...BENTONVILLE, ARK. - Wal-Mart may not have been successful in Germany but the lessons learned during a struggle that lasted nearly a decade in Europe's largest economy are evident today throughout the retailer's global operations and its approach to acquisitions. It was an expensive lesson. The decision to sell its 85 stores to German retoiler Metro AG will result in a $1 billion pretax loss during the second quarter, but the move is in keeping with WaIMart's renewed focus on achieving higher rates of return on its invested capital. Successful execution of that strategy, even if it means shedding pieces of its business, is viewed as a key to helping the company's long-suffering stock price break out of its six-year slump. "As we focus our efforts on where we can have the greatest impact on our growth and return-on-investment strategies, it has become increasingly clear that in Germany's business environment it would be difficult for us to obtain the scale and results we desire," said WalMart vice chairman Mike Duke in reference to the decision to exit Germany. Those comments are nearly identical to a statement in late May when Wal-Mart announced the sale of its 16 stores in South Korea. "As we continue to focus our efforts where we can have the greatest impact on our growth strategy, it became increasingly clear that in South Korea's current environment it would be difficult for us to reach the scale we desired," Duke said. Both decisions were viewed positively by...
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...BENTONVILLE, ARK. - Wal-Mart may not have been successful in Germany but the lessons learned during a struggle that lasted nearly a decade in Europe's largest economy are evident today throughout the retailer's global operations and its approach to acquisitions. It was an expensive lesson. The decision to sell its 85 stores to German retoiler Metro AG will result in a $1 billion pretax loss during the second quarter, but the move is in keeping with WaIMart's renewed focus on achieving higher rates of return on its invested capital. Successful execution of that strategy, even if it means shedding pieces of its business, is viewed as a key to helping the company's long-suffering stock price break out of its six-year slump. "As we focus our efforts on where we can have the greatest impact on our growth and return-on-investment strategies, it has become increasingly clear that in Germany's business environment it would be difficult for us to obtain the scale and results we desire," said WalMart vice chairman Mike Duke in reference to the decision to exit Germany. Those comments are nearly identical to a statement in late May when Wal-Mart announced the sale of its 16 stores in South Korea. "As we continue to focus our efforts where we can have the greatest impact on our growth strategy, it became increasingly clear that in South Korea's current environment it would be difficult for us to reach the scale we desired," Duke said. Both decisions were viewed positively by...
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...Introduction In 1997, Wal-Mart Inc had acquired 21 units of a well known chain of stores in Germany named Wertkauf. One year later, another acquisition deal involving 74 units of the market chain Interspar was negotiated between Wal-Mart Inc and Spar Handels AG. (Arndt, Knorr, 2003) The negotiations were a success, and through the acquisitions Wal-Mart had quickly evolved into one of the biggest operators in the German hypermarket industry. Though the first acquisition was considered to be a wise investment because of Wertkauf’s previous success, Interspar was not looked at the same way. The Interspar hypermarket chain was in serious need of financial reformation as the business itself was unprofitable. Wal-Mart did manage to improve the line of former Interspar hypermarkets; however other factors played a role in the failure of our expansion. This report will disclose non-financial aspects of Wal-Mart’s failure to succeed in Germany. Problem Statement Wal-Mart needs to adjust its business plan in a way that facilitates cultural understanding and adheres to the laws and regulations of Germany. Measurable Objective and Long-term Goal With a very small market share at 1.1%, (Sundarji, 2012) turnover of 2.9 billion Euros and further losses of 1 billion Euros, (Arndt, 2003) a long-term goal would be to make the business profitable, increase employee satisfaction and. An increase of the market share, elimination of debt, reversal of employee cuts and an increase in...
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...INB400 – International Organization and Management Term paper Wal-Mart’s culturally and institutionally flawed entry into the German retail market Joakim Holsten Leren s105710 Julianne Øien s106222 Mirko Wichmann s145433 Lara-Caterina Buggert s145400 Eloise De Bont s145611 22 pages Table of Contents Introduction 2 Case presentation 2 The Wal-Mart concept 3 Institutional challenges [to be deleted] 4 Cultural challenges [to be deleted] 4 German market 5 Theoretical Background 5 The cultural perspective 6 The institutional perspective 9 Case Analysis 12 The cultural perspective 12 The institutional perspective 15 Recommendations 19 Cultural 19 Institutional 20 Limitations 22 Cultural 22 Institutional 22 Conclusion 23 References: 25 Introduction The purpose of this paper is to address and analyze the challenges Wal-Mart faced during its entrance into the German market in the late 1990s. We have analyzed this with the following problem in mind: “Which aspects, both cultural and institutional, led to Wal-Mart’s failure in Germany and what should they have done instead?” We will approach this problem by outlining theoretical frameworks for analyzing cultural and institutional aspects of a company. We will then employ said theories in order to analyze the case of Wal-Mart’s failure in Germany. Finally, we will come to a conclusion concerning what they should have done as they entered into the German market...
