...need at a lower cost. Companies all over the United States are fighting to stay competitive and are seeking ways to restructure their company and still provide for consumers the best possible prices. Companies such as Wal-Mart do not have to change their structure to fit the demands of consumers because it already offers its customers brand name items at lower prices. Wal-Mart’s basic structure has helped make it a powerful retail business, and a place consumer’s love. Market Structure Wal-Mart Stores Inc. opened its first discount store in 1962, Sam Walton had no idea his business would be the success that it is today. The reason for Wal-Mart’s success is their ability to create a basic structure for their business. Wal-Mart offers a variety of well-known brands and sells them at about 5-10% cheaper than other retailers. This makes Wal-Mart a powerful force in the retail business. Wal-Mart Stores is considered an oligopoly market structure. Colander (2008) defines oligopoly as a market condition in which sellers are so few that the actions of any one of them will materially affect price and have a measurable impact on competitors. With their continued success, Wal-Mart’s market structure could also be considered a monopolistic competitive structure. Wal-Mart has all the characteristics of a monopolistic competitive structure as described by Colander (2008), they have many sellers, offer differentiated products, and they exhibit multiple dimensions of competition....
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...In today’s society, there are many instances in which powerful organizations are falsely representing endorsements. Powerful corporations and government bodies involve themselves in the act of astroturfing to develop and enhance their reputations. While researching the topic of astroturfing, I found information pertaining to the topic on Wikipedia. According to the website, the meaning behind the term “AstroTurf” implicates that there are no true roots, but instead fake and artificial support. These groups practice the use of masking fake sponsors of a message that promote their motives and ideas. In doing this, these groups make is appear as though they are supported by grassroots, genuine individuals who support a certain cause. These false...
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...What is a mission statement? A mission statement defines every facet of the organization and why they exist. People might wonder how to differentiate a good mission with a bad mission statement. A bad mission statement uses jargon, it's too long, complicated to understand, and it does not communicate why, but rather how and what. In contrast a good mission statement, it’s a powerful, straightforward, and memorable sentence explaining what the business is. The mission statements explain about customers, locations, products and services and gives the competitors a sense of rivalry. In addition, mission statement describes the business morals and gives guidance and encouragement to their employees. This will...
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...Wal-Mart: Corporate Giant or Corporate Beast? Ever since Wal-Mart’s establishment, there has been an ongoing debate amongst shoppers of whether or not the company is a magnificent creation or a complete monster. On one side, costumers cannot deny that their everyday savings certainly do draw a smile on their faces; while on the other side, costumers feel that there must be some terrible reason for the prices of their products to be so low. This mystery that has stewed up this ongoing debate over the years about Wal-Mart needs to be discovered. In order to discover this mystery, research on the topic has to go all the way back to the beginning stages of the company. From the birth of the company to present day empire it has created, one question must be answered: corporate giant or corporate beast? Wal-Mart has a long history and they have been around much longer than what most people think. The founder of Wal-Mart was Sam Walton. Sam Walton was born into a farmer’s family in Kingfisher, Oklahoma on March 29, 1918. [31] He had one brother whose name was James Walton. Sam’s father was a farmer until he decided that farming was not producing enough revenue and decided to become a mortgage man. Sam grew up in the great depression where he learned many moral values like working hard. He had many odd jobs so he could help his family out with money. The family then moved to Florida, while there Sam became the youngest Eagle Scout in the state’s history. After graduating...
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...picture of the way we shop, and how it has changed over time. There used to be specialty stores like a TV shop, hardware store and independently ran car garages, but they are being replaced by mini malls, Wal-Mart’s, and Jiffy Lubes. These “little men” still exist but are hurting. It is close to impossible to compete with the low prices that these chains can offer. In the article “The Store to All Ends” the company Wal-Mart is scrutinized. Why is Wal-Mart so successful? How is it affecting the world? Have you ever heard this? “Wal-Mart is taking over the world!” This statement is a little outlandish, but in all seriousness, maybe it is somewhat true. As the years go on, it seems that companies such as Wal-Mart keep getting bigger and more powerful. With all the corporate greed and global competition to produce goods at the lowest possible price, no one is worried about any of the negative effects that are resulting from it. Along with these businesses gaining too much power, jobs are being lost, taxes are being raised, and it is us as consumers who are the only ones who can change it. Over the past few decades, Americans have watched both their small hometown businesses and larger, upper scale companies go out of business due to huge corporations such as Wal-Mart using their power to control the economy. Everyone is looking...
