Preview

Walmart

Best Essays
Open Document
Open Document
4726 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Walmart
Running head: Walmart Information Systems

1

Walmart Information Systems Research Project-Group2 CIS 511 Fall 2011 Amber Slemmons, Brooke Williams, Cheri Evans, Ismael Molina, & Wesley Belz

Walmart Information Systems Walmart Information Systems Executive Summary:

2

Walmart, the billion dollar retail giant, has grown significantly over the past five decades, incorporating numerous different types of information systems into their daily operations. The company is well recognized for their innovation when it comes to utilizing the latest technologies and information systems to maximize their profitability. Information systems structures and processes play a critical role in Walmart’s success and today they are bringing that innovative spirit to the market as they move toward full implementation of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). This technology allows for Walmart’s operations to function efficiently and effectively as they are capable of sending and receiving real time data to the networks. By doing so they are able to communicate the information to the retailer and the product manufactures making it possible for Walmart to remain competitive in the retail industry by properly controlling its inventories. This report will explain how Walmart has utilized several information systems throughout the course of its history such as: point of sale, satellite communication systems, data warehouses, retail link systems, electronic data interchange (EDI), and most recently web bases platforms, but none are as innovative as RFID (Wailgum, 2007). This technology was previously tested by the U.S. Air Force to try and reduce labor costs and allow management to make better decisions based on more accurate information regarding tracking packages/inventories (Roberti, 2004). This technology in the hands of the retail giant will allow for more up to date accurate information to flow through the networks to management so that they can reduce costs and increase


References: 20 Cardullo, M. W. (n.d.). Genesis of the versatile rfid tag. RFID Journal, Retrieved from http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/view/392 Conor A. (2007, July 20) Re: The Usefulness of Walmart’s New Automated Checkout Stations [Online forum content]. Retrieved from http://www.associated content.com/article/313740/the_usefulness of walmarts-ew_automated.html Ford, R. (2004, August 20). Walmart, the Global Giant [Interview by Paul Soloman]. History timeline. (2009). Retrieved from http://walmartstores.com/AboutUs/7603.aspx. Laudon, K.C. & Laudon, J.P. (2010). Managing information systems-managing the digital firm. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. McKeefery, K. (2010). Walmart restructures to boost e-commerce. Direct Marketing News. [Retrieved] November 27, 2011, [from] http://www.dmnews.com/walmartrestructures-to-boost-e-commerce/article/163641/ Organizational structure. (2011) Retrieved from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/organizational-structure.html. Troy, M. (2003). Logistics still cornerstone of competitive advantage-Wal-mart The Category King: A new era of excellence. Business Library. Retrieved November 27, 2011 from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FNP/is_11_42/ai_10311929 Wal-mart stores, inc.. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.hoovers.com/company/WalMart_Stores_Inc/rrjiff-1.html. Wal-mart stores inc. (wmt). (2010). Retrieved from http://finance.yahoo.com/q/co?s=WMT Competitors. Wailgum, T. (2007). 45 years of wal-mart history: a technology time line. CIO Magazine, Retrieved from http://www.cio.com/article/147005/45_Years_of_Wal_Mart_History_A_Technology_Ti me_Line
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Mgt/330 Wal-Mart Organizational Paper
    • 1117 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Mgt/330 Wal-Mart Organizational Paper

    Within this paper, an evaluation of the organizing function, in relation to technology and human resources, will show how efficient and effective Wal-Mart’s operational resources are. This paper will go on to demonstrate how Wal-Mart Corporation utilizes their upper management and the decisions that are made.…

    • 1117 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Organizational imapact OI/361
    • 1185 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Organizational imapact OI/361

    Tong, C. H., & Lee, T.(2006). Exploring the cornerstones of Wal-Marts success and competitiveness. Competitiveness Review, 16(2143-149). ProQuest…

    • 1185 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Mara 466 Wal-Mart
    • 832 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Mara 466 Wal-Mart

    As the demand for products on the shelves in stores is continually increasing it was essential for Wal-Mart to establish a highly effective and efficient distribution system to ensure the products customers want is in the store for them to buy. The success of this has only fueled the company’s expansion and profitability. They accomplished this by tracking each individual item, customer, and store. From this determinations can be made as to what particular products need to be delivered where in order for the customer to find what they are looking for. These distribution centers are models of efficiency as the majority of products that enter them each day are received, sorted,…

