Case Study Wal-Mart Essay Example for Free

Case Study Wal-Mart Essay Evaluate the general environment of Wal-Mart using the framework in Chapter 2. What are the key opportunities and threats facing Wal-Mart? (This is the OT of a SWOT analysis)Wal-Marts builds its stores in towns with a population size of 5000-25,000 people. Wal-Mart has recently started to tap into the more populated city suburbs by building smaller less obtrusive stores in those regions. Wal-Mart targets every age group from infants to senior citizens. Wal-Marts geographically places its stores in rural less populated areas with very few employment opportunities. Wal-Mart tries to attract all income levels by selling brand name items along with generic brand items. Wal-Mart approaches its global market by evaluating market potential based on economic and political risk, growth potential, and availability of real estate for development. In countries that had became saturated Wal-Mart used acquisitions to acquire ownership. In markets that were not saturated and land was easily accessible Wal-Mart used organic growth. The technology that Wal-Mart uses to run their business is unmatched. They have a network of satellites that can track a person purchase and automatically refurbish those items from suppliers without any human intervention. Wal-Mart maximizes efficiency by using effective technology to gain a competitive advantage. Wal-Mart has grown into a global empire and has become the world largest private employer and the number one retailer in the world. Despite all of this success Wal-Mart still has a huge opportunity to grow. Wal-Mart continues to adapt to the ever-changing economy by remodeling their store and by placing the customer as their number one priority. Wal-Mart took advantage of its rural locations early on and gained a significant competitive advantage, now Wal-Mart is taking on the urban environment by placing stores in the outskirts of major metropolitan areas. At first local residents rejected the idea of having a Wal-Mart in their neighborhood for fear it would drive down property value and unwanted individuals to their suburbanite neighborhood. Wal-Mart quickly resolved this problem by changing the format and size of their stores located in these regions. The only threats to Wal-Mart faces are mostly from within (eg..) lawsuits employee disputes and the threat to become unionized. Use Porters Five Forces Model to analyze the global retailing industry. Given this analysis, is the industry attractive or unattractive? Support  your decision. Wal-Mart is a huge threat to new entrants. Wal-Mart has created huge barriers to new entries by offering one stop shopping. Wal-Marts Super Centers offer everything from prepared meals to sports gear. Grocery chains have taken a huge hit because of this, even Kmart is feeling the heat, there stock hit rock bottom in 2004. The discount clothing and apparels have also taken a bite from this retail giant. Wal-Mart has produced a very proficient economy of scale from incremental improvements that they have acquired since becoming so large. Manufactures scramble to try and keep up with the huge demand that Wal-Mart places on its suppliers, this further reduces the prices of goods and services for their customers. Small-scale entries are nearly impossible in a region where Wal-Mart is located. Large-scale entries face the retaliation factor when trying to tap into Wal-Marts market because suppliers are forced to do things the Wal-Mart way. Wal-Mart has successfully customized many of their products and forced manufactures have been forced to produce the Wal-Mart brand. Wal-Mart has taken total control of the bargaining power of suppliers. Wal-Mart has a small group of buyers based in Bentonville Arkansas thats in charge of managing the purchasing of all retail stores. Wal-Mart is responsible for selling 35% of all pet food, 24% of all toothpaste, the largest volume of jewelry, groceries, DVDs, CDs, toys, guns, diapers, sporting goods, bedding, and numerous other things. This has put the retail giant in a very favorable negotiating position with suppliers. Wal-Mart has generated a huge market of loyal buyers by supplying them with the lowest possible prices for quality products. With Wal-Mart having such a huge share of the market and good prices there is no need for buyers to seek deals elsewhere. Wal-Mart has proven to be a huge threat of substitute products in several industries for example the jewelry industry, Wal-Mart has become one of the leading jewelry dealers in the North America. Wal-Mart has also created its own brand name for several of its items that have been so successful that manufactures are forced to produce products bearing the Wal-Mart brand. Wal-Mart competitors have to be very calculated with their responses because Wal-Mart is so large it can really drive a business under ground (Kmart). What is Wal-Marts business-level strategy? Is the strategy appropriate to offset the forces in the industry? Do you recommend any changes? If not, support your decision why you would not recommend any changes. Wal-Mart uses Integrated Lost Leadership/Differentiation Strategy. Wal-Mart has offset the forces in the industry by creating the most efficient supply chain in the industry. Efficient production has allowed Wal-Mart to keep cost low and pass own saving to its customers. Wal-Mart has successfully used Integrated Cost Leadership/Differentiation Strategy by setting the pace in new technology and adapting quickly to new technologies in their external environment. Concentration on the needs of its core customers (discount retailers), Wal-Mart has created a friendly family environment thats economically smart and beneficial to its patrons. Flexibility is one of Wal-Marts strongest assets, which allows them to complete primary and support activities in ways that allow them to produce somewhat differentiated products at a low cost. I would not personally recommend any changes to this strategy because it has made Wal-Mart the worlds largest retailer. What is your evaluation of the leadership at Wal-Mart?Wal-Mart has become the most successful business in the world through its un-yielding leadership. Mr. Walton has laid the foundation for success for years to come. The leaders at Wal-Mart focus on providing the customer with the highest possible quality at the lowest possible cost. They have redefined the retail industry with their cutting edge technology and flexibility that is un-matched by any competitor. The fact that upper management travel in economy class shows a lot about the character within the organization. The leadership at Wal-Mart has made the world we live in much smaller through economic availability and convenience. The leaders at Wal-Mart are a true example of profit through customer satisfaction. Works Cited Hitt, M., Ireland, R., Hoskisson, R. (2007), Strategic Management, Competitiveness andGlobalization: Concepts and Cases. 7th ed. Mason: Thomson South-Western(August 21, 2006). Global Labor Strategies: Wal-Mart: The Homefront. RetrievedSeptember 18, 2007,

