Strategic Management and Planning: Walmart vs. Kmart
How many times a month does the average American step inside a Walmart facility? Whether it’s for grocery shopping, pharmaceutical needs, clothing and shoes, or for work, it’s common knowledge that you can find just about anything at walmart. Since his first variety store opened in 1945, Sam Walton has been a household name even after his death in 1992. No one can argue that Sam Walton didn’t have a vision for the future. On the other hand, I can count the last time I was in Kmart within the past ten years on one hand. With a steady decline in business leading up to the businesses bankruptcy in 2002, Kmart has been on a slippery downhill slide for years. In this paper, I plan on comparing the strategic management and planning of Walmart against that of Kmart. Walmart has grown from a small mom and pop convenience store, to a multi billion dollar international business. So how did Walmart grow to what it is now? Much of their success has been because of strategic management and planning. Walmart’s slogan is “Saving people money so they can live better.” From our humble beginnings as a small discount retailer in Rogers, Ark., Wal-Mart has opened thousands of stores in the U.S. and expanded internationally. Through innovation, we 're creating a seamless experience to let customers shop anytime and anywhere online, through mobile devices and in stores. We are creating opportunities and bringing value to customers and
Walmart is the preeminent organization that was established by Sam Walton in 1962 and now Walmart’s leads globally including Canada. Walmart was first started as small discount store with the slogan of “more for less”, and now it has grown worldwide in last five decades into the one of the biggest retailer across the globe. And today Walmart controls over 11,000 retail unit under 65 banners in 28 countries with workforce of 2.2 million associates across the globe whereas 1.4million in the U.S alone. Walmart also hires full time and part time employees with the minimum qualification. Company targets the domestic customer looking for more with less spending power. Walmart has deals going throughout the year with amazing offers which fulfills customers need.
Wal-Mart Corporation is one of the largest retail stores in the world. They serve customers in meeting their needs with low cost saving items. On October 31, 1962, Wal-Mart was founded and incorporated by Sam Walton in Bentonville, Arkansas. Mr. Walton went into business because he felt that items sold were too high for the average customer to afford. His focus was to sell products at low prices to get higher volume sales at a lower profit margin. He bought bulk products from different suppliers so he could incorporate savings into his pricing to lower cost for customers. Under the savings cost concept, Wal-Mart grew rapidly and surpassed its competitors in sales and generating profits.
Wal-Mart evolved from Sam Walton’s purpose for great price and great consumer service. “Mr. Sam,” as he was known, believed in management through service. The principle that true leadership depends on willing service was the standard on which Wal-Mart was built, and drove the choices the business has made for the past 50 years. So much of Wal-Mart’s past is attached to the story of Sam Walton himself, and so much of our future will be deep-rooted in Mr. Sam’s principles. Sam's rivals thought his plan for a thriving business couldn’t be built around low prices and great service. As it happened, the company's achievement went beyond even Sam's hopes. The company went public in 1970, and the profits funded a steady growth of the business. Sam recognized the rapid increase of Wal-Mart not just to the low prices that fascinated consumers, but also to his staff of workers. He depended on them to give customers the great buying experience that would
Walmart is known throughout the entire world as one of the most popular chain department stores. Actually, most have probably visited a Walmart store in the past week. Though Walmart stores seem to be a normal part of life the average person more than likely has little knowledge that pertains to Walmart’s success and business culture. This paper will guide one through the history of the organization, why Walmart is successful, what could threaten or open new opportunities, and how might they hold a competitive advantage.
This paper will discuss the kroger company’s strategy and competitive advantage. It will also discuss competition and strategy from rival company Walmart. Research will show whether Kroger uses an offensive or defensive strategic approach to business practices. It will discuss mergers and acquisitions of The Kroger Company (Bethel University, 2017).
