Fluent Essays

IntroductionWalmart today is a global retail giant. According to Carbonara (2018) in the recommended resource Walmart, Amazon Top World’s Largest Retail Companies (Links to an external site.) article, 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? To maintain the market leader position Walmart will be required to continually look for ways to outgrow its global competitors (Carbonara, 2018).To understand Walmart and where it is today and what tomorrow holds, it is important to understand the company’s foundation. “Sam Walton opened his first five-and-dime in 1950. His vision was to keep prices as low as possible” (Wilbert, 2018, para. 1). Walton opened the first Walmart in the early 1960s in Rogers, AK (Wilbert, 2018, para. 2). 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 (Wilbert, 2018, para. 3). 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, para. 3). 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” (Kestenbaum, 2017, para. 3).Today, Walmart has grown considerably and continues to expand. Just to get an idea of how large this retail giant is, consider the following:Walmart employs 1.6 million people.Walmart has 6,200 retail outlets. In contrast, Home Depot has 2,040. (Wilbert, 2018, para. 4)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. As explained in the recommended resource How Wal-Mart Works (Links to an external site.), RFID tags hold significantly more data than bar codes” (Wilbert, 2018, para. 6). For information on how RFIDs and radio waves work, you may like to review the articles How RFID Works (Links to an external site.) and How Radio Works (Links to an external site.). You may also be interested in reviewing the Is Walmart Good or Bad for America? The Question May Be Outdated (Links to an external site.) article which explains another interesting fact, which is that “Walmart is the single most important pipeline distributing wealth from rich countries to poor countries” (Kestenbaum, 2017, para. 3).One concern pertaining to Walmart is how employees are treated. It is well known that Walmart not only pays low wages, but their practices have impacted how their suppliers manage production costs while sacrificing the safety of their labor force (Kestenbaum, 2017). Walmart tends to hire mostly part-time workers (Kestenbaum, 2017). Some may even say that Walmart “pays their workers poverty wages” (Kestenbaum, 2017, para. 4). There have long been ethical concerns about how Walmart operates and manages its employees.Case Study AssignmentThroughout your MBA program you will cover various subjects as they relate to business. You will initially have an opportunity in BUS621 Leadership and Teamwork to create and build your own Walmart in a new global location. Your choices for location include Peru, New Zealand, Philippines, Egypt, Czech Republic, and United Arab Emirates. As you progress through each course in the program you will build upon your case study of Walmart.The purpose of this Walmart Case Study is to give you an opportunity to apply the subject matter from each course in the MBA program to an ongoing strategic development. The knowledge gained from the case study in each course will be cumulative. The knowledge will assist you in demonstrating your ability to conduct critical analysis and decision making across a wide range of subjects throughout the MBA program.MethodologyThe case study is based upon past and current information about Walmart and the country of destination. You will select a country to develop your case and will use the same country in each course of the MBA program.You will be responsible for gathering as much information as needed that will help you with determining the course of action that Walmart should pursue in the company’s quest to growth and to meeting the needs of international markets.Part A: Read Case 12.1: Can Walmart Crack the Retail Code in India? and answer the following questions:Summarize some of the elements in India’s political, economic, and cultural environments that can impact the market opportunity.Explain some of the obstacles facing Walmart and other foreign retailers in India.Review Figure 12-4. Explain which quadrant of the matrix applies most directly to India. Provide your rationale.Part B: In your BUS621: Leadership and Teamwork course, you selected a country for Walmart to expand to, and you also analyzed the nine dimensions of the culture and the leadership models and skills that would apply to your selected country. In this assignment, you will work and build on your previous Walmart work, and develop some place strategies as Walmart expands on its global marketing activities to the country of your choice. Address the following points for the selected country:Summarize some of the elements in your selected country’s political, economic, and cultural environments that can impact the market opportunity for Walmart expansion.Based on your environmental review and referring to Figure 12-4, discuss what market expansion strategy you would suggest for Walmart in your selected country.You learned that channels create utility for customers (place utility, form utility, time utility, and information utility) that can be leverages as a source of