...The Walmart Journey: Walmart’s trucking Division Scale and Operation: Wal-Mart was founded on Sam Walton’s principle and ideals to bring products to the consumers in a way that mean they could offer their products to the consumers for cheaper than other retailers. This led to them creating a retail giant over the next forty years. In the early 1970’s Wal-Mart became the one of the first companies to use a centralized distribution center for their stores. When they started this practice they knew they would need a trucking fleet for years to come and made the decision to own their own private fleet. Along with great success comes turmoil and hard times. Wal-Mart’s came in the early 2000’s when there was a lot of public criticism about their business practices which included being sexist, strong-arming the little guys, and not having fair working conditions for their workers who were not allowed to join or create a union. There was also a growing movement within corporations around the world towards going green and having more sustainable business practices. On this note Lee Scott offered his famous speech in 2005 to the consumers, investors, and people around the world. His speech “21st Century Leadership” he laid out a three part plan for becoming a prominent player in sustainable business. These three parts included being supplied by 100% renewable energy, creating zero waste, and selling sustainable products in their stores. Currently, Wal-Mart owns a private trucking...
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...Kevin Collins English 105 Argumentative Analysis October 26th 2010 In 1962 Sam Walton grew tired of grocery shopping. Once Sam retired from the military life, he settled down with his wife Helen Robson, and decided to develop his own store. After several attempts, his father-in-law granted him the 20,000 dollars he needed to develop his first store, a Ben Franklin franchise variety store near his home in Arkansas. His idea was to provide a vast array of products for his customers, while keeping the prices low to out compete the neighboring stores. His unique low priced strategies allowed him to boost sales and negotiate lower prices with his wholesalers. Once Walton’s retail operation started to take off, he decided to change the name to Walmart, by the use of his last name. He then established more than 9,600 factories, stores, and warehouses (Sam’s Club), throughout the United States, Asia, Mexico, Europe, and South America. Walmart has low prices, friendly workers, and many locations, but protesters will argue that the gender discrimination, harsh impact on the surrounding communities, and low wages, outweigh the benefits to Walmart. We thought gender discrimination ended with the ratification of the 19th amendment, but according to Wake-up Wal-mart.com, several cases have been recorded in the Walmart workplace. For example, in 2001, studies proved that for the same job classification, even after taking into account factors such as seniority and performance...
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...MGMT 591: Leadership and Organizational Behavior Project Proposal Overview of Organization The organization that will be the topic of discussion in my final project is Wal-Mart, which is one of the largest retail chains in the world. Their famous slogan Save money Live Better is a basic belief of Sam Walton, who is the founder of the company. His beliefs are: Respect for individual, service to the customer, and strive for excellence. Sam Walton tried to adhere to his beliefs but when you have one of the largest retail chains and the growth of a company in this magnitude, you will also have an array of problems. I currently work in the Human Resource department and as a human resource specialist. As a Human Resource Specialist I facilitate orientations, administers, oversea facility training, monitor and track completion of training by associates, coordinate training and communicate training issues with management. With this position I hold, I have the opportunity to make suggestions with the training reports I receive and communicate to upper management the outcomes and personnel related issues within the company. My job also entails auditing personnel files, recruitment of employees, facilitating disputes, payroll, and evaluation process. Wal-Mart is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount departments stores and a chain of warehouse stores. Wal-Mart U.S. stores are the largest division accounting for $258 billion,...
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...billion in sales, it is among the three largest retailers in the world (Walmart, 2012). Walmart can serve the needs of all income based customers in high growth markets. Sam’s Club, a subsidiary of Wal-Mart, continues to drive the sales momentum by increasing its sales to 8.4 percent in fiscal year 2012. Sam’s Club has also made progress in growing its membership base. It was key for growth this year (Walmart, 2012). Wal-Mart has become one of the best retailers in the world today. They have implemented measures to deliver value for their customers and shareholders this year and as well as years passed. Walmart has focused its energy on developing existing talent through their programs. Programs like their Business Leadership Series and the Walton Institute and Merchant Development. These programs are designed to...