    • 832 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    industry case write up
    • 2214 Words
    • 7 Pages

    industry case write up

    The retail industry has always been in the frontline of utilizing information technology infrastructures and information systems. Many major businesses within the industry quickly adopt and adapt the new way of doing business, tracking shipments, and monitoring inventories – all through the utilization of new technologies and electronic communications. Wal-Mart, being the industry leader in low cost operations and low price products, surpasses its competitors, such as Target, J.C. Penney, Sears or any other major discount stores in the U.S., in its operational efficiency and resource management. That provides War-Mart the competitive advantage over its rivalries, making it the number one place to shop for low price products, groceries and other items. By having low operation costs and keeping inventories low, this allow Wal-Mart to survive the furious market competition, this is especially true when consider the current economic situation, where the consumer spending will is low, Wal-Mart becomes the ultimate place to shop for bargain price. This makes Wal-Mart stands out of the rest even further and making it the company that this case write-up is all about.…

    • 2214 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Best Essays

    Wal Mart and Its Usgae of It
    • 3325 Words
    • 14 Pages

    Wal Mart and Its Usgae of It

    IT systems are the heart of retail operations and hence play a central role in alleviating pressure points in the retail sector. The converse also holds true—retailers who do not manage their IT landscape effectively will find that, in time, the IT systems become part of the problem rather than components of the solution. Wal-Mart, “America’s low price leader”, recognizes this challenge and has decided to be part of the solution. This paper will examine the IT infrastructure within the merchandising retail space while focusing attention on Wal-Mart’s utilization of decision support systems and enterprise applications as it impacts and counteracts Porter’s Five Forces. The paper will also speculate on the future use of IT at Wal-Mart during the next 2-3 years as Wal-Mart continues to strengthen its position in the retail space.…

    • 3325 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Best Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    yudijhyfdyutdddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddfh ihfyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyrd7de7yf
    • 4990 Words
    • 20 Pages

    yudijhyfdyutdddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddfh ihfyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyrd7de7yf

    RFID IN WAL-MART 14 11. EFFICENCY IN SUPPLY CHAIN WITH RFID 12. CONCLUSION 13. LIST OF REFERENCES 20-21 www.finalyearprojectguide.net | www.finalyearprojectguide.net 15-18 19 PROJECT-SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT AT WAL-MART Introduction to Supply Chain Management Supply Chain Management is the discipline which encompasses the end to end business activities carried out in any business, independent of the manufacturing or service sectors. It is the synchronization of a network of facilities and distribution options that performs procurement of materials, processing the materials into finished products, and distribution of the products to customers.…

    • 4990 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Kmart
    • 2816 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Kmart

    On January 22, 2002, Kmart filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It was the largest retailer ever to do so and shocked many people. Kmart had made retail history when its founder, the Kresge “five and dime store” chain, invented the concept of the discount store. The first Kmart was established in Detroit in 1962, the same year Wal-Mart opened its first store in Rogers, Arkansas. By the end of 1963 Kmart had 63 stores converted from Kresge’s.

In the following years, however, Wal-Mart expanded quickly by following a strategy of everyday low prices. Wal Mart used information technology (IT) to track sales in all its stores and to replenish its fastest selling products. Wal-Mart demonstrated its willingness to spend needed funds on IT by installing registers with bar-code scanners in each store during the late 1970s and early 1980s, which fed the sales data into the back-end store computers. The result was Wal-Mart sales data were always current and store managers knew what was selling well and what was not. In time many orders were routed straight from theWal-Mart store to the appropriate supplier, and the delivery went from that supplier directly to the store. Wal Mart recently developed an extranet to work closely with key suppliers on problems such as how to increase sales on specific products. Many analysts believe Wal-Mart has the most sophisticated supply chain systems in the industry.

By 1983, with its cutting edge information systems, Wal- Mart was already spending only two cents per dollar getting goods to its stores while Kmart was spending five cents. From that differential alone, Wal-Mart could sell the same product at a price 3 percent lower than Kmart, an important saving to many shoppers. In 1990 Wal-Mart passed Kmart as the largest discount chain with annual sales of $32.6 billion for Kmart’s $32.3 billion. Wal-Mart was well on its way to becoming the world’s largest retailer. In December 2001, Target, Kmart’s other major competitor, passed…

    • 2816 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Wal-Mart Operations Management Analysis
    • 1266 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Wal-Mart Operations Management Analysis

    Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., the largest company in the world, has achieved leadership in the retail industry as a result of its efficient supply chain management practices. Setting record sales and earnings for fiscal year 2008, Wal-Mart’s total net sales were $374.5 billion, an 8.6 percent increase over the previous fiscal year and a record for any retailer.…

    • 1266 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    walmart's core competition
    • 595 Words
    • 3 Pages

    walmart's core competition

    At Wal-Mart, its major competitive core competence is its superior logistics system. Wal-Mart is one of the biggest global retailers in the world, operating in several different countries around the world, with multiple formats, all tied together by a state-of-the-art retail distribution system known as a Retail Link. No other mass retailer or trading community- domestic, foreign, or global has developed a system even close to Wal-Mart's capabilities in supply chain and distribution management and optimization. However, the possibility of competitors having allocated significant resources to developing state-of-the-art data warehouses that, like Wal-Mart's, goes beyond collecting point-of-sale data to drive…

