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Emergent or Deliberate Strategies

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Emergent or Deliberate Strategies
Wal-Mart
Sam Walton opened the first Wal-Mart in the early 1960 with his vision of keeping prices as low as possible. Wal-Mart’s mission has always been ‘Always Low Prices’ which was the result of Sam Walton’s beliefs when he first started Wal-Mart. These beliefs were Respect for Individual, Service to customers and Strive for excellence. Wal-Mart strategy was a deliberate strategy from the very first day Wal-Mart was started. .Wal-Mart mission of low prices and excellent customer service is the backbone behind each and very strategy implemented by Wal-Mart. Every step that Wal-Mart took to attain the lowest possible prices resulted in some of the greatest deliberate strategies that Wal-Mart implemented like cutting edge technology, a corporate frugal culture and a constant push to suppliers to get the lowest possible prices.
The technology strategy implemented by forced the retail industry to establish the universal bar code which led to all suppliers/manufacturers to adopt a common labeling which created a shift of power and information database from manufacturers to retailers. The strategy made Wal-Mart a pioneer in supply chain management. Wal-Mart’s quest for low prices led it to import almost 60% of its merchandise from outside of US. Wal-Mart has pursued the low cost leadership strategy deliberately from the start to align to its mission.
Wal-Mart’s foray into the global market is more of an emergent strategy. Wal-Mart offers value through economies of scope .Wal-Mart’s entry into UK was done by purchasing a grocery store chain. It expanded into Canada by acquiring Woolco which was floundering at that time this acquisition was made. This tells us that Wal-Mart’s international expansion is as much emergent and opportunistic.
IBM
IBM’s strategy is a deliberate strategy. The company strives to lead in innovating, development and manufacture of advanced information technologies. IBM strategy was to implement these advanced technologies to as many areas as


References: http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/gbs/bus/pdf/g510-5092-ibm-strategy-and-change-services-tech-strat.pdf http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/background.wss http://ir.homedepot.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=184769 http://www.allbusiness.com/north-america/united-states/479850-1.html http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20050114/ai_n11501708?tag=rel.res3 www.walmart.com http://www.cardinal.com/us/en/aboutus/history/index.asp http://library.corporateir.net/library/10/105/105735/items/263024/2007_Cardinal_Health_Annual_Report.pdf
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