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...her normal realm these values are tested. One’s individual core values may change to adapt to other settings based on societal changes, financial status and education. As one enters the workforce the values of the organization must then be evaluated. Do the values of the organization measure up to the individual’s values? Does the culture of the business cause one to go against the principles of which he or she lives by? Team C has chosen to evaluate the values of Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart, to the values incorporated in this company and its organizational plan to find whether or not the values are in alignment. Origin and Subsequent The origins and subsequent evolution of personal and workplace values within Wal-Mart are truly important to the structure of this organization. Wal-Mart has developed there business structure back in 1962 on these three basic beliefs: respect the individual, service the customer and strive for excellence. The origin reflects in the original beliefs that Sam Walton instilled in the company from day one are subsequently the same values that have evolved over the years. They may have not evolved in the since where they have changed but they have evolved where they are strictly and continuously enforced by all stores, in all locations, for all customers. Wal-Mart expands from there three basic beliefs and honor there open door policy which allows there to be open communication with management and associates, the sun down rule which...
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...Problem Statement: Wal-Mart is one of the world’s largest companies and largest retailer in the world, with over 5,000 stores around the world and nearly 2 million employees there is no reason for this company not to be highly successful. Although Wal-Mart as whole is a highly successful company, they still have problems like every other company. Through Wal-Mart’s history they’ve encountered many obstacles and complications on the way to the top. Most of these problems have found a solution but Wal-Mart still has major and minor problems. Whether new problems or past ones still lingering, either way with a problem you must have solution. Especially with a multi-billionaire company such as Wal-Mart you want to be as efficient and eradicated of as much problems as you possibly can. Major Problem: Wal-Mart International In the highly successful world of Wal-Mart they face a problem most companies also have trouble conquering and that is going international. Wal-Mart International is a success in its own right, as it still is the world’s largest retailer but it’s just not successful on its own standards. Wal-Mart conquered North America with successful ventures in Canada and Mexico but not so successful in some countries over seas such as Germany and Japan. Wal-Mart expanded to Germany & Japan in the late 90’s and early 2000’s and for a long time was unprofitable in both regions. Whether its Wall-marts approach on new markets or forcing their culture too quickly, something...
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...Chrisp, Courtney; Richardson, Maria E.; & White, Sherri Leadership & Org Behavior GM591 Professor: Robert Churilla mariae.richardson@yahoo.com DeVry/Keller University Online 02/17/2013 Introduction Wal-Mart Stores Inc., founded by Sam Walton in 1962, is one of America largest discount department stores. Wal-Mart’s primary mission is to bring consumers high quality goods at a low, discounted price. Wal-Mart operates more than 8,692 retail units across three business segments of retail worldwide that offer a wide array of general merchandise, including groceries, apparel, electronics, and small appliances. In addition, the company is the world’s largest retailer and grocery chain according to sales volume and just over half of their sales comes from grocery items. Over 54% of the company’s stores are located in the United States, with the majority of international stores located in Central and South America, and China. (Jaeah, 2012). Wal-Mart was started in Rogers, Arkansas during the early 1960’s. Sam Walton traveled all around the country researching what consumers wanted in a retail store. When Walton first opened Wal-Mart he “built it under the foundation of honesty, respect, fairness and integrity”. Walton tried to create a culture that shared the same beliefs as he did. Out of his beliefs he chose the three strongest which he felt best suited his store: respect for individuals, service to customers, and striving for excellence. Wal-Mart’s stockholders...
