There are characters in the world who would like nothing better than to steal personal information from a company's informational system(s). One expert speaks of the dissemination of information to those who need to know and those who do not, in the following manner; "information may only surface in a legitimate comprehensive background check, but in a more menacing scenario, it may wind up in the hands of a remotely located identity thief without the consent or control of the person the information identifies" (Ciocchetti, 2007, p
One expert states however that, "These days, it's a rare company that isn't worried about how to get its products delivered on time. According to a new study, business are finding it harder and harder to meet on-time delivery promises to customers because of obstacles ranging from truck-driver shortages to soaring fuel prices" (Emigh, 2004)
While integrating e-commerce and informational systems into the overall scheme in entering a market, especially a market like Germany that Wal-Mart had initially had such high hopes for, would be a natural extension of the retail market, and one that could have assisted Wal-Mart immensely. A note of caution in this regard was issued recently by one expert, who stated, "Companies that state they are users of e-commerce may in fact only have a promotional website rather than a fully-fledged, interactive, transaction-based interface" (Fillis, 2007, p
Wal-Mart's price advantage is one factor in their growth although one retail-marketing consultant recently reported that, "Key competitors are finding ways to narrow the price gaps enough to render them largely unnoticeable, said Chris Hoyt, a Scottsdale, Ariz., retail-marketing consultant" (Neff, 2007, p
Additionally it must be kept in mind that outsourcing can be a big boon to the company's bottom line. "A recent article portrayed this situation well, stating, "it is apparent the millions of Indian and Chinese engineers, software developers and service providers can do all this 'sophisticated stuff' as well as or better than the Americans at a tenth of the cost" (Prestowicz, 2004, p
Using a core team concept also alleviates some of the fears that employees face when learning of potential outsourcing, especially since outsourcing has received so much bad publicity in the media as of late. One expert said that strategically outsourcing other activities "including many traditionally considered integral to any company - for which the firm has neither a critical strategic need nor special capabilities" (Quinn 1995) was a good idea, and it probably is a concept that Wal-Mart could have used in Germany, and may consider in any future ventures
"Wal-Mart now owns 687 super stores in 71 Mexican cities under the marquis logos of Wal-Mart, Aurera-Bodega, Superama and Sam's Club - plus 52 Suburbias, a more upscale department store chain, and 235 VIP's restaurants." (Ross 2005)
The entire situation leading to Wal-Mart's demise in Germany cannot be blamed on the lack of a good information technology system, but certainly a strong and viable system could have alleviated some of the problems experienced by Wal-Mart, and in the end could have been a deciding factor on whether the venture would (in the long run) be profitable or not. A recent article touts the fact that "the development of E-commerce has revolutionized our way of doing business around the globe" (Victor, Jih, 2006, p
Perhaps Wal-Mart could have foreseen the circumstances leading up to the debacle and changed the direction the company was traveling. Another expert in the field of business recently stated, "learning how to build stronger relationships with customers is often recommended as a way of ensuring the survival of firms in the face of turbulent or highly competitive market conditions (Webster, 1992, p
Wal Mart Case Continuation WalMart in China Annotated Outline of Final Project WalMart Globally: Why a Fast-Fail Mentality Pays Failures in Germany & South Korea a Result of Strong Ethnocentrism Both failures show the WalMart corporate culture had a very strong bias towards ethnocentrism (Ming-Ling, Donegan, Ganon, Kan, 2011) including a believe in their distribution and supply chain systems being so advanced that they could transcend cultural boundaries (Taylor, 2003)
Wal Mart Case Continuation WalMart in China Annotated Outline of Final Project WalMart Globally: Why a Fast-Fail Mentality Pays Failures in Germany & South Korea a Result of Strong Ethnocentrism Both failures show the WalMart corporate culture had a very strong bias towards ethnocentrism (Ming-Ling, Donegan, Ganon, Kan, 2011) including a believe in their distribution and supply chain systems being so advanced that they could transcend cultural boundaries (Taylor, 2003)
Wal Mart Case Continuation WalMart in China Annotated Outline of Final Project WalMart Globally: Why a Fast-Fail Mentality Pays Failures in Germany & South Korea a Result of Strong Ethnocentrism Both failures show the WalMart corporate culture had a very strong bias towards ethnocentrism (Ming-Ling, Donegan, Ganon, Kan, 2011) including a believe in their distribution and supply chain systems being so advanced that they could transcend cultural boundaries (Taylor, 2003). Failures Showed Weaknesses In Managing Governments And Ignorance Of Their Roles As Stakeholders German government sues WalMart for violation of worker rights, specifically in the area of hours they attempted to push workers to be on the job (WalMart Investor Relations, 2013)
WalMart excels on all of these dimensions, which provides international operations and wide range of products Defining The Goal Of Increased Forecasting Accuracy Based on the analysis of WalMart's strengths, it has become evident the extent to which the company can successfully anticipate and react to customer demand has a direct impact in the efficiency and profitability of their logistics network. Forecasting accuracy is critically important from the strategic perspective of a logistics network to the tactical aspects of in-store experience of customers finding products in stock (Rosenblum, 2004)
The goal of this analysis is to improve forecasting accuracy by 30% in the most valuable segment WalMart has today, which is the Price Value Shopper. According to an analysis of the WalMart financial statements and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) (WalMart Investor Relations, 2013)
Wal Mart Organizational Analysis WalMart Stores (NYSE: WMT) is the worlds leading mass merchandiser with global supply chain partners and a logistics network that rivals United Parcel Service and Federal Express. The market structure of the global mass merchandising industry continues to favor those retailers who have deep expertise in logistics, supply chain, pricing and vendor management (Zhu, Singh, Manuszak, 2009)
Furthermore, Wal-Mart has a strong supply chain management apparatuses that allow for constant flow from vendors to Wal-Mart stores. Wal-Mart also has several weaknesses that are among some of the most common complaints that customers of Wal-Mart tend to express (Van, 2008)
The WalMart business structure is designed to ensure the highest level of supply chain efficiency and control of operating costs (Drogin, 2003). WalMart relies on its 24-hour SuperCenters also as distribution hubs throughout their logistics network, a strategy that has given the company exceptional control over procurement and strategic sourcing with suppliers and greater control of inventory turns than many competitors (Gereffi, Christian, 2009)
Wal Mart Analyzing Wal-Mart's Market Value, P/E Ratio and Profitability Wal-Mart's market value and continued profitability is directly attributable to the continual improvements in supplier relationship management and the use of technology to continually ensure the mass merchandiser reduces operating costs (Mottner, Smith, 535)
Evaluating the Profitability Ratios of the last seven years for Wal-Mart also shows that the company has become very adept at internal efficiencies to increase the utilization of assets. The use of RFID technologies to better manage supplier relationships (Sodhi, Son, 937) and streamline inventory management have contributed to Return on Assets (ROA) stabilizing from 9
As a result, this supplement is considered to be classified in the category (as people are taking it to improve their health). (Cherry, 2011) Bibliography End Cap