A Comparison of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X Essay

Martin Luther King and Malcolm X: Different Men With the Same Goal      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Martin Luther King jr. and Malcolm X are still highly controversial African-American leaders.   Martin, a Christian integrationist, and Malcolm, a Muslim nationalist have been a powerful force against racial injustice.   Each man sacrificed his life for the freedom of his people; however, Martin and Malcolm had taken very different approaches in achieving equality and identity for African-Americans in the land of their birth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In order to better understand why King and X took the course of action each took, one must take into account a little bit of their background.   Martin Luther King jr., was born in Atlanta, Georgia into a middle-class family.   The church was his source of leadership development and it helped provide him with moral values.   Home and church were the most important influences in the early life of King.   In both contexts, he was introduced to the integrationist values of protest, accommodations, self-help and optimism as they were related to the religious themes of justice, love and hope.   He was introduced to the value of education as a potent way of helping him assert his self-worth to become a church and community leader and to fight racism in the larger society.   â€Å"King’s basis for his campaign of nonviolence originated in the highest type of love - love for people who hate you. King preached that the combination of agape (spi ritual love) with nonviolent action would elicit change†(Walton 78). It is quite easy for me to think of a God of love mainly because I grew up in a family where love was central and where lovely relationships were ever present.   It is quite easy for me to think of the universe as basically friend... ... cowardice. For many blacks nonviolence was the only option because violence would have cost them their jobs, their homes, and even their lives.   It was a creative way that an African-American could fight for freedom and at the same time avoid genocide, the logical consequence of racism.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚         Works Cited    Goldman, Peter.   The Death and Life of Malcolm X.   2nd ed.   Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1979.    Hamilton, Charles V.   The Black Experience in American Politics. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1973.    Samuels, Gertrude.   â€Å"Two ways: Black Muslim and N.A.A.C.P†.New York Times Magazine, 12 May 1963, pg 87.    Walton, Hanes Jr,.   The Political Philosophy of Martin Luther King, Jr.   New York: Greenwood Press, 1971.    X, Malcolm and Alex Haley.   The Autobiography or Malcolm X. New York: Ballantine Books, 1973

