...The Grassroots Battle: Wal-Mart Supercenter Rosemead Stephen J.J. McGuire, Christine Chueh, Tia Mao & Isela Mercado California State University, Los Angeles September 11, 2008 Wal-Mart, founded in 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas, was the largest retail chain in the world. Its growth was derived from a wide range of competitive advantages, such as Wal-Mart’s sophisticated use of information technology to keep track of and reorder items, the use of “Just-in-Time” shipments of merchandise from distribution centers that eliminated the need for costly in-store inventory storage2, and the sheer economies of scale it achieved compared to its rivals. Wal-Mart also exploited “economies of density” to make the most of its centralized distribution hubs.3 These advantages, combined with its “Every Day Low Price” strategy, enabled Wal-Mart to serve its target market, of which the residents of Rosemead, California were typical. In 2003, Wal-Mart’s attempt to establish a Supercenter 12 miles from downtown Los Angeles in the city of Inglewood, California was stopped by a community grassroots effort to keep the retailer out. Wal-Mart then diverted its expansion plan to the nearby city of Rosemead, where a new Supercenter would benefit from two Wal-Mart distribution centers within a cluster of ten neighboring Wal-Mart stores. In September 2004, the Rosemead City Council voted in favor of Wal-Mart’s plans to open its first Supercenter in Los Angeles country, alienating many residents who felt their...
Words: 11305 - Pages: 46
...Wal-Mart is an all American multinational retailer corporation, with many different departments it is impossible not to find exactly what you are looking for. Thanks to their large warehouse stores and many chain stores, it has become the world’s largest public company. Wal-Mart is successful because of their business strategy, which is to offer their shoppers the lowest prices guaranteed. Wal-Mart finds way to save pennies in everything they do. They pay their estimated 1.6 million employees minimum wage, they offer low to none benefits. They also try to save money when it comes to heating and cooling their building. They push its supplies to cut prices, for example they pushed P&G to drop from putting deodorant into boxes. Wal-Mart’s strategy is also to build stores outside of large cities but still close to existing stores. Because stores are so close they save on distribution costs. They also save on advertising by relying on the customer by word-of-mouth. The characteristics of Wal-Mart target customers are low, middle class income families. They focus on women because they are usually the ones that do all the shopping. They look for busy people and need a one-stop store, where they can get everything they need from groceries to clothes and necessities. They target customers who are price conscience and price sensitive. Customers who want the lowest price possible without having to sacrifice quality. The average age of the typical Wal-Mart customer is 25-50. The Wal-Mart...
Words: 336 - Pages: 2
...“The Wal-mart effect” Written by: William S. Kowinski Business journalist Charles Fishman begins his book with a disarming story of how Wal-Mart produced an environmental benefit when the company decided that paperboard boxes around cans of deodorant were unnecessary. So they disappeared -- not only from Wal-Mart but from everywhere -- thereby saving many trees. But the reason Wal-Mart did this, and the reason everyone else followed, he argues, are also the key factors in a new kind and extent of destruction. These factors cause the various manifestations of the Wal-Mart effect, which is the subject of Fishman's book. The first factor is the company's single operating principle, administered absolutely, without exception: always low prices. It is not only Wal-Mart's slogan but also its one commandment, its ultimate morality, trumping all other considerations. The second factor is Wal-Mart's unprecedented size. "For most of this decade, Wal-Mart has been both the largest company in the world, and the largest company in the history of the world," Fishman writes. It still would be in 2006 except that the doubling of oil prices places Exxon-Mobil in the top spot. But Wal-Mart is still America's largest private employer -- as well as the world's. And its stated goal is to be twice its current size by 2010. Ninety percent of Americans live within 15 miles of a Wal-Mart, and 93 percent of U.S. households shop at one at least once a year. Fishman concludes: "Wal-Mart reshapes...
