Strengths and Opportunities of Walmart Essay Example for Free

Strengths and Opportunities of Walmart Essay Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart, is an American multinational retail corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the worlds third largest public corporation, the biggest private employer in the world with 2. 2 million employees and is the largest retailer in the world. Walmart is also one of the worlds most valuable companies. First of all, Walmart has good reputation for convenience and their low price strategy and these become their advantage to attract customers. Walmart reclaimed the top spot in the Fortune 500 in 2012 after slipping to No. last year. The retailer’s refocus on low prices continued to attract frugal shoppers into the discounters U. S. stores. Everyday Low Price (EDLP) is the cornerstone of the company strategy and their price focus has never been stronger. Today’s consumer seeks the convenience of one-stop shopping that they offer. From grocery and entertainment to sporting goods and crafts, Walmart provide the deep assortment that the customers appreciate. The company price investments across a broad assortment allow them to deliver a lower-priced market basket. Through Walmart’s localised and national market basket media campaigns, they show customers market by market that they are the low price leader on baskets of merchandise. In fiscal 2013, Walmart U. S. delivered a strong 1. 8 percent comp increase or an additional $4. 7 billion in comp store sales from last year. Net sales rose to $274. 5 billion, a 3. 9 percent increase and operating income grew by 5. 4 percent to $21. 5 billion. They are driving growth and meeting the customers’ needs by offering lower prices on a broad assortment of relevant merchandise. Each week, more than 245 million customers and members visit their 10,800 stores under 69 banners in 27 countries and e-commerce websites in 10 countries. By offering everyday low prices on a broad merchandise assortment, the company builds customer trust and resonates with consumers globally. Besides that, Walmart also has some successful cost leadership strategies. The strategies are efficiency in operations and distribution strategies, efficiency in supply chain management and the strong bargaining power. For fficiency in operations and distribution strategies: the Organisation Development (OD) strategies have helped Walmart achieve low prices- Walmart opens the stores outside of large cities and within 200 miles of existing stores. By bunching stores together in small areas, distribution costs are below average. Moreover, Walmart seeks to meet different customers’ needs with four main distinct retail options; these include supercenters, discount stores, Sam’s Club, and neighborhood markets. For the efficiency in supply chain management: Walmart is incredibly successful in managing its supply chain. The company applies the most reliable supply chain management system which is very efficient because almost all product data can be tracked to and from the manufacturer, warehouse, and the store shelf. Efficiency in supply chain system may save Walmart several million dollars as it can prevent losses from faulty product management. For the strong bargaining power: Walmart buys its products at rock-bottom prices, exchanges high purchase volumes for low cost while passing the savings onto its customers. The bargaining power of suppliers is weak. Many suppliers even give in to Walmart’s pressure because they depend on the discount retailer for the majority of their sales. Obviously, suppliers would do what Walmart wanted them to do if they hoped to maintain their sales. The cost leadership strategy enables Walmart to offer products at low price points. The company offers its grocery products at prices about 12% lower than the market. This strategy ensures a steady, recurring stream of customers for its goods, making Walmart synonymous with inexpensive and this keeps constant pressure on competitors. In addition, Walmart also has a focused strategy in place for human resource management and development. The employees are the key to Walmarts business and they are willing to invest time and money in training and developing them. They believe that the success of the business model relies on entrepreneurial employees who desire to learn and grow within the industry. They invest in the training and development of each employee, offering equal opportunities for learning at all levels. Training and development of employees provides a competitive advantage, enabling continual improvement of performance across the whole organisation. The employees must develop the knowledge, skills and abilities to serve, support and sell within the operating framework of their division. Therefore, the company’s goal is to expose employees to training that is specific to their area of