Fluent Essays

Prior to beginning work on this assignment, review Chapter 24 of your textbook and the Walmart Case Study.  downloadYou will also need to access Walmart’s most recent annual report from Walmart’s Financial Information (Links to an external site.) page. You can use the annual report to gather additional international data. In this final project you will continue to build on your Walmart Case study work from previous courses. Imagine that you have been hired as a data analyst for Walmart. The Walmart executive team has asked you to gather data that will assist them in determining if this foreign market is a viable option for a Walmart expansion. You will continue to research the same region you have chosen to expand to in your previous MBA courses. Please refer to the Walmart Case StudyLinks to an external site. for the list of available regions. asreported Powered by Clearbit Walmart Inc (NYS: WMT) Exchange rate used is that of the Year End reported date As Reported Annual Balance Sheet Report Date 01/31/2021 01/31/2020 01/31/2019 01/31/2018 01/31/2017 Currency USD USD USD USD USD Audit Status Not Qualified Not Qualified Not Available Not Qualified Not Qualified Consolidated Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Scale Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Cash & cash equivalents 17741000 9465000 7722000 6756000 6867000 Receivables, net 6516000 6284000 6283000 5614000 5835000 Inventories 44949000 44435000 44269000 43783000 43046000 Prepaid expenses & other current assets 20861000 1622000 3623000 3511000 1941000 Total current assets 90067000 61806000 61897000 59664000 57689000 Land 19308000 24619000 24526000 25298000 24801000 Buildings & improvements 97582000 105674000 101006000 101155000 98547000 Fixtures & equipment 56639000 58607000 54488000 52695000 48998000 Transportation equipment 2301000 2377000 2316000 2387000 2845000 Construction in progress 4741000 3751000 3474000 3619000 4301000 Property & equipment, gross 180571000 195028000 185810000 185154000 179492000 Less: accumulated depreciation 88370000 89820000 81493000 77479000 71782000 Property & equipment, net 92201000 105208000 104317000 107675000 107710000 Operating lease right-of-use assets 13642000 17424000 - - - Finance lease right-of-use assets, net 4005000 4417000 - - - Property under capital lease & financing obligations - - 12760000 12703000 11637000 Less: accumulated amortization - - 5682000 5560000 5169000 Property under capital lease & financing obligations, net - - 7078000 7143000 6468000 Goodwill 28983000 31073000 31181000 18242000 17037000 Other long-term assets 23598000 16567000 14822000 - - Other assets & deferred charges - - - 11798000 9921000 Total assets 252496000 236495000 219295000 204522000 198825000 Short-term borrowings 224000 575000 5225000 5257000 1099000 Accounts payable 49141000 46973000 47060000 46092000 41433000 Liabilities for sale 12734000 - - - - Accrued wages & benefits 7654000 6093000 6504000 6998000 6105000 Self-insurance 4698000 4469000 3979000 3737000 3922000 Accrued non-income taxes 3328000 3039000 2979000 3073000 2816000 Deferred gift card revenue 2310000 1990000 1932000 2017000 - Other accrued liabilities 7242000 6705000 6765000 6297000 7811000 Accrued liabilities 37966000 22296000 22159000 22122000 20654000 Accrued income taxes 242000 280000 428000 645000 921000 Operating lease obligations due within one year 1466000 1793000 - - - Long-term debt due within one year 3115000 5362000 1876000 3738000 2256000 Finance lease obligations due within one year 491000 511000 - - - Capital lease & financing obligations due within one year - - 729000 667000 565000 Total current liabilities 92645000 77790000 77477000 78521000 66928000 Unsecured debt 44306000 49180000 45661000 33897000 38132000 Other debt 3000 -104000 -265000 -114000 139000 Total long-term debt 44309000 49076000 45396000 33783000 38271000 Less: amounts due within one year 3115000 5362000 1876000 3738000 2256000 Long-term debt 41194000 43714000 43520000 30045000 36015000 Long-term operating lease obligations 12909000 16171000 - - - Long-term finance lease obligations 3847000 4307000 - - - Long-term capital lease & financing obligations - - 6683000 6780000 6003000 Deferred income taxes & other liabilities 14370000 12961000 11981000 8354000 9344000 Common stock 282000 284000 288000 295000 305000 Capital in excess of par value 3646000 3247000 2965000 2648000 2371000 Retained earnings (accumulated deficit) 88763000 83943000 80785000 85107000 89354000 Currency translation & other -10772000 -11827000 -12085000 -12136000 -14362000 Net investment hedges 1296000 1517000 1395000 1030000 1435000 Unrealized gain on available-for-sale securities - - - 1646000 - Cash flow hedges -304000 -539000 -140000 122000 -315000 Minimum pension liability -1986000 -1956000 -712000 -843000 -990000 Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) -11766000 -12805000 -11542000 -10181000 -14232000 Total Walmart Inc. shareholders equity (deficit) 80925000 74669000 72496000 77869000 77798000 Noncontrolling interest 6606000 6883000 7138000 2953000 - Nonredeemable noncontrolling interest - - - - 2737000 Total equity (deficit) 87531000 81552000 79634000 80822000 80535000 Walmart Case Study Walmart today is a global retail giant. According to Carbonara (2018), Walmart is the world’s largest retail company with continued plans for global growth. There are many competitors, one of which is Amazon. How will Walmart continue to be a global giant in