Words: 1231 - Pages: 5
...Executive Summary: This paper is an analysis and evaluation of Wal-Mart and the future venture into the retail sector of India. The challenges that Wal-Mart needs to resolve to become successful range from the cultural differences to problems with supply chain management in India. The analysis below identifies the challenges of many factors dealing with the Wal-Mart, Bharti and the Indian retail sector. These factors for Wal-Mart would deal with the ability to operate in India efficiently as they do in the US. In addition, Wal-Mart to be successful will have to sort out problems with the government, culture differences and the partnership with Bharti. These factors for Wal-Mart and Bharti will be presented in more specific detail through a SWOT analysis. The analysis will evaluate Wal-Mart as a company in relation to the future operation in the Indian market. Then the Bharti Company will be analyzed using a SWOT to pin point how the company will fit into the overall plan of Wal-Mart operating in India. The report will further evaluate the Indian retail sector through a competitive industry analysis using the Porter’s 5 forces model. This model will detail the threats to the market entry, supplier power, buyer power, availability of substitutes and competitive rivalry as they relate to the India retail sector. The report will then offer alternatives for the Wal-Mart company. These alternatives would include not progressing forward within India, chose a global market with less regulation...
Words: 492 - Pages: 2
...Wal-Mart Case study analysis Submitted by: Sarfaraj Heranja Roll No.: 33 Submitted to: Prof. Karan Shashtri VRIO framework of Wal-Mart Capabilities | Valuable? | Rare? | Hard to Imitate? | Support by organisation? | IT investments and systems | Y | N | N | Y | Economies of scale | Y | N | N | Y | Relationship with suppliers | Y | Y | Y | Y | Distribution system | Y | Y | Y | Y | Low price offerings | Y | Y | Y | Y | Culture | Y | Y | Y | Y | Core competencies: Relationship with suppliers: WalMart known for their supply chain management and this becomes possible because of their relationship with their suppliers. So it is valuable for them and rare also and supports by their logistic department. Distribution system: Distribution plays major role in WalMart’s low cost offerings. Because of their effective distribution network they can provide low cost products. So it is valuable for them and rare also and supports by their logistic department and marketing department. Low price offerings: WalMart’s main strategy is to provide low cost offerings to their customers and so it is their core competencies. Culture: WalMart’s value, thriftiness, hard work, innovation, continuous improvement makes the whole culture of organisation and because of their culture they can formulate and apply strategies. Firm Infrastructure Human Resource Management Hu HhhhhhhhHum Technology Devlopment Procurement Inbound Logistics Operations Outbound Logistics Marketing...
Words: 961 - Pages: 4
...Wal-Mart is the world’s largest retailer. It is bigger than ExxonMobil, General Motors, and General Electric. It does more business in three months than its number two competitor Home Depot does in a year. Just to help you gauge how large Wal-Mart has become it does more business than Target, Sears, Kmart, J.C. Penney, Safeway, and Kroger combined. They provide many jobs within communities because there are 8500 stores in 15 countries under 55 different names. Wal-Mart’s goal is to provide low prices to its customers no matter what the cost, but behind the scenes how is it really to work for Wal-Mart? Wal-Mart has the highest employee turnover rate of industry, over 50% turnover rate the first year. That means approximately 50,000 employee’s turnover per month. Overall Wal-Mart’s business model doesn’t care about the high employee turnover because it’s not a bad thing to them since it lowers their payroll cost and means that fewer employees qualify for benefits. One out of 7 Wal-Mart employees has no health care coverage since associates must wait one year before qualifying for health care coverage. Also a leaked Wal-Mart memo shows that Wal-Mart employees spend 8% of income on health care which is twice the national average. Part of the high employee turnover rate contributes to the fact that most walmart associates earn below the poverty line. The average walmart employee working “full time” at 34 hrs a week and earning $10.11 per hour will earn $17,874.48 per year....