competitive advantage. Analyze each of these utilities that Walmart may be creating in the country of your choice, and explain which one can potentially work as a competitive advantage for Walmart considering its target market and their needs, wants, and preferences in your selected country.Considering the growth of global online retailers like Amazon.com, Aliexpress.com, Target.com, and eBay.com as competitors of Walmart.com, and based on the factors you evaluated in Part A, formulate a SWOT analysis for Walmart.com in your selected country.The Walmart Case Study paperMust be three to five double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s APA Style (Links to an external site.) resource.Must include a separate title page with the following:Title of paperStudent’s nameCourse name and numberInstructor’s nameDate submittedFor further assistance with the formatting and the title page, refer to APA Formatting for Word 2013 (Links to an external site.). .1_reading.docx exhibit_12.4.docx walmart_analysis_final_paper_for_bus_621.docx Unformatted Attachment Preview 12-1 Distribution Channels: Objectives, Terminology, and Structure 12-1 Identify and compare the basic structure options for consumer channels and industrial channels. Marketing channels exist to create utility for customers. The major categories of channel utility are place utility (the availability of a product or service in a location that is convenient to a potential customer), time utility (the availability of a product or service when desired by a customer), form utility (the availability of the product processed, prepared, in proper condition, and/or ready to use), and information utility (the availability of answers to questions and general communication about useful product features and benefits). Because these utilities can be a basic source of competitive advantage and represent an important element of a firm’s overall value proposition, choosing a channel strategy is one of the key policy decisions that management must make. For example, the Coca-Cola Company’s global marketing leadership position is based in part on its ability to put Coke “within an arm’s reach of desire”—in other words, to create place utility. The starting point in selecting the most effective channel arrangement is a clear focus of the company’s marketing effort on a target market and an assessment of the way(s) in which distribution can contribute to the firm’s overall value proposition. Who are the target customers, and where are they located? What are their information requirements? What are their preferences for service? How sensitive are they to the product’s or service’s price? Moreover, each market must be analyzed to determine the cost of providing channel services. What is appropriate in one country may not be always effective in another. Even marketers concerned with a single-country program should study channel arrangements in different parts of the world for valuable information and insight into possible new channel strategies and tactics. For example, retailers in Europe and Asia studied self-service discount retailing in the United States and then introduced the self-service concept in their own countries. Similarly, governments and business executives from many parts of the world have examined Japanese trading companies to learn from their success. Walmart’s formula has been closely studied and adapted by competitors in the markets it has entered. As mentioned previously, distribution channels are systems that link manufacturers to customers. Although channels for consumer products and industrial products are similar, there are also some distinct differences between them. In business-to-consumer marketing (also known as b-to-c or B2C marketing), consumer channels are designed to put products in the hands of people for their own use. By contrast, business-to-business marketing (also known as b-to-b or B2B marketing) involves industrial channels that deliver products to manufacturers or other organizations that then use them as inputs in the production process or in day-to-day operations. Intermediaries play important roles in both consumer and industrial channels. A distributor is a wholesale intermediary that typically carries product lines or brands on a selective basis. An agent is an intermediary who negotiates exchange transactions between two or more parties but does not take title to the goods being purchased or sold. Consumer Products and Services Figure 12-1 summarizes six channel structure alternatives for consumer products. The characteristics of both buyers and products have an important influence on channel design. The first alternative is to market directly to buyers via the Internet, mail order, various types of door-to-door selling, or manufacturer-owned retail outlets. The other options use retailers and various combinations of sales forces, agents/brokers, and wholesalers. The number of individual buyers and their geographic distributions, incomes, shopping habits, and reactions to different selling methods frequently vary from country to country and may require different channel approaches. Figure 12-1 Marketing Channel Alternatives: Consumer Products Product characteristics