...minimum) 1. What was the most useful or meaningful thing you learned, or insight you gained, during this session? There are always arguments you can find to defend one position and it is easy to stick with it. Why I learnt from the session is the importance of being open to different opinions. This doesn’t mean necessarily change your mind but think about it more and be critical. Furthermore, think of the whole picture, not just focus on one single success or failure. Criticize it by its whole. 2. What were the major points, lessons, concepts, etc. in the class? How useful the CAGE framework can be to analyze a company. It gives a whole perspective. Determining if a company is globally successful we might think of geographical distance as the main criteria of being global. But it is actually more complicated than that, is about the culture, administration and economy too. This is why the CAGE framework gives you a complete scenario and it is important to always think of it when concerning an international company. 3. What was the muddiest point in this session? (In other words, what was least clear to you?) Wal-Mart made mistakes, especially with China and Germany. But what did Wal-Mart actually learnt from those mistakes and how did it used that experience in other business cases. Because it was clear Wal-Mart was a failure in those countries, but what happened next? It is not clear to me in which way does it actually ...
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...Markers- $4.25 Plastic classroom chairs- $39.99 for 1 chair at Wal-mart. $279.93 for 7 chairs. Provided by Keiser University. Tables- $ 59.97 for 1 table at Wal-mart. $419.79 for 7 chairs. Provided by Keiser University. Garbage can- $8.05 at Wal-mart. Provided by Keiser University. Total Cost- $717.9 for all 6-7 members of the group; however a total cost for 1 chair and 1 table with the papers, garbage can, color pencil, and markers are $118.14. Although the supplies are listed with prices, the leader of the group was able to use a zero budget by using the supplies in the OT lab cabinet. Once finishing running the group, the leader will save the supplies to avoid spending money for the upcoming group after fieldwork I and any other future...
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...Trident University International BUS 499 – BSBA Integrative Project Session Long Project Module 4 Dr. Darlene Pomponio 9 January 2012 As one of the four perspectives of the Balanced Scorecard, the Learning & Growth perspective focuses on how the organization must learn and innovate in order to achieve the set goals. It is the root of the balanced scorecard and requires nutrients to grow. It develops intellectual capital and empowers employees as part of the relationship to the vision and strategy portion of the BSC. Learning & growth perspective can be described as inputs and internal constituents. When Wal-Mart's growth rate accelerated significantly in the late 1990's, investors who owned the stock and who sold promptly when the acceleration stopped in 2000 - made as much as a 400% return in about four years. When a more sustainable growth rate returned during the 2001 - 2005 period, only modest returns were available from the stock - and only for those investors lucky enough to buy at yearly lows. Wal-Mart shares are trading well below their 2004 high and have dropped 30% in total since Scott was named CEO in 2000, even as the Morgan Stanley retail index has risen 180%. Even money managers who own Wal-Mart's shares tend to see the retailer as a beaten-down value play, not a growth company. The underlying economics of expansion have turned against Wal-Mart, even as it relies increasingly on store-building to compensate for...
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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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...Case study: The Rise of Wal-Mart Wal-Mart demonstrates how a physical product retailer can create and leverage a data asset to achieve world-class supply chain efficiencies targeted primarily at driving down costs. Wal-Mart isn’t just the largest retailer in the world, over the past several years it has popped in and out of the top spot on the Fortune 500 list—meaning that the firm has had revenues greater than any firm in the United States. Wal-Mart is so big that in three months it sells more than a whole year’s worth of sales at number two U.S. retailer, Home Depot.[1] At that size, it’s clear that Wal-Mart’s key source of competitive advantage is scale. But firms don’t turn into giants overnight. Wal-Mart grew in large part by leveraging information systems to an extent never before seen in the retail industry. Technology tightly coordinates the Wal-Mart value chain from tip to tail, while these systems also deliver a mineable data asset that’s unmatched in U.S. retail. To get a sense of the firm’s overall efficiencies, at the end of the prior decade a McKinsey study found that Wal-Mart was responsible for some 12 percent of the productivity gains in the entire U.S. economy.[2] The firm’s capacity as a systems innovator is so respected that many senior Wal-Mart IT executives have been snatched up for top roles at Dell, HP, Amazon, and Microsoft. And lest one think that innovation is the province of only those located in the technology hubs of Silicon Valley...
