Wallmart Foreign Expansion

BUSI 514

Operation Management

Professor Kipley

Alfie(ZHEN) Zhang

Wal-Mart Case study

Background

Sustainability standards for supplier

Wal-Mart disclosed its sustainability standard to all Wal-Mart suppliers in the world in 2008. It requires Wal-Mart Supplier take more environmental and social responsibilities. To do so, in order to maintain its competitive quality image of Wal-Mart products. With growth slows down in U.S, Wal-Mart focus on expansion in the world, especially in China.

Executive Summery

Wal-Mart Company Strategy

"Save people money so they live better"

In 2008, Wal-Mart has new senior management team change. The new team is facing the challenge of expansion in China in a sustainable way. This case study provides challenges, opportunities analysis and solution to Wal-Mart's current situation.

Wal-Mart is facing sustainable Challenges in main three areas: low price versus high sustainable cost, un-sustainable local suppliers, and distributions. In Chinese culture, they concern more about the future so they tent to spend less and save more. It brings out the first challenge of Wal-Mart that How to keep competitive price in China. Second, Wal-Mart Chinese suppliers are mostly local small and median business. It increase the difficulty of meeting the needs of consumer and low quality control. Most importantly, the owners are now education with sustainable development thinking. It is hard for Wal-Mart to push sustainable strategy to its product on the shelf.