...This article is published in a peer-reviewed section of the Utrecht Law Review Four Case Studies on Corporate Social Responsibility: Do Conflicts Affect a Company’s Corporate Social Responsibility Policy? Cristina A. Cedillo Torres, Mercedes Garcia-French, Rosemarie Hordijk, Kim Nguyen, Lana Olup* 1. Introduction 1.1. Background and objectives This article will discuss the different Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) issues that emerged within four multinationals (Apple, Canon, Coca-Cola and Walmart). There is no clear definition of CSR. In Corporate Social Responsibility, Legal and semi-legal frameworks supporting CSR Lambooy gives an r o verview of several definitions of CSR.1 The European Commission defines CSR as ‘the esponsibility of enterprises for their impacts on society’.2 This is the definition which is the most suitable for the c ontext of the article’s research question. As this article will focus on companies from the US and Japan, the authors also provide an overview of the focus on CSR from the US and Japanese perspective. In the US there is no governmental regulation regarding CSR or business best practices. Instead, according to findings from Bennett American, companies have a marked tendency to use codes of conduct.3 The American CSR perspective could be described as following a principles-based approach, with codes of conduct that prescribe values and principles which company members as a whole should aspire to follow. ...
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...This article is published in a peer-reviewed section of the Utrecht Law Review Four Case Studies on Corporate Social Responsibility: Do Conflicts Affect a Company’s Corporate Social Responsibility Policy? Cristina A. Cedillo Torres, Mercedes Garcia-French, Rosemarie Hordijk, Kim Nguyen, Lana Olup* 1. Introduction 1.1. Background and objectives This article will discuss the different Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) issues that emerged within four multinationals (Apple, Canon, Coca-Cola and Walmart). There is no clear definition of CSR. In Corporate Social Responsibility, Legal and semi-legal frameworks supporting CSR Lambooy gives an r o verview of several definitions of CSR.1 The European Commission defines CSR as ‘the esponsibility of enterprises for their impacts on society’.2 This is the definition which is the most suitable for the c ontext of the article’s research question. As this article will focus on companies from the US and Japan, the authors also provide an overview of the focus on CSR from the US and Japanese perspective. In the US there is no governmental regulation regarding CSR or business best practices. Instead, according to findings from Bennett American, companies have a marked tendency to use codes of conduct.3 The American CSR perspective could be described as following a principles-based approach, with codes of conduct that prescribe values and principles which company members as a whole should aspire to follow. ...
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...debates in the global political, social and business world. In order to ensure an effective and a collaborative approach is taken to challenge these environments issues. In recent times, a consensus has emerged that environmental issues induced by industrial development should be addressed throughout the supply chain. This had led to the emergence of the concept suggested to as Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM). This research provided a concise background and challenges of green supply chain through applying qualitative analysis on potential implementation in existing literature. This research was use secondary data to analyze a single case study, which is a case study of Walmart GSCM. Data was collected through a quality source by process of evaluating the information sources. The research analysis have shown seven strategies that used at Walmart: Identifying goals, metrics, and new technologies, Providing network partner assistance to suppliers, Certifying environmentally sustainable products, Incentive for green products, Consolidating direct suppliers, Developing a sustainable standard, and Zero waste. In a conclusion, it was possible to understand that GSCM is one of the emerging approaches for retail industry. This approach had help the company differentiates from its competition and made its supply chain more efficient. This paper was useful in providing suggestions to the retail industry and other industries to either modify the GSCM strategy adopted within organization...
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...Walmart in Japan I. Problem identification phase Introduction Walmart is an American international retail company that is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. The company began operations in 1962 after being founded by Sam Walton and incorporated in 1969. The present brand name—Walmart—came about in 2008 and before that it was referred to as Wal-Mart. The company is famous for operating chains of large discount departmental stores and warehouse stores. Presently, the company is the 18th public corporation in terms of size and the biggest in terms of revenue, private employment, and retailer (Walmart 2011 Annual report). Furthermore, the largest shareholders are the Walton’s with 48% shares; hence they control the company. The company has approximately 9000 stores in over 15 countries all operating under different names. For instance, in Mexico it is called Walmex, in UK Asda, and in Japan Seiyu. This article analyses Walmart in Japan through three phases. The three phases are: problem identification, analysis, and solution phases. Background Walmart bought 6.2% of Seiyu in May 2002 (Holstein 73). The shares of the company increased over time and in 2005 December, Walmart was the majority shareholder of 50.9%. In 2008, Seiyu was entirely owned by Walmart whose headquarters are in Tokyo. The company has 419 retail units that are inclusive of: Seiyu Hypermarket, Seiyu Supermarket, Wakana, and Seiyu General Merchendise. Setting operations in Japan was not an easy feat...
