Wal-Mart Korea: Challenges of Entering a Foreign Market

Wal-Mart entered South Korea in late 1990s for its international expansion; however, IT had a major failure in this market and left Korea in 2005 as the American way of marketing did not translate well in Korea. Wal-Mart had critical shortfalls in enabling value exchange with the Korean consumers as the Korean consumers had significantly different taste and preferences compared to American consumers. Wal-Mart's Every Day Low Price (EDLP) strategy was not perceived to have the “value” in the minds of the Korean consumers, while its store locations were not strategically well positioned to create sufficient customer traffic. Wal-Mart's competitive advantage of low cost and low price was not suitable in the Korean competition and consumption context. Wal-Mart was not prepared to develop an effective localization strategy that might have stemmed from not having a clear projection of how much it was willing to invest and grow in this market. This Wal-Mart Korean case shows the importance of the compatibility of a corporate unique value proposition and strategic fit with the local market conditions.     

Wal-Mart: Supplier performance and market power

This research seeks to further the understanding of the relationship between Wal-Mart and its suppliers. 1988-1994 demonstrates Wal-Mart's market power in relation to manufacturers [Bloom PN, Perry, VG. Retailer power and supplier welfare: the case of Wal-Mart. Journal of Retailing 2001; 77( 3): 379-396.]. Wal-Mart suppliers for that period had lower profits than non-suppliers, which indicate a dependency model of market power when suppliers give concessions to a stronger retailer in order to obtain or maintain the relationship. Wal-Mart's dramatic growth and increasing marketing power since the 1988-1994 period offer an opportunity to retest previous findings and further the understanding of a major retailer's strategy for managing suppliers through the use of the strategic profit model. Initial results indicate that gross margin is significantly less for Wal-Mart suppliers than non-suppliers indicating pricing concessions and a dependency model of market power. However, a fixed-effects model controlling for unobservable firm characteristics such as strategic choice suggest that Wal-Mart suppliers are self-selecting or are implicitly pre-screened such that Wal-Mart suppliers have a low-cost strategy and choose lower returns as a market strategy. Findings indicate that small firms do experience a dependency model in that they have lower gross margin, lower operating income, and higher turnover. However, considering fixed-effects for these firms, small manufacturers experience only higher turnover as a result of doing business with Wal-Mart, thus indicating more of a partner-type model of market power.     

Generating Intrinsic Customer Value: Examples from Wal-Mart

For a variety of reasons, Wal-Mart is a transnational brand which has, at the same time, many fans and many detractors. Despite considerable criticism and opposition, the firm is accelerating in growth and retains a strong customer base. One reason for this growth and loyalty is that Wal-Mart generates intrinsic value through its brand name and brand community. Here, we highlight the latter method Wal-Mart uses to manage its brand and create value propositions by building loyalty among local community members. We provide a practical example of a special branding strategy that can be used by firms seeking innovative ways to create customer (and stakeholder) value.     

Brand morphing across Wal-Mart customer segments

The premise of segmentation theory is that different segments each have a discrete customer profile and behavioral characteristics. At a conceptual level, the recent branding literature recognizes that different sub-cultures or segments could experience different meanings of an organization's brand. However, few quantitative studies address the issue. The current paper combines branding and segmentation theory and offers a new perspective on whether all segments have the same brand meaning. A leading discount retailer, Wal-Mart, is the focus of this Canadian-based investigation. Two segments of Wal-Mart customers are the basis of the study — one segment preferring Wal-Mart and one less attached. The research quantifies the two networks of brand meaning that the two segments associate with the Wal-Mart (corporate) brand. Empirically, brand morphing of the corporate brand occurs, with different brand meanings across the two segments.     