responsibility and provide opportunities for further learning and development for ongoing growth within the organisation. Opportunities Retail market growth in Walmart’s emerging markets gives an opportunity to the company. Retail markets grew by at least 5% on average in emerging markets in the last year, opening huge opportunities for Walmart’s revenue growth. The business currently operates in Brazil, Mexico, China and India markets. Since 2008 to 2012, the number of international locations has nearly doubled. Walmart International serves more than 105 million customers per week in 26 countries. The company’s portfolio provides a balance of growth with improved profitability and higher returns. In fiscal 2013, Walmart International contributed almost 30 percent of the company’s net sales, with an increase of 7. 4 percent from the prior year to $135. 2 billion. Besides that, the company operating income also grew 8. percent to $6. 7 billion. Walmart ended the year with 497 more new stores, totalling approximately 19 million square feet. As the largest retailer in the world, the retail market growth in its emerging markets has given Walmart a new reason to be successful. Another opportunity for Walmart is the concentration on grocery and food trends continue to grow. The perception that home-prepared foods are much healthier and an unmet desire to enjoy affordable, restaurant-type food at home have given food marketers the opportunity to recapture mealtime. The current trend of eating healthier food has resulted in higher demand for grocery products. Walmart’s largest part of the overall business food and grocery had successfully continued to gain share from the market from this trend. As the largest retailer in the world, Walmart has an opportunity to expand its grocery stores to earn more income from this trend. Besides that, the significant growth in the online grocery shopping has given an advantage to Walmart as Walmart had started to offer the customers the option to shop online using mobile devices since the year 2000. A 2012 Nielsen survey of consumers in 56 countries uncovered some fascinating insights on this trend. The number of people stating that they intend to buy food and beverages online grew 44% over the last two years and 26% of global respondents say they plan to purchase food and beverage products through an online connected device in the next three to six months. In addition, Online grocery sales are also expected to increase 9. 5 percent annually to become a $9. 4 billion industry in 2017, according to data from IBISWorld. The service fulfilled the customer desire for quick, easy, cost-efficient grocery shopping. Walmart is trying to expand their e-commerce operations with several tactics. One success of the company is the new search engine for walmart. com which delivers more relevant results to online shoppers and led to increased sales conversions. They are also testing some great innovations, such as same-day delivery of purchases from the company’s U. S. website. The company just expanded mobile self-checkout through their Scan and Goâ„ ¢ app. They have also launched a multi-year process to build the next generation global technology platform. Moreover, Walmart had also carried out many projects which will boost the companys public image. In the year 2012, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation’s charitable contributions surpassed $1 billion in cash and in-kind donations to positively impact local communities around the globe. This includes $1 billion in cash and in-kind gifts in the United States and $82. 2 million in cash and in-kind gifts in international markets. In addition, Walmart, Sam’s Club and Logistics employees volunteered more than 2. million hours, generating $18 million to U. S. nonprofits. At 20 June 2013, the Walmart Foundation announced $14 million in grants to provide more than 1. 7 million children and families with free meals and nutrition education programs. The grants will expand access to meals for children outside of school this summer and throughout the year, while also teaching families how to develop healthy, low-cost eating habits. Ethical sourcing is also practiced by the company. The foundation of Walmart’s business has always centered on helping people live better. This mission applies not only to their customers but also to the workers who make the products. The company collaborate with other retailers, brands, NGOs and government leaders to verify the products they sell are produced in a way that provides dignity and respect for workers in their supply chain. As the world’s largest retailer, they strive to positively influence global supply chain practices by raising their own standards and improving working conditions in the countries from which they source. These projects had successfully increased the company’s public image and community relations.

