...STAFF ACCOUNTING BULLETIN 101’S EFFECT ON MAJOR RETAILERS Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 101 (SAB 101), “Revenue Recognition in Financial Statements” summarizes the staff’s beliefs regarding the application of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) to revenue recognition in the financial statements (Securities and Exchange, 1999). Specifically AIA 2-3 relates SAB 101 to Wal-Mart stores and its recognition of revenues due to layaway contracts. Before the issuance of SAB 101, Wal-Mart was recording the revenue from layaway contracts and membership fees at the point of sale and time of receipt, respectively. SAB 101 caused retailers such as Wal-Mart to adhere more closely to basic accounting principles while recording layaway transactions and the collection of membership fees, resulting in increased comparability amongst competitors. Revenue Recognition Principle The revenue recognition principle states that revenue recognition occurs when it is both realizable and earned. Satisfaction of these requirements can take place during production, at the end of production, at the point of sale, or upon the receipt of cash. Revenue can be recognized during production for certain long-term construction contracts because a percentage of the revenue has been earned based on the percentage of completion of the project. Recognition can happen at the end of production but before the sale when the products are salable at readily determinable market prices. In the agriculture...
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...Wal-Mart’s Promotion Mix and Integrated Marketing Communications Wal-Mart is a top ranked company with high financial performance. The giant is a none other-than a retailer of general and consumable goods. They are an envied company that seem to do everything right. As a company, they position themselves to address the needs of customers by operating retail stores around the world focusing saving people money so people so can have additional financial resources for other things. Combined efforts in Advertising, Direct marketing, internet marketing, sales promotion public relations and personal selling investigated to learn about their success. Wal-Mart operation is broken in three areas Wal-Mart US, Wal-Mart International and Wal-Mart international they also have Wal-Mart.com to shop and use free shipping. “The Wal-Mart International segment consists of the company’s operations outside of the United States and Puerto-Rico. The Sam’s club segments include warehouse membership clubs in the United States and Puerto Rico as well as Sam’s Club.com” (Arkansas, 2011). Wal-Mart international net sales, US sales and Sam’s sales were $109 billion, $260 billion $49 billion respectively for fiscal year 2011; Wal-Mart plan on growing stronger by opening new stores and selling more items. Wal-Mart is currently No 1. On the fortune, 500 companies; in 2010, sales were $ 422 billion, and they increase profits during the recession competing retailers struggling. Wal-Mart provides awareness...
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...practices, cultural differences, and the political systems in different countries. Wal-Mart, having expanded their operations to 27 different countries, must keep these factors in mind when making marketing decisions. Global economic interdependence and trade practices Global interdependence is mutual dependence at a global level. Wal-Mart maintains a simple and effective marketing strategy which it has managed to replicate globally. The Every Day Low Price (EDLP) is simple and eliminates unnecessary advertising trying to push sales, as Wal-Mart has successfully sold the concept to the customers, that it sells its products at the lowest prices, every day (Dutta, 2009). To provide commodities at low prices, Wal-Mart uses extensive foreign product importation. Its major trading partner is China, to which approximately 60 of its products are imported. Trade practices are methods of competition, operating policies, or business procedures common to members of a line of business or industry that may be formally adopted sometimes as a rule under government auspices. Wal-Mart has a policy to thoroughly check all regulatory requirements before attempting to import and export merchandise. They also have policies stating that documentation must be complete and accurate and internal controls must be established to ensure compliance with all regulatory requirements, including any record-keeping obligations. Wal-Mart has trade agreements with the Federal Trade Commission and all the countries...
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...Wal-Mart mission is poorly well-thought-out because it does not say anything about their company, employees and what they do for customers. Their mission statement does not prove any principles to their customer, their truthfulness or if they are motivated to excel. The customer believes that their mission statement, it’s a slogan because it’s too short, making people wonder about Wal-Mart’s servant leadership values. Moreover, the Wal-Mart marketing strategy uses Newspaper advertising to promote their low prices. According to Point, Wal-Mart is increasing their efforts to buy local store and gain those customers. Their mission statement misleads people to think that they don’t enforce servant leadership practice within an organization because Walmart kills mom and pop shops. “In order for Walmart to better use their mission as a communication tool, the company should give more information about the business and address more stakeholders”. In contrast, World Vision has a strong mission statement which identifies...
