...Planning Wal-Mart has announced during the release of the company’s 2014 annual SEC Report that several strategic planning initiatives for the company in fiscal year 2015. Team B will focus on Wal-Mart’s planning initiative to successfully integrate e-commerce into the current organizational structure. Identifying the Planning Initiative According to Wal-Mart (2014), “We’re also intent on creating transformative growth by adding capabilities in e-commerce and mobile commerce. When we view our business through the eyes of our customers, we don’t think about our stores, clubs or websites independently. Instead, our goal is to have customers see these channels converge as one unified relationship with us. We want to deliver a relevant, personalized and seamless experience across all channels. So, our approach to investments will continue to evolve to support the singular goal of enhancing the customer experience to further grow sales” (Positioning to serve our customers). Current president and CEO of Wal-Mart’s e-commerce division, Neil Ashe, admitted that Wal-Mart has a late start to the online retail market (Hempel, 2014). Instead of trying to beat Amazon in the online market Wal-Mart is currently trying to create a new logistics system in order to keep up with the delivery of all its products to online customers. Right now Wal-Mart does not have the infrastructure in place to economically meet the demand of the online world. “The stakes are only getting higher for Wal-Mart...
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...Wal-Mart- A Case Study of MIS Strategy Walden University Wal-Mart – A Case Study of MIS Strategy Management information system is all about people using technology to work with information as they support the organization in its quest for a competitive advantage (Haag & Cummings, 2008, p. 29). Researchers and authors have discussed management information systems and technology over the decades. The concepts of competitive advantage, technology, outsourcing etc. have been theorized, yet discussion on the subject matter continues. While MIS strategy formulation has seen advancement, organizations are evolving and constantly changing their operating models. An example of such organization is Wal-Mart, the global retail giant. This research seeks to pin-point Wal-Mart’s key management information system strategy, while providing a deeper understanding of the organization’s management information systems strategy and its impacts. Further it aims to investigate knowledge management, e-commerce strategy, and the impact of database management which are aspects that can be incorporated into the MIS strategy formulation. To achieve this objective the literature survey was conducted to explore available published papers in the sphere of IS/IT strategy formulation. Considering that the applicability of information systems and technology is mission critical, the research design focused on the qualitative approach. The primary method of data collection was through semi-structured...
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...Wal-Mart’s E-Commerce Success Possibly the single greatest success story of e-business and B2B implementation is that of the rise to dominance by Wal-Mart in the North American retail market. Love them or hate them, you have to hand it to Wal-Mart for their impressive growth in such a short time span. And arguably the single most important factor in this rise was their harnessing of the power of e-business, e-procurement, and the adjustment of internal processes to maximize this advantage. So, why does Wal-Mart think e-business is important? Wal-Mart's focus on its e-commerce strategy not only allows the retailer to reach customers who don't have stores nearby, but, more importantly, the online customer is a significantly better customer than one that only shops at a store. “Wal-Mart believes eCommerce Brings Access to Customers Anytime, Anywhere (eCommerce 1)”. As customers not only do we expect to have great prices; we have grown to consumers who want products anytime no matter where we are. Can Wal-Mart successfully adapt their model online to challenge Amazon? While Wal-Mart’s total revenue is projected to be over five times greater than Amazon’s, the e-commerce return for Amazon’s all revenue is over seven times greater than Wal-Mart’s e-commerce revenue. Wal-Mart has gone as far as establishing Wal-Mart labs in California in order to prepare to challenge the online retail king, Amazon. These labs are designed to primarily compete against tech companies by taking...
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...An E-Business Analysis of Walmart Patricia Brandon-Garst E-Business Professor Victor Olufeso August 29, 2011 An E-Business Analysis of Walmart Walmart is the world’s largest company and quite possibly the most powerful retailer. Walmart began as strictly a brick and mortar store but has advanced into click and mortar over the last five decades. Walmart may soon become a major competition for huge online only retailers like Amazon. The recent acquisitions by Walmart are sure to be placing this retailer in place for an online invasion of epic proportions. Walmart was started by Sam Walton in rural Arkansas in 1962. Sam Walton had previously owned a franchise in the Ben Franklin stores since 1944 and also opened a small chain of stores called Walton’s 5 & 10. Sam Walton was extremely industrious and had a knack for increasing sales in businesses. His ability to find ways to slash prices to the lowest bottom line is the reason for the success of Walmart. (Sam Walton, 2009) Walmart stores have been geared toward the low-income customer segment. The concept of frugality is the central tenet of the company. Even the Walmart headquarters is a drab and plain building in a small town in central Arkansas. There are no luxuries at the headquarters and it is not based in a fancy big city. During the recent downturn of the world economy when other businesses were going under, Walmart had reported sales growth of 11%, amounting...
