walmart chinese suppliers case study

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What Are Some Examples of Case Studies?

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Case studies are usually conducted over a sustained period of time, and they involve various forms of research, such as: observation, tests, examinations and even interviews. Case studies are used in a variety of social and life sciences, and the type of study that is conducted varies greatly depending on the field of science used.

Case studies are usually broken down into categories. For example, the illustrative case studies are based on the instance or instances of a particular event that describes what a situation is like. An example of one of these studies would be children fearing the doctor at a young age.

Another type of case study is the cumulative study that collects information from several places over the course of different times. These types of studies attempt to reduce repetitive research and focus on gathering information from the past to reach a conclusion. An example of this case study could be something along the lines of pre-existing behaviors in a creature throughout the course of various situations.

Walmart in China Harvard Case Solution & Analysis

Home >> Harvard Case Study Analysis Solutions >> Walmart in China

The case illustrates the expansion strategy of Walmart in China.Overthe period of time, the company has established astrongstance in the global markets,especiallythe US, however its movement into the Chinese market has not been as successful as in the other markets.

This has been primarily due to different nature of the customers and the market along with the different government regulations that support the local businesses and consumers more over international players.

In addition, since theChinese market is different and can compete with Walmart’s EDLP strategy, it is challenging for Walmart tosustain with its value proposition in theChinesemarkets.Insuch asituation, Walmart is recommended to opt theOmni channel strategy, offering the products through online and retail model both, griping the market from both ends. In addition,such will also allow to leverage its EDLP model along with alignment with the changing Chinese customerbehavior, making it a satiableplayer in the market.

Keywords : Competitive edge, EDLP, Low prices, Economies of scale, Walmart

Walmart in China Harvard Case Solution & Analysis

Introduction

Walmart Inc. is one of the leading retail stores in the US.The company started as retail stores and expanded to the different retail models including discount departmental stores and grocery stores. The company has been founded by Sam Walton in 1969, who also holds the ownership of Sam’s Club retail warehouses.

Over the period of time, the company increased in size and pursued the market penetration strategy to capture a big market share in the US. Till now, Walmart has 11695 stores and clubs in more than 28 countries. The company has the world’s largest revenues of $480 billion with the employee base of 2.3 million. The company has substantial market share and sales revenues from the US market and accounts for 62.3 percent of Walmart’s overall sales.

Since its initiation, the company focused on its supply chain functions to manage its cost of operations and to offer price cutting strategy products in the market . In doing so, the company focused on backward integration and forward integration as well so as to have a strong control over the operation and organizational function.

Walmart, in initiating its smart and well-integrated business operations, opened up its own distribution centers and applied the smart supply chain management techniques such as POS and SASS management to manage the inventory.Such techniques and expertise allowed Walmart to manage the inventory cost and the cost stacked up into the inventory. (Sehgal, 2014)

Walmart initiated the Stock keeping unit strategy to manage the inventory effectively and manage the supply and demand curve effectively, making it the world’s largest efficient retail store. In addition to this, Walmart incorporated the technology while managing its functions, such use of technology and advanced supply chain integration allowed Walmart to develop its competitive edge on the basis of its supply chain.

Though till now,Walmart has remainedsuccessful in the US market, however, operating in Chinese market is difficult due to high competitionand strong hold of the Chinese players, that may beatWalmart’s‘everyday low prices’ strategy, makingit vulnerable in the Chinese market, along with the bribery and corruption issuesthat are part of the Chinese and Asian markets...............

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Walmart Chinese Suppliers

Autor: Iqraaa • January 24, 2016 • Case Study • 1,280 Words (6 Pages) • 3,216 Views

[pic 1] Closing Case of: [pic 2]

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Wal-Mart's Chinese Suppliers

BBA(HONS) 1st semester

Submitted to:

Sir Sajid

Lecturer of Introduction To Business

Submitted by: Rizwan Ghafoor , Iqra Ashiq, Irum Nasim, Summan Imtiaz, Zahra Muhammad

Case Discussion Questions and Answers

Is it legitimate for an enterprise like Wal-Mart to demand that its suppliers adhere to a code of ethics? What are the benefits of this practice to Wal-Mart? What are the costs?

Answer: Yes, it is. If a supplier wants to do business with them they have the right to request them to have ethical standards within their business. Every organization requires an ethical policy or code of conduct. Ethical supply chain management is becoming a mainstream business issues. A code of ethics mean that they are not going to cheat anyone.

