Taking a Look at Walmart's Supply Chain Management System

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1. Nature of the Business Environment Wal-Mart delivers a wide variety of goods at competitive prices to add value and low cost its costs, making it the strongest company in the retail sector. Over the years, Wal-Mart has attracted the attention of many analysts because of its huge international success and its ability to target a wide demographic of shoppers. Wal-Mart is a discount retailor founded by Sam Walton in 1962. This Company has grown to be a retail giant with over 11,000 stores worldwide from Canada, Brazil, Argentina, UK, and China. When Walton initially founded Wal-Mart, his business strategy was to make everyday products available to ordinary consumers at affordable prices. Wal-Mart’s business strategy still remains the same: its main goal is to provide its customers with what they want, when they want it, and where they want it. This convenience is what made Wal-Mart an internationally recognized brand. Wal-Mart is a huge retail powerhouse that is able to maintain its competitive edge by cutting costs and maximizing shareholder wealth. Wal-Mart’s strength is derived from its in-depth and diverse supply chain that has been recognized as one of the best business management control systems. The company competes by providing low prices made possible through comprehensive supply lines that allow managers to shop around for the cheapest prices when determining what goods should fill store shelves. Wal-Mart’s ability to efficiently use supply chain management has given them a competitive advantage over their competitors such as: Target, Costco, Kmart, Real Canadian Superstore, Dollarama, etc. All of these rival firms have similar corporate structures to Wal-Mart’s - Costco is a warehouse store offering wholesale... ... middle of paper ... ...ayout, promotions, and inventory supplied. Wal-Mart needs to put its website on the same platform as it supply chain management. Wal-Mart is starting to make a come around by completing user surveys. It has recently refurbished its website for the holiday season, redesigning the layout and increasing the amount of products offered. Moreover, it has recently offered free shipping with a no-minimum order amount. Wal-Mart’s supply chain management system needs to ensure that not only are its individual stores having the required inventories but the designated online shopping warehouses are also having them to meet the demands of online shoppers. As with any managerial accounting tool, businesses are always looking to continuously pursue perfection in the business process. Wal-Mart is no different in continuously looking to improve its supply chain management system.

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