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...Methods Wal-Mart is the world’s largest retailer but revenues are on a consistent growth trajectory, cost of sales has also been increasing (Consolidated Statements of Income, 2011). One strategy to leverage revenue growth against the risk of increasing expenditure may be to use current assets in new ways. The boutique-within-the- store concept will apply current infrastructural and personnel resources to reach a demographic with greater disposable income. The target market will be working women with young families who can purchase an item suitable for work, picking up children from school or daycare, and with a few accessories she is ready for an evening out. The product offering will compete with Dress Barn and Cato and be similar to that of Target’s new marketing thrust. The research question will emanate from analysis that applies the Management Research Question Hierarchy and further tested for alignment with the management dilemma. The research design will establish the feasibility of proposed solutions to the management problem through a stratified random sample of Wal-Mart customers. Background Information Wal-Mart was founded in 1962 with the opening of the first Wal-Mart discount store in Rogers, Arkansas (Wal-Mart Corporate, 2012). The organization has grown and is established in 27 countries in which it operates under 69 banners employing over 2.2 million employees. The company incorporated as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., on October 31, 1969 (Wal-Mart Corporate,...
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...Wal Mart A Proposal on How Wal-Mart Can Reduce High Employee Turnover Tiffanie Jenkins GM 591 Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. branded as Wal-Mart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000 list, and the largest public corporation when ranked by revenue. It is also the biggest private employer in the world with over 2 million employees. The company was founded by Sam Walton in 1962, incorporated on October 31, 1969, and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange in 1972. It is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. Wal-Mart is also the largest grocery retailer in the United States. In 2009, it generated 51% of its US$258 billion sales in the U.S. from grocery business. It also owns and operates the Sam's Club retail warehouses in North America. Wal-Mart has 8,500 stores in 15 countries, under 55 different names. The company operates under its own name in the United States, including the 50 states and Puerto Rico. Walton was extremely successful in running the store in Newport, far exceeding expectations. However, when the lease came up for renewal, Walton could neither come to agreement on the existing store's lease renewal nor find a new location in Newport. Instead, he opened a new Ben Franklin franchise in Bentonville, Arkansas, but called it "Walton's Five...
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...work regarding goals targets how staff are working, when is the most efficient time of business. I will also be covering stakeholder analyse whereby i will use given examples to show the importance of being in the no with your stakeholders. In addition to the above i will be organising an audit for a given company and shall use the information i have read to assist in the creation of the audit. I hope you find my report interesting and credible thank you. P1 - Explain Strategic contexts and terminology Mission is and an important assignment carried out for political, religious, or commercial purposes, typically involving organisations. They use these terminologies to help and create better work ethics, for example Wal- mart has a vision whereby they beliefs that saving people money can actually help them live better, their objectives as an organisation is to profit and to provide an affordable range of household goods which in return has earned them a huge amount of customers worldwide we are talking millions of customers and rising. They are the largest retailer in the world and also have the highest gross and net profit of any company in...
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...Introduction: Financial Statement Analysis is used by interested parties such as inventors, creditors, and management to evaluate the past, current and projected condition and performance of the firm. Its analysis helps user make better desiccations. Ration analysis is the most common form of financial analysis. It provides relative measures of the firm’s conditions and performance. Horizontal analysis and Vertical analysis are also popular forms. Horizontal analysis is used to evaluate the trend in the accounts over the years, while vertical analysis, also called a common size Financial Statement discloses the internal structure of the firm. It indicates the existing relationship between sales and each income statement account. It shows the mix of assets debt that produces income and the mix of the sources of capital, where by current or long-term debt of by equity funding. Financial Statement Analysis prepared for the internal auditors, Many different financial measures are used to analyze financial statements and rank the performance of competing investment opportunities, including growth in sales, return to stockholders, profit margin, and return on equity. These are just four possible measures considered and evaluated by investors and creditors. Financial statements presented in various formats to help facilitate analysis. A classified set of financial statements groups items with similar characteristics together. Groupings include categories such as current assets; property...
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...Wal Mart A Proposal on How Wal-Mart Can Reduce High Employee Turnover Tiffanie Jenkins August 21, 2011 Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. branded as Wal-Mart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000 list, and the largest public corporation when ranked by revenue. It is also the biggest private employer in the world with over 2 million employees. The company was founded by Sam Walton in 1962, incorporated on October 31, 1969, and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange in 1972. It is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. Wal-Mart is also the largest grocery retailer in the United States. In 2009, it generated 51% of its US$258 billion sales in the U.S. from grocery business. It also owns and operates the Sam's Club retail warehouses in North America. Wal-Mart has 8,500 stores in 15 countries, under 55 different names. The company operates under its own name in the United States, including the 50 states and Puerto Rico. Walton was extremely successful in running the store in Newport, far exceeding expectations. However, when the lease came up for renewal, Walton could neither come to agreement on the existing store's lease renewal nor find a new location in Newport. Instead, he opened a new Ben Franklin franchise in Bentonville, Arkansas, but called it "Walton's...