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...Is Wal-Mart Too Powerful? In business, there is big, and there is Wal-Mart. With $245 billion in revenues in 2002, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is the world’s largest company. At Wal-Mart, “everyday low prices” is more than a slogan; it is the fundamental tenet of a cult masquerading as a company. Over the years, Wal-Mart has relentlessly wrung tens of billions of dollars in cost efficiencies out of the retail supply chain, passing the larger part of the savings along to the shoppers as bargain prices. A total annual savings approaching an astounding $100 billion. Wal-Mart’s marketplace clout is hard to overstate. In household staples such as toothpaste, shampoo, and paper towels, the company commands about 30% of the U.S. market, and analysts predict that its share of many such goods could hit 50% before decade’s end. Wal-Mart also is Hollywood’s biggest outlet, accounting for 15% to 20% of all sales of CDs, videos, and DVDs. The mega-retailer did not add magazines to its mix until the mid-1990s, but it now makes 15% of all single-copy sales in the U.S. This year alone, Wal-Mart hopes to open as many as 335 new stores in the U.S.: 55 discount stores, 210 supercenters, 45 Sam’s Clubs, and 25 Neighborhood markets. An additional 130 new stores are on the boards for foreign markets. Wal-Mart currently operates 1,309 stores in 10 countries, ranking as the largest retailer in Mexico and Canada. If the company can maintain its current 15% growth rate, it will double its revenue...
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...now? | | | With 3,550 stores in the U.S. and 1,000 Supercenters to be added in the next five years, all that's left for Wal-Mart is mop-up. It already sells more toys than Toys "R" Us, more clothes than the Gap and Limited combined and more food than Kroger. If it were its own economy, Wal-Mart Stores would rank 30th in the world, right behind Saudi Arabia. Growing at 11% a year, Wal-Mart would hit half a trillion dollars in sales by early in the next decade. But its mesmerizing success in the U.S. masks this fact: Overseas, Wal-Mart has won some--and lost a lot. Just a few victories have been swift: Canada, Mexico and the U.K. More than 80% of its international revenue comes from these three countries. In Europe it has proven at times adept, at times inept, at acquiring. In China it struggles with a dauntingly primitive supply chain. In Japan it is taking rice-grain-size steps so as not to damage a powerful but backward retail ecosystem. It has achieved runaway success in Mexico, but stumbled among stronger competitors in the huge markets of Brazil and Argentina. Some big blunders are behind it. Wal-Mart entered Hong Kong in 1994 and left two years later after screwing up merchandise selection and location. It entered Indonesia in 1996, but tucked tail soon after a Jakarta store was looted and torched during the 1997-98 riots. Wal-Mart lost hundreds of millions of dollars in Germany after trying to force its systems on two acquisitions. It has yet to click in...
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...Wal-Mart Goes International: Stepping into International Waters Abstract The vision set by Wal-Mart is to continue progressing in the retail business not only in the United States, but internationally as well. The company's mission, provide cheap products and services to the public, claims to be the driving force that makes the company aspire in retaining leadership in the retail industry. This paper will explore reasons behind Wal-Mart’s engagement in an aggressive effort to penetrate the international market to sustain its growth in the coming years. The strategies utilized by the Wal-Mart company focus on market penetration, specifically since Wal-Mart is a highly recognizable brand. It is a well-known reality that for a company to be completely successful in the industry it belongs, it must venture in the international arena. We shall look at the drivers of globalization and analyze the various forces (economic, financial, physical, environmental, socio-cultural, labor, political, and legal) which may have impacted the decision to go global. Additionally, we will evaluate whether Wal-Mart will taint international business with negative publicity. Wal-Mart Goes International: Stepping into International Waters Wal-Mart transcended into international waters in 1991 when the company opened a Sam’s Club near Mexico City. Two years later, Wal-Mart International was born. Today, Wal-Mart International is a fast-growing part of Wal-Mart's overall operations, with 4,082...