    • 595 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Walmart
    • 1079 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Walmart

    Sangita, A. Vnkata, C. Brendon, D. Raxesh, P. Shazeb, S. Ramachandra, Y. (2005). Wal-Mart Case Study – RFID and Supply Chain Management. Retrieved March 9, 2012 from http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cts=1331593269858&ved=0CDIQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmason.gmu.edu%2F~ryellapr%2Fwalmart.doc&ei=MoBeT5nPI-rB0QXEj-H_Bg&usg=AFQjCNHaiu5o74EjcVQOUTNIqrKFtn81Iw&sig2=2ceYUuivhc2vANZGQUBIWw…

    • 1079 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Walmart
    • 733 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Walmart

    In the past 10 years, Wal-Mart has grown tremendously to become the largest retailer in the world. Being America’s largest employer and the most successful company, Wal-Mart's influence is unparalleled. Wal-Mart isn’t just the largest retailer in the world, over the past several years it has popped in and out of the top spot on the Fortune 500 list—meaning that the firm has had revenues greater than any firm in the United States. Wal-Mart is so big that in three months it sells more than a whole year’s worth of sales at number two U.S. retailer, Home Depot. Wal-Mart's key sources of competitive advantages are its low cost, high volume strategy. Also, Wal-Mart grew in large part by leveraging Information systems to an extent never before seen in the retail industry. Technology tightly coordinates the Wal-Mart value chain from tip to tail, while these systems also deliver a mineable data asset that’s unmatched in U.S. retail. To get an idea of the firm’s overall efficiencies, at the end of the previous decade a McKinsey study found that Wal-Mart was responsible for some 12 % of the productive growth in the entire U.S. economy.[2] The firm’s capacity as a systems innovator is so respected that many senior Wal-Mart IT executives have been snatched up for top roles at Dell, HP, Amazon, and Microsoft.…

    • 733 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Walmart
    • 2484 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Walmart

    Walmart adopted a public affair strategy that helps Wal-Mart to move its operations to other foreign nations and that makes them huge profit. Currently Walmart is in competition with K-mart which is at number second after Walmart in the US retail market. Walmart have around 1636 retail stores, 1093 supermarkets on their names…

    • 2484 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Best Essays

    Case Study Walmart
    • 1960 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Case Study Walmart

    Hopkins, Jim. (2003, January 1). “Wal-Mart’s Influence Grows”. Retrieved on November 1, 2011 from http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2003-01-28-walmartnation_x.htm…

    • 1960 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Best Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Expansion of Wal-Mart in Asia
    • 4487 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Expansion of Wal-Mart in Asia

    In this assignment, we decided to choose Wal-Mart as our assignment’s company. Wal-Mart was the biggest retail corporation in the world in terms of its revenues in 2013. The main reason of choosing Wal-Mart is because it’s courage to open up many new retailers in other foreign countries market. Besides, Wal-Mart always is a leader in retail industry because it’s maintained through continuous innovation behavior. In order to achieve the commitment “everyday low prices to consumer”, Wal-Mart has established an excellent procurement and delivers system. Wal-Mart also has their own excellent information system management and sharing information with suppliers to maintain a good inventory control.…

    • 4487 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Cost Leadership Strategy: Wal-Mart: Supply Chain Management
    • 922 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Cost Leadership Strategy: Wal-Mart: Supply Chain Management

    The Operations of Wal-Mart as enable them to transform their inputs into outputs during distribution and meeting the demand of its customers. Wal-Mart is the largest retailer in the world and its strategy is to sell high volumes of discounted products (Blanchard, Comm & Dennis, 2008). Wal-Mart Distribution is one of the largest in the world. Once the distribution center is built, stores will be planned and opened around it to gradually saturate the area which serves approximately 150 stores (Blanchard, Comm & Dennis, 2008). The distribution network is realigned to maximize efficiencies every time another center is added to the system and distribution centers combined with Wal-Mart's own private truck fleet allow the company to retain significant control over deliveries (Blanchard, Comm & Dennis, 2008). Wal-Mart is continuously improving its marketing and sales strategies. Wal-Mart uses its own unique strategies to meet the demand of its customers. Wal-Mart challenges the market and is not afraid to venture into new arenas (Blanchard, Comm & Dennis, 2008). From personal experience two weeks ago, the Wal-Mart I shop at placed a new system in which is called “Scan and Go.” You are able to scan your items and bag it while you shop and when you are done scan your portable scanner at the…

    • 922 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More