Walmart
Essays

Wal-Mart is the largest retail chain in the United States and this virtually means that its distribution network is different from that of other retailers. Generically, retailers buy their merchandise from wholesalers…

This paper deals with the question of whether lyrics to popular songs can be poetic. It suggests there is a "law of vagueness" whereby song lyrics are kept vague so that young audiences can identify with whatever is suggested by the emotional undercurrent of the music. It then analyzes the lyrics to two pop songs--Nirvana's 1991 grunge hit "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and Hot Chelle Rae's 2011 anthem "Whatever"--in terms of their poetic content. Kurt Cobain's lyrics are analyzed in depth, in terms of their poetic method. Hot Chelle Rae is shown to be using much of the same material as in the classic Nirvana song, but doing so in a more marketable and less alienated fashion. The conclusion suggests that, if Kurt Cobain had not shot himself in 1994, then Hot Chelle Rae might have driven him to it.

The Causative People, Events, and Factors

Walmart has one of the most well-orchestrated and organized logistics, supply chains and operations systems of any enterprise globally operating today. It's core competencies in supply chain management, logistics,…

Wal-Mart is one of the renowned and established retailing stores of the world. It is a non-governmental company and operates in a number of countries around the globe. The basic aim of Wal-Mart is to provide goods at a cheaper rate and due to this reason; it gained popularity in the domestic as well as international countries. This retail store is highly successful in various countries like China, Brazil, United Kingdom, Canada etc. However, the operation of Wal-Mart did not gain success in South Korea and Germany. There are a number of reasons for this success and failure (Roberts and Berg, pg. 45).

The case commences with Wal-Mart's penetration of the British market which, despite expectations, has not managed to consolidate a competitive position. Tesco on the other hand was thriving.

The retail establishment that I visited is a local chain of shops called Shopko. They sell a wide range of products including clothes, sports wear, toys, household items, electronics, greeting cards and candies.

All internal systems, processes, external stakeholder management initiatives, supply chain management, sourcing, quality management and merchandising initiatives in WalMart revolve around the fulfillment of the expectations they create with their customers daily. Their Low Price Everyday (LPED) value proposition permeates their entire value chain, galvanizing it around the mission of delivering exceptional value on a consistent basis to customers. The mission and vision of WalMart rely on LPED as the catalyst and unifying force across their large, diverse corporate culture. WalMart is known for also being the most advanced and skilled high volume retailer in the use of analytics, Business Intelligence (BI), Business Process Management (BPM) and Business Process Re-engineering (BPR). WalMart measures the impact of continual process and system performance on the fulfillment of their LPED pledge to customers, often relying in customer satisfaction and psychographic metrics to ensure they continually meet and exceed customer expectations (Wal-Mart Investor Relations, 2012). The mission statement of WalMart is "to help people save money so they can live better" and this serves as a galvanizing force in unifying analytics, BI, reporting and continued analysis of improvements for the company (Mcginn, 2009) (Wal-Mart Investor Relations, 2012). The vision of WalMart is centered on extending the purchasing power of the middle-income and lower middle-income consumers in their core markets (Wal-Mart Investor Relations, 2012). The reliance on analytics, BI, BPM and BPR and many other forms of metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) are all aligned to this vision of giving those customers who rely on WalMart to help them make ends meet more and more value over time. WalMart has insight into how their pricing directly affects the quality of those individuals and families that rely on them the most. Their most loyal segment, the Price Value Shopper, at 16% of their customer base, visits the store will over 20 times a month, has a per capita income of $47,000 and generates more profitability than any other customer segment Walmart tracks (Frazier, 2006). WalMart also knows from their psychographic and demographic research that the majority of the price Value Shopper segment are women who are often have the role of spouse, mother, and part-time or even full-time employee as well (Wal-Mart Investor Relations, 2012). Time and money are the two commodities this customer base has the least of and WalMart orchestrates their vision and mission statement accordingly. Analyzing a decade of filings Walmart has made in the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is the basis of the market segmentation analysis shown in Figure 1 (Wal-Mart Investor Relations, 2012). The role of the Price Value Shopper is evident from the analysis; they are by far the most loyal and profitable customer base the company has, and their vision and mission are orchestrated to deliver value to them on a consistent basis.

The organization researched is a multinational called Walmart. The chain store is a retailer organization whose home office is located in America. Foreign currency translation is an accounting term that refers to conversion of accounting information recorded in one currency in the financial reports. Walmart has many branches in foreign countries. The branches registered under 55 different names as they acquisition was from smaller companies. Investment analysts give advice on various investment options in the market and provide the customer with an option that suits his finances.Inflation results in an increase of prices for commodities in a market.

Blockbuster has succeeded by being very agile and quick to respond from a marketing and services standpoint to very significant opportunities and threats in their core markets. Having changed their value chain three times in the case study and a myriad of modifications in each cycle of business model re-engineering, Blockbuster emerges as a multi-channel based entertainment provider. The three strategic cycles of their value chain parallel the industry lifecycles of the video rental marketplace, pay-per-view premium and finally online services comparable to direct delivery programs like Hulu and distribution-centric business models like Netflix. Blockbuster's aggressive retail expansion, retrenchment, introduction of games, online services and direct competition to Netflix all show how quickly the company can re-intent itself. Yet for all of these strengths, Blockbuster is still being disrupted by entertainment, gaming and entertainment services business models instead of being the disruptor. They have yet to break out of being continually in a revision mode related to their retailing operations. Their retail-based business model is slowing dying due to the high costs of operating locations, the rise of Netflix as a viable alternative for watching videos at home, and the disintermediation from Redbox, WalMart and other mass merchandisers offering lower-priced and broader selections of videos to watch. Blockbuster still faces a very serious strategic challenge, and that is overcoming the commoditization of the industry they are in, where price and availability have become the new differentiators.