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...was one of the years that marked the biggest retrenchment in Wal-Mart’s history. It was the year that Wal-Mart had decided to exit the German market after trying to penetrate it for about eight years. The company undertook its international expansion in the early 1990s to rejuvenate sales and growth. However, on July 30th, 2006, Wal-Mart had announced that it was selling its operations to German retailer Metro. In May of same year, Wal-Mart had also announced that it was selling its 16 stores in South Korea, admitting another internationalization failure. What went wrong with Germany? Wal-Mart had underestimated its German competitors, the power of German shoppers, cultural differences and the power of labor unions in Europe. The company did not expect that these differences would impede its ability to apply in Germany what worked so well in the United States. German competitors offered very low prices, while German shoppers had shown how demanding they can be and that they buy products predominantly based on price; even if that meant going to a few different retail stores during their shopping trip. German shoppers were also not accustomed to workers putting their groceries in shopping bag. Moreover, German regulations limited Wal-Mart’s ability to offer extended weekend hours and sell merchandise below cost. Strong labor unions limited the ability to contain operation costs. During its time in Germany, Wal-Mart had four presidents in eight years, which marked an organization...
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...WAL-MART IN GERMANY The case features in David Needle (2010), Business in Context, 5th edition, Cengage/South-Western, pp. 159-62. The Wal-Mart Success Story The first Wal-Mart store was established by Sam Walton in 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas. At first expansion was steady with 24 stores by 1967. The initial focus for Wal-Mart operations was small town, rural America. The company grew to 276 stores by 1980 and the Wal-Mart empire reached 640 stores by 1984. The company currently has around 4,100 stores in the USA and by 2003 it was the world’s largest retailer, three times as large as its nearest rival, the French company, Carrefour. It was also the world’s largest employer with 1.9 million employed worldwide in 2007. In terms of revenue, it remains the world’s largest company and in 2002 it was ranked number one in the Fortune 500. Wal-Mart is noted for its large and diverse product range, which includes food, clothing, electrical goods, homeware, pharmaceuticals and so on. The USA business comprised four types of operation, ‘supercenters’, ‘discount stores’, ‘Sam’s Club’ and a small number of convenience stores. The ‘supercenters’ carry the full range of goods, including food and a large variety of other types of merchandise. The ‘discount stores’ are like the ‘supercenters’ without the food and ‘Sam’s Club’ is a membership discount warehouse for bulk purchases. According to Knorr and Arndt (2003) the success of Wal-mart is based on four factors. • Low prices. • A focus on...
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...Cross-Cultural Perspectives Wayne Hawley ETH/316 August 18th, 2014 Tana Romero Cross-Cultural Perspectives Wal-Mart is a global organization with a multinational presence. Wal-Mart started in the United States of America and after obtaining huge success in the U.S., they went global with their brand of marketing and selling products at a lower price than their competitors, in order to help lower income families. Wal-Mart is considered the world’s largest retailer, but this title has not come without issues. Wal-Mart Cultural issues Wal-Mart is a massive retail store chain in the United States, this goes without saying. I would find it hard to believe you could find a single person in the United States that has not heard of or been to a Wal-Mart. Because of their great success in the U.S., it only makes sense they would travel abroad and attempt to bring their services to other countries. Wal-Mart devised and produced a 36 page, global policy for ethics, which states the following: According to "Walmart Statement of Ethics" (n.d.), “Each business organization Walmart operates is expected to have a complete set of policies providing guidance to associates for whatever country they are working in”. “Walmart also publishes several “global policies,” which are designed to give associates a set of rules that are the same for all locations.” “This Statement of Ethics is an example of a global policy.” “If any part of this Statement of Ethics goes against local...
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...1. Compare and contrast Wal-Mart’s efforts in Germany and South Korea with its operation in China? After more than a decade, Wal-Mart left Germany failing to become the popular “Everyday Low Prices” all in one shopping spot as it is in the U.S. Walmart has also failed abroad in other countries such as South Korea. There were only 16 stores in South Korea and was eventually sold out to a Korean discount chain, Shinsegae, for $882 million dollars. Reasons why Wal-Mart fails in these countries occur from the lack of strategic plan, other than the duplication of the U.S. strategy. The strategy of low prices, keen inventory control, and a huge selection of goods was not a success in German and Korean markets. The culture was also a factor that Wal-Mart needed to consider and alter their strategy before entering Germany and South Korea. For example, in Germany the company had American managers that like in the U.S. offer to bag groceries while Germans like to bag their own groceries. Also, the customer service was translated into being overly friendly with customers where smiling and greeting is not a norm in Germany. In addition, Wal-Mart never established relations with labor unions. In Korea, the racks were taller than that of competitors which raised a problem for people having to use ladders to reach items and the infrastructure also turned customers off with ceilings that showed pipes while their competitor E-Mart had decorated ceilings. Having failed to the tastes of South Korean...
