. Under this approach, a share is valued by forecasting dividends in perpetuity. Then, P0 = D1/(Ke – g) * Source of...
Words: 817 - Pages: 4
...9B11N004 VALUING WAL-MART - 20101 Cyrus Zahedi wrote this case under the supervision of Professor Jim Hatch solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have disguised certain names and other identifying information to protect confidentiality. Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation prohibits any form of reproduction, storage or transmission without its written permission. Reproduction of this material is not covered under authorization by any reproduction rights organization. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, contact Ivey Publishing, Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 3K7; phone (519) 661-3208; fax (519) 661-3882; e-mail cases@ivey.uwo.ca. Copyright © 2011, Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation Version: 2011-03-15 In early February 2010, Sabrina Gupta, an investment advisor with a major brokerage firm, was examining Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Wal-Mart) stock and its valuation. Gupta wondered whether to recommend the stock to any of her new clients or to existing clients who did not currently have Wal-Mart in their portfolios. BACKGROUND OF WAL-MART STORES, INC. Based in Bentonville, Arkansas, and founded by the legendary Sam Walton, Wal-Mart was the world’s largest retailer, operating more than 8,400 stores worldwide, including...
Words: 1212 - Pages: 5
...When Sam Walton opened the first Wal-Mart in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962, he never expected his discount store to ever become the nation’s No. 1 retailer. In May of 1971, after being officially incorporated as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Wal-Mart began selling shares as a publicly-held company and its stock experienced its first 100% split, at a market price of $47. By 1990, Wal-Mart had become the nation’s No. 1 retailer and by the end of the decade, the largest private employer in the world, with 1.14 million associates. Soon after, H. Lee Scott Jr. was appointed as the third CEO of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. In 2005, Scott introduced the company’s new commitment to bring environmental sustainability into its business and passed his success onto his replacement as president and CEO, Mike Duke, on February 1, 2009. Today, Wal-Mart has 7,800 stores and club locations in 14 different markets, employing more than 2 million associates, and serving more than 176 million customers a year. Wal-Mart is a public corporation that runs a chain of large department stores. Three business subsidiaries comprise Wal-Mart’s operations: Wal-Mart Stores, Sam’s Club, and Wal-Mart International. The nine retail formats of the company include “supercenters, food and drug stores, general merchandise stores, bodegas (small markets), cash and carry stores, membership warehouse clubs, apparel stores, soft discount stores and restaurants” (p. 17). Studies show that the customer base for discount retailers has been...
Words: 2449 - Pages: 10
...Wal-Mart Inc. Ethical Treatment of Employees Prepared for Wal-Mart Corporation Prepared by Alexander W. Nash April 26, 2011 Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARYiii INTRODUCTION1 ANALYSIS OF WAL-MART’S ETHICAL TREATMENT OF EMPLOYEES 2 THE COMPANY: WAL-MART INC.2 THE PRACTICE: ETHICAL TREATMENT OF EMPLOYEES 2 WAL-MART’S ETHCIAL TREATMENT OF EMPLOYEES3 RECOMENDATIONS5 EVEN PAY SCALE 5 MORE ACCOUNTABILITY5 CHINA’S LABOR LAWS AND CONDITIONS 6 CONCLUSION6 Executive Summary Wal-Mart is one of the biggest empires in the world. It dominates many markets by providing many different products for the lowest prices guaranteed. You can’t go anywhere without seeing a Wal-Mart, which has more revenue than the entire workforce of Utah. It has revolutionized the world or commerce, through implementing state of the art inventory tracking systems and mastering logistics. Many argue that it has become so successful and powerful from being unethical with its employees. Wal-Mart is currently involved in the largest job discrimination class action lawsuit in U.S. history affecting about 1.5 million women. Wal-Mart also has lawsuits concerning wage and hour violations, executives also admitted to being told by superiors to not pay overtime. It continues to have problems with its labor force in china, forcing them to work seven days a week and paying them less than China’s minimum wage, and having employees work with dangerous chemicals without the “right to know”, as its...
Words: 3167 - Pages: 13