Hello Wal-Mart Case Study

Latoya Barnes

BUS 644: Operations Management

“Hello Wal-Mart”

Dr. Michael Snell

March 19, 2012

In 1985, Wal-Mart's founder Sam Walton said, “Something must be done by all of us in the retailing and manufacturing areas to reverse this serious threat of overseas imports to our free enterprise system…Our company is firmly committed to the philosophy by buying everything possible from suppliers who manufacture their products in the United States.” Today over 70% of the merchandise sold in Wal-Mart stores contain components that are made in China. (Wal-Mart Watch, 2010) "Wal-Mart’s staggering – and continuing – growth traces directly to its pioneering of an innovative business model that features sophisticated supply chain management and aggressive cost-cutting. That model, as revolutionary as was that of the Sears & Roebuck Co. in the late 1800s, has profoundly altered patterns of local retail and wholesale trade, as well as the logistics of the transportation and distribution of goods."(Renkow, 2005) In 2010 the retail giant Wal-Mart reported $405.0 billion in sales in its 10-K, up 1.0% from fiscal year 2009. (Annual Report, 2010) "Lower prices and greater availability of products in one location clearly provide direct economic benefits to local consumers. The size of those benefits will vary from location to location, depending on how much lower the prices are and how much farther consumers would have to travel to access that greater range of goods." (Renkow, 2005).

Owners of Small Businesses Located Nearby

Wal-Mart would create jobs and simulate the economy, which would increase the small business revenue. Not only would it create the jobs of the employees that work for Wal-Mart but also construction jobs in a time where construction is scarce. The more people working in the community, the better it will be for everyone in the community. Another pro would be more traffic into the community. Normally when a Wal-Mart is in a given area,...