Wal-Mart Case Study
WALMART CASE STUDY
Identify the Business Risks
One of Walmarts biggest business risks comes from competition. Walmart is so large and diversified that they face competition from just about everyone. Here in the US Kmart and Target are their primary competitors but they also face competition in specialty areas from Toys 'R' Us, Best Buy, and Bed, Bath and Beyond. As the largest supermarket retailer, Walmart also competes against grocery stores such as Albertsons, Von’s and others.
With their expansion overseas, Walmart is facing stiff competition from Carrefour, A France based retailer that has stores in Argentina, Brazil, Columbia, China, Indonesia, South Korea and Taiwan. They are also expanding into China and Brazil.
Business Risks (cont.)
Walmart’s Supply Chain is another risk even though they are the industry’s leader in Supply Chain Management. They use cutting edge technology and set very high standards for their suppliers and this has allowed them to save money and pass those savings on to the consumers. I identified this as a risk because if the supply chain failed, it would be disastrous for the company.
Expansion into New Markets is always risky. Walmart has a discipline expansion plan that centers around putting stores within 200 miles of a distribution center. One backlash to this is to smaller businesses in rural areas that Walmart is putting out of business. This is a big risk as the company can easily gain a bad reputation with local populations.
Challenges of Overseas Expansion. As Walmart expands into overseas markets their risk is to maintain their same quality and standards that they have here in the US while recognizing cultural differences in the countries they are expanding to.
Recommended Strategies
Continue to improve workplace moral. By making the employees partners and providing them with cery good compensation and benefits, they strive to excel and that translates to a better shopping experience for the
Identify the Business Risks
One of Walmarts biggest business risks comes from competition. Walmart is so large and diversified that they face competition from just about everyone. Here in the US Kmart and Target are their primary competitors but they also face competition in specialty areas from Toys 'R' Us, Best Buy, and Bed, Bath and Beyond. As the largest supermarket retailer, Walmart also competes against grocery stores such as Albertsons, Von’s and others.
With their expansion overseas, Walmart is facing stiff competition from Carrefour, A France based retailer that has stores in Argentina, Brazil, Columbia, China, Indonesia, South Korea and Taiwan. They are also expanding into China and Brazil.
Business Risks (cont.)
Walmart’s Supply Chain is another risk even though they are the industry’s leader in Supply Chain Management. They use cutting edge technology and set very high standards for their suppliers and this has allowed them to save money and pass those savings on to the consumers. I identified this as a risk because if the supply chain failed, it would be disastrous for the company.
Expansion into New Markets is always risky. Walmart has a discipline expansion plan that centers around putting stores within 200 miles of a distribution center. One backlash to this is to smaller businesses in rural areas that Walmart is putting out of business. This is a big risk as the company can easily gain a bad reputation with local populations.
Challenges of Overseas Expansion. As Walmart expands into overseas markets their risk is to maintain their same quality and standards that they have here in the US while recognizing cultural differences in the countries they are expanding to.
Recommended Strategies
Continue to improve workplace moral. By making the employees partners and providing them with cery good compensation and benefits, they strive to excel and that translates to a better shopping experience for the