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...Week Four - Business Analysis Part I Before we conduct a SWOT analysis on Walmart, I want to give a brief history of the company. Walmart was founded in 1962 in Bentonville, Arkansas. Sam Walton’s vision was to achieve high volume of sales by maintaining sales price lower than competitors, which meant he had to reduce his profit margins. This multinational organization has been an example of growth, stability, profitability, and leadership in the retail business. The company is the second largest public corporation in America on the list of Fortune 500 in 2012 with 446,950 million dollars in revenue and $15,669 million dollars in profit (CNN Money, 2012). SWOT Analysis Strengths * The biggest private employer in the world (CNN Money, 2012). * Low price leader in the market since the beginning. * Second America’s largest corporation in 2012 (CNN Money, 2012). * One stop shop. Wide range of products under one roof. * Worldwide presence with more than 10,000 stores in 27 countries (Duke, 2012). * Leverage in the marketplace because of high purchasing volume. Weaknesses * Criticized of low paying jobs to its employees. * Limited grow opportunities to its employees. * Deficiency in the upscale market. * Adverse effects on small business in local community * Suppliers have to cut margins to sell their merchandise. * Monopolistic business. Opportunities * Pursue new international markets, especially in Asia and...
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...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...
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...Battling Wal-Mart by Neal Peirce The Wal-Mart Watch campaign, a labor-environmental group highly critical of America's mega-mega retailer, recently launched more than 1,000 events nationwide for its "Higher Expectations Week." "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price," a scathing documentary by independent filmmaker Robert Greenwald with a focus on Wal-Mart's business tactics and treatment of workers, began to play to audiences across the country. Wal-Mart is fighting its critics with waves of television ads celebrating happy workers and the company's gifts to local charities. But the action goes much further. Across state capitals, legislators are into spirited debates over whether Wal-Mart should be forced to pay adequate health benefits or leave it to the states to subsidize its low-paid workers through Medicaid and other public benefits. Scene of the biggest current fight: Maryland, where Gov. Robert Ehrlich vetoed a measure to require any company with more than 10,000 workers -only Wal-Mart qualifies -- to spend at least 8 percent of payroll on health benefits. Or, alternatively, to contribute significantly to the state's health insurance program. An override vote on Ehrlich's veto is set for January. Wal-Mart has deployed at least a dozen lobbyists to Annapolis, offering goodies such as a $10,000 gift to underwrite a conference of black legislators. In one sense, all of this is predictable: With annual sales of $288 billion and 1.6 million employees, Wal-Mart is now the world's...
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...Walmart Case Study Unit I Walmart makes the right decision to drop “Always low prices. Always.” Switching to their new slogan “Save Money. Live better.”, is a way for them to bring in new customers, while still keeping the low prices that their existing customers love and expect. Sam Walton’s vision for Walmart that drove his marketing plan was that “low prices would lead to better living for customers.” (Ghazzawi, 2014 ) Consumers value a better life over just getting lower prices. A recent advertising campaign show Walmart customers-firefighters, accountants and teachers-telling people what they are doing with the money they saved shopping at Walmart. These things ranged from investing in college to affording braces for their kids. (Buss, 2014). Another campaign stated, “Walmart saves the average family about $3100.00 a year, no matter where they shop.” (Kotler, Keller, 2012) Pointing out the benefits of more savings, like the ability to travel with your family or afford college tuition resonates strongly with consumers who may feel like they are working harder and longer hour, yet still struggling to make ends meet. The opportunity to get a quality product while saving money is a big selling point. Walmart's strategy to reinforce the value of spending time with your family and enjoying life is a smart and profitable decision. A few a steps that Walmart can take to protect themselves when the economy is on the rise. Building a stronger customer loyalty helps...
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...principals; genuine customer courtesy, a culture of respect for the individual and everyday low prices. In the 1960s, Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart, started his business with a strong foundation which is providing everything to customers with low prices they can afford. From that time forward, Walmart kept its low price strategy and in return it became bigger and bigger. The company at this decade reached $ 12.7 million in sales and was incorporated as Wal-Mart stores, Inc. In the 1970s, the most appealing development in this decade was listing the company on the New York Stock Exchange (WMT). Also at that time, Walmart was growing nationally. In the 1980s, Walmart decided to take the lead among other businesses. The first Sam’s club opened to serve individuals and small businesses, the first supercentre opened in Washington that combines a supermarket with a general merchandise in order to provide one-stop shopping experience. We can say that the 80s in Walmart history was aiming to make things easier for its customers. That was clear when Walmart installed the biggest private satellite communication system in the U.S. This progress was intended to link Walmart operations through data, voice and video communication. In the 1990s, Walmart went international. In this decade, it expanded to reach Mexican, Canadian, Chinese and the United Kingdom markets. Sam Walton, Walmart’s founder, was honoured to receive the Medal of Freedom in 1992 before his death at the age of 74. Despite...