Salvatore La Puma Essay -- Literature, Cakes

Confucius once said, â€Å"The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home.† Many people across the world deem family as the most important aspect of their life. Family is something that often teaches us moral values and helps shape the individuals we become later in our lives. The values taught by family are not only essential, but will help develop the moral character of an individual. In the short story, â€Å"Cakes,† Salvatore La Puma conveys the prominence of family values in Italian-American immigrant culture in the 1940’s industrial era. La Puma utilizes the first paragraph as mini-ethnography to portray the unity of the Vitale family. The introduction states, That summer he sweated from the humidity which in 1940 everyone in Brooklyn sweated from; then he sweated from the hot ovens at Carlo Amato’s pastry shop in Bensonhurst four or five nights a week; then he sweated from the hot ovens at a pastry shop Downtown every day of the week except on Sunday, when he usually slept until noon. From Downtown, Giovanni Vitale came home at the end of the workday on the BMT subway to his wife, Lisa, to their three kids Anna, Steve, and Johnny. After dinner they would all listen to the Philco. Then Giovanni and the eldest kid, Johnny, eleven, walked three long blocks and two short blocks, past the old people who fanned themselves on the stoops, to Carlo’s shop on Seventeenth Avenue (4). The first paragraph evokes the normal and typical structure of the Italian-American immigrant family in this era. In the Vitale family, everyone has their own role. The father, Giovanni Vitale, has the duty of working long hours to provide for his family. The mother, Lisa, has the role of a homemaker, making dinner for the family, and takin... ...llels the image where mother Mary is holding baby Jesus. Although Martina is not related to Johnny, her caring and nurturing behavior illustrates her thoughtful, kind, and hospitable personality. The use of Martina as a mother-like figure, allows La Puma to convey the essence of family values in Italian American culture. Although many families today are dysfunctional and fragmented, â€Å"Cakes† serves to show the importance of unity within a family. No matter what we do or where we go, family is something that will carry us and define who we are. Family serves as a building block or blueprint for success. The values that a family instills allow the â€Å"strength† of an individual to prevail. In this short story, La Puma is able to highlight the role of family as an educator, and protector, and depict the importance of family values in Italian-American immigrant culture.

Impact of Affordable Care Act on North Carolina Uninsured Population

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is in vigor since January 1, 2014, and hospitals and health care providers are not sure about how many people will knock at their door for health care. So far, according to Camp (2014) â€Å"More than two million people across the country have signed up for healthcare under the ACA and hospitals are bracing for a wave of newly insured patients†. How does that affect the uninsured people in North Carolina is an unanswered question. Seventeen percent of North Carolina’s residents are uninsured, according to Kaiser Foundation (2012).Health Care reform brings controversial and uneasy ethic issues to the population as well as to legislators. North Carolina can opt to expand Medicaid coverage to all individuals that have a household income less than 138% of the federal poverty level, but the question in the air is how NC will make it happen?. Financial Impact of ACA on North Carolina North Carolina has one of the highest index of the uninsured po pulation when compared to States at the same size, 17% accruing to 1,604,300 residents.Michigan has 12 percent; New Jersey has 15 percent; Virginia has 13 percent, according to Kaiser Foundation (2012). Milstead (2013) assures â€Å"Based on the Affordable Care Act, beginning in 2014 adults can qualify for Medicaid if their income is no greater than 138 percent of the Federal Poverty Level ($30,429 for a family of four in 2010)†. Besides of what the ACA says each State has its own policies for Medicaid eligibility, being it a joint initiative between State and Federal funds.According to American College of Physicians (2013) â€Å" Unfortunately, the state has chosen not to expand its program at this time. The Urban Institute estimates that about 632,000 uninsured North Carolinians with incomes under 100% FPL would be denied coverage if North Carolina chooses not to expand its Medicaid program†. Governor McCrory is committed to envigorate the Health Care program in his budget delivance for 2013-2015 in North Carolina (NC,) and assures that $575M will be added to Medicaid budget, $7.2M will be given for Drug Treatment Courts, and $30M to open a new psychiatric hospital, all to be delivered in two fiscal years period (Newsroom, 2013).Overall NC’s State economy seems to be picking up with an underemployment rate dropping from 17 percent in October 2011-2012, to 14. 