Words: 295 - Pages: 2
...discount retailing. He became convinced American consumers wanted a new type of store. Trusting his vision, Sam and his wife Helen put up 95 percent of the money for the first Wal-Mart store in Rogers, Ark. In 1972, Wal-Mart stock was offered for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange. its initial public offering in 1970, the company has performed well, recording numerous splits and providing a return of more than 160,000 percent to its initial investors The company initially offered 3000,000 shares at $16.50 per share.[1] With this infusion of capital, the company grew to 276 stores in 11 states by the end of the decade. Today, there are 10,130 stores and Sam's club locations in 27 countries employing 2.2 million associates, serving more than 176 million customers a year! As of yesterday, Walmart sold at $59.01 a share.[2] Personally I'm a fan of Wal-Mart and its prices. Although we are military and have the Exchange that offers us quality items tax-free, the selection at Walmart still can't be beat. In recent years, Wal-Mart tried to formulate a plan and tried to appeal to a more upscale audience — bringing in nicer fashions and organic foods, and trimming its selection of bargain price items. The change wasn't received well. High-end shoppers were unimpressed, while Wal-Mart's traditional customers, like myself looked to the dollar stores for their needs, resulting in declining sales....
Words: 861 - Pages: 4
...Wal-Mart MKTG305-06 Marketing Management Abstract Wal-Mart is a Fortune 500 international country with 5,651 stores in 26 countries. Wal-Mart is located in different countries, possibly under a different name. This paper will discuss the four Ps of marketing and any differences observed in making this company international. Wal-Mart Wal-Mart is a Fortune 500 international business. Wal-Mart employs 780,000 associates in 5,651 stores in 26 countries. The main corporate office of Wal-Mart is in Bentonville, Arkansas. Wal-Mart first opened in Rogers, Ark in 1962. The idea of discount retailing was not new, but Sam Walton, the founder, wanted a new type of store. To only name four countries in which Wal-Mart stores can be found Argentina, Honduras, South Africa, and Swaziland, but they may be seen under a different name in each country. In Argentina, Wal-Mart may be known as Changomas. In Honduras, Wal-Mart may be seen as Centroamérica. In South Africa, Wal-Mart may be seen as Massmart. In Swaziland, Wal-Mart may be seen as Massmart (Wal-Mart, 2012). The Four P Components of the Marketing Mix were Product, Place, Promotion, and Price. The product is the items or services the company sales. The place is the location of the company. The promotion is the ads used to sale the products or service to the customers. The price is the amount of money that the customers are willing to pay for the product or service while the company can still make money. The Evolution...
Words: 1264 - Pages: 6
...com GM591 Leadership and Organizational Behavior Mar11 Sec Ac Professor Jere Ferguson 4/8/11 Wal-Mart is an American public multinational corporation that runs a chain of large discount department stores and a chain of warehouse stores. In 2010 it was the world's largest public corporation by revenue, according to the Forbes Global 2000 for that year. The company was founded by Sam Walton in 1962, incorporated on October 31, 1969, and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange in 1972. Wal-Mart, headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, is the largest majority private employer and the largest grocery retailer in the United States. In 2009, it generated 51% of its US $258 billion sales in the U.S. from grocery business. It also owns and operates the Sam's Club retail warehouses in North America. Wal-Mart has 8,500 stores in 15 countries, with 55 different names. The company operates under its own name in the United States, including the 50 states. It also operates under its own name in Puerto Rico. Wal-Mart itself has not produced the same results in different countries. With Wal-Mart's investments outside North America having mixed results its operations in the United Kingdom, South America and China have been highly successful, while it was forced to pull out of Germany and South Korea when ventures there were unsuccessful. As Wal-Mart grew rapidly into the world's largest corporation, many critics worried about the effect of its stores...