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...Workplace,Business & Ethics on evaluation of job ethical standards in Wal-Mart in South Carolina In Partial Fulfillment of Business Research and Project BUS 499 Nagliesha L Miles Supervisor: Dr. Mmutakaego Chukwuanu Allen University Date: December 8,2010 Table of content Table of Content...............................................................................................................2 Abstract............................................................................................................................3 List of Illustrations Wal-Mart earnings preview......................................................................................13 U.S Retail food pricing.................................................................................14 Chapter 1 Introduction.....................................................................................................................5 Background information.......................................................................................5 Statement of problem............................................................................................5 Hypothesis............................................................................................................6 Chapter 2 Literature Review...........................................................................................................8 Chapter 3 Methodology.......................................................
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...explain what is mean by “competitive advantage” and give an example of it. An advantage that a firm has over its competitors, allowing it to generate greater sales or margins and retain more customers than its competition. There can be many types of competitive advantages including the firm's cost structure, product offerings, distribution network and customer support. Such as Wal-Mart, has a high level of the supply chain management and responsive the market demands. Wal-Mart has efficient logistic. 2. What is meant by the term “brainstorming” and what are some of its advantages? Brainstorming is technique for generating a free flow of ideas in a group of people. Advantages : a. Brainstorming session is often the last resort when other techniques and methods do not deliver the desired solutions. b. A few basic rules to follow and easy to learn and perform. Once the rules are accepted, any barriers to creativity fall quickly. c. The costs for a brainstorming session are very low in relation to the output. d. The biggest advantage is the high amount of generated ideas. 3. Describe the steps in creating an initial project plan and budget. A useful way to think about the work on a project and the corresponding time boxes is to divide time spent on a project into three main steps and assign an overall time box to each of the main steps. Then within each step, subdivide the time available to accommodate the tasks that are involved. The three steps...
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...explain what is mean by “competitive advantage” and give an example of it. An advantage that a firm has over its competitors, allowing it to generate greater sales or margins and retain more customers than its competition. There can be many types of competitive advantages including the firm's cost structure, product offerings, distribution network and customer support. Such as Wal-Mart, has a high level of the supply chain management and responsive the market demands. Wal-Mart has efficient logistic. 2. What is meant by the term “brainstorming” and what are some of its advantages? Brainstorming is technique for generating a free flow of ideas in a group of people. Advantages : a. Brainstorming session is often the last resort when other techniques and methods do not deliver the desired solutions. b. A few basic rules to follow and easy to learn and perform. Once the rules are accepted, any barriers to creativity fall quickly. c. The costs for a brainstorming session are very low in relation to the output. d. The biggest advantage is the high amount of generated ideas. 3. Describe the steps in creating an initial project plan and budget. A useful way to think about the work on a project and the corresponding time boxes is to divide time spent on a project into three main steps and assign an overall time box to each of the main steps. Then within each step, subdivide the time available to accommodate the tasks that are involved. The three steps...
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...Sears Canada and Wal-Mart Canada. Both are Canadian subsidiaries of large American conglomerates. Wal-Mart Canada Wal-Mart Canada was founded in 1994 with the purchase of several now defunct Canadian locations of the Woolco discount retail chain. The advent of Wal-Mart’s expansion has forever changed the retail landscape in Canada. Other discount retailers such as Canadian-owned Zellers, have been hurt by Wal-Mart’s formidable rise. Wal-Mart employs a low cost provider strategy, as evidenced by their slogan “We sell for less, every day”. They sell goods at low prices, but often of poor quality. Prices are kept low by developing special relationships with suppliers, employing many part-time workers, resisting attempts by their workforce to unionize and controlling labour costs, which includes “discouragement” of working overtime. Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton once said in an interview, “I pay low wages. I can take advantage of that. Were going to be successful, but the basis is a very low wage, low benefit model of employment.” A number of Wal-Mart’s business tactics have been under fire by special interest groups and labour unions. In 2005, a store in Jonquiere, Quebec, was closed after workers came close to establishing a union. It would have been the chain’s first. While a spokesperson for Wal-Mart Canada cited profitability concerns, labour leaders decried the store closing as an example of Wal-Mart’s fierce opposition to unions. Wal-Mart has an extremely...
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...www.ikea.com, accessed 25/03/2012). The IKEA catalogue is printed in 52 editions with 25 languages, with a global distribution in excess of 160 million copies. IKEA sees the Far Asia as an emerging market still in its infant stage. Its number of retail outlets in Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong are very small and comprises a mere 3% of the company's total sales. These stores were expected to be more successful in the near future. IKEA's imminent strategic expansion into this region exemplified its ambitions to dominate this emerging market. This Case Study illustrates how IKEA's ventures into China and Japan are laden with unique marketing challenges which it had not encountered before in other international markets. Read the attached case (Case Study: "IKEA: A Long March to the Far East" - Source: Oxford University Press) and answer the following questions; 1. Based on your analysis, what are the opportunities and challenges for IKEA in their market operations in (a) China; and (b) Japan? 2. Describe the market entry strategies that IKEA adopt in China and Japan respectively. 3. What are IKEA product, pricing, marketing communication and distribution decisions in the two Asian markets? To what extent these...
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