such as degree of standardization, perishability, bulk, service requirements, and unit price have an impact as well. Generally speaking, channels tend to be longer (require more intermediaries) as the number of customers to be served increases and the price per unit decreases. Bulky products usually require channel arrangements that minimize shipping distances and the number of times products change hands before they reach the ultimate customer. The Internet and related forms of new media are dramatically altering the distribution landscape. For example, eBay pioneered the peer-to-peer marketing (p-to-p) model, whereby individual consumers market products to other individuals. eBay’s success was one reason that traditional merchants quickly recognized the Internet’s potential. To sustain revenue growth, eBay began assisting large companies such as Disney and IBM in setting up online “storefronts” to sell items for fixed prices in addition to conducting b-to-c auctions. “As we evolved from auction-style bidding to adding Buy It Now, the logical next step for us was to give sellers a place to showcase their listings,” said Bill Cobb, eBay’s senior vice president for global marketing.2 Some observers predict that interactive television (ITV) will also become a viable direct-distribution channel in the coming years as more households are wired with the necessary two-way technology. Timepressed consumers in many countries are increasingly attracted to the time and place utility created by the Internet and similar new media technologies. Low-cost mass-market products and certain services can be sold on a door-to-door basis via a direct sales force. Door-to-door and house-party selling is considered a mature channel in the United States; however, it is now growing in popularity elsewhere. For example, Orlando, Florida–based Tupperware has a sales force of 200,000 in Indonesia. Brand-conscious consumers there have embraced the company’s plastic food-storage containers, and Tupperware’s direct-sales business model gives it an advantage in a country with a limited retail infrastructure (see Exhibit 12-2). Today, Indonesia is Tupperware’s biggest market. As former CEO and current executive chairman Rick Goings notes, “This is an incredible sweet spot for us. It’s where the population of the world is. You cannot fight that.”3 Exhibit 12-4 Alexandre Plokhov is a menswear designer with a noir sensibility. Some of his designs—these combat boots, for example—are inspired by vintage military uniforms. After launching Cloak and the eponymous Alexandre Plokhov lines, he designed for Versace and Helmut Lang. His new venture is called Nomenklatura. Source: © NomenklaturaStudio. Perishable goods impose special demands on channel members, who must ensure that the merchandise (e.g., fresh fruits and vegetables) is in satisfactory condition (form utility) at the time of customer purchase. In developed countries, either a company’s own sales force or independent channel members may handle distribution of perishable food products. In either case, the distributor organization checks the stock to ensure that it is fresh. In less-developed countries, public marketplaces are important channels; they provide a convenient way for producers of vegetables, bread, and other food products to sell their goods directly. Notably, the high perishability rate for fresh produce is one of the biggest supplychain issues in modern India. Sometimes, a relatively simple channel innovation in a developing country can significantly increase a company’s overall value proposition. In the early 1990s, for example, the Moscow Bread Company (MBC) needed to improve its distribution system. Russian consumers queue up daily to buy fresh loaves at numerous shops and kiosks. Unfortunately, MBC’s staff was burdened by excessive paperwork, which resulted in the delivery of stale bread. Andersen Consulting found that as much as one-third of the bread the company produced was wasted. In developed countries, approximately 95 percent of food is sold packaged; the figure is much lower in the former Soviet Union. Whether a consumer bought bread at an outdoor market or in an enclosed store, it was displayed unwrapped. The consulting team thus devised a simple solution—plastic bags to keep the bread fresh. Russian consumers responded favorably to the change; not only do the bags guarantee freshness and significantly extend the bread’s shelf life, but the bags themselves also create utility. In a country where such extras are virtually unknown, the bags constitute a reusable “gift.”9 The retail environment in developing countries presents similar challenges for companies marketing nonperishable items. In affluent countries, Procter & Gamble (P&G), Kimberly-Clark, Unilever, Colgate-Palmolive, and other global consumer-products companies are accustomed to catering to a “buy-in-bulk” consumer mentality. By contrast, in Mexico and other emerging markets, many consumers shop for food, soft drinks, and other items several times each day at tiny, independent “mom-and-pop” stores, kiosks, and market stalls (see Exhibit 12-5). The products offered, including shampoo, disposable diapers, and laundry detergent, are packaged in single-use