沃尔玛的竞争战略分析

沃尔玛连续50年超常规发展,每隔10年上一级台阶,稳坐零售业第一把交椅,其低价策略、供应链策略、会员制策略等市场竞争战略和效率非常值得借鉴。沃尔玛市场竞争战略的核心是成本领先。     

The Soul of the Service Economy: Wal-Mart and the Making of Christian Free Enterprise, 1929-1994

"The Soul of the Service Economy" explains the rise of Christiancorporate globalism in the twentieth century, that always unfinishedtask of sanctifying capitalism and consumption under Christianity.As the biography of the Sunbelt service sector's "free enterprise"ideology, "The Soul of the Service Economy" is not an examinationof Wal-Mart itself but an analysis of Wal-Mart's world—theinterconnected commercial, religious, and educational institutionswhich both produced the world's largest company and then dependedupon its patronage. This culture united Southwestern entrepreneurs,service providers, middle managers, students, missionaries,and even waged employees in an ethos of Christian free enterprise.On the basis of archival research in local and ephemeral sources,"The Soul of the Service Economy" uses the stories of peoplelinked through Wal-Mart and its philanthropies to understandthe shift to post-Fordist regimes in work, gender relations,education, and geography.     

沃尔玛:中国企业发展的“红宝书”

把沃尔玛称作为中国企业发展的“红宝书”。要从沃尔玛这本“红宝书”里学到些什么东西呢?我们分别从产品价格、顾客服务、企业文化和创新精神四个方面分析沃尔玛成功的经验,而这些经验也正是我们的企业需要从沃尔玛那里去学习的。这些经验对我国的商业企业和生产企业都是非常有益的。     

零售商业圈区位选择及其问题规避

随着经济全球化和我国改革开放的进一步发展,大量国际性商业特别是跨国企业进驻中国市场。为了扩展商圈范围,提升企业竞争力,跨国商业企业往往选择那些具有优势的区位,以达到策略的可实施性和目标的可实现性。基于商圈实务理论,就沃尔玛超市进驻浙江省金华市这一实例,研究了沃尔玛商圈的范围及其实务,在此基础上指出沃尔玛超市在商圈扩张过程中应该规避的区位选择问题。     

RFID–Tracks It,Tracks You

ABSTRACT

In an effort to improve business efficiencies and the bottom line, many industries are fast adopting Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. Tagging and tracking of items from entry into the supply chain through consumer purchase has already begun. The U.S. Department of Defense and Wal-Mart are two major organizations spearheading the implementation of RFID. This paper provides insight and understanding concerning RFID technology, its benefits, obstacles to implementation, and its applications.     

沃尔玛、家乐福在华市场营销组合比较研究

在综述营销组合及零售营销组合理论的基础上,构建了其分析维度,进而从产品、服务、价格、地点、店面设计、促销、人员、物流配送等方面对沃尔玛和家乐福在华市场的营销组合进行比较研究,同时也对国内零售企业给出相应的几点启示。     

网络信息技术与零售业市场结构变迁

进入网络信息时代以来,零售服务业的"沃尔玛现象"逐步显现,并以广泛运用信息技术,不断突破规模经济和范围经济的界限,对市场结构产生重大冲击。本文从"沃尔玛现象"入手研究零售业市场结构的变迁,发现信息技术创新对熊彼特的五大创新活动有着强烈的整合作用,对市场结构及消费者福利等方面产生了深远影响,而且新的创新模式已经展开。     

Value-added annual shareholders meetings: reflections on people''s capitalism at Wal-Mart

Most shareholder annual meetings are relatively dull. This is a case study of how a large successful company, Wal-Mart, uses its annual shareholder meeting to motivate and spread best practices among other stakeholders including vendors and employees. In doing so, it makes it a value-added event and also livens up what may be a relatively dull annual shareholder meeting.     

全球价值链中零售企业创新战略研究

经济全球化时代零售企业竞争力的提高,取决于零售企业的全球价值链创新能力、整合全球客户资源和供应链资源的能力。7-11、宜家、沃尔玛、巴黎春天等跨国零售企业制定和实施了不同的全球价值链创新战略,吸引一流供应商和客户进入自身价值链,进而掌握了全球价值链主导权和控制权。     

Price transparency reflects assurance and reliability

This paper aims to examine the effect of price transparency on assurance, reliability and customer loyalty in the case of Wal-Mart Best Price Store. A total of 402 usable responses were gathered from customers of Wal-Mart store in Bhopal (MP), India. The study scales were refined and validated by exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The AMOS 22.0 and SmartPLS 3.0 statistical programmes were used for measurement validation and to test the structural model. The results indicated that the price transparency has a significant effect on assurance and reliability to ensure customer loyalty. Also, the study did not find a direct effect of price transparency on customer loyalty. The identified dimensions of price transparency are expected to bring clarity to the issue of customer assurance, reliability and loyalty. This would help the management of the retailing sector. The study seems to offer opportunities to understand that only price transparency is not responsible for improving customer loyalty. It influences assurance and reliability which further increase customer loyalty.     