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...For the exclusive use of S. WANG 9-704-027 REV: JULY 20, 2004 GUNNAR TRUMBULL LOUISA GAY Wal-Mart in Europe “Never resist change… We have to be able to place a store or club side-by-side with the competition and beat them every time.” —!David Glass, Director and Chairman of the Board, Wal-Mart1 “In Germany, we know how retail is spelled.” —!Holger Wenzel, Director, German Retail Federation Introduction “What are the 10 worst things we can do to fail?”2 This was how Lee Scott, CEO of Wal-Mart, summarized Wal-Mart’s approach to working in Germany. Wal-Mart had entered the German retail market in 1997, with the acquisition of the failing German retail chain Wertkauf, and had quickly encountered problems. Wal-Mart’s EveryDay Low Price (EDLP) guarantee, inventory control, and efficient distribution strategy, so strong in the United States, had each been a source of headaches. Wal-Mart went through protracted struggles with labor unions, with suppliers, and with local zoning boards. It also weathered a major pricing scandal, had been fined for failing to return used bottles to producers, and, in a case that was on appeal at Germany’s constitutional court, faced a 330,000 euro fine for failing to release financial data for Wal-Mart Germany. This was not the first time that Wal-Mart International had run into problems with overseas expansion. It had quickly pulled out of Indonesia after a disappointing ‘test project’ in the early 1990s. Yet in most cases, time had worked...
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...retailing: the case of Wal-Mart’s failure in Germany Susan Christophersonà Abstract Wal-Mart’s exit from the German market in 2006 after 10 years of attempting to achieve sustainable competitive advantage contributes an interesting case to the small but expanding literature on ‘failure’ in international investment. The work on the disinvest decision in all its forms has been critical to a re-conceptualization of the international investment process as dynamic rather than static, linear and inexorable. An important segment of the work on investment and disinvestment as dynamic processes focuses on the environment in which investment and disinvestment decisions evolve. While the environment of the host country market has begun to be examined, the market environment of the country in which the retail transnational corporation (TNC) originates also affects the international disinvestment process. To explore this ‘home country effect’, I examine the resources Wal-Mart brought into the German market and their ability to use those resources in the German context. WalMart’s resources were shaped by the market governance regime in which the firm evolved, and not insignificantly, over which it had and has influence. Within this theoretical frame, Wal-Mart’s reliance on the resources of network dominance and autonomous action that made for its success in the USA contributed to unsuccessful strategies in the German retailing market. Keywords: lean retailing, Wal-Mart, Germany, corporate governance...
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...Case Study: Wal-Mart’s failure in Germany Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is the largest retailer in the world, the world’s second-largest company and the nation’s largest nongovernmental employer. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. operates retail stores in various retailing formats in all 50 states in the United States. The Company’s mass merchandising operations serve its customers primarily through the operation of three segments. The Wal-Mart Stores segment includes its discount stores, Supercenters, and Neighborhood Markets in the United States. The Sam’s club segment includes the warehouse membership clubs in the United States. The Company’s subsidiary, McLane Company, Inc. provides products and distribution services to retail industry and institutional foodservice customers. Wal-Mart serves customers and members more than 200 million times per week at more than 8,416 retail units under 53 different banners in 15 countries. With fiscal year 2010 sales of $405 billion, Wal-Mart employs more than 2.1 million associates worldwide. Nearly 75% of its stores are in the United States (“Wal-Mart International Operations”, 2004), but Wal-Mart is expanding internationally. The Group is engaged in the operations of retail stores located in all 50 states of the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom, Central America, Chile, Mexico,India and China Wal-Mart’s entry and operation in Germany Wal-Mart’s initial entry into German market was through the acquisitions...