quantities at a relatively high per-use cost. Running Head: WALMART ANALYSIS FOR LEADERSHIP Walmart Analysis for Leadership Final Paper Darien Greene BUS 621 Leadership and Teamwork Dr. Allen 12-9-2019 1 WALMART ANALYSIS FOR LEADERSHIP 2 Introduction Walmart is a multinational retail company that is American by origin and operates a series of grocery and departmental stores. The headquarters of the company are located in Arkansas. Sam Walton built the company from 1962 and incorporated it in 31st October 1969. The corporation also runs and owns Club warehouses. From records dating 31st October 2019, wall mart holds and manages 11,438 clubs and stores in twenty-seven countries across the globe under fifty-five different names. Walmart is the company’s name for the operation in Canada and the United States. Other names correspond to various countries, which include Walmart de Mexico Centroamerica operating in Mexico. Seiyu group working in Japan, Asda was running in the United Kingdom, Best Price operating in India and other operations in South Africa, Chile, Argentina, and Canada. The company holds the top position in revenue collection globally, as indicated by the Fortune Global 500 2019 list. Walmart holds the first position globally as the leading private employer globally, with over 2.2million employees. The company is publicly traded in the New York stocks market, but it is family-owned thus run by the Walton family. The family heirs hold possession of over fifty percent ownership through the family-owned Walton enterprises and also through personal individual holding. The company got listed in the NYSE in 1972, and by the year 1988, it was ranked as the most profitable retail company in the United States. The companies venture outside the United States have seen mixed results with establishments in China, Canada, the United Kingdom, South America and Central America recording great success while investment attempts in South Korea and Germany terribly failed. The aim of this analysis is to ensure that teams entrusted with leadership fully understand the complexities of venturing to new markets, and in this case, Egypt. WALMART ANALYSIS FOR LEADERSHIP 3 Analysis of Leadership Models Leadership models are not styles that are developed for handing out orders or bossing employees around but styles that ensure the cooperation and coordination of various teams within an organization with the aim of achieving the objectives of the company. The forms must involve the development of skills and leadership principles that enable a person to establish their position as a leader. Shared Leadership This kind of model involves the vesting of leadership powers to a group instead of an individual. The system of leadership shows lots of flexibility and has capabilities of withstanding sudden organizational structure changes. This leadership model is known to foster a strong cooperative and collaborative spirit among employees, thus resulting in increased productivity of employees (Wert, 2018, p.22). The kind of leadership advocated by this model ensures that proper decision-makers are spread across all significant steps hence achieving improved quality control. In this model, employees are left to apply their own creativity resulting in high-quality outputs and better processes. A model is an option that Walmart could use in Egypt, especially in the Entry stage, where other styles might come in after the company settles in the country. Laissez-Faire Leadership In this model of leadership, the supervisory role of a leader is minimal as the company relies on members of the team exercising their initiatives, thus playing more significant roles in decision-making processes. The style is having a very high potential for success where the employees have high levels of individual talents and are applicable by Walmart in the Egyptian situation. This would apply only if the team is first guided by some sets of principles developed at WALMART ANALYSIS FOR LEADERSHIP 4 the company level and ensures the continued working of all the organizational systems. This kind of leadership allows for increased freedom, something that excites the majority of stakeholders and employees (Herman, 2018, p.168). This action further encourages the employees and the stakeholder to achieve their targets and spur creativity and innovation, thus pitting the company on fast lines of growth. The shared leadership model would be more suitable in dealing with employees and stakeholders in Egypt as the culture of the country is based on a long history of formal education and ventures in sales, thus ensuring the company of a constant supply of motivated and talented employees and stakeholders. Leadership Competencies Beneficial to a leader in Egypt The environment presented by the Egyptian retail market is that of high competition and great potential, especially following the culture of the Egyptians where visiting grocery stores is a must as their foods are comprised of vegetables and spices going with the majority of their cuisines. Leaders in this region must, therefore, possess qualities that would act in favor of Walmart in ensuring market penetration and growth( Qoura, 2016,p.77). The potential leader