Preview

Hbs Case: Airborne

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1161 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Hbs Case: Airborne
Case Report | Creating Sustainable Competitive AdvantageWall Mart | | |

1. Background

2.1. Retail Discount Merchandise (wide variety) National Market B2C

Retail Discount Merchandise (wide variety) National Market B2C

Market

Discount Merchandise (wide variety) National Market B2C

Discount Merchandise (wide variety) National Market B2C

Merchandise (wide variety)
National Market
B2C

Merchandise (wide variety)
National Market
B2C

2.2. Value Chain

2.3. Strategy
Wal*Mart’s strategy was a cost leadership (approximately 15% below competition), this was achieved by discount prices and large volume purchases. Prices are adapted to the local competition and set below all competitors. Their marketing expenses are lower than all others in the market. Their locations focused on rural areas (app. 5.000-25.000 inhabitants), aiming to compete if at all only with local stores, which could be out-priced and outgunned easily.
Their distribution centres were located in the middle of many stores in order to be able to serve many at the same time and build synergy-effects. Their info system was technically innovative, which –combined with the close by distribution centres – lead to a highly flexible distribution process – they could deliver wares even within 24 hours.
In order to diversify their market offerings vertically, they introduced several new market concepts, such as supercentres (offering additional services such as hair salons, florists, bakeries), Sam’s Club (high volume offerings, focused on business customers).

Their Capabilities were a combination of many different features: They excellently improved their value chain by collection as much information as possible about their processes and ultimately optimizing them.

2.4. Special Situation (Porters Five Forces)
Supplier
Wal*Mart developed its suppliers from few brands (which meant little
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Eco/365 Week 5 Final Paper Essay Example
    • 1511 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Eco/365 Week 5 Final Paper Essay Example

    Wal-Mart continually advertises their prices to be substantially lower than their competitors. The truth is, most Wal-Mart items do not have a drastic price difference. However, the difference is Wal-Marts’ ability to slash prices on many popular items every so often to maintain the ‘low price leader’ image. This has helped the retail giant maintain the number one retail spot over the past decade. This perception has also kept shoppers out of small businesses and other retail chains, giving Wal-Mart that competitive advantage to continue to slash prices after moving most of their inventory.…

    • 1511 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Costco vs. Wal-Mart
    • 1269 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Costco vs. Wal-Mart

    “Save Money, Live Better!” is the slogan of Wal-Mart, it was established in 1962 and it grew by brisk spreading in nations then became the world’s largest corporation and the nation’s leading retailer rapidly. In U.S. retailing industry, with the most market share, Wal-mart is the leading giant and its low price strategy forcing their competitors to charge low price as well. According to one academic study, with two-thirds of Wal-mart stores in rural areas, when Wal-mart enters a market, prices drop by 8 percent in rural areas. This figure shows that Wal-mart took the most market share through diminishes price.…

    • 1269 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Local Business Bus/210
    • 319 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Local Business Bus/210

    The first component of Wal-Mart is business commerce. Business commerce is when Wal-Mart exchange good and services with other businesses. For example, Wal-Mart has a hair salon service; I love to get my hair done every other week. Also, many Wal-Marts provide banking services and some fast food services. Wal-Mart has stock trades also. Another main component of Wal-Mart is business occupation. Business occupation is the acquired set of specialized skills and abilities that allows Wal-Mart to create valuable goods and services. When my husband started at Wal-Mart he had to undergo several trainings to ensure that he understands the business and also that he provides customers with excellent services. Wal-Mart provides thorough training to its employees so that they can keep the customers coming back. Customers always value great customer service. I think this is one way Wal-Mart remains ahead of its competitors. The last main component of Wal-Mart is business organization. Business organization is the system of task and authority relationship which coordinates and controls the interactions between people so that they work toward a common goal. Wal-Mart’s common goal is to provide low prices. They try to provide lower prices than their competitors. They are about saving their customers money. They have reduced the costs of their retail and other products in the store. There are many Wal-Marts around the world and they provide the same services in all of them. I love Wal-Mart and I agree that they have prices lower than many other retailers. I definitely agree with their slogan, it is so true. “Save money, Live better”.…

    • 319 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Discussion Board 1 BUSI 601
    • 370 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Discussion Board 1 BUSI 601

    As the world’s largest retailer, Walmart has set the bar in the cost leadership strategy following its motto “Every Day Low Price”. In order to be competitive, other retailers have to strive to differentiate or match their prices and they look at Walmart as a benchmark (Yanrong, 2013). Being the leader is not good enough though. Walmart must remain dissatisfied with their current results. Melanie Hicks writes, “when things go according to plan, Tennessee companies have, when they are market leaders, is out of complacency” (2010).…

    • 370 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Competitive Strategies and Government Policies Paper on Wal-Mart
    • 1894 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Competitive Strategies and Government Policies Paper on Wal-Mart

    Wal-Mart is a giant of the retailing industry yet is not immune to the pressures of globalized trade, supply, and competition. Wal-Mart’s profit sustainability is always ‘in doubt’ unless it continues to fight off various competitive conglomerates or large size retailers such as Amazon and Target. Mergers on the scale of Wal-Mart are rare yet the marketplace shifts based on the continued expansion of physical and online retailers like Amazon and Amazon’s many partner/provider organizations. To stay ahead of the various operational and governmental threats, Wal-Mart’s focus is on maintaining their low cost…

    • 1894 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Is Wal-Mart Good for America?
    • 428 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Is Wal-Mart Good for America?

