Wal-Mart Supply Chain Management Essay -- Wal-Mart Logistics

Retail super-giant Wal-Mart has fought its way to becoming the world's largest company. Much of their success can be attributed to providing a vast assortment of products at exceptional prices all under one roof. Wal-Mart began operations in 1964 and has since become the world leader in retail. Today, Wal-Mart is visited by 138 million customers per week at their 4,750 stores. Wal-Mart operates under four basic rules in order to satisfy such a large number of customers: Respect the individual, provide the best service to their customers, strive for excellence, and exceed customer expectations. Their corporate mission focuses on a global growth strategy through concentrated integration. The company continues to expand its existing discount stores, warehouses, and super-centers. The company maintains two goals: First, Provide the customer with what they want, when they want it, all at value and secondly, team spirit through total dependency on associates to treat customers as they would want to be treated. Their business strategy is to provide well-known name brands at an everyday low price. Wal-Mart has a wide range of products offered. They offer everything from electronics, movies, books, toys, games, gardening supplies, home supplies, photo development, gifts, jewelry, and at some locations even automobile, optometry, and grocery shopping centers. In operating its network of retail stores Wal-Mart pushes their output to the general public. Wal-Mart focuses their competitive priorities on bringing the customer the lowest prices by selling in volume. The vast size and selection essentially guarantees that the store will have what the customer wants in stock and at a cheaper price than competitors. This strategy allows them to outsell their competition. In order to facilitate the achievement of their goals Wal-Mart has designed their layout to accommodate a large number of shoppers at the same time. They build expansive stores with wide aisles so that many people can feel comfortable shopping at the same time. Wal-Mart has taken the initiative to build stores in countless rural towns and smaller cities. They have increased their market share and have gained a reputable name by doing so. At the same time, this benefit has created an enormous supply chain management problem. How can Wal-Mart effectively keep all of its... ...y at creating an efficient supply chain in order to beat the competition on price and selection has certainly paid off. Works Cited Bacheldor, Beth. Information Week. ?Sen. Leahy Calls On Congress to Study RFID.? Accessed 4/30/04. http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?ArticleID=18402616 Beatty, Vernon L., Jr. ?You Gonna Be a Greeter Accessed 4/30/04. http://www.almc.army.mil/alog/issues/janfeb97/ms046.htm. Bianco, Anthony and Zellner, Wendy. Business Week. ?Is Wal-Mart Too Powerful Accesed 5/3/04. http://www.businessweek.com/maganize/content/03_04/b3852001_mz001.htm ?Carrers.? Wal-Mart. Accessed 4/30/04. http://www.walmartstores.com/wmstores/wmstores. Fishman, Charles. Fast Company. ?The Wal-Mart You Don?t Know.? Accessed 5/2/04. http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html Heizer, Jay and Render, Barry. Operations Management. Seventh Edition. Pearson Prentice Hall. New Jersey, 2004. ?Stauffer v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.? US Department of Labor. Accessed 4/30/04. http://www.oalj.dol.gov/public/wblower/decsn/99sta21c.htm ?Wal-Mart Effect? Accessed 5/3/04. http://www.wordspy.com/words/Wal-Marteffect.asp.