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...Walmart’s African Expansion Case Study 2 Case Study Author: Karen Robson, Stefanie Beninger Presented to: Dr. Doreen Sams Analyst Name: Joe Slade Date Submitted: September 28, 2014 Contents Introduction 1 The Eclectic Paradigm and African Expansion 2 Conclusion 3 References: 4 Introduction Walmart had humble beginnings. The first store was opened in Rogers Arkansas in 1962 by Sam Walton. Sam Walton wanted to have a store that provided as many items as possible but doing so in a low price way. By 1967 the Walton family owned 24 stores, ringing up $12.7 million in sales. During 1970, Walmart went public. In 1972 the company was listed on the New York Stock exchange. By 1980 the company had 276 stores in 11 states under the Wal-Mart banner. Through a joint venture with Cifra, a Mexican retail company, Walmart went global, opening a Sam’s Club in Mexico City in 199. This marked the first foray into global expansion (Walmart Corporate Site, 2014). However, not all expansion into foreign countries went well. When Walmart decided to enter the German market in 1997, they did so by buying two retail store chains, Werkauf and Interspar. This was a difficult expansion process as neither one of these companies operated like Walmart. Walmart had issues with their distribution network and the German people were not used to shopping at a big box store like Walmart (Robson, Beninger, 2013). This did not deter Walmart into the global expansion, they...
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...future (Bullwhip effect, 2010). There are several factors involved to cause bullwhip effect; overreaction to backlogs, neglecting to order in an attempt to reduce inventory, communication gap in supply chain, in-accurate demand forecasting etc. In order to deal with bullwhip effect, there are certain countermeasures to overcome the effect; proportional rationing schemes that encountered by assigning unit based on past sales. Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) can overcome exaggerated demand forecast. Special purchase contracts that can be implemented in order to specify ordering at regular intervals to better synchronize delivery and purchase (Bullwhip effect, 2010). 2) The sales department of Volvo offered special deals which caused the increase in demand of green cars. The manufacturing department was not aware of the promotion and believed that consumers had started to like green cars (Michael Bean, 2006) 3) The bullwhip effect can be reduced by keeping prices low and keeping demand steady. This reduces periodic high inventory levels and the need to discount products (Ivey, 2011). VMI (vendor-managed inventory) is a model in which an accord is reached between the customer and the retailer based on customer demand. The customer to an extent decides the prices of the products in this model. Large amount of inventory is hence not held by the retailer and the cost of holding the inventory hence reduces (Hernandez, 2010). Retail link is used by Walmart in order to reduce time...
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... | | | | | The evolution of the largest retailer in the world, Walmart, has involved both success and controversy. It is a source of cost-savings for millions around the world, but it also seen as responsible for the destruction of its neighboring communities. In its forty year history, the company has dealt with allegations of discrimination, harassment and poor labor relations. The former general store has expanded into several arenas and has made its owners, the Waltons, some of the richest individuals in the world. Despite this, the chain continues to faces large obstacles on its quest to increase profits, improve efficiencies and maximize its customers’ savings. In 2006, Walmart Stores Inc had sales of over $312,000 billion and 1.7 million employees, making it the world’s largest employer (Ferrell, Fraedrich, & Ferrell, 2008). The concept evolved from a chain of variety stores owned by Sam Walton in the 1950s; Walton intensely...
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...Cost Leadership and Differentiation Strategies @Walmart Submitted by: Samrat Basu INDEX PAGE Walmart Origin Page-3 Walmart Mission/Vision Page-4 Corporate Culture@ Walmart Page-4 Competitive Position of Walmart Page 5-6 Strategies @ Walmart Page 6-9 Private Label and Store Layout Page 9-11 Conclusion Page-11 Appendix Page 12 References and Bibliography Page 13-14 Wal-Mart- Origin Wal-Mart was the product of Sam Walton, a businessman from Arkansas. In the late 1940s, in USA, a retailer who was successful in obtaining a sufficient discount for his products from the whole-seller, used to sell the products at full price to the customers and thus enjoyed a substantial amount of profit. Sam Walton during that time was working as a retailer at a J.C. Penney store in Des Moines, Iowa.(Walton & Huey, 1993) Incidentally while working there, he was introduced to Butler Brothers, a big retailer who had chains of variety stores known as Ben Franklin and Sam was offered...