    As for Wal-mart's business strategy, it is not wholly unique. Their strategy is to demand lower prices from their suppliers so that they can pass on those savings to the consumer. The supplies to comply and offer the largest cuts are often featured in higher supply within the store, suppliers who do not wish to lower their prices are simply not featured. Many companies including but not limited to K-Mart, Home Depot, and Lowes all practice this same formula. The difference is that Wal-mart is successfully pushing their products.…

    • 428 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Wal-Mart Research Paper
    • 700 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Wal-Mart Research Paper

    The first Wal-Mart store was opened on July 2nd 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas by Sam Walton, who believed that the future of retailing lay in discounting. To avoid competing head on with companies like Sears and Woolworths which dominated big cities, Walton opened stores in less populated areas that was ignored by other retailers. The stores aimed to serve customers who, up until then, had to travel long distances to save money, and to purchase daily household goods. Now they could buy the same goods cheaply at home. This positioning proved to be critical to Wal-Mart’s success in the years to come as it expanded underneath its competitors radar screens to earn substantial market size. (Farhoomand, 2005)…

    • 700 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Why Is Walmart Good For America
    • 277 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Why Is Walmart Good For America

    Almost every day Americans spend a average of $36 million in Walmart. They have made 11 thousands stores and they are all in a 15 minute radius away from 90% of Americans. Their opening price is always the lowest price, the one that draws people's attention. By having low prices they are taking advantage and control of consumers. They do not always have the lowest prices, but people choose to shop here because it is faster and easier…

    • 277 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Costco's Corporate Strategy
    • 2022 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Costco's Corporate Strategy

    Strengths: Wal-Mart has great retail brand recognition. It values money saving ideas in all of their stores, and for the overall corporation. Wal-Mart is known for its convenience and a wide range of products all under one roof. In 2002 82% of all households in the US made a purchase at Wal-Mart. Half of all Americans visit a Wal-Mart at least once a month, and of those half one-third go once a week. Wal-Mart's core strategy is to be the low cost leader. Wal-Mart's competitive advantage is because they are the low cost leader. Wal-Mart commits to deliver quality products with the lowest possible price. Wal-Mart attains this in several ways; their strategy is to have multiple store formats for the different local environments,…

    • 2022 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Wal-Mart's Sustainable Competitive Advantage
    • 1107 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Wal-Mart's Sustainable Competitive Advantage

    Wal-Mart has gained benefits from economies of scale that helps to keep the prices lower as compared to the competitors. The company is able to spread its fixed cost over a large number of units of products resulting in a lower cost per unit.…

    • 1107 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Wal-Mart in the Oligopolistic Market
    • 485 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Wal-Mart in the Oligopolistic Market

    With effective inventory management, low wages to employees, larger work force, pressure on suppliers to reduce costs, Wal-Mart ensures that the average cost is very low as compared to other competitors in the market. Wal-Mart would still reap profits, it being a preferred retailer for majority of the customers but would exert a pressure on firms that are not able to reap any profits due to high infrastructure costs, high procurement costs and a low customer base forcing them to exit the market.…

    • 485 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Walmarts Mission Statement
    • 928 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Walmarts Mission Statement

    I believe in a strategic sense that Wal-Mart has chosen to make their stores the “one stop shop” for everything the common American household needs. To do this, they have developed strategically over the years by growing from their initial platform of “Wal-mart” (offering common retail merchandise at the lowest price available in a given area) to the stores they have today, which are all-inclusive supercenters that sell groceries, electronics, apparel, home improvement, pharmacy, automotive,…

    • 928 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Wal-Mart Strategic Audit
    • 1800 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Wal-Mart Strategic Audit

    Operations and distribution strategies have also helped Wal-Mart achieve low prices. Wal-Mart’s strategy has been to plot stores outside of large cities and within 200 miles of existing stores. Clustering stores together in small areas, Wal-Mart relies on word-of-mouth advertising to win over consumers in larger cities. Because stores are close together, distribution costs are below average. Furthermore, Wal-Mart seeks to meet different customers’ needs with four distinct retail options; these include discount stores, supercenters, Sam’s Clubs, and neighborhood markets. Each store concept has a specific range of store size, total employment, and estimated sales.…

    • 1800 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Wal-Mart Practices
    • 1250 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Wal-Mart Practices

    The first strategy of Wal-Mart’s price advantage is simple. It is stated as ‘to provide value for its customer’s hard earned money (Bergdahl, 2010).’ The HR strategy is to focus all employees on lowering operation costs. Any success in lowering costs is then passed along to the customers in lower prices. This is Wal-Mart’s biggest competitive advantage.…

    • 1250 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Wal-Mart Stores: Every Day Low Prices in China
    • 392 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Wal-Mart Stores: Every Day Low Prices in China

    Rigorous cost control -Compared to many local competitors, Wal-Mart is subject to a number of unfavorable fees and charges. Transportation cost is high as import makes up a large proportion of inventory. Opening stores in prime location also increases land and rent lost. The undercapacity of distribution centres also contribute to its heavy cost.…

    • 392 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics