Wal-Mart was founded in 1962 by Sam Walton (1). Wal-Mart grew to two hundred seventy-six stores in their first decade of service (1). Wal-Mart’s plan was to sale products at low cost while delivering on outstanding service and customer relations (1). Wal-Mart also felt that they could target more customers if they offered convenient hours of business (1). Wal-Mart currently operates in fifteen countries around the world, supplying different needs, preferences and services depending on local retail habits (2). By servicing each geographic location in its own way and supplying the needs of a particular area they seem to do very well (2). Wal-Mart adjusts and adapts to local culture and serves the community in a way that the customers are accustomed to being served (2). Wal-Mart usually enters a foreign country by purchasing an existing chain and simply changing the name to Wal-Mart while retaining key personnel such as management who already know the culture (2). Wal-Mart spends lots of time researching and planning before entering a new market. It sometimes takes years to open in a new market overseas (Class notes). First they try to learn the culture, language, and habits of the citizens of a certain culture. Then they study the products which seem to do well in each different are and try to target these products for these cultures at low prices worldwide (Class notes). In the past two decades Wal-Mart has taken advantage of the internet technological advances to change the way many companies do business worldwide (3). The sheer size of Wal-Mart enables the company to buy in bulk at lower prices allowing the discount retail prices given to customers (3). Wal-Mart is able to by all products in great volumes and in return their supplier cuts some of the cost due the amount of product sold. Wal-Mart has great marketing and management plans before entering a market which allows the company to do very well in many different countries and cultures (3). Wal-Mart has also had a hand in helping manufactures realize the advantages of customer satisfaction through quality (3). Despite all of Wal-Mart’s international success they have also learned some valuable lessons, mainly in South Korea and probably the biggest debacle of all, Germany (Class notes). When Wal-Mart originally decided to move into Germany in 1997 the potential for success seemed quite promising (4). The company made their entrance into the German market by purchasing "Wertzkauf" which included twenty-one locations (4).
Walmart is bad for America, as some say. The Globalization essay that was handed out in class had many good points. It states that Walmart puts many smaller businesses out of service. A recent study by David Neumark of the University of California at Irvine and two associates at the Public Policy Institute of California, "The Effects of Wal-Mart on Local Labor Markets," uses sophisticated statistical analysis to estimate the effects on jobs and wages as Wal-Mart spread out from its original center in Arkansas. The authors find that retail employmen...
Wal-Mart has had a significant economic impact on the US, as well as the economies of countries that have relations with the US. Wal-Mart is the world’s biggest company of any kind, with 80 percent of the households in America purchasing something from the superstore; it is the nation’s largest retailer. Wal-Mart’s continuing price reduction has given Americans the advantage of being able to afford 15 to 20 percent more than they previously could. (Hansen) In a world governed by globalization and greed, competition has become rigid; as a result firms like Wal-Mart have utilized advanced marketing strategies to insure that they are on the ‘neck’ of competition, and are the core deciders of the market. (Ortega) However, Wal-Mart made decisions that were of a disadvantage to aspects of the economy, including the depletion on a small scale of Small Town USA.
In 1962, Wal-Mart opened their first store in Rogers, Arkansas. In 1970, Wal-Mart's first distribution center and home office in Bentonville, Ark. open and Wal-Mart went public on the New York Stock Exchange. Just nine years from that, Wal-Mart's annual sales exceeded one billion dollars. In 1988, Wal-Mart super centers opened across the country. In a merely three years from that, Wal-Mart opened their own store in Mexico City, Mexico; making Wal-Mart an international corporation. Not even sixty years has past, and yet, Wal-Mart is over-powering our country.
Wal-Mart is one of the world's greatest assets to most people. It provides consumer's a place they can go to virtually get anything they need from, car repairs, to groceries, prescription's, even the latest toys and electronics. With all that said, this paper relates to the different forces in business that affects business: competitive, economic, political + legal + regulatory, technological, cultural + social, demographic, and natural forces. Although there are technically seven we are going to focus on competitive, political, technological, and natural forces.
Wal-Mart’s competitive environment is quite unique. Although Wal-Mart’s primary competition comes from general merchandise retailers, warehouse clubs and supermarket retailers also present competitive pressure. The discount retail industry is substantial in size and is constantly experiencing growth and change. The top competitors compete both nationally and internationally. There is extensive competition on pricing, location, store size, layout and environment, merchandise mix, technology and innovation, and overall image. The market is definitely characterized by economies of scale. Top retailers vertically integrate many functions, such as purchasing, manufacturing, advertising, and shipping. Large scale functions such as these give the top competitors a significant cost advantage over small-scale competition.
According to Smithson, Walmart can expand its markets to new and emerging markets especially in the third world countries, which can significantly increase its revenues. Secondly, the company can reform is employment practices and improve the quality standard and in doing so, attract more customers and improve its brand image. On the other hand, the company faces threats such as the rising healthy lifestyle trend I that the company in most cases does not provide customers with healthy goods. At the same time, the company can capitalize on this aspect and increase its revenues. Aggressive competition from other discount retailers such as Target creates a great threat to the company (Smithson, 2015).
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is in the discount, variety stores industry. It was founded in 1945, Bentonville in Arkansas which is also the headquarters of Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart operates locally as well as worldwide. It operated 1209 discount stores, 1980 super centers, and 567 Sam’s Club by January 31, 2006. It has also extended its operations to many international countries. It runs its retail stores in two forms: Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart Stores. The Sam’s Club sells assorted product lines such as hardwares, electronics, jewelry, and to mention a few. The Wal-Mart stores also offer similar products in addition to the following: health and beauty products, apparel for women, men and children, household appliances etc (www.yahoo.finance.com). The Vision Statement, Mission Statement, Values and Code of Conduct, Corporate Governance: Directors, Executive Management, Committees and Stakeholder will be the key elements that will discussed in this report as it relates to Wal-Mart. In addition to that, the major trends in the general/macro environment and industry will be analyzed.