9 percent from October 2012-2013 (Robesonian News, 2013). In addition, Murawsk (2013) assures â€Å"the economy is indisputably building up steam and moving in a direction we haven’t seen in years†. With NC State biannual budget investing $612.2 M in three important areas of health care and the general economy steaming up it seems that more of NC uninsured community will be able to have an employer sponsored health care insurance, or be able to afford health insurance in the marketplace. It looks like a promising situation, that will surely help to banish the ghost of unfunded mandates, but if 100 percent of NC uninsured population will get what ACA proposes is something to be checked in the future.Ethics and Quality of Health CareA citation of Frederick Douglass’ delivery for the Civil Rights in October 1883 comes in hand he said â€Å"Only base men and oppressors can rejoice in a triumph of injustice over the weak and defenceless, for weakness ought itself to protect from assaults of pride, prejudice and power†. As health care reform proceeds to its implementation around the country many issues come to our mind such, are there enough resources to attend everyone or we will have an incoming chaos? Will American society finally have an equally health care system distribution?How are 32 million new health care system’s users fit into an already deficient system? Will there be enough nurses and doctors to deliver the quality of care that everyone is entitled? Is it a fair system for the society, is everyone getting what is dese rved? Many people would like to speak up what they think about health care: What do Americans want from their health care system? Four fundamental goals have shaped our system. First, we want high quality health care that can provide the greatest benefits.Second, we want freedom of choice so that we can decide the â€Å"who, when, and where† for our health care. Third, we expect our health care to be affordable so that we have resources for all of the other things we need or want. Fourth, we want our fellow citizens to share in the costs and also benefits of health care† (Sorrell, 2012). At one hand Franklin Roosevelt (1944) in the â€Å"Second Bill of Rights† mentions â€Å"the right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health†.At the second hand who is paing for the good health care that everyone wants? Health care providers would they be nurses or doctors have their part to do in the delivery of quality health care, but a health care system that makes justice to everyone depends on the whole society. I believe adopting a modern system of nationwide assessment and intervention such â€Å"Population Health Model† (Kovner & Knickman, 2011,) would have a high impact on the financial and workforce redistribution, a great tool that can bring results using the integration model.Summary ACA’s implementation has started and hospitals and health care providers are ready to receive new customers. North Carolina’s steaming up general economy and government’s budget can greatly help the population to get the health care they need. The right to health care comes to play when talking about health care reform, and we wonder if the new system will deliver the quality of care it proposes. Adopting Population Health Model for health assessment and intervention can be a solution for the health care issues in the U. S.. Impact of Affordable Care Act on North Carolina Uninsured Population The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is in vigor since January 1, 2014, and hospitals and health care providers are not sure about how many people will knock at their door for health care. So far, according to Camp (2014) â€Å"More than two million people across the country have signed up for healthcare under the ACA and hospitals are bracing for a wave of newly insured patients†. How does that affect the uninsured people in North Carolina is an unanswered question. Seventeen percent of North Carolina’s residents are uninsured, according to Kaiser Foundation (2012).Health Care reform brings controversial and uneasy ethic issues to the population as well as to legislators. North Carolina can opt to expand Medicaid coverage to all individuals that have a household income less than 138% of the federal poverty level, but the question in the air is how NC will make it happen?. Financial Impact of ACA on North Carolina North Carolina has one of the highest index of the uninsured po pulation when compared to States at the same size, 17% accruing to 1,604,300 residents.Michigan has 12 percent; New Jersey has 15 percent; Virginia has 13 percent, according to Kaiser Foundation (2012). Milstead (2013) assures â€Å"Based on the Affordable Care Act, beginning in 2014 adults can qualify for Medicaid if their income is no greater than 138 percent of the Federal Poverty Level ($30,429 for a family of four in 2010)†. Besides of what the ACA says each State has its own policies for Medicaid eligibility, being it a joint initiative between State and Federal funds.According to American College of Physicians (2013) â€Å" Unfortunately, the state has chosen not to expand its program at this time. The Urban Institute estimates that about 632,000 uninsured North Carolinians with incomes under 100% FPL would be denied coverage if North Carolina chooses not to expand its Medicaid program†.Governor McCrory is committed to envigorate the Health Care program in his b udget delivance for 2013-2015 in North Carolina (NC,) and assures that $575M will be added to Medicaid budget, $7.2M will be given for Drug Treatment Courts, and $30M to open a new psychiatric hospital, all to be delivered in two fiscal years period (Newsroom, 2013). Overall NC’s State economy seems to be picking up with an underemployment rate dropping from 17 percent in October 2011-2012, to 14. 