Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
First, the company needs to determine who they are -- what their mission is. If they want to be a low-cost leader and compete head-to-head with WalMart, increasing their economies of scale is critical. However, I don't think this is truly feasible. Instead, I would suggest that they find a way to differentiate themselves from WalMart, much like Target did. They attempted a very similar approach with hiring Martha Stewart and Joe Boxer, but these names were not powerful enough to pull the entire company through the financial trouble they were in and rebuild the Kmart name. For this reason, they need to discover a different mode of attack -- something that Target and WalMart don't offer.
With their merger with Sears, I would suggest that they keep the brands and strategies separate, but utilize whatever economies of scale they can manage from the merger. Kmart could utilize the electronics buying power of Sears and become a low-cost department/grocery store, as they are, but who specialize in electronics. Although Target and WalMart both offer electronics, if Kmart were to offer well-trained and helpful employees, much like you'd find at a store that solely sells electronics, this would give them a significant advantage.
Sears has a similar unique advantage still in place that they simply need to capitalize on -- knowledgeable employees. Although stores...
Too often employees at the other stores work in multiple departments and may not be true appliance specialists. Sears can capitalize on this. In addition, Sears still has considerable value in the Craftsman brand name, for their tools. By keeping the companies separate, they'll be able to take advantage of opportunities presented with the merger, but still keep the advantages they already have in place.
Conclusion:
In the end, only time will tell if Kmart will be able to compete against powerhouses like WalMart and Target. These two companies especially have developed very effective competitive strategies. However, the Sears merger offers new opportunities for Kmart that, if utilized correctly, could help ensure they remain a contender in a very competitive industry.
References
About JCPenney. (2009). Retrieved May 27, 2009, from http://www.jcpenney.net/about/default.aspx.
About us. (No date). Retrieved May 27, 2009, from http://walmartstores.com/AboutUs/.
Target: Our company. (2009). Retrieved May 27, 2009, from http://sites.target.com/site/en/company/page.jsp?contentId=WCMP04-032391.
Wal-Mart Inc. Wal-Mart is an American-based multinational discount store, currently operating more than 11,000 retail outlets in 27 different countries, and serving approximately 140 million customers weekly. Headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, Wal-Mart grew from a small family-managed retailer in 1945 to the world's largest retailer, and was named the world's largest company by revenues in the 2014 Fortune 500 list. The company operates its retail stores in two forms: i) Sam's
Strategic Management Case Study on Target According to the company's profile provided by Reuter's, the Target Corporation ("Target") operates Target-brand general merchandise discount stores and an online business, Target.com (found to be slow by this researcher). The profile reports that as of November 11, 2004, Target operated 1,313 stores in 47 states; in addition, the Company maintains 22 distribution centers in 19 states. Times have been tough for Target, and
Robson Walton - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Stephen P. Whaley - Senior Vice President and Controller Eric S. Zorn - Executive Vice President and President, Wal-Mart Realty III. INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT: STRENGHTS and WEAKNESSES A. CORPORATE STRUCTURE Wal-Mart's retail division is formed from four major subsidiaries: Wal-Mart Discount Stores, Wal-Mart Supercenters, Wal-Mart Neighborhood Markets and Sam's Clubs. (Wal-Mart Facts, 2007) Wal-Mart Discount Stores more than 1,000 in U.S. alone average
K-Mart's Bankruptcy -- a Case Study Why did the store synonymous with low prices for relatively high quality, the famed purveyor of blue-light specials, fall into dissolution and financial despondency and eventual bankruptcy in January of 2002? (CNN, 2002) The fall of Kmart the mega-store cannot be pinned simply to single internal or external phenomena, although the company was misguided and mismanaged on multiple levels, and the economy was enduring one
The main objective is to therefore maintain a stable level of market share or even to increase it. It is best that Kohl's activates in a stable environment. Therefore, given the latest economic trends that affect the global economy it is expected that the company will register sales and income decreases, the same as its competitors. Therefore, it is recommended to implement strategies that allow the company to maintain low costs,
Kmart is one of America's most well-known retailing names, yet in the past ten years the company has fallen on hard times. Competition has come in multiple forms, from discounts like Wal-Mart and Costco, to category killers like Home Depot to online retailers like Amazon.com. Struggling with declining sales and mounting debt, Kmart was purchased by equally struggling Sears Holdings in the latter's attempt to reshape its business and improve