The Wal-mart is the largest retail chain in United States and in the world. The wal-mart was founded in the year 1962 by Mr Sam Walton. It was originally named as Wal-Mart discount city in Rogers, Arkansas. At the time when the Wal-Mart stores started in the year 1962 it was focused only in small rural cites and town which had a population of 5000 to 25000. It was soon increased to 18 stores in 1969. In the next 30 years it had more than 4750 stores across 50 states in USA and 9 countries with $245 billion sales. It started its international operations in Mexico in the year 1991 and then it expanded it to different countries across Europe and Asia.
With its headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, Wal-Mart was commissioned in the hands of its founder Sam Walton. Generally, the Wal-Mart effect is structured in a manner that it aids economic experts to evaluate attached global and local economic effects to the famous Wal-Mart retail. The term Wal-Mart effect is often employed by analysts to refer to the wide variety of both negative and positive influences of the retail business (Hiltzik 1). Evaluation of the retail’s effects is significant as the business is not only a key figure is the world’s economy but also it is arguably the most performing private economic retail. Briefly, Wal-Mart has conventionally caught the eyes of consumers since it not only boosts their experience by suburbanizing local shopping but also it avails low commodity prices for necessities (Neumark, Junfu, and Stephen 406).
The opportunities to acquire other companies in Europe, Asia, and South America are virtually unlimited, and Wal-Mart always has the option to build its own stores there as well. Wal-Mart has also created additional opportunities for itself by designing several formats for its stores. The superstore concept which is such a success in the U.S. can be used in foreign countries where indicated, but Wal-Mart has also developed other store concepts that it can use where conditions seem to favor them: discount stores, neighborhood markets, and Sam 's Club warehouses, in addition to Internet web sites in the native language of the country ("Wal-Mart Fact Sheets"). Wal-Mart can exploit its opportunities by developing distinctive branding such as the Sam 's Club for every segment of its
The first Wal-Mart store opened in July of 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas by Sam Walton who believed that the future of retailing was in discounting and to avoid competing with established giants like Sears and Woolworth, Wal-Mart’s stated out of the large cities in the beginning and this strategy help avoid competition, while in rural areas Wal-Mart began growing their customer base by offering ways to save money and shorter travel distance, Sam Walton felt the best way to make customers happy was to provide the low prices every day (Farhoomand, 2006). The company needed to continually find ways to control the operating costs so the savings would then be passed on to Wal-Mart customers in the form of lower prices than the competitors. Walton was opposed to having any kind of employee unions for its company and saw them as a disruption and an inconvenience (Farhoomand, 2006). The continued search for lower prices made him aware of business related travel cost, Wal-Mart executives stayed in low cost hotels when they traveled and the cost related to the services provided by suppliers, Wal-Mart helped suppliers improve operations and efficiency to produce lower cost. Walton wanted the suppliers to correct any nonessential or insufficiencies existing in their business structures as a way of gaining lower prices and higher value products for its Wal-Mart stores. To further push savings Wal-Mart forced cost down by eliminating the middleman and buying directly from the manufacturers. This cost saving also applied to executive salaries Walton felt providing employees with stock options, training opportunities, and allow employees to grow and develop would be a better way to engage and involve them in his vision (Farhoomand, 2006).
Wal-Mart and Target are two similar global corporations. If one asks each of these store’s customers why they shop there, somewhere in their answer one will find them saying that they can find everything. The difference between these two corporations is their mission, marketing, and quality. Each of these stores are looking to offer a different experience despite selling similar goods. So, when profits are not changing in the United States, they’ve opted for an expansion into other countries. They have opened stores and provided services outside of the United States.
The first Wal-Mart was opened in Rogers, Arkansas, in 1962. By 1969 it was incorporated into Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., and in 1972 went public on the New York Stock Exchange. The company grew steadily across the United States, and by 1990 was the nation's largest retailer. In 1991 and 1994, Wal-Mart moved into Mexico and Canada respectively. By 1997 it was incorporated into the Dow Jones Industrial Average. As of 2005, Wal-Mart has stores in the United Kingdom, and Puerto Rico, and brings in revenue of close to 300 billion dollars a year. In 2006, Wal-Mart invaded the China and India's markets. During the last two decades, Wal-Mart has been able to take advantage of the rise of information technology and the explosion of the global economy to change the balance of power in the business world (Wikipedia, 2006). Today Wal-Mart continues to grow and their success is not only from their sound strategic management planning but also from its implementation of those strategic plans. In other words operational planning has been an important key to their success.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is a renowned retail goods superstore that sits atop the Fortune list at number one. It would be very difficult to find an individual who is unaware of Walmart’s position as the largest brick-and-mortar retail chain in the world. The company has thrived over the past few years and is continuing to grow by effectively managing its store operations and distribution strategies. One of the major contributors to the business consistently meeting market expectations is directly attributable to their management approach. Walmart has revolutionized the way retail companies manage their supply chains in more ways than one. But, perhaps the most revolutionary was the practice of unprecedented coordination with suppliers (Chekwa,
At the first, Wal-Mart only operates its business in home country. However, Wal-Mart became more integrated and independent by expanding internationally. In 1991, Wal-Mart start expands the business at international level which includes 26 countries outside of the United State such as Mexico, China and Canada. Now, Wal-Mart totally has more than 6100 stores in foreign country. The step taken by Wal-Mart is to improve and maintain their achievement outside of the home country. Wal-Mart’s strategy which expands their market at international level gains a lot of benefit to their business.