Strategic Management
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In the past, most innovation was happening in developed countries because their populations could afford the progress and technological advancements. Businesspeople usually believe that economies that are emerging are a few steps behind and don’t need to catch up as they can import what they need from those countries that are already developed. This worldview is no longer and accurate view. Countries that are emerging are basically not the same as those of developed countries. Based on variations in culture and context, the consumers from emerging countries need and want different things and have a different kind of purchasing power. For example, the American retail king in Walmart moved into various countries, South America being one of them. Walmart failed to look at the culture and see the threats that it would be up against and kept true to its mission statement and failed as South Americans do not buy in bulk, buying a lot for less has never been in there way of thinking, they buy a little bit at a time as most of them ride the bus, bikes or walk and could only carry home a limited amount of items. After Walmart seen that their initial way of going into this marketplace failed, they did what they needed to do and regrouped and changed their way of doing business and went to a smaller store model to fit the marketplace. I also saw this in Germany when I lived there; Germans always shop either day to day or a few days at a time. They have smaller refrigerators and can’t keep a bulk of food items stored in them. Walmart changed there as well to the smaller stores to ensure they would meet the needs of the consumer. Walmart has taken this smaller approach back to America opening up Walmart Express stores that are less than 40,000 square feet. (David F., pg 9) Approximately 85% of the world’s population
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In the past, most innovation was happening in developed countries because their populations could afford the progress and technological advancements. Businesspeople usually believe that economies that are emerging are a few steps behind and don’t need to catch up as they can import what they need from those countries that are already developed. This worldview is no longer and accurate view. Countries that are emerging are basically not the same as those of developed countries. Based on variations in culture and context, the consumers from emerging countries need and want different things and have a different kind of purchasing power. For example, the American retail king in Walmart moved into various countries, South America being one of them. Walmart failed to look at the culture and see the threats that it would be up against and kept true to its mission statement and failed as South Americans do not buy in bulk, buying a lot for less has never been in there way of thinking, they buy a little bit at a time as most of them ride the bus, bikes or walk and could only carry home a limited amount of items. After Walmart seen that their initial way of going into this marketplace failed, they did what they needed to do and regrouped and changed their way of doing business and went to a smaller store model to fit the marketplace. I also saw this in Germany when I lived there; Germans always shop either day to day or a few days at a time. They have smaller refrigerators and can’t keep a bulk of food items stored in them. Walmart changed there as well to the smaller stores to ensure they would meet the needs of the consumer. Walmart has taken this smaller approach back to America opening up Walmart Express stores that are less than 40,000 square feet. (David F., pg 9) Approximately 85% of the world’s population
References: Govindarajan, V. and Trimble C. (2012), Reverse Innovation: Create Far from Home, Win Everywhere, Harvard Business Review Press, Jun 19, 2012 Strategic Management: A Competitive Advantage Approach, Concepts and Cases, 2011, Fourteenth Edition, David, F., Published by Pearson - Prentice Hall, Chapter 2, pg 9.