Allelopathy Lab Essay

INTRODUCTION The purpose of this lab was to observe the effects of chemical warfare among plants. Plant seeds compete with other plants and seeds, for sunlight, and nutrients in order to germinate. In order to win dominance over other seeds, and reduce competition, plants produce and release a chemical in order to prevent other seeds from germination. This type of chemical warfare is referred to as allelopathy. Allelopathy exists in many parts of the plants such as leaves, roots, stems, or fruits, but not limited to just the plants. These toxic chemicals can also be found in the surrounding soil, to prevent other plants or seeds from absorbing proper nutrients to stimulate growth. Groups will test for the presence of allelopathic chemicals in plant shoots from the chaparral community. If the hollyhock exhibits allelopathy, then an extract will inhibit the germination, and or growth of the radish seeds. MATERIALS & METHODS The group prepared for this experiment in the lab of Professor Sadler at SBVC on the second floor of the HLS building. First, the groups set up for this lab by gathering leaves that Professor Sadler had already bagged and identified. Each sample was cleaned and striped of everything most importantly the stem, so that all was left was the leaf its self. Then each group weighed out Ten (10) grams of leaves, and then placed into a blender with One hundred (100) milliliters or water. The group then blended the leaves and water until the mixture was a very thin fluid. Three (3) folded cheesecloth’s were placed into a funnel in order to remove any solids from the fluid itself, then poured into a small beaker, to be used later on in the experiment. Then each group prepared two (2) Petri dishes, by placing three (3) filtered papers in the bottom of each Petri dish. After the filtered paper was placed into the bottom of each dish, twenty (20) radish seeds (Raphanus sativus) were then placed on top, and evenly distributed throughout both Petri dishes, as to make sure none of them were touching. A final filtered paper was placed on top of the seeds and ten (10) milliliters  were of distilled water was poured over the seeds of one Petri dish, the lid was then placed on the Petri dish and labeled â€Å"control†. In the other Petri dish, the ten (10) milliliters of the filtered and blended mixture was added to the second Petri dish to make sure the filter papers were evenly saturated. The second lid was then placed over the Petri dish and labeled â€Å" hollycock†. The Petri dishes will then sit for a week for germination and then evaluated. RESUTLS After one week of germination, the group removed the lids of each Petri dish, and removed each seed that had germinated and measured the length of the entire stem and leaves. Please notice the attached page for the data of each seed. In the Petri dish labeled â€Å"hollycock†, Experiment Group A. the group tested a total number of twenty (20) radish seeds (Raphanus sativus), out of the twenty (20) seeds, there was only a twenty-five (25) percent of germination, and only five (5) seeds had actually germinated. The length of each seed varied in lengths from the shortest, three (3) millimeters to the longest fourteen (14) millimeters. Each length of all twenty (20) seedlings were added up and divided by twenty (20) and the group averaged 2.7 millimeters in length of the germinated seedlings. In the second Petri dish labeled â€Å"control†, Experiment Group B, out of the twenty (20) radish seeds tested with just distilled water, a percentage of eighty-five (85) percent of successful germination, and the actual number was seventeen (17) actually germinated. The length of these seeds varied in sized from the shortest of seven (7) millimeters to the longest of ninety-two (92) millimeters. Each length of all germinated seeds from the controlled group were added up and then divided by twenty (20) and the average length of the germinated seedlings is 19.35 millimeters. DISSCUSSION As a result of this lab it has been prove that the hypothesis is in fact correct. In reference to the group’s data, the radish seeds exhibited allelopathy, but a majority of them not germinating. Allelopathy derives from two separate words, allelon which means â€Å"each other† and pathos means â€Å"to suffer.† It is a type of chemical warfare that is used between plants and against other plants. Oddly enough, experiment group B, the controlled group seeds, that received the distilled water, germinated more then the  experiment group A, the ones that received the blend of water and hollycock leaves. The only problem that the group faced was that it was difficult to completely blend the leaves of the hollycock plant to make it liquefiable enough to get just enough out to pour over the radish seeds. Other variables that could have possibly affected germination of the seeds, was but are not limited to, the amount of sunlight that was given to the seeds, and or if the liquid was evenly distributed. Although, the group measured out the exact amount of liquid needed for the seedlings, I can only wonder if some of the proteins or nourishments were left in the solid blending in the cheesecloths? In the end the hypothesis was supported by the groups data as the hollycock did exhibit signs of allelopathy.

Weed Be Better Off Without Marijuana - 1728 Words

Lauren Leatherman Professor Dillon American Government 25 October 2015 Weed Be Better Off Without Marijuana Dope, Mary Jane, Pot, Grass, Weed, Blunt, Joint, and Nuggets are only a few of the countless names for marijuana, a narcotic drug used for recreational and sometimes medicinal uses across the world. Recently growing enough popularity among younger generations due to the glamorization of media, and the overwhelming financial gains through taxes and fees seen in Colorado, have caused Ohio legislators and citizens to consider the idea of legalizing marijuana for both recreational and medicinal marijuana use. Marijuana is a toxic gateway drug that impairs the judgement of its users and should not be legalized for recreational and medicinal purposes aside from the numerous ‘benefits’ it will bring to Ohio because of the consequences will be far greater. The first and probably strongest argument against the legalization again recreational marijuana in Ohio is marijuana is a proven gateway drug to harsher and more dangerous drugs. Marijuana falls into one of the many drugs that falls under the gateway effect. The gateway effect is the idea that using one drug can lead to use of another drug i.e. marijuana can lead to use of LSD because of the similarities of psycho alternation caused between each drug. Jonathan P. Caulkins, Angela Hawken, Beau Kilmer, and Mark A.R. Kleiman, all professors specializing in public policy, describe the gateway effect in effect in their bookShow MoreRelatedShould We Legalize Marijuana? Essay1362 Words   |  6 Pagesis the legalization of marijuana. Nowadays people use â€Å"weed† for many different purposes. Whether it be for medical or even recreational weed has become a part of this world. The government in the USA keeps fighting this natural product and destroying lives on account of this drug. 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