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...Wal- Mart Jose Vasquez MGT 230 MAY 20, 2014 Melanie Behunin Wal- Mart In a variety of business environments around the world, four management functions are usually found. The four functions of management are planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Planning occurs within these functions of a business, and it helps to deliver strategic value. Organizing will build a dynamic organization and leading will mobilize people. Controlling is part of learning and changing as the organization grows. All four functions of management are the key concept to effective management. Internal and external factors influence the decision-making process that affects management. The competitive landscape is constantly changing; therefore, managers must consider people and businesses around the world. These are used from top-level management to frontline or organizational management. Globalization, technology, innovation, diversity and ethics are factors that affect these business functions. One can examine almost any organization and find this to be true. Wal-Mart is one of the leading retail organizations in the world whose management functions are affected by these factors. Opening its doors in Rogers, Arkansas, Wal-Mart started a profitable business in 1962. The founder, Sam Walton, could never have envisioned where his company would be in the present. Earning approximately $30,000 in 1962, Wal-Mart has evolved into a multi-billion dollar company earning over $15 billion in 2011...
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...convenience store. As of today, Walmart hasn't really touched the third segment, except for a handful of "express" stores in Arkansas. Bill Simon, Walmart’s chief executive, vision to put all three segments together on what he called “ecosystem”. Walmart believes that “tethering” is the key to make this system work. From tether hiring and back- office functions, to tether inventory distribution systems, and even online orders, for greater efficiency and quick response to demand. In other words, instead of having one huge store with endless goods, Walmart will offer three kinds of stores with most of those goods, at the time and place customers need them. Walmart’s current strategy includes more emphasis on smaller-format stores and more e-commerce. (Cheng, 2012). Competitive Advantage Walmart enjoys several of competitive advantages that are the source of the company’s market dominance. However, Walmart’s primary competitive advantage is low costs. Low cost culture and leadership initiated by the company’s founder, Sam Walton, and continuously reinforce by WalMart’s current management, are closely tied to the company strategy and securing its competitive advantage. Walmart focuses on developing and maintaining cost structure that allows it to offer low pricing to customers. The company inventory management is in the core of its strategy, and the way Walmart manages its inventory significantly reduces costs and...
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...Walmart: E-business Analysis Dustin Cooper Intro to Information Systems Professor Young Bao Choi August 29, 2011 An E-Business Analysis of Walmart Walmart is the world’s largest company and quite possibly the most powerful retailer. Walmart began as strictly a brick and mortar store but has advanced into click and mortar over the last five decades. Walmart may soon become a major competition for huge online only retailers like Amazon. The recent acquisitions by Walmart are sure to be placing this retailer in place for an online invasion of epic proportions. Walmart was started by Sam Walton in rural Arkansas in 1962. Sam Walton had previously owned a franchise in the Ben Franklin stores since 1944 and also opened a small chain of stores called Walton’s 5 & 10. Sam Walton was extremely industrious and had a knack for increasing sales in businesses. His ability to find ways to slash prices to the lowest bottom line is the reason for the success of Walmart. (Sam Walton, 2009) Walmart stores have been geared toward the low-income customer segment. The concept of frugality is the central tenet of the company. Even the Walmart headquarters is a drab and plain building in a small town in central Arkansas. There are no luxuries at the headquarters and it is not based in a fancy big city. During the recent downturn of the world economy when other businesses were going under, Walmart had reported sales growth of 11%, amounting to $6.4 billion. Walmart has also made some...
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...Walmart By Date December 2, 2004 Wal-Mart's.com got off to a shaky start. For the first time they launched their independent Website in 1996 with no online purchase functions. The first time they launched in January 2000 as a joint venture, weak and subsequently fully acquired by Wal-Mart. In 2003 it finally became fully acquired by Wal-Mart and has grown to become one of the leading online shopping destinations. For example, it competes with industry leaders like Amazon.com and eBay.com. This company's latest initiative to revamp the site is about providing more information, broadening their product assortment and improving service to their customers. Wal-Mart overall is great at building the business primarily through organic growth but not necessarily at marketing. The last couple of years, Walmart.com has had their heads down, building infrastructure. It's time for them to look up and get some action. “Up to now, Wal-Mart.com has remained an E-commerce midget. It ranks No. 43 among online shopping venues, according to Media Metrix, trailing such upstarts as eBay Inc. and Buy.com Inc. While Amazon.com Inc. hauled in nearly 10 million visitors in May, Wal-Mart.com welcomed only 801,000. For the year, some analysts expect Wal-Mart's Web effort to generate sales of under $50 million vs. $157 billion total sales for the chain” (Byrnes, 1999). Walmart.com has achieved services that include: Baby Connection, DVD Rentals, Gift Registry...