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...Challenged Exam Part 1 Walmart-Bharti Case Walmart-Bharti Case (1A) it’s quite simple how Wal-Mart became a world leader in supply chain management. Wal-Mart’s main focus was to develop cost structures that would allow them to provide low costs friendly everyday prices for all of its customers. They accomplished this by eventually cutting off all middle man distributors. Although this is what ultimately Wal-Mart above the rest of the competition it didn’t work right away in Wal-Mart’s earlier years. Just like any large or small business Wal-Mart went through both its share of trials and tribulations. When Wal-Mart first developed the RFID technology, the company began to greater strides towards become a world leader in supply chain management. As years past and technology became more apparent and pivotal to businesses along with everyday life, Wal-Mart understood that it was necessary and effective for the company to take advantage and implement it throughout their business entirely. The particular area in which board members along with upper management believed that it was most important and needed the most to implement newer technology was in inventory management and logistics. Traditionally technology at Wal-Mart was most popular were in computerization of individual sales, and billing machines that were responsible for central billing and keeping different records. As Wal-Mart started growing as a business so did their inventory and they found that they needed to...
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...Wal-Mart Wal-Mart is known for its low prices to the American market. There is a clash between these low prices they offer to the American customers and the interest of the American workers. The low prices that they have offered the American market has made if very difficult if not impossible for their competitors to keep up with them which in turn put those competitors out of business. Wal-Mart has given us efficiency which is a good thing and should not be held accountable for its competitors not being able to keep up. “Wal-Mart is not just the world's largest retailer. It's the world's largest company--bigger than ExxonMobil, General Motors, and General Electric. The scale can be hard to absorb. Wal-Mart sold $244.5 billion worth of goods last year. It sells in three months what number-two retailer Home Depot sells in a year.” Wal-Mart is just a good business because they can afford to give these rock bottom prices. We all know the downside twist to this great deal that Wal-Mart has offered. They are accused of shutting down local businesses, driving down employment rates and mistreating workers especially women and youth. If anything we realize that this is a very powerful enterprise. Their sales associates, who comprise the majority of workers within the company, only earned average annual wages of $13,861 in 2001. This was about $769 below the poverty line for a family of three. So when it comes to employment there is no debate that it is not the most beneficial thing...
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...Wal-Mart’s Economic Influence on the American Economy and American Protectionism Policy ------------------------------------------------- Prepared by: Ugur Kaya Professor: John Bottomley Date: 09 December 2011 Word Count: 1570 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The purpose of this report is to present Wal-Mart’s influence on the American economy in the long term. This report has considered Wal-Mart’s damaging effects on local stores and manufacturers which cause loss of jobs in the American society. Furthermore, effects of importing goods from foreign countries and selling it in local market are discussed. After taking above criteria into consideration, it is demonstrated that Wal-Mart impacts the American economy badly in long term. In order to recover the damages done to local manufacturers, retail stores and other injured parties/individuals, the American government may impose a protectionist policy. Table of Contents INTRODUCTION 1 BACKGROUND 1 DISCUSSION 2 CONCLUSION 4 WORKS CITED 5 INTRODUCTION The purpose of this report is to determine if and why or why not the United States of America may become more protectionist of the American economy than it is currently. In order to decide if harm is being done to American economy in the long term, Wal-Mart’s economic influence on the American economy will be taken into consideration as an example. BACKGROUND Wal-Mart is the largest company in the world, in the history. This is proven by numbers, revenue...
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...Wal-Mart Wal-Mart operates both retail stores and super centers around the world. The retail business is Wal-Mart's primary income and the foundation of the Wal-Mart empire in which the super center dominate the retail market offering the traditional retail household wares as well as groceries. The company also operates a chain of membership warehouses similar to Costco and B.J.'s, called Sam's Club, named after its founder Sam Walton. Since 1991, when Wal-Mart opened a Sam's Club in Mexico, the company has been international and has a separate international division which comprises the third arm of the organization. Wal-Mart's mission, as stated in their corporate site, is "Saving money to help people them live better". The company archives this by offering the “lowest price” possible in the market, for any particular good, and now services have been added to the Wal-Mart stores and supercenters such as money transfers and check cashing services. The company has sought to get a banking license and already has its own credit card. (http://walmartstores.com/AboutUs/). Following is an external assessment, utilizing Porter's model for a competitive analysis. Barriers to Entry. In terms of competition, there is little, due to Wal-Mart's automated supply chain and economies of scale which allow it to under price their competition. The supply chain and global network are barriers to other entrants. Wal-Mart also has the financial capital to protect them from any...
