Case Analysis：Sears, Roebuck and Co. vs. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Question 1: What were the rights of Walmart, the employer, during these two organizing drives?

A resource based view can help determine, and maintain a competitive advantage for Wal-Mart. In order to gain a clear understanding of their advantage, or lack thereof, it is vital that Wal-Mart determine what resources they have available to them. Once these resources are identified they must capitalize on them, and ensure that they provide them with a sustained advantage, and not a temporary advantage. For instance, Wal-Mart might find that there is a manufacturer that is not being used to their full potential, and is able to provide them with fast production and quick delivery of items for a great price. It would be beneficial for Wal-Mart to take advantage of this opportunity, as well as build a long lasting relationship with this manufacturer that will carry them both into the future.

Our recommendation is to take Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) private through a private equity buyout. After doing so, we recommend implementing a centralized management structure and recruiting retail-savvy executives for the upper management team. We then recommend focusing on increasing value by capitalizing on SHLD’s real estate holdings through leasing agreements and increasing partnerships with complementary enterprises. Also, we recommend improving employee retention rates and retaining exclusive rights to private brands. Finally, we recommend focusing on a long-term strategy to continue to maximize SHLD’s ecommerce platforms. We believe these recommendations will lead to long-term stability through increases in customer base and

Samara Brothers, Inc., the respondent in this case is an organization that designs and manufactures children's clothing. Samara Brothers, Inc., focal products focus on spring or summer one-piece seersucker clothing decorated with appliques of hearts, flowers, fruits and other stuff to attract children. In addition, there are a number of other chain stores, such as JCPenney that sell this line of outfits under contract with Samara Brothers, Inc.(Vana, 2012), on the other hand, we have the petitioner Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., described as the nation's paramount known retailers, which deals in among other products children's clothing (Vana, 2013). This organization, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., contracted with one of its suppliers in 1995, Judy-Philippine, Inc., to manufacture a variety of children's clothing for sale during the 1996 spring/summer time.

The following pages focus on providing a strategic analysis of Sears Holding Corporation. The introduction reveals the issues that the paper addresses. The Company Presentation section reveals important facts in Sears' evolution. The Strategy Debates Section discusses theoretical issues applied to the situation of Sears. This is followed by the Strategic Decisions section that provides a series of recommendations that can help Sears improve its situation. The Implementation Challenges section provides important issues that can be considered challenges of strategic implementation.

As Sears Holdings has continued to grow so rapidly there has been some down falls within the company, this is not to say that due to the downfalls they cannot have a stronger rising. As the down size to help increase their profits once again, it is seen to be helpful that they have such a great business ethics as their backbone. Being able to rely on the knowledge of creating such a huge corporation should help Sears Holdings to regrow even stronger after a downsize. The course of actions Sears Holdings interprets from the triple bottom line is what is making it possible to regrow not only financially but also sustainably.

This report examines the financial statements of two of the nation major companies in the retail industry. The report seeks to compare and contrast the companies performances using financial ratio to examine the various number of the annual reports dated 2006 for Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) and Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT).

This report is to compare the financial statements of Target and Walmart for last three years and analyze its financial performance. The data has been downloaded from www.sec.gov for analysis. This report initially compares the financial healthiness of both firms based on the financial ratios and then discusses the factors that could have impacted these firms’ finances in last three years. This report also briefly discusses the differences in financial statements. Finally, this report concludes with a recommadenation to investor.

The Business strategies Wal-Mart uses and how they differentiate their services/products there are three generic business strategies and they are,

In this present era, many companies that are trying to compete against their rival giant, Wal-Mart, have found it to be quite difficult. The reason being is because Wal-Mart has managed to get their suppliers to provide them with the lowest prices possible in order to increase profits. Additionally, Wal-Mart has decided to purchase as much output of any of their suppliers. In contrast, Sears has never purchased more than 50%. As a result, Wal-Mart continues to grow, while Sears deteriorates and begins to vanish.

Wal-mart’s and Target’s asset utilization ratios fluctuate to a great extent. Wal-Mart turns its receivables way more often than Target does with an amazing 122.76 times. On top of that, they have an extremely short collection period of about 3 days. Both Wal-Mart and Target are above the industry average in turning over their inventory. Target is not as efficient in utilizing its total and fixed assets to generate dollars as Wal-Mart, and is below the industry average. Wal-mart is slightly under the industry

Sears Holdings Corporation is a company that came from two very well known organizations, Sears and Kmart. Both companies go back even farther than the 1900s and unfortunately both companies experienced financial difficulty at one point. With the merger Sears Holdings Corporation has the experience of both organizations as well as their different style of operating. Along with an improved customer base and a new outlook Sears Holdings Corporation is experiencing financial growth.

When we look at Wal-Mart’s increased ROA which increased by 1.2% from 2009 to 2010, it is mainly due to an increase in the net income generated which in turn leads

Wal-Mart dominates the American retailing industry due to a number of factors (Smith & Young, 2004). Its business model has been very effective in beating the prices of its rivals. Wal-Mart has made strategic attempts in its formulation to dominate the retail market where it has its presence. The company has grown by expansion in the U.S., as well as internationally. As a result, Wal-Mart has gained a widespread name, recognition, and customer satisfaction in relation to branching into new sectors of retailing. Wal-Mart strives on three generic strategies consisting of focus strategy, the differentiation strategy, and overall cost leadership. However, its low prices show both good and bad outcomes for society (Ferrell, Fraedrich, & Ferrell, 2013).

As we can see Sears owns different companies/products within its business. Another strength is that this company has many employees because it has so many different locations around the U.S. By having lots of locations you are going to have many employees, which is great. In one article I read I was able to see some of the weaknesses. As stated, “Sears Holdings spent $5.8 billion buying back shares from 2005 to 2010, draining the company 's capital. Now, it has a major cash flow problem” (Rittenhouse, 2017). This shows that this company has to buy back it shares because if it does not they will lose more money than they are even producing. Another weakness that I read was, “From allegedly rude employees to poor customer service, even loyal customers have lost trust in the company” (Rittenhouse, 2017).