Week 5 Assignment

Week 5 Assignment

Introduction

Wal-Mart has faced friction in establishing dominant position in markets in the global economy. Brazil is one such country. Wal-Mart faced many challenges in Brazil due to an unsteady economy in the late 1990s and the early 2000s. Besides, it also had to face some cultural differences as well as challenges in terms of management, logistics and distribution, and competition. One drawback Wal-Mart had that made them to miss the exact target in terms of customer preferences was that they were off target (Gluck, 1985). The needs and wants across countries are different. For example, in Germany many employees would smile at their German customers. However, German men consider this flirting according to their culture, and Wal-Mart didn't understand this cultural preference for German's, which is another important reason why Wal-Mart was not able to adapt in this country. They did not research and pay enough attention to how people lived and what they desired and what they were accustomed to, therefore allowing themselves to sink.

Discussion

Another drawback Wal-Mart had been that they were vulnerable to trade barriers and suppliers. “Relationships with suppliers were a major problem for Wal-Mart in the international market. First of all, the company tried to apply the same standards it used in The United States with local suppliers. But the relationship among retailers and manufacturers was quite different from the USA. Wal-Mart was banned from the manufacturers in some countries, when they attempted to sell many products at price below cost (Anonymous, 2012).

And this reaction was sometimes extreme. This combined with irregularity of delivery by suppliers and problems with inventory control, lead to shot in products on the shelf. “Everyday low price” is the strategy Wal-Mart lives by. Every customer appreciates low prices, even in an international market. Even though Wal-Mart sells cheaper supplies, the prices are not that different compared to its competitors in Brazil. So it's safe to say that there are always going to be cheaper products at the local store where it's easier to obtain. The appearances are same but different in qualities. Nevertheless, some of house brand products cannot penetrate into local customer since they are imported from the United States and has only English language on the labels (Crofoot, 2001).

The focus of the Wal-Mart is on the continuous learning of the employees along with the improvement and employee empowerment. It has been observed that when the employees are empowered, the rate of their performance level increases and they feel much more confident and accountable for their tasks. The main emphasis of the human resource department is on creating synergy in the team work. They consider the levels of staffing and the offers they made initially in bringing in more human capital in the company. The success of the company is highly dependent on the productivity and the performance of the teams and human capitals, however, the HR department should make sure that they bring in the more talented work force in the organization ...