9 percent from October 2012-2013 (Robesonian News, 2013). In addition, Murawsk (2013) assures â€Å"the economy is indisputably building up steam and moving in a direction we haven’t seen in years†.With NC State biannual budget investing $612.2 M in three important areas of health care and the general economy steaming up it seems that more of NC uninsured community will be able to have an employer sponsored health care insurance, or be able to afford health insurance in the marketplace. It looks like a promising situation, that will surely help to banish the ghost of u nfunded mandates, but if 100 percent of NC uninsured population will get what ACA proposes is something to be checked in the future. Ethics and Quality of Health CareA citation of Frederick Douglass’ delivery for the Civil Rights in October 1883 comes in hand he said â€Å"Only base men and oppressors can rejoice in a triumph of injustice over the weak and defenceless, for weakness ought itself to protect from assaults of pride, prejudice and power†. As health care reform proceeds to its implementation around the country many issues come to our mind such, are there enough resources to attend everyone or we will have an incoming chaos? Will American society finally have an equally health care system distribution?How are 32 million new health care system’s users fit into an already deficient system? Will there be enough nurses and doctors to deliver the quality of care that everyone is entitled? Is it a fair system for the society, is everyone getting what is dese rved? Many people would like to speak up what they think about health care: What do Americans want from their health care system? Four fundamental goals have shaped our system. First, we want high quality health care that can provide the greatest benefits.Second, we want freedom of choice so that we can decide the â€Å"who, when, and where† for our health care. Third, we expect our health care to be affordable so that we have resources for all of the other things we need or want. Fourth, we want our fellow citizens to share in the costs and also benefits of health care† (Sorrell, 2012). At one hand Franklin Roosevelt (1944) in the â€Å"Second Bill of Rights† mentions â€Å"the right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health†.At the second hand who is paing for the good health care that everyone wants? Health care providers would they be nurses or doctors have their part to do in the delivery of quality health care, but a health care system that makes justice to everyone depends on the whole society. I believe adopting a modern system of nationwide assessment and intervention such â€Å"Population Health Model† (Kovner & Knickman, 2011,) would have a high impact on the financial and workforce redistribution, a great tool that can bring results using the integration model.Summary ACA’s implementation has started and hospitals and health care providers are ready to receive new customers. North Carolina’s steaming up general economy and government’s budget can greatly help the population to get the health care they need. The right to health care comes to play when talking about health care reform, and we wonder if the new system will deliver the quality of care it proposes. Adopting Population Health Model for health assessment and intervention can be a solution for the health care issues in the U. S.

Mammoths and Mastodons - Ancient Extinct Elephants

Mammoths and mastodons are two different species of extinct proboscidean (herbivorous land mammals), both of which were hunted by humans during the Pleistocene, and both of which share a common end. Both of the  megafauna—which means their bodies were larger than 100 pounds (45 kilograms)—died out at the end of the Ice Age, about 10,000 years ago, as part of the great megafaunal extinction. Fast Facts: Mammoths and Mastodons Mammoths are members of the Elephantidae family, including the woolly mammoth and the Columbian mammoth.  Mastodons are members of the Mammutidae family, restricted to North America and only distantly related to mammoths.  