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.
The attention dedicated to improving the cost and efficiency of its distributional operation underscores the emergent strategy which Wal-Mart is using to change the retail business altogether. This aspect of its operation has become a major effecter in its relationship to suppliers. For instance, "Coke altered its century-old distribution model to accommodate the world's largest retailer, and in April began delivering its Powerade sports drink to Wal-Mart warehouses, rather than direct the retailer's stores." (Hoffman, 28) This demonstrates the manner in which Wal-Mart has come largely to change many of the rules which were once well-established in the retail business. Namely, suppliers have always functioned as the power in the retail industry. By controlling the cost of items, leveraging the available supply of these items and distributing them across a competitive retail landscape, suppliers have historically been in a place of determinant authority where price structure and demand are concerned. The enormity, dominance and permeation of Wal-Mart have all had the effect of changing this.
By functioning both as the most pervasive front in the retail world and simultaneously by controlling prices at a level which most directly benefits the consumer's spending ability, Wal-Mart has created a context in which suppliers absolutely need its business....
It has become the most powerful distribution agency in the world and as a result, can levy demands upon its suppliers that invoke discomfort but nonetheless become more preferable to the alternative of losing their best point of access to the consumer. This relationship with its suppliers has functionally reversed the power structure typically accorded to retailers and suppliers, placing the latter in an unfamiliar and uncomfortable position.
As with many other aspects of its operation, this is yet another regard in which Wal-Mart can be shown to pursue aggressive anti-competitive measures in order to stamp out what it views as unnecessary market sharing. Its capacity to conduct its own distribution operations based on its scale, its own shipping fleet and its dominance in various regions of the United States denote a company which has designs on monopolizing multiple aspects of the retail market but which has optimized its supply chain according to the conditions of a global market.
Works Cited:
Hoffman, W. (2006). Wal-Mart Formula. Journal of Commerce.
Johnston, N. & Runningen, R. (2009). Obama Focuses on Small Business to Spur Job Growth. Bloomberg.com.
Transite. (2009). Transportation and Logistics: Integrating Transportation into Your Supply Chain. Transportation Management Solutions.
Works Cited:
Hoffman, W. (2006). Wal-Mart Formula. Journal of Commerce.
Johnston, N. & Runningen, R. (2009). Obama Focuses on Small Business to Spur Job Growth. Bloomberg.com.
Transite. (2009). Transportation and Logistics: Integrating Transportation into Your Supply Chain. Transportation Management Solutions.
Despite these constraints, China does in fact have an impressive transportation infrastructure already, and China's rankings relative to the rest of the world in various transportation infrastructure categories is provided in Table 1 below. Table 1 Current Status of China's Transportation Infrastructure Infrastructure Category Statistics/Current Status World Rank Airports 15 Railways 77,834 km 3 Roadways 3,583,715 km (includes 53,913 km of expressways) 2 Waterways 110,000 km navigable 1 Merchant marine 1,826 3 Ports and terminals Dalian, Guangzhou, Ningbo, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Tianjin (see map at Appendix a) Source: China, 2010 The
Private companies, however, must begin to take more of this burden on themselves in order to streamline procedures at these points of entry; the more prepared and well-documented each vessel is, the less time (and therefore money) they will have to spend at the various points of entry proving their compliance and security reliability (Lake 2004). In the ever-changing world of the twenty-first century, corporations and other business entities must
Transportation Congestion: Transportation systems have become increasingly congested across the globe, which has contributed to the need for growth of transportation infrastructure. Actually, transportation congestion has continued to be a major concern and challenge for big cities in the contemporary first moving world. This challenge is attributed to various factors including the ever-growing increase in services of automobiles and busy work schedules. As this problem continues across major engines, the
What could not be predicted was that the city's infrastructure would so miserably fail the people of New Orleans. As images of looting and stranded citizens filled the airways, taken from news helicopters, the city's police force had virtually abandoned their posts, and some were accused of participating in the looting that followed the disaster there was something noticeably missing in the images; there were no police rescues, no Red
Productivity/Infrastructure The success and effectiveness of Brinkmann Grills is partly dependent on its logistics and supply chain management. However, the company faces various challenges in the area of logistics and supply chain just like other enterprises. While there are various kinds of logistics challenges depending on the kind of a firm's business or operations, some challenges are universal regardless of these factors. Similar to other enterprises, one of the major challenges
Abstract One of the major components of President Trump’s campaign platform was a promise to make a massive investment in infrastructure spending in the United States. The Trump Administration has recently released a detailed proposal to honor its promises. The proposal contains measures such expanding expenditures on roads and bridges as well as offering greater broadband access to rural residents. The bill has attempted to strike a balance between offering more