Global Strategies
The aim of any business is making as much profit as it possibly can, by using the least input to get high profit. Therefore, a business will do all it can to attract customers, not only in their local country but also internationally.
Question one: On this note, my firm which is Wal-Mart has already engaged in international activities as an approach to capture a high market share in 28 countries. The company varies its product, as well as its services because every country varies in perception. The way products are produced is different based on the country to explore, and the services particularly the advertisement services and sales service are different, and it is done to excellently accommodate the country as per its perception.
Again, the marketing approach is different because the markets are different in different countries, and our firm has to satisfy all of them by having different approaches. For instance, Wal-Mart is a grocery store but offers non food items in UK to satisfy their needs sufficiently. Since the perception of products and services are different from one country to another, a market survey must be done before establishing the products to that country, so as to have better services that will accommodate all customers.
Wal-Mart operates in 27 countries and uses an approach of decision-making strategies to determine the entry mode they can use to establish a new market, threats as well as opportunities to develop a strategy known as “Everyday Low Prices” and “Everyday Low Costs”. By doing this, War-Mart establishes the most favorite price thereby establishing a market share in foreign countries. Wal-Mart adopts its products without necessarily increasing the operation cost by changing its products to meet the needs of the consumers in each foreign nation. They also engage in joint ventures with retailers of a foreign country, so as to establish the strategies and the kind of services will well be accommodated by all customers. Besides, Wal-Mart ensures all the consumers are satisfied by giving low pricing strategies and repetitive selling of high quality products.
Question two: Our firm is working internationally to access larger markets. This is after a realization that there are many countries that do not have our products, and therefore, there is a need to venture in such. Accessing larger markets will ensure increased sales, which will automatically increase the profits the firm makes. Again, working internationally ensures that the firm gets low-cost inputs, because many countries can offer the inputs at a low cost and then we produce and sell the end product to them and other countries.
Also, working internationally is another way of developing new competencies, because we can learn what each country wants, and this will ensure production of various products that are fit for many countries. The marketing approach in this firm is appropriate to create larger market, get low-cost inputs, and developing new competencies (Fujita, Krugman & Venables, 2001).
Question three: There are four common types of global strategies that can be employed by firms in business, with an objective of guiding a business to globalization. Global strategy is another form of business growth, done to increase the availability of the product from the home country to other foreign countries.
Wal-Mart uses localization global strategy as it was the highest penetration success in America, and it increases its level of growth as well as its survival. This is because, customer perceive Wal-Mart products as if it’s a local product, even though it has been produced in a foreign country, and therefore, they have a high selling power.
Question 4: Intellectual property is equally important in this firm as it protects innovation and rewards artists accordingly, thereby creating employment. War-Mart protects intellectual properties by giving a post-termination agreement and covenant to the employees. (Risen Jr. & Covello, 2000).
This agreement states that all the confidential information given in the company should be kept confidential, and should not, at any circumstance be shared with the outsiders. Otherwise, violation of this agreement leads to employment termination and the offender may even face the law.
Question 5: The recent innovation of our firm is to develop e-commerce that provide an online retail for ASDA, Wal-Mart, and Sam’s Club that will ensure that their products are available online and that it will reach as many people as possible from anywhere in the world. By doing this, the firm will capture a wide market share that will attract more sales and profits. Also, through e-commerce, Wal-Mart will realize the best and most convenient shipping methods, to ensure their products reach to the final consumers in time.
Through e-commerce, Wal-Mart will be able to realize the perception of their customers, so as to produce their products, not for their own gains but their customers. Besides, they will get positive as well as negative feedbacks from their customers from all corners of the world, so as to realize what they need to add or withdraw in their products making. They also have a Facebook page that enables direct interaction between the customers and the company, thereby realizing what the customers want in good time and respond to them.
Question 6: War-Mart’s largest stockholder is the Walton family, as it holds almost a half of the company. Wal-Mart was established by Sam Walton in 1962, and his successors own most of War-Marts holdings, the enterprise of Walton, as well as the individual holdings, and most importantly, they hold the top management positions in War-Mart (Waddock , 2008).
Besides, after a realization that they cannot work on their own as a family to run the entire business, War-Mart has employed roughly more than two million employers worldwide, and it is in fact known as one of the largest private employer across the world. Therefore, employees own its stock, and this qualifies them to be part of the War-Mart’s stockholders (Waddock, 2008).
References
Fujita, M., Krugman, P. R., & Venables, A. (2001). The Spatial Economy: Cities, Regions, and International trade. MIT press.
Risen Jr, W. M., & Covello, D. F. (2000). U.S. Patent No. 6,018,714. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Shoham, A. (2003). Standardization of International Strategy and Export Performance: A meta-analysis. Journal of Global Marketing, 16(1-2), 97-120.
Waddock, S. (2008). Corporate Citizenship: The Dark-side Paradoxes of Success. In Leadership and Business Ethics (pp. 251-268). Springer Netherlands.