By having a code of ethics conduct there would be:

º No overcharge (that nobody can create demand and supply problem)

º Less chances of loss º Appropriate response to offense

º Follow the rules and regulation of organization

º Capable to reduce misconduct or illegal activities º Establish reporting system

- Benefits to Wal-Mart: ºCompetitive Advantage (It is the ability this organization that it provides cheaper goods on daily basis to its customers which sets it apart from competitors in the mind of customers). ºCustomer Satisfaction (that they are getting quality goods on lower prices) ºCSR Statements: (Wal-Mart is fulfilling the corporate social responsibility for its employees, customers, investors and environment) ºCheep and efficient labor (Wal-Mart is getting cheap and efficient labor from the under developed countries).

-Costs Wal-Mart is bearing:

ºLow production

ºChances of fraud from suppliers (Falsifying records)

ºHigh Cost of Production

Wal-Mart is known for constantly demanding the very lowest prices from its suppliers. How might this impact upon ethical behavior at its suppliers?

Answer: The impact upon ethical behavior at its supplier is that they will start doing cheating like they will pay less to employees but in accounts they will write the full amount of wages or will not pay for the labors overtime but in accounts they will write the full amount or Falsifying the records. We can consider the Case of Tang Yinghong the manager of Chinese factory (Auditors had found that the factory paid its 3,000 employees less than legal minimum wages and violated overtime rules) When he learned that Wal-Mart was about to inspect his factor. So Tang hired a Shanghai consulting company for 5,000$ with a promise that factory would past the audit. The company told Tang that how to create fake but authentic records and suggested Tang on the day of audit hustle with any worker with grievances out of the factory. Company also teaches him that how to answer the questions of inspecting team. Tang followed all of this advices and the factory passed the audit, even though it changed none of its practices. The suppliers claimed that in order to reducing prices, while meeting Wal-Mart's demands regarding working conditions inevitably raises their costs, the falsifying records may be their only option. On the other hand Wal-Mart has started to work with some of its suppliers to help them improve their efficiency, rather than by keeping pay low.

Walmart China: Supply, Demand, and Product Flow Case Study

Introduction.

Walmart Stores Inc. is one of the largest global retailers with over 11,500 stores operating in 28 countries around the world. In China, the retail giant opened its first outlet in 1996 in Shenzhen. By the end of 2016, the company was operating 439 retail units in 189 cities around China ( Walmart China Factsheet, n.d.). Given the extensive nature of operations, the management has to come up with an elaborate and efficient supply chain to ensure that customers’ needs and expectations are met. The management believes in local sourcing of products, and thus it has partnered with over 7,000 suppliers in the country to provide 95 percent of the merchandise in different stores ( Walmart China Factsheet, n.d.). The company’s distribution network and transportation have been successful because the management invests heavily in these areas to gain a competitive advantage in the market. This paper assesses the company’s supply and demands side of product flow to identify potential alignments that will keep cost and waste at a minimum.

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Demand Forecasting

Supply and demand side of walmart’s product flow.

Walmart’s supply chain has become effective by transforming it into the current customer-oriented operations. Initially, the adopted product flow model involved transporting huge quantities of stock units (sometimes up to 20,000 stock units) from its physical locations to customer locations across the country. Similarly, suppliers would ship products directly to the company’s stores. However, this model of shipping products directly to stores was inefficient in China. For instance, suppliers were required to transport truckloads of goods to the company’s extensive network of stores in the country. However, this model was impractical for perishable goods, and thus a huge number of goods would be damaged in the process. In 2015, Walmart introduced two models of transportation to address existing problems. The models were dry distribution and perishable distribution systems. By the end of 2016, the company had eight dry distribution and eleven fresh products distribution centers to handle general merchandise, consumables, dry groceries, and perishable goods respectively, with the help of cross-docking.

Customer Needs

One of the greatest customer needs is convenience when shopping in terms of accessing stores. Customers are also looking for affordability, quality products, and excellent services. Therefore, the senior management of the retail giant decided to create an extensive network of stores in major cities across the country. Given that the majority of the products are sourced locally, they are affordable and of good quality.

