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1、Student ID No: _121509_Min Jie_Pages: 32Questions: 1UNIVERSITY OF TASMANIATAKE-HOME EXAMINATIONSemester 5, 2011BMA302 Strategic Management (SOU)Examiner: Dr Dallas HansonTime Allowed: TWO (2) daysInstructions:This exam is in ONE (1) section.It is a compulsory case study. Students must read the case
2、study and answer the ONE (1) question.This examination contributes 60% towards your assessment in this unit.The finished exam must be submitted on hardcopy by Monday 12th by Beijing time. A myo copy should ALSO be lodged. ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSISIntroductionWal-Mart is a tycoon in retailing industry w
3、ith totally 6782 stores scattered in 13 countries such as America, Mexico, Canada, China, Japan, and Brazil, ect. Corporation launch the position in low price as the catchword: to save people money so they can live better. In order to improve the lives of everyday people by making everyday thing mor
4、e affordable, Wal-Mart highlights cost efficient supply chain and economies of scale to achieve lowest cost and productivity.The mission of Wal-Mart is to offer affordable commodities to the general public and update information system in supply chain. In three segments, company continue to set diff
5、erentiation strategy and superior service to appeal customers. Nevertheless, company would stress staff concern in healthcare and payment. In vision, Wal-Mart has a lofty aspiration in global expansion and another level of publicity.ExternalGeneral environmentDemographicAn aging population represent
6、 an upward trend as the global population size is getting bigger. In US, it is estimated that the number of those aged 65 and up will boost to 86.7 million by 2050. The wonderful life of residents in developed nation brings about longer expectancy and lower baby rates. Since crowds of foreign immigr
7、ant pour in American labour market, ethnic and gender diversity increasingly apparent in US where the proportion of whites workforce seems descend and female labour over the age of 16 has increased. As to income distribution, there exists gulf between rich and poor resulting from returns to educatio
8、n. EconomicOwning to the financial crisis in 2008, world trade was hit hard and it fell in pessimistic market environment. Furthermore, the GDP growth in lots of nations is slowing down, which poses a threat to the retailing industry. The majority of the retailers facing the common sales difficult p
9、osition were at stake in retailing business. PoliticalAccording to California labour law, it is compulsory for enterprise to provide meal and rest to employee. Second, it appears to great concentration on discrimination against women in promotion, pay, training, and job assignments. Socio-culturalTh
10、e governments in many developed countries stress on health care, anti-monopoly trade, the environmental conservation, discrimination, reasonable worker pay and general anti-corporate sentiment. Any action breaking antitrust laws and handling hazardous waste to reduce the cost of treatment would be p
11、unished. Additionally, the diversification in gender and culture would restructure the international division of manpower. TechnologicalIn order to achieve cost-efficiency and tracking real time information en-route, RFID has been widely utilized in optimizing the retailing supply chain. Another bur
12、geoning application is internet by which increasingly people around world could absorb fresh news and make purchase without boundaries. Electronic commerce would lead to a new round of explosion in retailing market. Global In line with globalisation trend, trade barriers continue to come down. The d
13、evelopment of information technology appears immense potential that expand market and offer excellent labour, capital, goods and service. Simultaneously, bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements are continuing to shape markets. Industry environmentThe retailing industry operates as a superst
14、ore offline and online, which offering wide variety goods and service to the public at a reasonable price. Thousands of merchandises in retailing range over electronics, daily necessaries, food, and healthcare and so on. It is a mature industry where many competing retailers fight for more market sh
15、are such as Target, Costco and Kroger. Threat of new entrantsIn spite of low switching cost for customer to buy merchandise from new entrants in retailing industry, existing retailers have established enormous economy of scale and strong distribution channel to realise firms flexibility and efficien
16、cy. For those new entrants without profound resource and capital, it is impossible to entry this area and have a place. Bargaining power of suppliersThe bargaining power of suppliers seems quite weak due to retailing supplier and manufacturers features large quantity with similar goods, low switchin
