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Wal-Mart's Globalization Efforts

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Wal-Mart's Globalization Efforts
Over the years Wal-Mart has grown by leaps and bounds. Their presents has now been seen in "thirteen international markets" (Ball, Donald A.; Geringer, J. Michael; Minor, Michael S.; McNett, Jeanne M. 395). They began in Mexico, in 1991. From there they moved into Canada (1994), Hong Kong (1994), Brazil (1995), Argentina (1995), China (1996), Indonesia (1996), Germany (1998), South Korea (1998), the United Kingdom (1999), Japan (2002), Guatemala (2005), El Salvador (2005), Honduras (2005), Nicaragua (2005), Costa Rica (2005) and India (2007). Although they were not successful in every market, Wal-Mart is looking towards the future and the possibility of moving into Russia and South Africa.
1991
Wal-Mart made its first appearance in the international market in Mexico City. "The company used a 50-50 joint venture" (Ball, Donald A.; Geringer, J. Michael; Minor, Michael S.; McNett, Jeanne M. 396). Although they were not a new chain, Wal-Mart still made a few mistakes when entering a new country. "They had a huge American-style parking lot… [however] customers came in via buses not cars" (Mahajan-Bansal). They also made mistakes with product mix, trying to sell products that were not needed and sometimes not usable. They quickly figured out how to solve these small problems and Wal-Mart is now the number one retailer in Mexico (Mahajan-Bansal).
1994
Wal-Mart "entered Canada by acquiring 122 Woolco stores" (Ball, Donald A.; Geringer, J. Michael; Minor, Michael S.; McNett, Jeanne M. 397). Wal-Mart is the second largest retail chain in Canada (Bianco). It seems that they hardly made any mistakes with these acquisitions as they learned their lessons with the stores they had opened in Mexico.
Wal-Mart also entered Hong Kong in 1994. However, there presence there did not last long. "[They] left two years later after

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