Evaluation Suppliers’ Capabilities

From 2012, the management of Walmart in China identified numerous loopholes that were constraining the suppliers’ abilities to deliver products. Therefore, the supply chain team came up with strategies to address this problem. Currently, most suppliers are in a position to meet the demand of customers during steady-state and peak operations due to the intense capital that the company invested in streamlining the supply chain. Walmart restructured its buying model and centralized it to reduce the number of regional buying locations and suppliers. The company retained 20 distribution centers and suppliers were required to improve their volumes to these centers (Johnson, 2015).

Therefore, suppliers have the ability to meet customer needs because instead of shipping directly to stores, they use the distribution centers where they can supply in advance to avoid shortages. Within the distribution centers, the suppliers’ inventory reorder points are at 15 percent (Johnson, 2015). As such, every time the inventory falls below this point, the suppliers are required to fill orders. With the establishment of the Dongguan distribution center in 2018, with a large holding capacity for inventory, suppliers competitively meet customer demands. The Dongguan facility operates seven days a week, and it ships around 150,000 cases in a day. During peak demand, the center ships 90,000 cases daily. 300 suppliers ship directly to this distribution center to ensure that it can serve all stores in the region efficiently.

Demand Forecasting Constraints

The main challenge that Walmart faces in its supply chain is the lack of enough storage in its distribution centers. This aspect has forced the management to keep the staple stock at their dry distribution centers at 15 percent as compared to 50 percent in the US (Johnson, 2015). 15 percent of staple stock may not cushion the retailer against shortages especially during peak periods and in case of suppliers face logistical challenges. The other constraint is the distance between distribution centers and stores. For instance, the weighted distance between the Dongguan distribution center and the 200 stores that it serves is 170 kilometers (Johnson, 2015). This distance may affect the transportation of perishable goods and fulfilling the peak day volumes of 142,000 cases per day.

The current sourcing strategy depends on the 20 distribution centers located around the country to serve all the stores. The company uses two models – cross-docking and staple stock-flow to source goods (Johnson, 2015). In the cross-docking model, products are shipped to distribution centers in truckloads whereby the goods are unloaded and loaded directly onto outbound trucks to be delivered to stores. In staple stock flow, goods are received from suppliers and stored in the distribution centers for some time before being transported to the respective stores. These models have not been serving the Chinese market optimally due to the inherent shortcomings. For instance, the staple stock-flow model requires numerous warehouses with a large physical footprint. This aspect means that the ambient staple stock can only be kept at 15 percent. The number and quality of suppliers are thus not the optimal mix for operations.

Distance from manufactures to the distribution center is another problem affecting the current models of sourcing. Having 20 distribution centers across the entire country means that some suppliers are located miles away from the centers. The lack of enough space in warehouses to maintain ambient staple stock at around 50 percent compounds the problem of suppliers having to transport goods for long distances to the distribution centers. Therefore, the goods delivered may be of poor quality. For instance, perishable goods should be transported and stored carefully to avoid damage. However, long transportation distances and the lack of sufficient storage facilities affect quality. For example, in 2014, the retail store was forced to recall donkey meat after it turned out it had fox DNA, while in 2011 it experienced the infamous pork scandal involving mislabeling and contamination (Kamath, 2018). As such, suppliers may not be in a position to constantly provide products that meet or exceed Walmart’s quality standards.

Recommendations

Walmart should focus on streamlining its supply chain in China. The first strategy to solve the current problems is to partner with different warehouses to expand the network of their distribution centers and increase the ambient staple stock to at least 30 percent to avoid shortages. The second strategy is to look for reliable suppliers with the right product mix. This step will help the retailer to eliminate non-performing suppliers, and deal with the problem of poor quality. Walmart should also leverage technology to track inventory, avoid shortages, and improve quality assurance. In the long term, the company should focus on building its own warehouses with enough space to handle the inventory based on customer needs.

Johnson, F. (2015). Walmart China – Supply Chain Transformation . London, ON: Ivey Publishing.

Kamath, R. (2018). Food traceability on blockchain: Walmart’s pork and mango pilots with IBM. The Journal of the British Blockchain Association, 1 (1), 1-12.

Walmart China Factsheet. (N.d.) Web.

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Wal-Mart case study - China operation

Essay, 2007, 28 pages, grade: 70, johnsen chen (author), table of contents:, executive summary.

1 Company Background 1.1 History 1.2 Corporate Strategy 1.3 Mission and objectives 1.4 Business Strategy 1.5 Similarities and differences in the organization culture and management function with host countries 1.5 Strengths 1.6 Weaknesses

2 PEST environment 2.2 Political, Economic, Social Culture and Technology (Opportunities) 2.2 Political, Economical, Social Culture and Technology (Threats) 2.3 Similarities and differences with host country 2.4 Marketing strategies

3 Product Life Cycle 3.1 Market Size and growing rate of retailing industry in China 3.2 Barriers of Entry -. Labor skills -. Land 3.3 Sources

4 Competitive Analysis 4.1 Microenvironment Analysis - Threat of new entrants (Moderate) - Bargaining power of buyers (Low) - Bargaining power of supplier (Low) - Threat of Substitutes (Moderate) - Rivalry among competitors (High) 4.2 Competitors analysis 4.3 Wal-Mart position

5 Buyer Analysis 5.1 Market segmentation 5.2 Strategies

6 Marketing Strategies 6.1 Marketing objectives 6.2 Marketing Mix - Product - Price - Promotion - Place

7 Entry Strategy - Past and Current - Future

8 Conclusion

References:

China, a country with population of 1.3 billion people and is currently experiencing rapid growth in economy since it open itself to the world for investment. In the year of 1994, Wal-Mart made its first move to China by selecting CITIC (China International Trust and Investment Corporation) group as local partner for the investment. Opening its first store in Shen-Zen in the year of 1996 and since then has grown to 81 stores in 20 more cities around china. In China, Wal-Mart is using adaptation strategy where it locally sourced its product although the organizational culture is standardized with the home country. Adaptation strategy does not apply only to the product wise, in term of the store formats are also adapted to the local cultures where racks height, and stores layout are also changed to meet local taste.

From the macro-environment view of the china retailing industry, Wal-Mart will face threats on the political side where the government is not transparent enough in the policy making. Moreover, it is currently anticipating the economic big turnover by tightening the regulations on the land although China is still encouraging foreign investment. In China, Wal-Mart will face strong competition from its arch-rivals Carrefour and other strong local competitor such as Lian-Hua supermarkets and China Resources Enterprise of which both are the pioneers in the China retailing industry. The current position of Wal-Mart in China is still far away to be as the same level with them as Wal-Mart is unable to apply its superiority in logistics that win the competition in USA.

Although it is a vast market, not all the populations have great spending power. It is a country of haven and have not, where the income disparity become a large issue. The middle income class only represents 25-30 millions people and mostly remain in the urban area. China is a very fragmented market and rich in cultures background which may trap companies to generalize them. Despite of it, China is certainly a very attractive market to invest in as the indicators in economic has been shining for the last twenty years.

1 Company Background

1.1 history.

Sam Warton, the founder of today’s retailer monster started the business in the year of 1962 in Bentonville, Arkansas. The first store is called “Warton’s Five and Dimes” (Belsie, 2002). Currently, the number of stores has grown to 6796 stores, covering 15 countries around the world, beside United States there are Wal-Mart in Canada, Argentina, Puerto-Rico, Mexico, Guatemala, Brazil, Honduras, El-Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa-Rica, United Kingdom, Japan, and China (Wal-Martchina, 2007).

Wal-Mart expansion campaign in China begins in the year of 1994, where it sent a team to evaluate the prospect of investment in that country. The first store only started to operate in the year of 1996 in Shenzhen (ICFAI, 2005). The last count made in 4th April 2007 showed that the number of the stores in China has grown to 81 stores; 76 supercenters, 3 SAMs club and 2 neighborhood markets (Wal-MartChina, 2007).

1.2 Corporate Strategy

From the analysis on Wal-Mart overall business strategies, their corporate strategies are Firstly , to dominate the retail industry by being a company that is offering the lowest price possible (Wal-Mart annual report, 2007) to the customer, Second is to expand in the US and internationally which currently have reached 4058 in US and 2898 in other 14 countries (Wal-Martchina, 2007). Third is to refine the image of the company by carrying out company sustainability, community benefits (Scott, 2007), social responsibility (Wal-Martchina, 2007) programs besides allowing unionization of its workers (McGregor, 2004). Finally is to reach out to other sector of retailers by opening up Pharmacies, Optical, Tire and Lube services, or Alaskan Bush shoppers for those who stays in Alaska and need to shop. (Wal-Mart, N/D).