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...Wal-Mart Takes On the World Submitted To: Dr. Kamal Uddin Department of International Business Course Name: Global Marketing Submitted By: Md. Khairul Anam ID NO: 80104020 Md. Arafat Islam ID NO: 80104070 Batch: 4th , EMBA, Department of International Business Department of International Business University of Dhaka Wal-Mart Takes On the World Questions 1. In which countries has Wal-Mart done well? Can you identify any common consumer, market, retailer, or entry strategy traits across these countries that might account for Wal-Mart’s success? Answer: Wal-Mart has done well in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Hong Kong, China, and England. The United States, Canada, Hong Kong, and England are relatively affluent markets; Mexico is in-between and China and Brazil lag behind Mexico in affluence. Thus, the first trait of Wal-Mart’s success might be countries with healthy economies—at least healthy enough that customers have some disposable income. Another characteristic is that these markets may not be as demanding as the Germans and Japanese. Perhaps they are more interested in lower price (the British seem to be like the United States in this regard). Obviously price would be important in Mexico and China, where incomes are lower. Canada and the United States are considered predominantly Anglo countries, so perhaps the success of Wal-Mart in these countries along with the United Kingdom...
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...Company Wal-Mart that has expanded internationally and the applied strategy for entering the German market. Additionally assessed will be the barriers that were faced and Wal-Mart’s failure in Germany. Finally there will be recommendations by the author of what they could have done differently. Wal-Mart operates nowadays over 11,500 stores in 28 countries world - wide (Wal-Mart Stores, Inc, 2015). As further domestic success for Wal-Mart in the U.S. was limited because of competitors like Target and K-Mart, they decided to expand internationally (Arndt, 2003). Wal-Mart entered the German market in 1997 (Jui, 2011). The management was confident that their success in USA can be replicated elsewhere all over the world and the German market seemed to be very attractive at that time as the world’s third largest economy (Arndt, 2003). Wal-Mart designed an international expansion strategy, which was also used for the German market (Brunn, 2006, p. 261). Instead of building their own stores as it is typical for Wal-Mart in the U.S., they focused internationally on takeovers of already existing chains (Brunn, 2006, p. 263). Germany’s leading supermarkets are usually privately owned, whereas Wal-Mart got only the possibility to buy the weak chains Interspar and Wertkauf, which also generated the first problem with their entry into the German market (Brunn, 2006, p. 263). Consequently, their start in Germany was rough from the very beginning. The different Wal-Mart stores in Germany were...
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...How Germany Busted Wal-Mart’s Bubble Reasons and lessons learned behind Wal-Mart’s failed attempt into Germany * Founder Sam Walton opened the first store in 1962 and is now the world’s largest retailer with more than 10,000 retail units under 69 different banners in 27 countries. * 2.2 million employees serving 200 million customers and members every week. * Net sales for 2012 increased 5.9% to $443.9 billion, $125 billion derived from international sales. * Wal-Mart’s 2012 Annual Report…… Five key strategies that are central to Wal-Mart’s future success: 1. Developing their people 2. Driving the productivity loop 3. Winning in Global eCommerce 4. Reinvigorating their customer–focused culture 5. Being the lead on social and environmental issues Wal-Mart’s History in the German Market * Entry began in 1997 with the acquisition of 21 hypermarkets from Wertkauf GmbH, then another 74, which included sites which previous owners had failed to make profitable. * Wal-Mart Germany was initially lead by an American (who didn’t speak a word of German.) Lacking an understanding for German culture, Wal-Mart misfires a second time by replacing the CEO with a Brit to take the helm. * Unable to find what makes German consumers “tick”, Wal-Mart exits the $370 billion German retail market and sells its 85 operations to rival Metro AG, incurring a pretax loss of $1 billion *Wal-Mart’s largest global competitor Carrefour SA of...
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...Wal-Mart’s Foreign Expansion 1. Do you think Wal-Mart could translate its merchandising strategy wholesale to another country and succeed? If not, why not? Wal-Mart cannot translate its merchandising strategy wholesale to just any country. It has to be willing to adapt its strategy to the local culture and the local buying patterns, etc. For example, where Wal-Mart was successful (China and Mexico), it adapted to meet the needs of the local shopper. In Mexico, Wal-Mart hired local managers to help it find ways to adapt to the local culture and to better meet the needs of local shoppers, it provided smaller stores that people could walk that were stocked with more fresh produce. In China, Wal-Mart redesigned meat packaging and offered live fish that the buyer could net and take home for dinner that day. This practice made Wal-Mart more appealing to the Chinese shopper because they prefer fresh meat and fish. In the countries in which Wal-Mart failed (Germany and South Korea), it failed to adjust its discount strategy that had previously worked but did not appeal to the local shoppers. The shoppers in Germany and South Korea preferred to shop at rival stores that stocked higher quality merchandise. Potentially Wal-Mart might have succeeded in these countries had it been willing to stock some higher quality merchandise; however, this would be counter to the strategy that has proved to be so successful for the company otherwise. 2. Why do you think Wal-Mart was successful...
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