Case Study Walmart
Allison Whitted
Kaplan University
Case study paper Wal-Mart in China
GB520: Human Resources Management
Introduction In this case study I will be discussing the company Wal-Mart Stores: Every Day low Prices in China. By the time 2005 rolled in China has become the most prominent country to set up a branch for stores. China had a huge open market and it was time for the company to take advantage of the opportunity that was happening in China. Wal-Mart has become the world’s largest retail chain. This can only mean one thing and that is expansion. The strategic move to expand the company chain stores to China was based off of the following factors. First factor was China size as far as land, population. They also had a booming middle class that was in the position to spend money due to their expanding economy. It became the ideal place to invest especially considering the population alone would be beneficial to the company because it had way more consumers that were eager to buy Wal-Mart goods. The company branded the phrase “Every Day Low Prices”. This was known worldwide by anyone who mentioned a Wal-Mart store.
When Wal-Mart former Chinese president resigned in March of 2005, the company they were struck with a problem because now management was changing and that would in fact affect sales in that country. In china they were faced with competition from other retailers, they dropped in rank to number twelve in sales among china stores. This was a huge let down for the company that seemed to dominate everywhere they go. The big question is how do they come back from this blow and regain their top status. They suffered a defeat in Germany regarding expansion and did not want the same thing to happen in China where so much opportunity was there to make money. Wal-Mart history is really an incredible story. The company first started out in Rogers, Arkansas by Sam Walton in the summer of 1962 (Farhoomand, A. F., Wang, I., September, 2008). He was a visionary
Kaplan University
Case study paper Wal-Mart in China
GB520: Human Resources Management
Introduction In this case study I will be discussing the company Wal-Mart Stores: Every Day low Prices in China. By the time 2005 rolled in China has become the most prominent country to set up a branch for stores. China had a huge open market and it was time for the company to take advantage of the opportunity that was happening in China. Wal-Mart has become the world’s largest retail chain. This can only mean one thing and that is expansion. The strategic move to expand the company chain stores to China was based off of the following factors. First factor was China size as far as land, population. They also had a booming middle class that was in the position to spend money due to their expanding economy. It became the ideal place to invest especially considering the population alone would be beneficial to the company because it had way more consumers that were eager to buy Wal-Mart goods. The company branded the phrase “Every Day Low Prices”. This was known worldwide by anyone who mentioned a Wal-Mart store.
When Wal-Mart former Chinese president resigned in March of 2005, the company they were struck with a problem because now management was changing and that would in fact affect sales in that country. In china they were faced with competition from other retailers, they dropped in rank to number twelve in sales among china stores. This was a huge let down for the company that seemed to dominate everywhere they go. The big question is how do they come back from this blow and regain their top status. They suffered a defeat in Germany regarding expansion and did not want the same thing to happen in China where so much opportunity was there to make money. Wal-Mart history is really an incredible story. The company first started out in Rogers, Arkansas by Sam Walton in the summer of 1962 (Farhoomand, A. F., Wang, I., September, 2008). He was a visionary
References: Farhoomand, A. F., Wang, I. (September, 2008). Wal-Mart stores: Everyday Low Prices in China (Case Study). Retrieved from Harvard Business Online website.