1.3 Mission and objectives

Although Wal-Mart does not have any official mission statement, their slogan of “ Everyday’s low price, Always!” has certainly become the de-facto mission statement (Fishman, 2003). Therefore, In order to provide customers the lowest price, Wal-Mart has taken into actions to fulfill few objectives that can be seen in their sustainability strategies. Their sustainability strategies are to improve social, economic and environmental practices. Wal-Mart is to reduce the operation cost by using more high tech bulbs that will save them millions of dollars in bills, and to operate the logistic trucks efficiently (Wal-Mart, N/D) beside using 100% renewable energy and produce zero waste (Wal-Martstores, N/D).

1.4 Business Strategy

Wal-Mart in entering the China is trying to adapt the same strategy which is to offer lowest price possible to the customers. In order to apply this strategy, Wal-Mart is currently trying to increase local procurement, establish good relationship with suppliers, modernized commodity distribution and computerized system in its management with a reason to improve efficiency and reduce cost (ICFAI, 2005). Also, in order to refine the bad image that it received in the host country, Wal-Mart in China has begin the social responsibilities campaign early where it involves itself in environment protection, donation to the wellbeing of senior citizen, education support, and disaster relief (Wal-MartChina, 2007).

1.5 Similarities and differences in the organization culture and management function with host countries

Sam Walton as the founder of the company have laid down 3 basics belief to be carried out in doing a retailer business, they are respect for individuals, serve our customer, and strive for excellence (Saporito, 2003). These three basic beliefs furthermore create the culture of the “Sundown rule”, “Ten foot rule” and pricing philosophy (Arnold and Fernie, 2000). These cultures values customer as the most important of all, where managers are considered as “servant leaders” that helps the associates to realize their potentials and have to answers the questions made by customer within 24 hours. Moreover, whenever associates of Wal-Mart come to a customer within ten feet, they will have to greet and offer helps to the customer.

China is a collectivist culture, different to the host country which is more on the individualists. Moreover, the Chinese are also higher on the power distance if compared to host country (Hofstede, 1993). Furthermore, it is also noted that the Chinese of which have lived under influence of western culture will aware of their self-enhancement thus low power distance, and more ambitious rather than those who never lived under the influences (Jaw, et.al, 2007).

1.5 Strengths

Wal-Mart has many strength points in China, one of which is its partner in the expansion campaign. It chose CITIC (China International Trust and Investment Corporation) group, a large company that being established since 1979 (Jie, 2004). This partner will surely have a reliable knowledge towards the market condition and situation thus provides good information for Wal-Mart to adapt its strategy. In addition, to imply the strategy of low cost, Wal-Mart is using local procurement to stock the shelves in its mart. As matter of facts, 95% of the goods were locally purchased. Moreover, good relationships were also being established with the suppliers, where Wal-Mart is paying the supplier within 3-7 days (ICFAI, 2005).

Wal-Mart encourage its workers to perform better, thus it provides career incentives to those that performs well. It gives training opportunity for them, by sending them to U.S to attend a training program. Finally, since 1996 it has already won numerous awards, including Best Performers in China, Employer of the Year, No Fake Product and Most Admired Company in China (Wal-Mart China, 2007).

1.6 Weaknesses

Despites of its strengths, Wal-Mart in China also have several falling points, where it faces some difficulties in applying the Just in Time technology. This off course will affect the efficiency in the distribution of the goods and furthermore affect the low price strategy not being carried at the best. Moreover, Wal-Mart in China is not applying an aggressive expansion strategy where it only managed to open 77 stores in 11 years of operations.

The lack of market knowledge has also hinders Wal-Mart to have a wholly owned company based in China thus the profit will have to be shared with others unlike Carrefour that able to operate in sole-ownership since 2006 (Euromonitor, 2006).

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Title: Wal-Mart case study - China operation

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For better or for worse, Wal-Mart dominates the retail industry. With annual revenue of more than $315 billion, Wal-Mart ranks No. 2 on the Fortune 500 list of the largest U.S. corporations. Wal-Mart is also the largest corporate employer in the nation, with more than 1.3 million people on its payroll (only the federal government employs more people). On the global front, Wal-Mart operates nearly 3,000 international stores, buys products from 70 countries, and generates about 20% of its sales from abroad. Given Wal-Mart’s aggressive expansion plans, those numbers are only likely to grow.