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...Wal-Mart: The Future is Sustainability Summary Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is one of the top companies in the retail industry. According to Forbes (2010), in 1962 brothers Sam and Bud Walton ran handful of small 5-and-10 stores in Arkansas and Missouri and they built their first Wal-Mart discount store in 1962. Then on Halloween day 1969 Wal-Mart Corporate (n.d.) states that the company incorporated. Since those early days when the founder Sam Walton was running the company many things have changed. For instance Ferrell, Fraedrich, and Ferrell (2011) stated that due to the staunch work ethic and dedication to customer care that Sam Walton instilled in the company, the company did feel that there was a need formal ethics program (p. 315). However, as time has passed the thinking of the Wal-Mart Executives has had to change. I do not know if Wal-Mart has changed because of the lawsuits they have encountered over ethical issues, if it was driven by the desire to keep profits high, or if Wal-Mart changed the way they do business because the company really does want to right thing for all the stakeholders. From what I can see, ethics has become a very important part of Wal-Mart’s business strategy. They seem to have a formal ethics program in company these days and they even want the entire world to know about because they provide a digital copy of their 36 page Statement of Ethics document on their web site. Text Questions 1. Do you think Wal-Mart is doing enough to become more sustainable...
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...Cost Leadership and Differentiation Strategies @Walmart Submitted by: Samrat Basu INDEX PAGE Walmart Origin Page-3 Walmart Mission/Vision Page-4 Corporate Culture@ Walmart Page-4 Competitive Position of Walmart Page 5-6 Strategies @ Walmart Page 6-9 Private Label and Store Layout Page 9-11 Conclusion Page-11 Appendix Page 12 References and Bibliography Page 13-14 Wal-Mart- Origin Wal-Mart was the product of Sam Walton, a businessman from Arkansas. In the late 1940s, in USA, a retailer who was successful in obtaining a sufficient discount for his products from the whole-seller, used to sell the products at full price to the customers and thus enjoyed a substantial amount of profit. Sam Walton during that time was working as a retailer at a J.C. Penney store in Des Moines, Iowa.(Walton & Huey, 1993) Incidentally while working there, he was introduced to Butler Brothers, a big retailer who had chains of variety stores known as Ben Franklin and Sam was offered...
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...other areas becoming the ‘Walmart’ of e-commerce world. By 2010, Amazon had a higher market cap than Target Corporation, Home Depot, Costco, Barnes and Noble, and Best Buy, only lagging behind that of Walmart among the US brick and mortar retailers. Our study would focus on analyzing how Amazon revolutionized the concept of digital enterprise and succeeded in becoming the numero uno online retail company. Amazon vision was to offer “Earth’s biggest selection” and to be “Earth’s most customer-centric company” and succeed to a greater extent in realizing this vision. Facing fierce competition from a variety of traditional and digitial competitors such as Walmart, Target, Bestbuy, Ebay, Barnes and Noble, Buy.com etc., Amazon was able to grow successful over the years through strategically reinventing and adopting itself. Amazon’s relentless costumer focus, ability to offer shopping convenience, consumer decision-enabling information, a wide selection, discounted pricing, and logistical competencies forms a very interesting case study for understanding present world’s competitive strategies of the firms. The growth of Amazon since its inception in 1995 and its evolution into its present business model help us learn some of the very important strategy lessons in staying competitive in the real world business and hence the motivation to pursue this study. Research Methodology: - What kind of data you think you might need to collect to study the issues that you selected...
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...Netflix case study CASE STUDY HOME ENTERTAINMENT Extended Diploma in Strategic Management & Leadership Units: U7 Strategic Marketing Management U12 Strategic Planning U13 Financial Principles and Techniques April 2013 CASE STUDY HOME ENTERTAINMENT Extended Diploma in Strategic Management & Leadership Units: U7 Strategic Marketing Management U12 Strategic Planning U13 Financial Principles and Techniques April 2013 Student’s Brief Scenario You are employed as a marketing consultant in the home entertainment sector. You have been asked by Netflix, Inc. to undertake a strategic audit in relation to the organisation’s: * core competencies * competitive advantage * value proposition You have also been asked to consider how Netflix, Inc. can remain competitive in the context of developments in technology, rising competition and changing consumer behaviour. Consideration should be given to the organisation’s financial position, its strategic risks and mitigating strategies to overcome these risks. Edited Extracts from Chartered Institute of Marketing (Case study: June 2011) Contents Introduction 4 Movie and TV programme licensing and distribution 5 Netflix, Inc 6 Netflix – advertising and marketing 7 Netflix’s competitors 7 Top ten movie download services 10 Data protection issues 10 The future for the industry 11 The future for Netflix 12 References 13 Home Entertainment Introduction Total...
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...Walmart was founded in 1962 and by 1990’s grew into the biggest retailer in the United States. Many business organizations such as Walmart invest heavily in information systems to achieve the following strategic business objectives: operational excellence; new products, services, and business models; customer and supplier intimacy; improved decision-making, competitive advantage; and survival. Successful attainment of these objectives aids company in implementing corporate strategies and achieving its goals. Operational excellence is one of the major aspects that companies strive to achieve in order to be successful. This includes efficiency of operations and higher levels of productivity and profitability. Walmart is able to operate and produce in a more effective way through the use of information systems and keen business practices. In 2010, Walmart realized 408 billion in sales because of its operational efficiency, which mostly results from the company’s utilization of Retail Link system, the industry’s leading data warehouse. Company is able to achieve such high sales through optimization of the existing relationship with suppliers and providing them with access to the Retail Link system, which is able to follow and store supplies’ movement from suppliers to warehouse, to store and then to customer. The system is providing just-in-time process of inventory control by automatically generating and sending an email to the supplier as soon as their item is sold. In this...
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...Analysis of Walmart Jennifer Boykin Strayer University Professor Swinney BUS 310 July 17, 2014 Analysis of Walmart 1. Analyze the organization overall, its primary purpose, the customers that it serves, and its size. In 1945 a businessman named Sam Walton made the decision to purchase a branch of the Ben Franklin Stores with the idea of focusing on selling products at lower prices in order to earn higher volume sales at a lower profit margin. Once he was able to overcome a few obstacles, he gained the ability to locate lower-cost suppliers who allowed him with the opportunity to have a significant advantage over his local competitors. Over the next five years, Walton drastically increased his sales percentage and by the time his lease on the Ben Franklin stores were up, he opened a new franchise called “Walton’s Five and Dime”. This new franchise would eventually give birth to today’s most successful multinational retail corporation known as Walmart. By 1970, the company had 38 stores operating throughout Arkansas and within the next decade, they continued to grow rapidly with a total of 1,198 stores with sales totaling $15.9 billion Walmart has since opened thousands of stores throughout the United States and have also expanded internationally. The company currently operates over 11,000 retail units under 71 banners in 27 countries and e-commerce websites in 10 countries (“Our Business” 2014). Walmart has rapidly...
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...Shelby Kueser Dan Cramer Speech 201 September 18, 2010 The High Cost of Low Price Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience that by shopping at wal-mart you are contributing to the discrimination against women, racial minorities, and the job loss of the American people. Central Idea: By shopping at wal-mart you are encouraging the continuance of gender discrimination, racial discrimination, unsupportive pay scale, and the outsourcing of American jobs by the closing of small businesses. Introduction I. Wal-Mart leads you to believe that they are an equal opportunity employer, while white men fill the majority of management positions. II. Wal-Mart states that they are one of the top paying employers with full-time benefits, yet the majority of their employees are keep under part-time positions. III. Many small businesses are forced out of business due to false price-cutting by Wal-Mart. (Transition: Wal-Mart can hurt the people it comes in contact with in many ways, including its own employees, starting with the women.) Body I. Wal-Mart is currently involved in the largest class-action lawsuit in history. A. 1.5 million women are suing Wal-Mart for gender discrimination in management hiring practices. i. Started with 6 women suing Wal-Mart in 2001. B. In its 6-5 ruling, the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said the world’s largest private employer will have to face charges that it pays women less than men...
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