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...Company Analysis Wal-Mart Joe Jones Capella University Wal-Mart is one of the most successful businesses to date; it has a unique cost leadership strategy that has placed the company at a competitive advantage in their industry. Wal-Mart has grown rapidly in the last ten years not only throughout the nation but worldwide. One of the questions that arise is, how can the company be so successful? Throughout the paper we will talk about the company’s internal and external structure. The opportunities the company took advantage of and as well as the weaknesses they encounter. Wal-Mart was founded by Sam Walton in 1962. Sam Walton was a former J.C Penney employee who had a vision to sell products at the lowest price possible. He opened up his small store in Bentonville Arkansas in 1962 under the name “Walton’s Five and Dime”, later that year he opened the first store under the Wal-Mart brand. Within five years of business, Wal-Mart expanded outside of its home state to Missouri and Oklahoma. Sales sky rocketed and owner Sam didn’t hesitate to expand even further. By its twenty fifth anniversary there were 1,198 stores. In 2012, “Wal-Mart and the Wal-Mart Foundation gave more than $1 billion in cash and in-kind contributions around the world. This includes $1 billion in cash and in-kind gifts in the United States and $82.2 million in cash and in-kind gifts in international markets. In addition, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club and Logistics associates volunteered more than 2.2...
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...Omar Rochell Marketing MKT/421 April 7, 2011 Nikki Jackson Introduction Marketing is exposed to someone every day, even when they do not seem realize it. Driving down the roads you see billboards everywhere and that is part of marketing. Logos people were on their shirts and signs in the middle or on the sign of football fields are all part of marketing. Even when a child is marketing themselves to their parents to borrow the car or go to a party they are marketing themselves to their parents in exchange for the car or the party. A set of activities that will benefit both parties’ objectives is my own personal definition of marketing. This paper will be defining marketing in different perspectives. Discussing the importance of marketing in a organizational success will also be discussed with examples included from different organizations. As an organization it is important to know what marketing is and how to establish success. What is Marketing “Marketing is defined as the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that will have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.”(American Marketing Association, 2011) Marketing is a process that helps links the consumer, customer, and public to information that will help identify and market opportunities. Marketing research will generate, and evaluate different types of market actions, monitor marketing performance, and help improve...
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...International segment * Brands * Electronics * Geek Squad * Strategic partnerships with a series of acquisitions * Advertising * Supply chain * Internet Presence * Brian Dunn * Knowledgeable employees Capabilities: * Repair services * Market resiliency * Strategic acquisitions * Installation services * Customer educating Core capabilities: * Brands * Strategic Acquisitions * Strategic Advertising * Product services * Internet sales Finding of fact one: How can Best Buy maintain innovative products, while facing increased competition such as Wal mart. Best Buy saw its largest rival, circuit city, go bankrupt, However, a new archrival , Wal- Mart , was expanding into consumer electronics and stepping up competition in a price war Wal-Mart hoped to win Best Buy needed to face the competition not by lowering prices, but by coming up with something really different. Best Buy needs to determine the correct path to improve its ability to differentiate itself from competitors such as Wal-Mart, office max Etc. First, Best Buy would need to continue to cut prices. Consumer electronics shoppers are really looking for are the lowest priced products. The company should focus on more high-end products and new interactive features to differentiate itself from the big box atmosphere at Wal-Mart. Best Buy could Meet with their Research and development team and produce their own line of electronics, like the tablet or...
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...utilized by Wal-Mart in today’s market. Trying to serve all customers can mean serving none of them well. Wal-Mart, the world’s largest company, has annual revenues greater than the GDP of all but the world’s 21 largest countries. Wal-Mart plans to more than double the number of its Neighborhood Market grocery stores in the United States by fiscal 2016, putting more pressure on traditional brand name grocers. The stores, which are smaller than traditional supercenters and focus on groceries, have become more profitable as Wal-Mart adds more of them. Sales at existing Neighborhood Market stores have grown at a rate of more than 5 percent, or double the rate of the overall Wal-Mart U.S. chain. E-Commerce Growth Online spending is growing, but maybe it has an upper limit. Maybe online shopping cannot duplicate the in-store experience. Wal-Mart realizes that it cannot put all of its marbles in one bag in regards to online or brick-and-mortar shopping venues. On Cyber Monday 2012, internet sales skyrocketed by more than 30 percent and the United States online division of Wal-Mart experienced its best sales day ever. Online transactions completed via Wal-Mart’s mobile applications rose to 280 percent above last year’s figures. Same-day delivery combines the convenience of online ordering and home delivery with something approximating the instant gratification of going to the store. Wohlsen (2012) Wohlsen (2012) explains that this makes sense especially for Wal-Mart, which has...