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...Cost Accounting Analysis Lisa McClure Axia College of University of Phoenix ACC 227 Beverly Isaman June 28, 2009 Introduction and Overview Sam Walton founded the first Wal-Mart in 1962; the idea of bringing in a discount-shopping store into rural America was almost unheard of, except for the local five and dime stores. When Walton noticed he had plenty of competition from regional discount chains, he traveled the country to study other new retailing concepts. He was convinced that it was the wave of the future (Wal-Mart, 2009). Wal-Mart was founded in 1962, with the opening of the first Wal-Mart discount store in Rogers, Ark. The company incorporated as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. on Oct. 31, 1969. In 1983, the company opened its first Sam’s Club membership warehouse, and in 1988 opened the first supercenter. Wal-Mart became an international company in 1991 when it opened its first Sam's Club near Mexico City (Wal-Mart, 2009). Wal-Mart competes in many industries that include 5331- Retail-Variety stores, 5411-Grocery stores, 5311-Department stores, 5812-Eating Places, 5399-Miscellaneous General Merchandise store, and 5912-Drug stores and Proprietary stores. In 2002, Wal-Mart became first on the Fortune 500 list and received the Ron Brown Award for Corporate Leadership (Wal-Mart, 2009). This is a presidential award that recognizes companies for outstanding achievement in...
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...in this company. Wal-Mart: Big Business Sam Walton is the mastermind behind Wal-Mart. Mr. Walton created Wal-Mart in 1962. He declared that tree policy goals would define his business: respect for the individual, service to customers, and striving for excellence (www.walmart.com). Wal-Mart keeps their prices low by reducing cost by the use of advanced electronic technology. It also negotiates deals for merchandise directly from manufactures, eliminating the middleman (Vance, 72). Wal-Mart currently has 1,093 supercenters, 502 Sam’s Club, 31 Wal-Mart Neighborhood stores, and 1,183 international stores. The Wal-Mart stores offer “one-stop shopping”. As I stated previously, you can find everything at Wal-Mart groceries, health and beauty aids, and apparel. SWOT Analysis Trying to determine whether or not I should invest in Wal-Mart, I need to gather as much information I can get in order to make the right decision. I thought that one of the things I could do was a SWOT analysis of the company. By gathering information for the SWOT analysis, I can determine the important factors that will help me decide to invest my money in Wal-Mart. Strengths I am a former employee of Wal-Mart, and I can tell you that they are one of the biggest employers in the United States. Wal-Mart has been pegged for its “one-stop shopping”. Wal-Mart has multiple products in their stores. Sam Walton also wanted his stores to be heavily involved with the...
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... A short analysis of the entrepreneurial approaches of Samuel Walton and Christopher Zorich | Profit oriented entrepreneurial approaches of Samuel Moore Walton. Sam Walton, the man Samuel Moore Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart, was archetypal leader with some level of consistencies in his lifetime that stayed with him until his death. Sam was a servant-leader who listened quietly to the customers and sought to please them. He believed in hard work, worked hard and had fun doing it. His leadership style If ever there was a true born leader, Samuel Walton was one. Sam, as he was popularly called, was born the first child of his parents, Thomas and Nancy Walton on March 29, 1918. By virtue of his birth, he took some amount of responsibility for his only sibling, J.L. "Bud" Walton. Maybe, this helped him in developing very strong leadership skills early in life. Sam attended Hickman High School in Columbia, Missouri where he served as class president. He played football in the school’s team which had no defeats as long as Sam was the quarterback. Sam attended the University of Missouri at Columbia where he got a degree in business and he was about to commence graduate studies in insurance when he decided for engagement in retail business. I personally believe that Sam deduced from his exposure to business studies that he had some of the qualities that success in retail business demands. After college, Sam had the opportunity to join either Sears Roebuck & Co. or...
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