in this region must display Social intelligence: this is the potential to understand social situations and changes and the ability to work in areas of massive cultural diversity effectively. The skills of social information allow the leader to deal with sensitive social situations, especially in areas where people take traditional cultural practices seriously. This quality would help the manager easily engage with the Egyptian employee and stakeholders, thus helping push the agenda of the company. WALMART ANALYSIS FOR LEADERSHIP 5 Interpersonal skills: This skill refers to the relational oriented aspects of an individual. The top leadership must possess excellent socialization skills, especially when entering new markets to ensure that they are able to effectively associate with the influencing figures in the society towards the achievement of the organizations goals(Stephan, 2016, p.515). The Egyptian community is primarily influenced by the decisions of community elders like the majority of Arab and Islamic countries. Thus good relationships with the elders would ensure guaranteed success for the company. Intelligence/ Emotional skills: the ability to understand emotional situations, communicate at emotional levels and be in line with personal emotions directly relates to the personal charisma of the leader(Jackson, 2016, p.34). Charismatic leaders have higher chances of achieving their targets as they Can connect with employees, customers, and stakeholders, thus finding standard solutions to diverse issues and thus ensuring the success of the company. Prudence: The ability to be wise and visualization of issues from other peoples perspectives. This ability is essential in all leaders as it helps them consider the points of view of other persons. This ensures a connection with all employees and stakeholders, thus ensuring the achievement of the companys objectives. Courage: the notion of courage lies with the ability to make calculated moves and stick in ones personal beliefs. This quality is essential since the character that a leader displays to their subjects have a direct effect on the characteristics of the employees and stakeholders in the work environment. A fear which is the opposite of courage makes it difficult for individuals to take initiatives and thus unable to advance the interests of the company, especially in anew environment. WALMART ANALYSIS FOR LEADERSHIP 6 Cultural Leadership Concepts Application in Egypt Cross-cultural leadership requires the psychological skills that enable people to understand the interactions of individuals from different cultures. This kind of leadership is essential, especially to leaders who work in the global market where regions are melting pots of cultural interactions. A leader hoping to practice in Egypt must be in a position to comfortably interact with people of Arabic culture and Islamic religion. They must understand the dominant lifestyles in the land and hence tailor the products of the company to satisfy the requirements demanded by such groups. A good example is the Sharia compliance of meat and animal products that all Islamic followers require for the foods at a sale to be accepted for consumption. The assumption that a successful manager in one country will automatically succeed in the next. The challenges posed by the Egyptian Market are entirely different from those that you would face in countries like India, Argentina, or the United Kingdom. Leadership skills and Practices Applicable to Egypt Communication: Communication is an essential skill as the leader must have the ability to follow the right channels of passing information in a clear way to the employees and stakeholders for group cohesion and deliverables achievements. Motivation: The potential leader in the country must possess the skill of motivating his employees to empower them and give them positive energy to achieve the objectives of the company. Delegating: excellent delegation skills remove the bulk of workload on the leaders hence helping them focus on the more pertinent issues. Situations where leaders are present on all occasions and WALMART ANALYSIS FOR LEADERSHIP 7 responsible for the supervision of all actions, lead to reduced creativity and motivation in the group. A leader working in Egypt must be able to delegate some duties to trusted employees. Positivity: Positive attitudes in a leader goes a long way in helping achieve what previously seems impossible. It is thus mandatory to have positive leaders if we are to ensure the success of the company. Trustworthiness: The quality of integrity determines whether the employees and stakeholders can trust the leader in the country in the company. The kind of leader that is required in Egypt is one who I true to his word since the majority of the community member traditionally value gentleman agreements. Creativity: The potential leader must display creative skills that help him come up with tailormade solutions to new challenges. New markets are bound to pose new challenges, and hence the leaders must be ready to rise to the occasion when the situation calls. Feedback: The ability of a leader to pass on useful information to hi ... Purchase answer to see full attachment