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...“Dayton Dry Goods” (now known as “TARGET Corp.”) had laid down the main principle of his belief in “the higher ground of stewardship”. Even today, that principle is still visible in their slogan “Expect More” “Pay Less”. As one of the largest, discount retail stores in the world only compared to the “Corporate Giant” Wal-Mart, they have always been the better quality store of the two. Target has always leaned towards one side of their slogan “Expect More.” This has always been good for Target as it uses a diversification strategy to stay unique and offer higher fashion clothing and appliances. But as soon as the economy leaned towards a recession, Target was faced to even their strategy plan to get the company back up from the recession, by letting people know that you can still “Expect More”, but “Pay Way Less”. 1. What microenvironmental factors have affected Target’s performance over the past few years? Microenvironmental factors that affected them would include Company, competitors, media, and intermediaries. Target itself, is a discount retail store, but is known to carry designer wears. Since Target is known for style, fashionable and slightly higher priced clothing and appliances, and in the end, they hurt themselves. Target should have done a lot better of a job in providing customer value and satisfaction then Wal-Mart or others. Customers would have stayed loyal if valued and satisfied. Wal-Mart had a huge microenvironment affect as a competitor is the low cost store...
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...CASE STUDY Professor: Dr. Mary Flannery Teaching Assistant: Jia-Yuh Chen ECON 136 – Business Strategy February 27, 2006 INDUSTRY ANALYSIS The retail industry is dominated by few retail giants, with Wal-Mart competing in several retail categories. Wal-Mart competes against Kmart and Target in the general merchandise retailing; against Costco in the warehouse club segment; and against Kroger, Albertson’s and Safeway in the supermarket retailing. Competition among retailers centers on pricing, store location, variations in store format and merchandise mix, store size, shopping atmosphere, and image with shoppers. Further analysis provided by the following figure diagnoses the competitive environment of the retail industry. Five Forces Model of Competition Threat of Substitute Products Weak: Substitutes for big box retailers are smaller grocery stores; substitutes are higher priced relative to the performance they deliver. Supplier Bargaining Power Weak: Industry members account for a big fraction of suppliers’ total sales and continued high volume purchases are important to the wellbeing of suppliers. Rivalry among Competing Sellers Fierce: Competing sellers have triggered heated price competition and are active in making fresh moves to improve market standing and business performance. Buyer Bargaining Power Weak: There is a broad base of buyers so no single buyer can demand price concessions; buyers purchase merchandise in small quantities; buyer loyalty for...
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...reffered as PEST analysis, is a concept of marketing principles . Moreover, this comcept is used as a tool by companies to track the environment they are operating in or planning to launch new product or service. PESTLE is a mnemonic which expanded form donates to P-Political, E- Economic, S-Social, T- Technology, L-Legal, and E-Environmental. Let’s see the few below for Walmart- • Political and Legal Environment Walmart donates to the governor but at times it still faces some huge problems like- locking up the employees in store at night, fake sustainability displays, gender discrimination, labor union problems, etc. Till 1998 no steps has taken towards the political aspect and in 2006 it rises up as the No. 1 corporate political contributor. Unstable government also caused hindrance in the path of company expansion. For instance- Walmart was unable to expand in South Africa due to unstable and no proper direction government. • Economic Environment Fortune Magazine named Wal-Mart the nation's most admired company. It now has more revenue and more employees than any other U.S. company. Wal-Mart's growth over the last decade is unprecedented -- the company has gone from being a successful discount retailer to being a dominant force that no other retailer can ignore. When recession hits US, Walmart is one of the few companies which are thriving. Slow economy and falling income leads the people to flock to Wal-Mart to buy low-price, quality goods. • Social Environment ...
