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Business Strategy Case Study

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Business Strategy Case Study
|OVERALL COST LEADERSHIP :CASE STUDY |
| |
|WAL-MART (Global) |
|ABSTRACT: |
|By successfully adopting a cost leadership strategy over the decades, Wal-Mart has emerged as the largest company (in terms of revenues) |
|in the world. |
| |
|The case examines in-depth the key elements of the cost leadership strategy followed by Wal-Mart. It discusses how the cost leadership |
|strategy generated above-average returns for the company and acted as a defense against competition in the industry. |
|INTRODUCTION: |

For the financial year ending January 31, 2003, retailing giant Wal-Mart reported revenues of $244.5 billion, making it the world's largest company. The company topped Fortune's list of the world's largest companies for the second year in succession Wal-Mart to emerge such a dominant player in the retailing industry. Wal-Mart's success story is a classic example of a company, which became successful by rigorously pursuing its core philosophy of cost leadership, right from the day it began operations in 1962. Wal-Mart was founded by an ambitious entrepreneur, Sam Walton
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