First, it is important to understand that Walmart, being the economic super power it is, developed extremely quickly. According to the Company Profile Walmart Stores, Inc., Walmart was established in 1969, and shortly thereafter in 1972 become publicly traded on the New York Stock exchange. As the company continued to grow, in the 1980’s the company diversified into Supercenters, Sam’s Club (membership warehouse club), and even international operations. Walmart expanded and began to sell household items (2000), the launch of their “No Boundaries” cosmetic line (2001), an online music store (2004), the completion of Walmart Site to Store (2007), Walmart prepaid debit cards (2007), their very own home furnishing brand “Canopy” (2008), and finally their very own line of Sam’s choice coffee (2008). In 2009 the company took a huge leap
In business, three major strategies comprising of cost leadership, differentiation, and focus strategies exist. The focus strategy emphasizes on providing services and products to a specified buyer group or market segment within a given geographic market. The differentiation approach is often defined as provision of services or products that are perceived to be unique in the market place. Wal-Mart emphasizes on the long-term strategy of cost leadership. Through this strategy, the company ensures that it offers customers with quality products at relatively lower prices than other providers in the industry. Through overall cost leadership strategy, Wal-Mart has been offering better quality products at a lower price than any competitor can offer. For the organization to achieve this goal, it has developed long-term supply chain management, which ensures that products are made available to the market at the required time (Enz, 2010).
Wal-Mart is arguably the most dynamic corporation in the last 50 years in the United States, if not the world. Arising from its beginnings in Bentonville, Arkansas, it has grown to over 4,400 discount stores, super centers and corner markets worldwide. Wal-Mart continues to expand despite public criticism of its labor practices as well as complaints about their treatment of competitors. The many strengths of Wal-Mart, like their low cost production and marketing practices, will aid Wal-Mart as it continues to grow in the retail
Ans:Wal-Mart,Inc runs a chain of large, discount department stores.it is the world’s largest public corporation by revenue. Walmart is the largest private employer and the largest grocery retailer in the United States. Walmart is one of the best known industries all over the world. Its concentration of a single business strategy is the basis of its success over the decades by this strategy without having to rely upon diversification to sustain its growth and competitive advantage. The leading marketing strategies of Wal-Mart are low prices, service and smile. However by adapting this strategy, it has risked itself by putting all of a company’s egg in one industry basket. While its global strategy worked elsewhere, the results were bad in Germany and Korea that Wal-Mart withdrew from those countries.
“Always low prices”, is the first thing you think of when you think about one of the most successful companies around the world, Wal-Mart. For years they stand as a well know company due to their everyday low prices and variety of products. Their mission statement is “Saving people money so that they can live better”. They have chosen their mission statement wisely yet there is a lot of controversy when it comes to this International Company.
Like all departmental and/or discount stores, Wal-Mart's strategies are focused around achieving the goals such as building a large and strong customer base, under-cutting competitors, and organization of its supply chain in the most efficient and effective manner and above all, market growth.
The company I am reviewing for this research paper is Walmart. Walmart is a global company that originated in the 1960’s by its founder Sam Walton. Mr. Walton opened his “first retail store in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962” (Walmart Corporate). The current “home office is located in Bentonville, Arkansas” (Walmart Corporate). In 1991 Walmart became a “global company when it opened a Sam’s Club in Mexico City, Mexico” (Walmart Corporate). As of this year “Walmart employs 2.2 million associates worldwide and serves more than 200 million customers each week at more than 11,000 stores in 27 countries” (Walmart Corporate).
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. helps individuals around the globe spare cash and live better - at whatever time and anyplace - in retail locations, online and through their cell phones. Every week, more than 245 million clients and individuals visit our almost 11,000 stores under 65 flags in 28 nations and e-trade sites in 11 nations. With financial year 2015 net offers of $482.2 billion, Wal-Mart utilizes 2.2 million partners around the world. (Wal-Mart Corporate) Wal-Mart is a superpower in the business world and has been that way for 50+ years. Understanding how it got to this point and how it has maintained its successful business model starts with its
As I sat down several weeks ago to begin writing this case study, I struggled with how I wanted to lay the paper out, however, when I opened Lee Scott’s 21st century leadership speech that was part of the required reading, the following quote struck me as the essence of the whole case study, so I would like to share it with you. You know, we are in uncharted territory as a business. You won’t find any case studies at the Harvard Business School highlighting answers for companies of our size and scope. If we were a country, we would be the 20th largest in the world. If
Successful corporations in today’s business world must be able to employ different levels of planning in order to achieve goals put in place by senior management. Wal-Mart has many different levels of management planning in place to follow through on its goals and objectives. There are many factors that influence Wal-Mart’s strategic, tactical, operational and contingency planning. Although Wal-Mart has been a very successful corporation throughout its existence, it has had to absorb the impact of legal issues, ethics, and corporate responsibility in its management planning.