17、g costs and multifarious substitute products. Above all, these suppliers have to meet retailing tycoon halfway for big demand and large share of business so that they transformed to specialized suppliers serving for the giant invisibly. Bargaining power of buyersIn the retailing industry, consumer p
18、lays an irreplaceable role since people buy daily necessaries, food and other consumables regularly and their purchases consist of the sellers revenues. And they can easily switch to another competitor stores as long as there is little differentiation in goods and service. Threat of substitutesRetai
19、ling superstores selling thousands products have enormous substitutes in type of niche industry or franchise store. A further subdivision on goods and service presents a strong threat to current retailing industry.Intensity of rivalryAs there exists several comparable competitors plus other numerous
20、 niche competitors in this retailing industry with a moderate growth, it forms a relatively intensify competition. Obviously, retailing corporations attempting to maximise productive capacity and reduce inventories are lack of differentiation in commodities so that they rely on cutting price to attr
21、act customers. Thus, the switching costs become lower and give rise to competition.Competitor environmentFor Wal-Mart, the most competitive corporation includes Target, Costco, Kroger, Carrefour and Tesco. All of the rival attempt to expand their market share and boost sales profit. Target launches
22、the position as upscale, fashion-forward appeal, which provides high-quality merchandise at attractive prices. Costco features a limited number of commodities sold in high volumes, low costs via discounts and a no-frills approach. Kroger is one of the nations largest retailers containing 11 brands.
23、Tesco has an object of stretching to the West Coast of the USA, emphasising convenience and competes primarily in groceries. Carrefour acting as the second-largest retailer after Wal-Mart embraces an international ambition and it focuses on hypermarkets. In addition, other niche competitors such as
24、Safeway or Best Buy also compete with Wal-Mart launching low price position plus environmental attention. Now Wal-Mart reset strategy to improve products, logistic efficiency to attract more customers. So the retailing market is intensely competitive. SummaryIn this case, set in the unenthusiastic g
25、lobal economy, the retailing industry is full of fierce rivalry and forms high barriers to competitors. Despite there are so many issues about labour force waiting for the solution, opportunity in technology and global market has the great potential. InternalResourcesTangible As the dominant in reta
26、iling, Wal-Mart represents a healthy and profitable financial position. In 2007, net income ascended to $ 11.7 billion and total assets reach $151billion. Concurrent with the increase in assets, corporation liabilities have grown to $89.6 billion and total shareholder equity rose to $61.8 billion. W
27、al-Mart combines low-cost procurement tactics, leading-edge information systems and rocket-science logistics. In physical resource, corporation possesses 2257 Supercentres, 1047 Discount Stores, 112 Neighbourhood Market, 579 Sams Club and 2760 International through Distribution Centres improving mer
28、chandise delivery. In technology, it utilizes Retail Link, Internet-based Transportation Link system, satellite-based tracking technology, Texlon bar-code and RFID-based system to accelerate goods distribution and track real time information en-route.IntangibleIn human resource, Wal-Marts technologi
29、cal supply-chain depends on the assistance of 1.8 million associates who are overworked due to understaffing issues. Company has found groups of technical experts in Global Procurement. And corporation owns capable senior officers and powerful board of directors. In reputation, most consumers are in
30、 favour of its various products and good discount. Plus, suppliers consider Wal-Mart as tycoon so that Wal-Mart in dominant position with huge requirment can benefit greatly at lower wholesale price. Capabilities& Core CompetenciesIn capability, Wal-Mart boasts large economies of scale equipped with
31、 Distribution Centres covering domestic and overseas market, extensive distribution channel including online, predominance in front of 61000 suppliers, and quick information gather in packaging and transportation from supply-chain technology innovation. Corporation offers customer wide range of item
32、s at affordable price with daily discount by dominant bargain power in cutting cost of wholesale purchase. Among these remarkable capabilities, the cost efficient supply chain with advanced innovate system is the core competitive advantage, which help to logistics integration and speed up distributi
33、on efficiency. In addition, powerful economies of scale and initiative in procurement are another core competency that contributes to profitability and organization flexibility.Value Chain In primary activities, Wal-Marts inbound and outbound logistics present superior performance. Inbound, company
