...CASE STUDY 10 | SHRM Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................ 2 ANNEXURE ............................................................................................................................................ 3 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................... 9 INTRODUCTION TO THE COMPANY ................................................................................................. 9 QUESTIONS ......................................................................................................................................... 10 QUESTION 01: ................................................................................................................................... 10 QUESTION 02 ................................................................................................................................... 12 QUESTION 03 ................................................................................................................................... 14 QUESTION 04 ................................................................................................................................... 16 CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................................................
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... Introduction This project will analyze resources and capabilities of Wal-Mart and the linkage between two strands. According to Wal-Mart’s case, it can be divided Wal-Mart’s resources into three main types of resource: tangible, intangible, and human resources. Moreover, thanks to its resources, Wal-Mart’s capabilities comprises of distribution, operation, management information, marketing, and corporate function. If linkage between resources and capabilities can be indicated and understood, it enables Wal-Mart to produce many competitive advantages: knowledge management, distribution network, partnerships, and financial management. Through those advantages, Wal-Mart creates some strategies for the growth of its operation line within United State or extending over the world. Wal-Mart’s resources Tangible resources In terms of financial resources, the company has established in discount retailing format and become the largest and most profitable retailer in the world. It has been developing rapidly, as result; Wal-Mart produces much profit to reinvest its new projects and technology. As shown in Exhibit 1(Wal-Mart’s case study, 2004), in the period of 1994-2003, Wal-Mart’s sales increased from $67.34 billion to $244.52 billion; while its net income also rose from %2.33 billion to $8.04 billion. In fact, Wal-Mart grew stably without stagnancies. In terms of physical resources, Wal-Mart developed its computerized inventory system;...
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...also follows Gome’s strategy of renaming its suppliers to their own brand (Business Week), but goes beyond it as the foreign brand in China is already associated with higher reliability and quality assurance. This actually holds true in China were retailers do a better job of enforcing supplier quality than the local regulations. With that, Walmart is still able to use its expertise and knowledge in supplier negotiation and distribution system to keep costs down. Although Walmart is a Joint-Venture, the sources do not mention any attempt to leverage the local partner to meet the local market, which seems the opposite to some other joint ventures discussed like Danone and Wahaha. Working together with the local partner to understand where and how the local regulations can be used or adjusted for Walmart’s success and gaining a stronger hold of the potential customer’s heart might help Walmart’s growth and dominance in the Chinese market (The Economist). Most of what we mentioned about the Chinese consumer habits in previous cases is especially relevant for Walmart. The Chinese consumers go shopping to get out of the house, not necessarily to shop. They’re more impulse driven and like on-site promotions. They’re brand conscious but not loyal. They’re frequent shopper of small amounts and especially...
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...YIK UID 3035036503 Case study of Wal-Mart Introduction In this essay, the case of Wal-Mart will be discussed by applying the Milton Friedman’s argument on CSR and utilitarianism. Wal-Mart is the largest retailer in the world, however, it is also known for ruthless exploitation of employee, squeezing suppliers, and crushing communities. It has been the Public Enemy No. 1 for a generation of activists and reformers. To cope with these oppositions, Wal-Mart responded vigorously and, instead, announced plans to preserving the environment, fighting hunger, empowering women and providing access to healthy, affordable food. The essay will try to argue the problems of Wal-Mart dominating the world in the retail business to create great profit by giving low wages to the employee according to Milton Friedman and utilitarianism. Also, it will discuss how the plans announced by Wal-Mart deal with the global responsibility. Moreover, how should government involve in this situation. Problem: Low-wages for the Employee 1. Milton Friedman According to Milton Friedman, an American economist and philosopher, the most important social responsibility of a corporation is to maximize profit for its owner- stockholder (Friedman, 1970). He suggested that if a corporation put the focus on being socially responsible, it would make the corporation less competitive with those competitors who did not put much focus on social responsibility. For the act of Wal-Mart to provide only low wages...
