Walmart Doing Business in Argentina

Argentina is a South American country with a population of about 41.5 million and consists of 23 provinces and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (The Heritage Foundation, 2014). Endowed with multiple natural resources, Argentina boast of rich agricultural resources like Soybeans, maize, wheat, cotton, fish, fruit and vegetable products and natural minerals like aluminum, steel, gold and crude oil and fossil fuels (Encyclopedia of the Nations). Countries and localities endowed with an array of productive resources are the delight of manufacturers. Consequently, Argentina’s natural productive endowments and resources make it delightful and attractive to prospective investors, including Multinational Corporations like Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart Stores Incorporated is the largest American retail Multinational Corporation specializing in an extensive chain of discount departmental and warehouse stores. Founded in 1962 by Sam Walton, Wal-Mart has an acclaimed 11,000 stores in over 27 countries with about 71 different business brands(Wal-Mart Corporate, 2014). Business operations in foreign countries no doubt are an onerous task given that business rules, regulations and measures vary from one country to another. Wal-Mart’s decision to invest in Argentina, like many other multinational corporations through Foreign Direct Investment (hereafter referred to as FDI); could be seen a welcome development. Thus, Wal-Mart Argentina began operations in 1995, and headquarters are located in Buenos Aires. Store formats include Changomas, Changomas Express, Wal-Mart and Wal-Mart Supermercado (Wal-Mart Corporate, 2014). Historically, Argentina stands as the only country where Wal-Mart penetrated and engaged in retail business without an existing partner (Luciene De Paulo, 2014)

Business operations by Foreign Direct Investment in Argentina, like the case of Wal-Mart, are an arduous task. Foreign investors are saddled with the responsibility of compliance with local regulations and...