In general, what do you think is the best w ay to enter a new market: acquisition, join t venture, or greenfield investment? What are the location characteristics that affect this decision? What are the firm characteri stics that affect this decision? What indust ry characteristics affect this decision?
_In general, what do you think is the best way to en ter a new market: acquisition, joint venture, or gree nfield investment?
Exhibit 3 Walmart’s Market Entry Strategy by Country/Region
Country/Region
Year
Market Entry
• Mexico
1991
Joint Venture
• Canada
1994
Acquisition
• Argentina
1995
Organic
• Brazil
1995
Joint Venture
• China
1996
Joint Venture
• Germany
1997
Acquisition
• South Korea
1998
Acquisition
• UK
1999
• Japan
2002
• Central America
2005
• Chile
2009
• Africa
2011
Acquisition
Acquisition
Acquisition
Acquisition
Acquisition
Referring to this table, we can deduce that
Walmart’s most used and successful strat egy around the world is the Acquisition of a local retailer which often opened for Wal mart doors for the local Markets. Usually t hose retailers have some quite similar ope rations strategy and core competencies th at Walmart wisely used to maintain existin g customers and steal some others from c ompetitors. What are the location characteristics that affect this decision?
_Canada: In January 1994, Walmart announced its entry into Cana da by acquiring 120 of 142 Woolco discount stores, run by the Woo lworth Corporation. This market was characterized by existing com petitors and threat of new entrance.
_Chile: Walmart entered Chile in 2009 by acquiring a controlling 58
.2% stake in successful domestic payer, Distribución y Servicio (D&
S), which was Chile’s largest food retailer. D&S stores had a large c ustomer following and ran operations similar to Walmart’s U.S. stor es. _U.K: Walmart entered the United Kingdom in June 1999 through th e $10.8 billion acquisition of Asda which operated over 200