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...EIS Final Project RFID Technology A Comparative Study of E-ZPass and Wal-Mart Công nghệ RFID tại Wal-Mart Jose Malpartida, Sebastian Martinez Matias Moral, Avraj Sandhu, Phillip Wittwer 1. Technology overview RFID, or radio frequency identification, is a technology that allows for communication between two devices by means of radio waves. Thus neither a direct line of sight, nor a physical connection is needed. The first device is a reader or antenna, the second is a so called tag. Readers are more complex and expensive devices, whereas the tags are meant to be cheap and produced in high numbers. Tags can be very simple, for example they could transmit a short id code, similar to a bar code, that is powered by an electromagnetic field. Else, they can be more complex: they could be written to, perform calculations for authentication like a pay-tv chipcard, and contain a power source to increase range. Depending on the application, a major share of effort needs to also be put into an operations infrastructure acting on the data received by the antennas, for example time tracking of employees or billing for payment solutions. History The technology was first developed for military aircraft in the 1950s and 60s to allow identification of friendly planes, as the pure radar signature did not answer this question. The first patents for a RFID tag used to unlock a door touch less were awarded in 1973. In the 1980s first applications for toll collection, as discussed...
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...1.0 Introduction Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. began in the year of 1962 and its founder is Sam Walton. Till now, Wal-Mart is so successful because its founder, Walton emphasized on the customer satisfaction and hard work. This creates a value on Wal-Mart. It is indeed popular in American business of its low prices and it is one of the world’s largest public corporations. Hence, it has to be more careful while handling the relationships between different stakeholders. Wal-Mart is reported to be able saving the average family of $3200 annually. However, the company has received many critics on the issues of its treatment towards its employees, suppliers and economic impacts on communities. Many stand out to say that Wal-Mart is engaged in immoral issues in order to provide low prices. This case attempts to show us about the controversy of both the positive and negative impacts on the society due to Wal-Mart’s low pricing. It involves various stakeholders here in the case, such as competitors, suppliers, and employees. In addition, some ethical issues such as the discrimination, illegal immigration issues, and leadership misconduct are brought out to discuss. 2.0 Wal-Mart’s Stakeholders relationship 2.1 Competitors Stakeholders Problem: Wal-Mart used predatory pricing which causes other companies out of business. This is because they work on volume. They can give greater discount than any other competitors can afford and yet still make a profit. There is lawsuit in Germany in...
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...Wal-Mart Case Study Dr. Tonya D. Moore MNGT 5650 November 24, 2013 Introduction Wal-Mart can be defined as Goliath in the biblical story of David and Goliath (only he doesn’t fall), the “strategic Corporal,” a self-licking ice-cream cone, the industry benchmark, labor exploiter, cost cutting surgeons with chain-saws, and America’s company. Wal-Mart perceptions are across the board and in essence reflect all of our societal issues and problems in one massive company. They survive and thrive on their ability to shape perceptions of their business model to consumers while exploiting their workforce. Goliath was perceived to be too big of a giant to fall or loose in battle until David succeeded. Wal-Mart is perceived that they are too big to fall by their competitors, society, and the country. They are the largest employer in the country, they own massive supply chain networks, and stores in every town across the country. However, in the case of Wal-Mart, there is no David out there to knock them down. Arguably they are no true competitors in their industry. Because of being this perceived giant, Wal-Mart is able to be a bully with vendors, associates, and competitors. Further, because of being a giant everyone is watching them. Threats and Challenges The simple answer of what threats and challenges Wal-Mart currently faces centers around their associates wages and health care. However, why do they face this challenge instead of what they are doing to...
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...Donald Tiffany Retail Marketing Mid Term alternate assignment CASE 3 Wal-Mart’s Sustainability 360 1. Is Wal-Mart good for society? Would society be better off with or without Wal-Mart? The debate on whether Wal-Mart has done more good or bad for society has been a longstanding one. Apologists of the world’s largest retailer defend its business strategies, touting it as the prime example of unfettered American capitalism, the epitome of free market efficiency with low costs and high quantities of production and consumption. Opponents argue that the retail behemoth has led to the transfer of millions of jobs to less-developed countries like China, the exit of many small-to-medium businesses, and also infringement of employee rights. There are two sides to this debate depending on the stance one takes, along with how “society” is defined. From an economic standpoint, society refers to, collectively, the common person; the consumer. Consumers would benefit from low prices and an increase in quantity of goods consumed. Wal-Mart’s strategy of “everyday low prices” has certainly served society well in that respect. Due to its enormous economies of scale, notably its bargaining power with suppliers and the establishment of its own distribution centers, Wal-Mart has managed to offer very competitive low prices to its consumers due to the low costs. This has resulted of millions of Americans – especially the low-to-medium income consumers it traditionally targets – being able...
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...Case Study: Wal-Mart DeLeon A. Rich Management and Strategy Webster University May 15, 2013 Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Introduction 2 Wal-Mart’s Threats and Challenges 2 Priorities of Wal-Mart CEO during the October Address 2 Wal-Mart Board’s Strategic Initiatives 3 Recent Wal-Mart Initiatives 4 Recent Initiatives 4 Comment: Strategy 5 Comment: Personal Relations 5 Wal-Mart’s Social Challenges 5 Conclusion 5 References 5 Introduction Every business organization in the contemporary world continues to face serious challenges and turbulences. Such challenges and turbulences have called on to business enterprises to re-structure and re-engineer their strategic plan in order to establish effective strategic initiatives. Dynamisms and increased competition are some of the challenges that business enterprises continue to face. One example of a business enterprise that has had to re-structure and re-engineer its strategic plan amidst increased dynamisms and competition with Wal-Mart. Late in 2005, Wal-Mart announced a series of sweeping new strategic initiatives. Such strategic initiatives are aimed at enhancing the position of the business within the industry and the market as well as performances. This case study provides an in-depth analysis of Wal-Mart in respect to its current strategy and challenges. Analysis of the threats and challenges coupled with priorities that Wal-Mart CEO, Lee Scott set in the address on “Twenty-first...
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...| 2013 | | | [Case 6: Walmart's Global Strategy] | 604.800 International and Comparative Management | 1. Case summary 2006 was one of the years that marked the biggest retrenchment in Wal-Mart’s history. It was the year that Wal-Mart had decided to exit the German market after trying to penetrate it for about eight years. The company undertook its international expansion in the early 1990s to rejuvenate sales and growth. However, on July 30th, 2006, Wal-Mart had announced that it was selling its operations to German retailer Metro. In May of same year, Wal-Mart had also announced that it was selling its 16 stores in South Korea, admitting another internationalization failure. What went wrong with Germany? Wal-Mart had underestimated its German competitors, the power of German shoppers, cultural differences and the power of labor unions in Europe. The company did not expect that these differences would impede its ability to apply in Germany what worked so well in the United States. German competitors offered very low prices, while German shoppers had shown how demanding they can be and that they buy products predominantly based on price; even if that meant going to a few different retail stores during their shopping trip. German shoppers were also not accustomed to workers putting their groceries in shopping bag. Moreover, German regulations limited Wal-Mart’s ability to offer extended weekend hours and sell merchandise below cost. Strong labor unions limited...
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...Letter of Transmittal 10thJanuary, 2013 Mr. Tajuddin Ahmed Course Instructor, HRM-370, School of Business, North South University Subject:Case report on ‘Wal-Mart Stores Inc: Dominating Global Retailing’. Dear Sir, We are truly privileged to have you as our instructor in HRM-370: “Managerial Skills and Development” and we are pleased to inform you that, we have been able to meet the schedule to complete the case analysis on “Wal-Mart Stores Inc.: Dominating Global Retailing”. We have tried to employ our best knowledge to analyze the case as meticulously as possible and it sure had offered us the opportunity to enhance our knowledge in regards to HRM-370. Furthermore, if you have any queries about the case report, please feel free to ask any of the group members for further cooperation. Sincerely Yours, RonikaKarmaker | (ID#111 0750 030) | | TanjiaHaqueNirjhar | (ID#111 0137 030) | | Sunny Isnain Hassan | (ID#103 0692 530) | | Ankur Chandra Kuri | (ID#102 0831 030) | | SaifuddinZiku (ID#103 0157 030) ________________ Table of Contents Executive Summary 3 Background …………………………………………………………………………………..4-13 Needs Assessment …………………………………………………………………………..14 Main Issue ……………………………………………………………………………………….16 Internal/External Needs Assessment…...………………………………........18-29 Existing Arrangements.………………………………………………………………..24-36 T&D Plan …………………………………………………………………………………….37-42 Proposed...
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...STUDENT NAME: _______________________ STUDENT ID NO: _______________________ Case 22: Wal-Mart: But We Do Give Them a 10 Percent Employee Discount Case Summary Wal-Mart stirs a lot of emotions from many people. People either love or hate the store and its influence has significantly impacted global retailing. Wal-Mart’s very simple strategy of Everyday Low Prices drives every single decision at Wal-Mart. As a result, payroll expenses are always monitored and evaluated, especially with close to 1.5 million employees worldwide. Therefore, there are huge financial benefits for Wal-Mart to cut every corner they can when it can reduce the cost structure of its business model. Examples such as “off the clock work” are not only present at Wal-Mart, but could also be considered an industry wide issue. In any setting in which a time clock records the number of hours worked by an employee, there is always the opportunity to abuse the system. While an innocent request such as “can you tidy up that shelf before you leave” may not have any cost impact, Wal-Mart appears at times to abuse the loyalty of its employees by asking them to work long after they have clocked out. Health benefits are another area where Wal-Mart has been able to minimize their cost structure for the employees. Placing hurdles for eligibility and having high level of deductibles allows Wal-Mart to block some of its...
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...Wal-Mart and the Ethical Dilemma Presented to: Dr. Robert D. Gulbro In completion of MGT 5013 Organizational Behavior Florida Institute of Technology By: Felix Knight Wal-Mart was started by Sam Walton in 1962; the first store was in Rogers Arkansas. By the beginning of the 1970’s, Wal-Mart had grown to 1,500 employees and 44.2 million dollars in sales. The company also went public in 1970. The company’s growth continued throughout the decade, with the employee count reaching 21,000 by 1980 with $1.2 billion dollars in sales. Wal-Mart made its first acquisition, buying 16 Mohr-Value stores. In 1983, the first Sam’s Club warehouse opened followed by the first Wal-Mart Supercenter in 1988. By the end of the decade, the company had over 1,402 Wal-Mart and 123 Sam’s Club locations and $26 billion dollars in sales – an increase of 2,600% over the decade. Today, Wal-Mart is the world’s largest retailer, with $405 billion in sales, over 4,300 stores, and 2.1 million employees (Duke, 2010, p. 0). One hundred shares of Wal-Mart stock purchased for $1,650 when the company went public would have grown to 204,800 shares worth over $10.1 million as of July 9, 2010 for a return of 613,431% (“Dividends & stock splits”, 2010, July 9) (“Wal-Mart (WMT) stock quote” 2010, July 9). Daft (2008) stated “Wal-Mart is the largest retailer in the United States” (p. 129). Wal-Mart’s 2010 annual report provides the mission statement of the...
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...Traditionally, Wal-Mart has essentially had a low-cost, high volume strategy. The strategy aims at customer satisfaction through low prices and relatively good customer service. Here are the basic details. • Low cost: Wal-Mart has lower operating expenses than the industry average. The primary cost advantage is Wal-Mart’s superior distribution capability (location of stores, inside-out growth patterns, cross-docking, superior information management). Quantitative details on cost advantage are set forth in Section 3 below. • High Volume: Industry analysts watch Wal-Mart’s growth of sales figure very closely. Wal-Mart’s prices are low by the industry standard, which, combined with its lower costs, indicates a strategy that aims at growth in volume through grabbing increased market share (cf. Dell). • Customer Satisfaction: Low prices, advanced data management and extremely motivated employees (“10 ft rule”, “sundown rule”) means a better customer experience than at other discount retailers, even though Wal-Mart remains a self-service retailer. In addition, the large size of the traditional Wal-Mart stores adds convenience by offering a one-stop solution by offering a wide range of products. In the words of Sam Walton, “Wal-Mart’s aims at creating a loyal customer base by lowering their cost of living through offering quality and other products at significantly lower prices, while surprising them on the convenience and service level side.” It’s worth mentioning that Wal-Mart acquired...
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...India’s Retail Sector: Some Issues Abstract Foreign direct investment (FDI) plays an important role in India’s growth dynamics. There are several examples of the benefits of FDI in India. FDI in the retail sector can expand markets by reducing transaction and transformation costs of business through adoption of advanced supply chain and benefit consumers, and suppliers (farmers). This also can result in net gains in employment at the aggregate level. This paper brings forth a few conceptual issues and analysis of qualitative information, data and stylized facts on these issues. Key words- India, Foreign direct investment, Retail, Supply chain, Farmers 2 INRODUCTION In applying transaction-cost logic to political aspects of the reform process in less-developed economies, Dixit (2003)) characterizes three phases in the formation of interest groups under information asymmetry: ex ante, interim, and ex post. At the ex ante stage, each individual is uncertain about his own type as well as the types of others because there is no private information. At the interim stage, each individual knows his own type but not the type of others. The ex post stage is when all players’ types are publicly revealed. In the case of India, one may start from the interim stage because of existence of powerful incumbents both the private firms and the policy makers. Policy reforms would mean a fall in monopoly rents to incumbents and a decline in the rent-seeking powers of government agents. To illustrate...
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