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...Assignment 3: Wal-Mart, 2005 MKTG 6301.PI1: Marketing for Managers Saturday, 4 August 2013 Summary “Give me a W! Give an A! Give me an L! ...” If you just listen close enough, you just might hear this cheer echoing in a neighborhood near you. The likelihood of this happening has increased right along with Wal-Mart’s growing global presence to 4,900 U.S. stores along with a global presence to 11 countries around the world. Lee Scott, CEO Wal-Mart, was quoted as saying, “Could we be two times larger? Sure. Could we be three times larger? I think so.” The question then becomes, is this healthy for the U.S. business climate as well as for Americans in general? Wal-Mart’s growth is two fold. First is their “Everyday low prices”(EDLP) model combined with their low-wage and little to no benefits model. Through maximizing these models, Wal-Mart has grown into the super giant they are today. This has created a reputation for them as the corporate bully or the wimpy rich kid who owns the bat and ball. Either way they control the game and the output. Which leads to our discussion today, where we will take a look at the company from a variety of angles and viewpoints, some of their key issues, review a SWOT analysis that will guide us to our decision and why we believe this is the best path forward for Wal-Mart. Questions to keep in mind as we go along are: “Does Wal-Mart know what’s best?” and “Do consumers even care?” Whether one is a fanatic of Wal-Mart, or resents the...
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...from now? | | | With 3,550 stores in the U.S. and 1,000 Supercenters to be added in the next five years, all that's left for Wal-Mart is mop-up. It already sells more toys than Toys "R" Us, more clothes than the Gap and Limited combined and more food than Kroger. If it were its own economy, Wal-Mart Stores would rank 30th in the world, right behind Saudi Arabia. Growing at 11% a year, Wal-Mart would hit half a trillion dollars in sales by early in the next decade. But its mesmerizing success in the U.S. masks this fact: Overseas, Wal-Mart has won some--and lost a lot. Just a few victories have been swift: Canada, Mexico and the U.K. More than 80% of its international revenue comes from these three countries. In Europe it has proven at times adept, at times inept, at acquiring. In China it struggles with a dauntingly primitive supply chain. In Japan it is taking rice-grain-size steps so as not to damage a powerful but backward retail ecosystem. It has achieved runaway success in Mexico, but stumbled among stronger competitors in the huge markets of Brazil and Argentina. Some big blunders are behind it. Wal-Mart entered Hong Kong in 1994 and left two years later after screwing up merchandise selection and location. It entered Indonesia in 1996, but tucked tail soon after a Jakarta store was looted and torched during the 1997-98 riots. Wal-Mart lost hundreds of millions of dollars in Germany after trying to force its systems on two acquisitions. It has yet to click in South...
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...Wal-Mart Case Study – RFID Introduction Technology is inevitable in every sphere of life today; it has always made things easier. Wal-Mart works on the same strategy, from the above description; we can understand how diversified Wal-Mart is and the volume of cargo it needs to handle for each of its business’s. Traditionally, it had started with computerization of individual stores with small billing machines and had then led to centralized billing for record keeping. The technology has grown by leaps and bounds and has become increasingly challenging to maintain large databases of information and maintain records. Powerful computers networked with high performance clusters maintain and store this data. This gives a picture as to how technology plays a vital role in today’s’ businesses. Traditionally, technology has been upgraded in billing systems and for storage purposes. A new area where technology could be applied to, where many expenses could be saved was in inventory management and logistics. Wal-Mart being so huge, needed to keep track of men and material sent across different countries and had to maintain hundreds of warehouses across the world. Bar-codes have been initially identified as a suitable technology to meet the purpose. But due to the limitations of barcodes, a new emerging technology called RFID has been identified to meet the demands. RFID is low cost Radio Frequency Identification system which requires minimum human intervention to carry out tasks...
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