Words: 2569 - Pages: 11
...Case Study: Wal-Mart DeLeon A. Rich Management and Strategy Webster University May 15, 2013 Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Introduction 2 Wal-Mart’s Threats and Challenges 2 Priorities of Wal-Mart CEO during the October Address 2 Wal-Mart Board’s Strategic Initiatives 3 Recent Wal-Mart Initiatives 4 Recent Initiatives 4 Comment: Strategy 5 Comment: Personal Relations 5 Wal-Mart’s Social Challenges 5 Conclusion 5 References 5 Introduction Every business organization in the contemporary world continues to face serious challenges and turbulences. Such challenges and turbulences have called on to business enterprises to re-structure and re-engineer their strategic plan in order to establish effective strategic initiatives. Dynamisms and increased competition are some of the challenges that business enterprises continue to face. One example of a business enterprise that has had to re-structure and re-engineer its strategic plan amidst increased dynamisms and competition with Wal-Mart. Late in 2005, Wal-Mart announced a series of sweeping new strategic initiatives. Such strategic initiatives are aimed at enhancing the position of the business within the industry and the market as well as performances. This case study provides an in-depth analysis of Wal-Mart in respect to its current strategy and challenges. Analysis of the threats and challenges coupled with priorities that Wal-Mart CEO, Lee Scott set in the address on “Twenty-first...
Words: 3007 - Pages: 13
...Management at wal mart Submitted to: Prof Mhihr Das Submitted By: Kunal Bhatia (M00116, Hitesh Bambhaniya (M00126), Saloni Umraniya (M00128), Sagar Nathani (M00134) 3/6/2014 Table of Contents Introduction 3 Value Chain System of wall mart 4 Porter 5 force 4 SWOT 5 Competitors 6 Suppliers 8 Back haul of wall mart 9 Role of HR 10 Role of RFID 11 Strategy 12 Strategy of other companies 13 Conclution 16 Introduction The retail industry is dominated by few retail giants, with Wal-Mart competing in several retail categories. Wal-Mart competes against Kmart and Target in the general merchandise retailing; against Costco in the warehouse club segment; and against Kroger, Albertson’s and Safeway in the supermarket retailing. Competition among retailers centers on pricing, store location, variations in store format and merchandise mix, store size, shopping atmosphere, and image with shoppers. Further analysis provided by the following figure diagnoses the competitive environment of the retail industry. As a fact, Wal-Mart is considered as the world’s largest retailer nationwide that has been guided by its founder Sam Walton’s passion toward customer satisfaction, and his beliefs in excellence, as well as his philosophy in lowering his prices that has been proven with his famous slogan “everyday low prices.”1Visible outstanding success has required a lot of effort, strategies, dedication, and wide consideration. Such as Wal-Mart, victory...
Words: 3334 - Pages: 14
...Wal-Mart Stores Inc INTBUS202 Assignment- Group 11 2nd February 2012 Prepared By: Kanji, Kalavati (4299847,kkan040) Lai, Xin (1273844, xlai007) Lawrence, Lily Veronica (1655682, llaw039) Lovell, Eryn Isabel (1502870, elov008) McClain, Todd Micheal (1025058, tmcf011) Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………3 Stakeholder Analysis…………………………………………………4 External Analysis………………………………………………………7 Opportunities/ Threats……………………………………………9 Industry Analysis…………………………………………………….10 Value Chain Analysis……………………………………………….13 Core Competencies…………………………………………………16 Recommendations………………………………………………….18 Conclusion……………………………………………………………….21 References………………………………………………………………22 Introduction Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Wal-Mart) is currently ranked as, not only America’s largest, but the world’s largest company (DuBois, 2011). Wal-Mart’s three business segments, Wal-Mart Stores, Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart International, all operate in the discount variety retail industry. Currently, Wal-Mart’s strategic leaders face challenging issues including declining same-store sales, an invariable customer base, and a crumbling reputation. In analysing the company’s stakeholders, external and internal environments, its opportunities and threats, and its core competencies and competitive advantage we recommend that Wal-Mart: • Place a greater emphasis on the local communities in which it operates in order to stimulate same-store sales; • Improve their supply chain efficiency...