Mammoths thrived in grasslands; mastodons were forest dwellers.Both were hunted by their predators, human beings, and they both died out at the end of the Ice Age, part of the megafaunal extinction. Mammoths and mastodons were hunted by people, and numerous archaeological sites have been found around the world where the animals were killed and/or butchered. Mammoths and mastodons were exploited for meat, hide, bones, and sinew for food and other purposes, including bone and ivory tools, clothing, and house construction. Mammoths The woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), or tundra mammoth. Science Picture Co / Getty Images Mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius or wooly mammoth) were a species of ancient extinct elephant, members of the Elephantidae family, which today includes modern elephants (Elephas and Loxodonta). Modern elephants are long-lived, with a complicated social structure; they use tools and demonstrate a wide range of complex learning skills and behavior. At this point, we still dont know whether the wooly mammoth (or its close relative the Columbian mammoth) shared those characteristics. Mammoth adults were about 10 feet (3 meters) tall at the shoulder, with long tusks and a coat of long reddish or yellowish hair—which is why youll sometimes see them described as wooly (or woolly) mammoths. Their remains are found throughout the northern hemisphere, becoming widespread in northeast Asia from 400,000 years ago. They reached Europe by the late Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 7 or beginning of MIS 6 (200,000–160,000 years ago), and northern North America during the Late Pleistocene. When they arrived in North America, their cousin Mammuthus  columbi (the Columbian mammoth) was dominant, and both are found together at some sites. Wooly mammoth remains are found within an area of some 33 million square kilometers, living everywhere except where there was inland glacier ice, high mountain chains, deserts and semi-deserts, year-round open water, continental shelf regions, or the replacement of tundra-steppe by extended grasslands. Mastodons Mastodon model in the Museum of Natural History Science, Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal. Richard Cummins / Lonely Planet Images / Getty Images Mastodons (Mammut americanum), on the other hand, were also ancient, enormous elephants, but they belong to the family Mammutidae and are only distantly related to the wooly mammoth. Mastodons were slightly smaller than mammoths, between 6–10 ft (1.8–3 m) tall at the shoulder), had no hair, and were restricted to the North America continent. Mastodons are one of the most common species of fossil mammal found, particularly mastodon teeth, and the remains of this late Plio-Pleistocene proboscidean are found across North America. Mammut americanum was primarily a forest-dwelling browser during the late Cenozoic of North America, feasting primarily on woody elements and fruit. They occupied dense coniferous forests of spruce (Picea) and pine (Pinus), and stable isotope analysis has shown they had a focused feeding strategy equivalent to C3 browsers. Mastodons fed on woody vegetation and kept to a different ecological niche than its contemporaries, the Columbian mammoth found in the cool steppes and grasslands in the western half of the continent, and the gomphothere, a mixed feeder who resided in tropical and subtropical environments. Analysis of mastodon dung from the Page-Ladson site in Florida (12,000 bp) indicates that they also ate hazelnut, wild squash (seeds and the bitter rind), and Osage oranges. The possible role of mastodons in the domestication of squash is discussed elsewhere. Sources Fisher, Daniel C. Paleobiology of Pleistocene Proboscideans. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 46.1 (2018): 229–60. Print.Grayson, Donald K., and David J. Meltzer. Revisiting Paleoindian Exploitation of Extinct North American Mammals. Journal of Archaeological Science 56 (2015): 177–93. Print.Haynes, C. Vance, Todd A. Surovell, and Gregory W. L. Hodgins. The U.P. Mammoth Site, Carbon County, Wyoming, USA: More Questions Than Answers. Geoarchaeology 28.2 (2013): 99–111. Print.Haynes, Gary, and Janis Klimowicz. A Preliminary Review of Bone and Teeth Abnormalities Seen in Recent Loxodonta and Extinct Mammuthus and Mammut, and Suggested Implications. Quaternary International 379 (2015): 135–46. Print.Henrikson, L. Suzann, et al. Folsom Mammoth Hunters? The Terminal Pleistocene Assemblage from Owl Cave (10bv30), Wasden Site, Idaho. American Antiquity 82.3 (2017): 574–92. Print.Kahlke, Ralf-Dietrich. The Maximum Geographic Extension of Late Pl eistocene Mammuthus Primigenius (Proboscidea, Mammalia) and Its Limiting Factors. Quaternary International 379 (2015): 147–54. Print.Kharlamova, Anastasia, et al. Preserved Brain of the Woolly Mammoth (Mammuthus Primigenius (Blumenbach 1799)) from the Yakutian Permafrost. Quaternary International 406, Part B (2016): 86–93. Print.Plotnikov, V. V., et al. Overview and Preliminary Analysis of the New Finds of Woolly Mammoth (Mammuthus Primigenius Blumenbach, 1799) in the Yana-Indigirka Lowland, Yakutia, Russia. Quaternary International 406, Part B (2016): 70–85. Print.Roca, Alfred L., et al. Elephant Natural History: A Genomic Perspective. Annual Review of Animal Biosciences 3.1 (2015): 139–67. Print.