What Was The Impact Of Walmart

They turned a small company into one of the largest corporations in the entire world. They have completely redefined what it means to be a big business, and have had many good impacts on society. While this is true, Wal-Mart has not always had the best business practices, receiving many different criticisms over the years. Some criticisms include its relations with people and businesses outside the United States, its role within local communities, and its labor policies and practices. Wal-Mart has always been the superstore that prides itself on lower prices, so much so that it has looked to manufacture in other countries for the cheap labor. Wal-Mart has become so big, that it has stores and plants all over the world. Wal-Mart even does most of its business overseas. “Chinese suppliers, or “partners,” reportedly provide Walmart with about 70 percent of the nearly $420 billion worth of goods that it sells globally each year” (SCHELL). Wal-Mart has even gone as far as to move one of its headquarters to China. Wal-Mart is helping China, and China is helping Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is bringing in lots of jobs and products for the Chinese people to buy, while China is providing everything Walmart needs to keep growing as rapidly as they are. Wal-Mart is one of the worst offenders of the global sweatshop problem, and because of this they had lots of criticism of their labor policies and practices. Wal-Mart is not a

Walmart's Compensation Plan Outline

Wal-Mart is the number one retailer in the world in both sales and earnings, dwarfing many of its retail competitors. It offers a full assortment of products ranging from clothing to electronics. It currently has 6000 locations predominately within the United States with over $312.4 Billion in net sales during 2006. In addition to its strong domestic presence, Wal-Mart has expanded aggressively to Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico with over 1000 locations within those countries. This expansion can potentially create greater economies of scale for Wal-Mart services and merchandise. The synergies created by expansion will also drive profitability in the future by providing goods and services at even lower costs to consumers. In order to enter foreign markets successful, Wal-Mart engages in both joint ventures and acquisitions. By utilizing this method, Wal-Mart intends to leverage foreign retailer's market knowledge with its own core competencies of merchandising and supply chain management (Stilgoe, 2003).

Wal Mart: Strategic Planning Essay

In 1998 Wal-Mart became one of the first international retailers in China. After many frustrations and difficulties Wal-Mart became the 20th largest retailer in China at the end of 2005, with 59 stores. In the year 2006 the company outbid its largest competitor in China and acquired Trust-Mart, a chain of over 100 super centers located in 20 cities in China. This acquisition made Wal-Mart the largest network of food and department stores in China.

Walmart Globalization Case Study

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.

Walmart Management and Leadership Analysis Essay

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

Walmart China

12415 Words

There was a marked improvement in China’s economy. To further increase and attract foreign investment, the Chinese government increased its numbers of experimental, special economic-zoned cities in which foreigners could operate a business. There were, however, restrictions set forward by the government. One restriction in 1996 was that all foreign businesses would have to be in a joint venture or other type of cooperative agreement with at least one Chinese partner, with that Chinese partner getting a stake greater than 51%. In August 1995, Wal-Mart, the great American retail chain and Middle America success story, arrived in China, establishing a joint venture with Shenzhen International Fiduciary Investment Co, Ltd, China. In the following year, 1996, Wal-Mart opened its first supercentre and a Sam’s Club, its members-only big-box store, in the special economic zone of Shenzhen, in the southernmost Guangdong Province. However, it took the Chinese government’s removal of further trade restrictions for foreign retailers in 2004 for Wal-Mart to kick-start its expansion plans. Three years later, in 2007, Wal-Mart acquired a 35% stake in Trust-Mart, a Taiwanese-owned chain of retail supercentres operating in the Middle Kingdom. By 5 August 2010, Wal-Mart’s presence in China grew to 189 units in 101 Chinese cities, with the creation of over 50,000 local jobs. By early 2012, Wal-Mart nearly doubled its

Walmart Case Study

However, when the company moved into China, it made some major labor concessions. Not only unions into China, it also allowed branch of the Communist Party at Walmart’s Chinese headquarters.

Wumart Swat Analysis

The retail industry has been through much change in China with the proposition to change the retail structure with new legislation. Recent economic conditions have resulted in increasing sales in the overall industry. The experience of western retail approach was accepted by creating of variety of types of stores. WuMart was the first brand on the market, which had opened the large stores that catered to all customer needs.

Wal-Mart in China Can the World's Largest Retailer Succeed in the World's Most Populous Market

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walmart chinese suppliers case study

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