34、has established perfect inventory control and global Distribution Centres reinforcing delivery efficiency. Outbound, supply chain has been equipped with Internet-based Transportation Link system, satellite-based tracking technology, Texlon and RFID system, which contribute to cost efficiency and pro
35、ductivity. Plus, affordable price position and idea of EDLP containing frequent discount makes superior marketing and sales. In support activities, Wal-Mart has found Global Procurement expert in category purchase dynamic to serve its three segments store including Wal-Mart Stores, Sams Club and Wal
36、-Mart international. As a retailing giant, 61000 suppliers with low bargaining power have to be obedient to Wal-Marts delivery schedules, product specification and favourable price. Technological development turns equivalent since company start to pay more attention to environmental products. In HR
37、management, employees are overworked and unsatisfied with healthcare, salary and promotion, which have hidden defect in personnel allocation. It is worth mentioning that finance statements perform well and global expansion plan of Wal-Mart International has potential. SummaryBased on all the analysi
38、s from Wal-Marts departments, the competitive advantage comprises of economies of scale with price advantage, cost efficiency supply chain and information system, which boost Wal-Marts growth and globalization. SWOTStrengthFirst, in the field of technology, RFID, technology like satellite tracking s
39、ystem, Retail Link, Internet-based transportation link system, Texlon barcode, Internet business and RFID play significant roles in supply chain for they collects numerous information to accelerate distribution speed. Secondly, economy of scale established in the Wal-Mart makes the publicity of Wal-
40、Mart be spread easily and increase the revenue. Additionally, diverse products and service provided by them attracts increasingly more middle-income shippers which are always in promotion with discount such as EDLP. The third advantage of Wal-Mart is the dominant control over suppliers who always ha
41、ve no opportunity to negotiate with Wal-Mart due to massive sales volume of Wal-Mart, which ensure Wal-Mart to purchase the products in lower expense.WeaknessFirstly, employees treat customer worse because of their unpleasant mood which comes from overworking due to the understaffing, besides low wa
42、ge, no meal, insufficient care and rest. As a result, Wal-Mart is indirectly losing customers. Secondly, the merchandise of Wal-Mart is largely identical with minor distinction despite of vast varieties, which cannot truly retain customers for they are easy to switch to their components. Therefore,
43、Wal-Mart will be in weak position.OpportunityFirstly, increasingly more people are aware of the convenience of Internet which is applied in communication, searching information and shopping. Then, the sales amount and profit of Wal-Mart are rising with the assistance of electronic commerce and it en
44、ables more people to realize their brand at the same time, which set up potential relationship with new customers.Next, it is good news for retailing industry that the global economy is recovering from the Crisis. Strong spending power aboard seems more profitable and potential for Wal-Marts future
45、global sales. Finally, the globalization brings Wal-Mart benefits in two aspects. First, such trend offer a chance for Wal-Mart to gain more overseas cooperation, talents, cheap labor, capital raising, which ensure company a more promising prospect. Second, globalization tendency spur the company to
46、 launch more expansion in foreign countries while it is difficult to expand in the domestic market because of geographic saturation. Wal-Mart dispatches executives to regions to observe consuming habit, income level of local habitants via advanced information collecting system in order to better und
47、erstand wide customer basic needs as well as procure and rearrange type and portion of new merchandise. Thus, company can accelerate global invasion.ThreatenThe reputation of company suffers from negative impact from the press of anti-Wal-Mart, which hampers their international sales volume and futu
48、re development. They are confronting public accusations due to some staffing problems such as sub-standard wage and health care benefits, which are rejections to their expansion plan. Additionally, the predicaments that Wal-Mart is facing like illegal immigrants by subcontractor, lawsuit, fines in e
49、nvironmental damage, gender discrimination and child labor law violation is the barrier to the company growth in globalization.In the aspect of threaten from rivals, the goods of general discount competitors and niche competitors are presenting differentiation and those similar-sized enterprise own the specific market