Words: 3943 - Pages: 16
...Wal-Mart Jessica Martin May 28, 2011 MKTG305 AIU Online Abstract Wal-Mart is rated 1 on the Forbes 500 international list. It has stores in 15 different countries. It has always kept its mission statement. The mission statement for Wal-Mart is to save people money so they can live a better life. Japan, Honduras, India, and the United States each have their own way of doing business. They each advertise differently, have different ways of pricing, and contain different products. Wal-Mart Wal-Mart has become an icon. The first Wal-Mart discount store opened in 1962 in Rogers, AR. On October 31, 1969 it was incorporated as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Wal-Mart, n.d.) It was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1972. At this time there were 276 stores in 11 states. In 1983 the first Sam’s Club membership warehouse was opened and in 1988 the first supercenter opened. Wal-Mart became an international company in 1991 when it opened a Sam’s Club near Mexico City. (Wal-Mart, n.d.) Most of the Wal-Mart stores are now supercenters. The supercenters have a complete grocery store along with general merchandise. When Sam Walton opened the first Wal-Mart he had a vision. His vision was to help save people money and live better lives. Wal-Mart has more than 9,000 retail stores in 15 countries and has 2 million employees worldwide. Mr. Walton said it best “If we work together, we’ll lower the cost of living for everyone…we’ll give the world an opportunity to see...
Words: 1434 - Pages: 6
...com GM591 Leadership and Organizational Behavior Mar11 Sec Ac Professor Jere Ferguson 4/8/11 Wal-Mart is an American public multinational corporation that runs a chain of large discount department stores and a chain of warehouse stores. In 2010 it was the world's largest public corporation by revenue, according to the Forbes Global 2000 for that year. The company was founded by Sam Walton in 1962, incorporated on October 31, 1969, and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange in 1972. Wal-Mart, headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, is the largest majority private employer and the largest grocery retailer in the United States. In 2009, it generated 51% of its US $258 billion sales in the U.S. from grocery business. It also owns and operates the Sam's Club retail warehouses in North America. Wal-Mart has 8,500 stores in 15 countries, with 55 different names. The company operates under its own name in the United States, including the 50 states. It also operates under its own name in Puerto Rico. Wal-Mart itself has not produced the same results in different countries. With Wal-Mart's investments outside North America having mixed results its operations in the United Kingdom, South America and China have been highly successful, while it was forced to pull out of Germany and South Korea when ventures there were unsuccessful. As Wal-Mart grew rapidly into the world's largest corporation, many critics worried about the effect of its stores...
Words: 2569 - Pages: 11
...This article appears in the Nov. 14, 2003 issue of Executive Intelligence Review. Wal-Mart Is Not a Business, It's an Economic Diseaseby Richard Freeman and Arthur Ticknor(See also ``Wal-Mart Collapses U.S. Cities and Towns,'' Nov. 14, 2003; ``Wal-Mart Eats More Manufacturers, Jobs,'' Nov. 21, 2003; Wal-Mart Family Trust--The Real Beast of Bentonville, Ark., Jan. 23, 2004.)The Wal-Mart department store chain, which employs 1.3 million people at 4,700 stores worldwide, and in 2002 became the largest corporation in the world, is levelling economies of the U.S., industrial nations, and the Third World.Wal-Mart is a driving force behind the decadent Imperial Roman model of the United States. Unable any longer to reproduce its own population's existence through its own physical economy, the United States has, for the past two decades, used an over-valued dollar to suck in physical goods from around the globe for its survival. Wal-Mart is both the public face and working sinews of that policy. It brings in cheap pants from Bangladesh, cheap shirts from China, cheap food from Mexico, etc. Workers who produce these things are paid next to nothing.Not since the days of the British East India Company as the cornerstone of the British imperial system, has one single corporate entity been responsible for so much misery. At the core of its policy, Wal-Mart demands of its suppliers that they sell goods to Wal-Mart at such a low price, that they can only do so by outsourcing their work to low-wage...
Words: 5677 - Pages: 23