the years to come? In order to maintain the market leader position Walmart will be required to continually look for ways to out grow its’ global competitors (2018). In order to understand Walmart and where they are today and what tomorrow holds, it is important to understand their foundation. “Sam Walton opened his first five-and-dime in 1950. His vision was to keep prices as low as possible” (Wilbert, 2018, para1). Walton opened the first Walmart in early 1960’s in Roger, AK (2018). One thing that has and will always remain a key component for all Walmart stores is to keep expenses low. There has always been a mentality behind the vision of Walton to demand that employees always keep costs to a bare minimum (2018). On average, “Walmart saves a typical American family of four about $2500 a year. That’s about what a family of four gets from the government in food stamps. That makes Walmart a major antipoverty force in the United States” (Kestenbaum, 2017, para3). Another factor to consider when thinking about Walmart is that “since 1990, the global rate of poverty has been cut by two-thirds. That’s the sharpest decline in human poverty in all of history, more than one billion people have been lifted out of poverty during that period and Walmart is a major force in that effect” (2017, para 3). Today, Walmart has grown considerably and continues to expand. Just to get an idea of how large this retail giant is: • Walmart employs 1.6 million people. • Walmart has 6,200 retail outlets. In contrast, Home Depot has 2,040. (Wilbert, 2018, Para4) One might question, what does Walmart do to continue to be successful and keep costs to a minimum? There are several things that this retail giant has incorporated into the operations. First, “Walmart became the first major retailer to demand manufacturers use radio frequency identification technology (RFID). The technology uses radio frequencies to transmit data stored on small tags attached to pallets or individual products. RFID tags hold significantly more data than bar codes” (Wilbert, 2018, para6). Another interesting fact is that “Walmart is the single most important pipeline distributing wealth from rich countries to poor countries” (Kestenbaum, 2017, para3). One concern pertaining to Walmart is how the employees are treated. It is well known that Walmart not only pays low wages, but they also will cut corners (Kestenbaum, 2017). Walmart tends to hire mostly part-time workers (2017). Some may even say that Walmart “pay their workers poverty wages” (2017, para 4). There have long been ethical concerns in how Walmart operates and manages their employees. Case Study Assignment Throughout your MBA program you will be covering various subjects as they relate to business. You will initially have an opportunity in this class to create and build your own Walmart in a new global location. Your choices of location include: Czech Republic, Egypt, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, and United Arab Emirates. As you progress through each course in the program you will build upon your case study for Walmart. The purpose of this Walmart Case Study is to give each student an opportunity to apply subject matter from each course in the MBA program to an ongoing strategic development. The knowledge gained on the case in each course will be cumulative. The knowledge will assist the student in demonstrating his or her ability to conduct critical analysis and decision making across a wide range of subject matter throughout the MBA program. Methodology The case is based upon past and current information about Walmart and the country of destination. 1. Each student will select a country to develop his or her case from. The student will use the same country in each course of the MBA program. 2. The student will be responsible for gathering as much information as needed that will help the student with determining the course of action that Walmart should pursue in the company’s quest to growth and meet the needs of international markets. References Carbonara, P. (2018, June 6). Walmart, Amazon top world’s largest retail companies. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/petercarbonara/2018/06/06/worlds-largest-retail-companies- 2018/#55ead67213e6 Kestenbaum, R. (2017, May 18). Is Walmart good or bad for America? The question may be outdated. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardkestenbaum/2017/05/18/is-walmart- good-or-bad-for-america/#2508388022ae Wilbert, C. (2018), How Wal-Mart works. Retrieved from https://money.howstuffworks.com/wal- mart.htm https://www.forbes.com/sites/petercarbonara/2018/06/06/worlds-largest-retail-companies-2018/#55ead67213e6 https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardkestenbaum/2017/05/18/is-walmart-good-or-bad-for-america/#2508388022ae Sharpe, N. D., De Veaux, R. D., & Velleman, P. F. (2019).  Business statistics  (4th ed.) . Retrieved from https://www.vitalsource.com/ · Chapter 24: Decision Making and Risk (Data Description, Inc.) CHAPTER 24 DECISION MAKING RISK PART 1 Prior to beginning work on this assignment, review Chapter 24 of your textbook and the  Walmart Case Study.    