The Architecture of Core Competence

In this article, the author first surveys the explanations given by leading writers for corporate success and then goes on to sketch a definition of what he calls "meta-competence": the corporate capacity for building and sustaining core competence. Delving below the popular explanations for Wal-Mart's success, he then uses Wal-Mart to illustrate his argument.     

千惠便利店选址的实证研究

随着大润发和人人乐的进驻,已经汇集了沃尔玛、家乐福、麦德龙、新一佳等国内外知名企业的长沙零售市场,竞争将日趋白热化,对本地零售企业来说则意味着面临巨大的市场挑战,这使得我们不得不关注这连锁便利店这一行业的发展前景。本文通过千惠便利店选址的实证分析,总结出连锁便利店选址的规律和方法,从而促进长沙市连锁便利店的发展,使其生存和发展于激烈的竞争之中。     

How Does “3-D Negotiation” Move Beyond in a Dimension of a Win–Win–Win Approach for Integrated Bargaining Solution Analysis of Vertical Cooperative Advertising Campaigns?

The research aim of this study was to examine the possibility to investigate win–win–win Spais-Papakonstantinidis model in order to develop an integrated bargaining solution analysis for vertical advertising campaigns under the prism of the “3-D Negotiation.” First, the author provided some summary points of the critical case of Proctor & Gamble (P&G) and Wal-Mart. Second, the utility functions were extended based on author's previous works and the findings of the critical case study. The author considered a simplified situation where a brand manufacturer and an independent retailer are renegotiating, assuming that the negotiations occur in an incomplete and asymmetric information environment.     

东道国网络结构三维嵌入与零售专业技能跨国转移

从网络视角运用嵌入关系来分析零售专业技能跨国转移具有重要意义.通过对沃尔玛、家乐福和乐购在华子公司的案例分析,发现零售企业海外子公司东道国网络的关系嵌入、网络中心度、网络密度对零售专业技能跨国转移的效果有正向影响,群体中心度对零售专业技能跨国转移的效果有负向影响.     

粮食暴乱 美国“软侵略”想要挟持谁?

今年4月上旬,在面粉和大米零售价格骤然暴涨的冲击下,近20个国家政局出现动荡。殷鉴不远,早在2008年曾位居世界第一的中国大豆市场已遭沦陷,外资控制了85%的实际加工总量,如今中国的玉米市场正面临同样的险境,高价饲料时代将很快到来,鸡、鸭、猪、牛等肉类将全部涨价……通胀!通胀!在某种意义上,美国的"粮食武器"比它的原子弹和航空母舰更适用、更具威力,可以兵不血刃地颠覆和分裂一个国家!中国,你准备好了吗?     

Carrotmob as a New Form of Ethical Consumption. The Nature of the Concept and Avenues for Future Research

A new form of ethical consumption has recently evolved: The carrotmob. As in a flashmob, consumers collectively swarm a specific store and purchase its goods in order to reward corporate socially responsible behaviour. The present paper introduces a conceptionalization of carrotmobs that takes into account the perspective of the three relevant parties: activists, companies, and consumers. First, the paper considers activists?? objectives in initiating such a social movement. It describes how they use guerrilla tactics to foster the participation of companies and consumers. Second, the paper considers the perspective of the target company, stressing the role of corporate social responsibility and describing how companies compete in an auction to become the carrotmob target. Third, the paper highlights the consumer perspective, discussing different views on consumer power and the motivation to participate in a carrotmob. The paper also points out directions for further empirical research for each of these three perspectives.