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...Wal-Mart Online Wal-Mart is one of the largest companies in America. It is definitely the largest retailer, both in terms of the number of stores (8,970 worldwide in 2011) and the level of sales ($419 billion from the 2011 Annual Report). By pushing suppliers to continually reduce costs, Wal-Mart is known for pursuing low prices and the stores often attract customers solely in-terested in lower prices. With Wal-Mart’s expansion into groceries, the company has be-come the largest retail grocer in America. Even by 2002, over 100 million Americans visit a Wal-Mart store in a given week (Press Action 2002). Yet, Wal-Mart has struggled in the online world. The company has tried several approaches to selling physical and digital products online. From electronics to books, music, and movie rentals, the company has an-nounced many different online stores. Wal-Mart has struggled with most of its attempts, while Amazon continues to grow and expand in e-commerce sales. Although Amazon has a fraction of the total sales of Wal-Mart, Amazon is substantially larger in online sales. Which raises the ultimate question of what Wal-Mart is doing wrong, or what it needs to do to get a larger share of online sales. Background Many articles and business cases have been written about Wal-Mart. Most customers are probably familiar with the store and the overall concepts, but a considerable amount of work takes place to manage the large inventory, suppliers, pricing, customers, and employ-ees. Wal-Mart...
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...Diversification Strategies Arissra Stamps Strayer University Diversification Strategies Types of Diversification Strategies Diversification is a business strategy that allow a company to establish additional lines of commerce that maybe different from the current products or services. Depending on company’s directions, the different types of diversification that company utilize are: Horizontal, Vertical, Concentric, Heterogeneous (Conglomerate) and Corporate Diversifications (Small Enterprise Strategic Development Training, 2009). Horizontal Diversification is used when the company wants to develop new product or offer new service that could appeal to current customers. For example, a dairy who produces cheese wants to expand its products with new types of cheese. A construction company may choose Vertical Diversification; it may venture into new selling product such as paint and construction materials while the core business remains in providing construction services. Concentric Diversification is the method a company uses to enlarge the production portfolio by adding new products and aiming to utilize the potential of existing technologies and market system. The best example of this strategy would be a bakery who sales bread, pastries and cake who begins to sale dough products. Heterogeneous or Conglomerate Diversification is opposite from Concentric because it focus on new products or services that do not use existing technologies and does not have any commercial...
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...Wal-Mart has become the world’s largest company because of visionary leaders and superb management. Technology has also played a big part in Wal-Mart’s success. Although they have lacked in the e-commerce area, their internal information systems has paved the way for minimizing errors. From managing inventory to managing productivity, Wal-Mart has soared to great heights. One of Wal-Mart’s goals is to be merchants first and technologists second. Wal-Mart has been a responsible and ethical company and has very few issues since their inception. Wal-Mart has always been at the forefront in hiring individuals with disabilities and handicaps. They have been an equal opportunity employer since it has been monitored and offer additional insurance to veterans and seniors. Wal-Mart provides intranet technology to all of their employees so they can view hours worked health benefits available, family and friends’ discounts available, and payroll deductions. By offering this, Wal-Mart is able to save money on administration costs. Wal-Mart stores are well known for promoting within the family (Wal-Mart employees). The company uses technology to organize management training programs for interested employees. The employees are able to look at job postings within the organization apply accordingly. Wal-Mart uses the intranet to provide information to the employees of the skills needed. By organizing the workforce as such, Wal-Mart is able to assemble a workforce by allowing the...
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...awareness of a new product or division. Wal-Mart is not particularly known for their impeccable customer service. Even further, Wal-Mart lacks in cleanliness and breadth of product lines. But what they lack in aesthetics, they make up for with an absolutely unparallel convenience and price competitiveness. Wal-Mart has redefined the art of online marketing, using techniques of the public relations at grand and impressive scales to become one of the top company’s in the wide history of corporate America. According to Experienced public relations experts, Wal Mart quick to point out that many practitioners will spend most of their professional lives dealing with fairly moderate levels of competition such as advertising. On the other hand, a more heightened level of competition might exist between public relations professionals at Wal-Mart, Target, and Costco, companies that compete with each other to increase consumer recognition and retail sales. Most public relations activity and programs, as already noted, deal with competition between organizations for sales and customers. With the help of Social media networks, Wal Marts utilized by a growing number of PR specialists to establish a direct communication with the public, consumers, investors and other target groups and they achieved their goal successfully. Around the world, Wal mart delivers value for customers in different ways. Wal Mart operate Supercenters, Sam’s Clubs, e-commerce sites and many other formats that enable...