downloadYou will also need to access Walmart’s most recent annual report from Walmart’s  Financial Information (Links to an external site.)  page. https://stock.walmart.com/investors/financial-information/annual-reports-and-proxies/default.aspx You can use the annual report to gather additional international data. In this final project you will continue to build on your Walmart Case study work from previous courses. Imagine that you have been hired as a data analyst for Walmart. The Walmart executive team has asked you to gather data that will assist them in determining if this foreign market is a viable option for a Walmart expansion. You will continue to research the same region you have chosen to expand to in your previous MBA courses. Please refer to the  Walmart Case StudyLinks to an external site.  for the list of available regions. In Part 1 you will be required to gather and analyze data for your case study paper. In Walmart Expansion Analysis Final Project, Part 1: Walmart Case Study Paper (17 points) You have been tasked with collecting and analyzing key data points that will assist Walmart in their decision to expand to your chosen region. In Part I, you will gather data from various sources, use the tools learned throughout this class to analyze data, and determine the best way to present this data to the Walmart executive team. Finally, you will make a recommendation on whether or not this foreign market is a viable option for a Walmart expansion. Note: It is OK to not recommend an expansion to your chosen region. Just be sure to justify your recommendation. Step 1: Data Collection As a data analyst, you will be required to locate data from multiple sources. It is recommended that you use the Mergent Database in the University of Arizona Global Campus Library, the Business Insight Global database in the University of Arizona Global Campus Library, and Walmart’s latest Annual Report to begin your data collection. These databases should serve as a guide for your research. You are expected to identify additional data sources that will be useful in your analysis. Accessing Mergent database: You can locate current Walmart data from the Mergent database in the University of Arizona Global Campus Library. Review the  Mergent Online: Accessing Mergent Online (Links to an external site.)  for instructions on accessing and searching the database. Search for “Walmart” and select “Walmart Inc.” Navigate to the Company Financials tab. You may want to review the Income Statement for items such as net sales, operating expenses, projected income, etc. It is recommended that you review data from at least the last five years. If you wish, you can export this data into an excel document by selecting the “Download” option in the upper right corner of the Mergent page. Accessing Business Insights: Global database: To access the Business Insight Global database, access the University of Arizona Global Campus Library and select to the “Find Articles and More”. Next, select “Databases A-Z”, then find the “Business Insights: Global” database. In the search bar, type “Walmart”, ensuring the “Company” tab is selected from the dropdown menu. You may want to review items such as gross profit, interest expense, net income, etc. Business Insights: Global also has some information on Walmart in particular countries that may be useful in your research. To search, type Walmart or Wal-mart into the search bar at the top of the Business Insights: Global homepage, ensuring “Country” is selected from the drop-down menu. This will provide results that cover Walmart in areas such as China, Brazil, Chile, India, Puerto Rico, Argentina, and Canada. You may wish to gather data for countries that are closest to your region for comparison. Accessing Walmart’s annual report: You can find Walmart’s most recent annual report on their  Financial Information (Links to an external site.)  page. You can use the annual report to gather additional international data. Here are some examples of data that may be useful to an analyst: · Under “Item 1: Business,” in the “Walmart International Segment,” you may wish to gather data for retail unit count and retail square feet for all available fiscal years for the country or continent closest to your region. For example, if you are looking to expand in Egypt, you will use the data for Africa. · In the “Item 2: Properties” section of the report, you may wish to gather data for the owned and leased properties for the country or continent closest to your region. · In the “Results of Operations” section of the report, look for “Walmart International Segment.” You may wish to gather data for net sales, operating income, and unit counts at period end for all available fiscal years. You will likely need to gather more data to make your case. You are encouraged to seek out additional data points that will assist you in your analysis. Other data points you may want to consider include, but are not limited to · Gross national income · Population and demographic data · Key economic metrics, including current economic status, inflation, etc. · Labor market data, including average wage, unemployment rate, cost of living, etc. · Market environment · Foreign exchange · Credit environment outlook Here are some suggested databases to get you started. These databases may not have all the information you need to make a full evaluation. You may need to conduct your own research to find useful databases that house the data you need to conduct your analysis. · International Labour Organization’s  ILOSTAT (Links to an external site.) https://ilostat.ilo.org/ · The World Bank’s  Doing Business Data (Links to an external site.) https://databank.worldbank.org/home.aspx · The World Bank’s  DataBank : https://databank.worldbank.org/home.aspx