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...Case titled Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Samara Brothers, Inc. Lee Dupree Prof. Michael Hanners LEG 565 Commercial Law 08/08/12 Before the Case Ultimately, the goal of trade dress protection has always been to prevent other manufacturers from making one product look like another, therefore deceiving unaware consumers into purchasing goods from the wrong manufacturer. By the end of the 1990s, courts also began to protect product shapes and packaging. The broad label of unfair competition supplied product packaging and shapes with legal protection, known as trade dress. Trade dress was meant to make it easier for consumers to differentiate products by their dress and associate a product and its manufacturer with the dress as well. By default, this protection extended to protect the producer’s investment in the advertising and promotion of the product, and also allowed producers to sue on behalf of consumers who would have a difficult time bringing suit based on their confusion. Samara Brothers, Inc. designs and produces clothing for children and the most profitable part of its business was spring and summer one piece outfits that display items such as hearts or flowers. In 1995, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. contacted one of its suppliers, Judy-Phillipine, Inc. and contracted them to produce an entire line of children’s clothing patterned after photographs of Samara clothes. (It should be noted that Judy-Phillipe, Inc. supplied the clothing line to K-Mart, Caldor, Hills...
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...Wal-Mart’s Organizational Ethics Leslie Conley ETH/316 October 1, 2015 Lawrence Pickett Wal-Mart’s Organizational Ethics Everyone in business is worried about doing what is right and not being seen as wrong. There has been a lot of attention focused on ethics and integrity in business these days. Every organization is driving and pushing for changes in these areas. Any thoughts of quick-fixes for ethical behavior in businesses can be scary, but good ethical behavior for any business is fundamental to its success. For entrepreneurs, ethical conduct is usually missed or ignored. Many business experts regard ethics as something to preach, but not acted on and, therefore, make it even more unethical. According to Suttle and Demand Media, Organizational ethics is the principals and standards by which businesses operate (n.d.). They are best demonstrated through acts of fairness, compassion, integrity, honor and responsibility. The key for business owners and executives is ensuring that all employees understand these ethics. One of the best ways to communicate organizational ethics is by training employees to company standards. With these thoughts in mind, we need to address organizational ethics with awareness and support for all involved within the organization. External social pressures influencing organizational ethics External social pressures have driven most companies in business to be aware of the expectations on them to act in a manner that is ethically correct. They have...
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... and existing only in the contemplation of law. Limited liability is a key feature of the modern corporation. Consumer sovereignty: the idea that consumers should and do control the market through their purchases. Dependence effect: as a society becomes increasingly affluent, wants are increasingly created by the process by which they are satisfied. Moral vegetarians are people who reject the eating of meat on moral grounds. 2 In my opinion, Wal-Mart is an example of a morally bad corporation. There are three reasons to improve that: (1) Unfair competition. Our textbook describe it like this: “Some critics of capitalism maintain that capitalism breeds oligopolies that eliminate competition and concentrate economic power that a system of corporate welfare protects many businesses from true marketplace competition, and finally that competition is neither generally beneficial nor desirable in itself.” Through the case 4.5, in order to eliminate other competitors and concentrate more economic power, Wal-Mart puts pressure on suppliers to lower their prices, so that it can offer its customers...
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...financial efficiency. Wal-Mart developed the strategic planning initiative of Every Day Low Price (EDLP), which prices it products at low, affordable prices. Wal-Mart’s strategic planning has made the store one of the best known organizations and industry leaders in low prices. The strategic planning initiative effects costs and the sales within the organization that can also create risks; however, if managed effectively can make the discount giant even more profitable. Strategic Planning Initiative, Financial Planning Wal-Mart has grown from modest beginnings to become one of the most recognizable store chains in the world by operating almost 11,000 stores in 27 countries with more than two million employees (Wal-Mart, 2012). With such a large, well-known organization the company strives to remain competitive within a global market. To succeed, the company used strategic planning to identify an aggressive strategy within their 2012 annual report. Wal-Mart management entitled the strategy“Delivering Everyday Low Price (EDLP). According to Wal-Mart’s 2012 annual report, the EDLP strategy represents an essential component of its message of delivering the lowest prices possible every day to its customers. As part of the EDLP plan, the company initiated what it believes the strongest competitor advertisement matching policy in the retail industry. The company goal through implementation of EDLP separates Wal-Mart from its competitors through price variance (A. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc,...
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