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...SAVE MONEY. LIVE BETTER. WAL-MART'S POETENTIAL IMPACT ON NEW YORK CITY Management 520: Legal, Political Ethical Dimensions of Business Professor Pamela Aurelien Lena Alston lenaaalston@aol.com (516) 425-0814 Francisco Lazaro franciscolazaraojr@yahoo.com (347) 494-8147 Tajuna L. Sharpe tajuna629@gmail.com (347) 659-7010 Group Presentation Outline Interstate Commerce: The of Walmartization of New York City 1. Introduction A. Briefly introduce the topic and group B. Defining Interstate Commerce i. Conditions of interstate commerce ii. Wal-mart's current operations within New York State 2. History A. Company Overview i. Humble beginnings B. Employment Conditions i. Low wages ii. Medical Benefits & Fringe Benefits (sick leave, vacation pay, personal days) 3. Economic Impact A . Wal-mart customers i. The ideal Wal-mart shopper ii. Wal-mart's Competitors B. Economic Impact i. Urban (Chicago) ii. Rural/Suburban 4. The of Walmarization of New York City A. Potential Locations B. Potential Economic Impact in New York City C. Political Support/Opposition . Wal-mart's Potential Impact on New York City The Commerce Clause which is found in the United States Constitution, Article I, Section 8, Part 3 provides Congress with the power to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations and among several States...
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...| How Walmart became a Super Power | E-Business EBUS308 | | By Dorine | 10/20/2014 | Table of Contents Business Model 2 Description of Stakeholders 4 Supply Chain Management 5 Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) 6 Supply Chain Flow 6 Customer Relationship Management (CRM) 7 Customer Satisfaction 7 How Customer Satisfaction is Measured 7 E-Commerce Business Plan Template 8 Mobile Applications 8 Market Analysis Summary 9 Key Competitors 9 Walmart vs Amazon 10 Walmart vs WinCo 10 Data and Information Management Plan 11 Information Collected 11 How Information Collected Is Used 12 Policies to Protect Information 13 References 14 In today’s world shoppers like to have a one stop shop where they can go to get everything they need at a low price. Wal-Mart has provided that type of store for customer to be able to shop for groceries, clothes, house hold items, furniture, toys, pharmacy, and electronics. They are good at giving the customers what they want, they were the number one business of the Fortune 500 list for 2014 the second year in a row (Fortune 500 2014, 2014). Wal-Mart opened their first store in July 1962 in Roger, Arkansas. In 1991 Wal-Mart went international by opening up Sam’s Club in Mexico City. “Today, Walmart operates over 11,000 retail units under 71 banners in 27 countries (Our Story, 2014).” Walmart employs 1.3 million in the United States and 2.2 million associates around the world. Walmart’s mission statement...
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...Case Study: Wal-Mart in China (2012) In 1996, China’s national economy was growing at a rapid pace. The gross domestic product reached over US$1064.4 billion, an increase of 9.7% over the previous year. To further increase and attract foreign investment, the Chinese government increased its number of experimental, special economic-zoned cities in which foreigners could operate a business. There were, however, restrictions set forward by the government, in that all foreign businesses would have to be in a joint venture or other type of cooperative agreement with at least one Chinese partner, with that Chinese partner getting a stake greater than 51%. In August 1995, Wal-Mart, the great American retain chain and Middle America success story, arrived in China, establishing a joint venture with Shenzhen International Fiduciary Investment Co, Ltc, China. In 1996, Wal-Mart opened its first supercentre and a Sam’s Club in the special economic zone of Shenzhen. In 2007, Wal-Mart acquired a 35% stake in Trust-Mart, a Taiwanese-owned chain of retail supercentres operating in the Middle Kingdom. By 2010, Wal-Mart’s presence in China grew to 189 units in 101 Chinese cities, with the creation of over 50,000 local jobs. By 2012, the company nearly doubled its presence with 370 stores in 140 cities. As the U.S. and European economies slumped in late 2011 and into 2012, the world’s number-two economy became an even more important growth market. In the first quarter of 2012, China’s...
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