Wal-Mart Research Paper

The purpose of this business report is to gain familiarity with Wal-Mart and to learn about the different aspects that make Wal-Mart a successful company. This report gives an in-depth analysis of the company history, services and products provided, the company philosophy, business methods, organizational structure, and financial and competitive analysis.

Retail super-giant Wal-Mart has fought its way to becoming the world's largest company. Wal-Mart’s legendary supply chain technology has allowed them to break the three-day barrier that some economists in the eighties felt that it was unbreakable. In other words, Wal-Mart is often able to replenish items on the Wal-Mart shelf in less than three days – not from the central warehouse to the shelf, but from the manufacturer to the shelf. With quick and reliable 2-day turn around, Wal-Mart is able to maintain lower levels of inventory and still meet customer demand. These lower inventory levels result in either a reduced floor plan with lower carrying costs and lower interest expense – or a greater diversity of products on the store shelves.

Wal-Mart founded in 1962 by Sam Walton is now the largest American retail corporation. With thousands of chains of stores and warehouses Wal-Mart monopolized the American retail industry. In addition, Wal-Mart is the second largest retail corporation in the world employing of two million employees world-wide. As one of the most valuable corporations in the world Wal-Mart continues to improve their sales annually while offering some of the lowest prices available. Wal-Mart’s famous low price guarantee, come at a high expense of the environment, the small businesses, education, the rights and safety of the consumer, but most importantly their employees. Although Wal-Mart has plays a dominate role in American economy, this “American”

When deciding on a grocery store, we take many things into account. Such as price, selection, location of the store, and the quality of food. Weather we’re shopping for our self or our entire family, our choice in grocery stores is important. There are many options in every town, some towns more than others. The two main grocery stores that pop into my mind are Wal-Mart and Kroger’s. In my opinion Wal-Mart is the better choice of the two.

Walmart is a global employer in the retail industry that employs employees all over the world. We believe Walmart can improve by implementing the following strategies: Cost leadership strategy - this is what Walmart is known for, Differential strategy - a big portion of what how Walmart stands out from others (is different) is because of their pricing, which kind of reflects #1 (cost leadership), Value-creating strategy - again they create value because consumers enjoy their prices and offerings, because of their supplier diversity ..which again kind of reflects #1 (cost leadership), Revamp the external view of its workforce - this one is different from the others and we all know how much Walmart has been in the news for their treatment of employees and some of their policies.

Since Wal-Mart is a mass market retailer, its primary source of value that it adds to the company is derived from its supply chain. Wal-Mart has suppliers located all over the world and it purchases goods from a wide range of different types of vendors. Many of the company's primary vendors are directly connected to Wal-Mart's IT systems through what is referred to as an electronic data interchange (EDI). An EDI can instantaneous transmit data between Wal-Mart and their vendors. Such information can consist of order information, stock supplies, demand forecasting and many other key supply chain metrics. The advantages of such a system are clear as they can greatly assist creating efficiencies in the supply chain. However, not all suppliers have developed sufficient IT technologies to participate in an EDI program with Wal-Mart. Another option for greater coordination between parties in the supply chain is web-based supplier integration. Although the web-based systems are not quite as sophisticated as an EDI, they are more accessible for many of the smaller suppliers and they have shown to improve long-term coordination, cooperation, and commitment.

Part of the reason Wal-Mart has not only stayed around but has continued to grow over the years has been its ability to adapt to change in times. This ability has helped them with their environmental

A Wal-Mart photo lab associate, Claude is facing a difficulty concerning attending his father’s major birthday dinner.( Brotheridge, C. 2005) Claude comes from a tight family, and he didn’t want to miss the celebration. However, there is a conflict between his working schedule and the dinner plan. Owing to the inflexibility of the auto scheduler program and his manager’s non-negotiable management style, he was sure that his manager wouldn’t give him the time off. Additionally, he didn’t want to call a sick day, not wanting to bend the truth. He also couldn’t feel there was a cold coming. Yet, the main problem is Wal-Mart’s organizational management. Managers do not treat their employees with dignity and respect

Wal-Mart is arguably the most dynamic corporation in the last 50 years in the United States, if not the world. Arising from its beginnings in Bentonville, Arkansas, it has grown to over 4,400 discount stores, super centers and corner markets worldwide. Wal-Mart continues to expand despite public criticism of its labor practices as well as complaints about their treatment of competitors. The many strengths of Wal-Mart, like their low cost production and marketing practices, will aid Wal-Mart as it continues to grow in the retail

     When you talk about Wal-Mart the first thing that you have to remember is that they are the largest retailer in the world. Wal-Mart employs more people in the United States than any other company and is second only to the federal government in the number of employees that they have on the payroll. These are important facts to consider in that due to their tremendous size, Wal-Mart has an enormous

Why do you think Wal-Mart did not venture abroad until 1991, despite its success in the USA?

Wal-Mart’s business strategy relies on low production costs which it can pass on to its customers. If Wal-Mart were a country then it would be China’s eighth largest trading partner ahead of Russia, Australia, and Canada. Wal-Mart’s non-Chinese owned suppliers operating in China number nearly 5,000 and all of them benefit from a low valued yuan compared to the dollar. The 176 million worldwide customers of Wal-Mart also benefit from the low valued yuan. With nearly 70% of Wal-Mart’s products coming from China a sharp increase in the value of the yuan against the dollar can be devastating for the company as the increased costs for

Wal-Mart is a company which operates in the service sector, more specifically in the “Discount, Variety Stores/Retail” industry. The company’s superior performance is demonstrated through the fact that it was America’s largest company (in terms of revenue) in 2002, and the reputation of the company is reflected in the opinion of “Fortune” who have identified Wal-Mart as one of the world’s most admired companies. In 2004 Wal-Mart had been hiring 1.4 million employees – making it the largest corporation in the world. Wal-Mart’s share prices have also been stable at time of stock market volatility. There are

Wal-Mart is certainly credited with changing the retail world as we know it with its low prices and big stores with huge selections but it has come at a price. They have struggled with issues that question the ethics as a company and legal issues that question how they manage people. These issues will continue to hurt their organization unless a complete change in management thinking and actions are changed. As a socially responsible organization, their management planning in this area is second to none. Lets hope they take the same effort in improving their image when it comes to ethics and legal issues.

On the other hand, another control system the organization is their rewarding strategy; as they link their performance and abilities to meet goals and targets to pay raise and promotion.