Wal-Mart Case Study and History

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Sam Walton, a leader with an innovative vision, started his own company and
made it into the leader in discount retailing that it is today. Through his savvy,
and sometimes unusual, business practices, he and his associates led the
company forward for thirty years. Today, four years after his death, the
company is still growing steadily. Wal-Mart executives continue to rely on
many of the traditional goals and philosophies that Sam's legacy left behind,
while simultaneously keeping one step ahead of the ever-changing technology
and methods of today's fast-paced business environment. The organization
has faced, and is still facing, a significant amount of controversy over several
different issues; however, none of these have done much more than scrape
the exterior of this gigantic operation. The future also looks bright for Wal-Mart,
especially if it is able to strike a comfortable balance between increasing its
profits and recognizing its social and ethical responsibilities.

Why is Wal-Mart so Successful? Is it Good Strategy or Good Strategy

Implementation? -- In 1962, when Sam Walton opened the first Wal-Mart store
in Rogers, Arkansas, no one could have ever predicted the enormous success
this small-town merchant would have. Sam Walton's talent for discounts
retailing not only made Wal-Mart the world's largest retailer, but also the
world's number one retailer in sales. Indeed, Wal-Mart was named "Retailer of
the Decade" by Discount Store News in 1989, and on several occasions has
been included in Fortune's list of the "10 most admired corporations." Even
with Walton's death (after a two-year battle with bone cancer) in 1992, Wal-
Mart's sales continue to grow significantly.
Wal-Mart is successful not only because it makes sound strategic
management decisions, but also for its innovative implementation of those
strategic decisions.

Regarded by many as the entrepreneur of the century, Walton had a reputation

for caring about his customers, his employees (or "associates" as he referred
to them), and the community. In order to maintain its market position in the
discount retail business, Wal-Mart executives continue to adhere to the
management guidelines Sam developed. Walton was a man of simple tastes
and took a keen interest in people. He believed in three guiding principles: 1.
Customer value and service; 2. Partnership with its associates; 3. Community
involvement (The Story of Wal-Mart, 1995).

The word "always" can be seen in virtually all of Wal-Mart's literature. One of
Walton's deepest beliefs was that the customer is always right, and his stores
are still driven by this philosophy. When questioned about Wal-Mart's secrets
of success, Walton has been quoted as saying, "It has to do with our desire to
exceed our customers' expectations every hour of every day" (Wal-Mart
Annual Report, 1994, p. 5).
Walton's greatest accomplishment was his ability to empower, enrich, and train
his employees (Longo, 1994). He believed in listening to employees and
challenging them to come up with ideas and suggestions to make the company
better. At each of the Wal-Mart stores, signs are displayed which read; "Our
People Make the Difference." Associates regularly make suggestions for
cutting costs through their "Yes We Can Sam" program. The sum of the
savings generated by the associates actually paid for the construction of a new
store in Texas (The story of Wal-Mart, 1995). One of Wal-Mart's goals was to
provide its employees with the appropriate tools to do their jobs efficiently. The
technology was not used as a means of replacing existing employees, but to
provide them with a means to succeed in the retail market (Thompson &
Strickland, 1995).
Wal-Mart's popularity can be linked to its hometown identity. Walton believed
that every customer should be greeted upon entering a store, and that each
store should be a reflection of the values of its customers and its community.
Wal-Mart is involved in many community outreach programs and has launched
several national efforts through industrial development grants.

What are the Key Features of Wal-Mart's Approach to Implementing the

Strategy Put Together by Sam Walton -- The key features of Wal-Mart's
approach to implementing the strategy put together by Sam Walton
emphasizes building solid working relationships with both suppliers and
employees, being aware and taking notice of the most intricate details in store
layouts and merchandising techniques, capitalizing on every cost saving
opportunity, and creating a high performance spirit. This strategic formula is
used to provide customers access to quality goods, to make these goods
available when and where customers want them, to develop a cost structure
that enables competitive pricing, and to build and maintain a reputation for
absolute trustworthiness (Stalk, Evan, & Shulman, 1992).

Wal-Mart stores operate according to their "Everyday Low Price" philosophy.

Wal-Mart has emerged as the industry leader because it has been better at
containing its costs, which has allowed it to pass on the savings to its
customers. Wal-Mart has become a capability competitor. It continues to
improve upon its key business processes, managing them centrally and
investing in them heavily for the long-term payback.

Wal-Mart has been regarded as an industry leader in "testing, adapting, and

applying a wide range of cutting-edge merchandising approaches" (Thompson
& Strickland, 1995, p. 860). Walton proved to be a visionary leader and was
known for his ability to quickly learn from his competitors' successes and
failures. In fact, the founder of Kmart once claimed that Walton "not only
copied our concepts, he strengthened them. Sam just took the ball and ran
with it" (Thompson & Strickland, 1995, p. 859).
Wal-Mart has invested heavily in its unique cross-docking inventory system.
Cross docking has enabled Wal-Mart to achieve economies of scale, which
reduces its costs of sales. With this system, goods are continuously delivered
to stores within 48 hours and often without having to inventory them. Lower
prices also eliminate the expense of frequent sales promotions and sales are
more predictable. Cross docking gives the individual managers more control at
the store level.

A company owned transportation system also assists Wal-Mart in shipping

goods from warehouse to store in less than 48 hours. This allows Wal-Mart to
replenish the shelves 4 times faster than its competition. Wal-Mart owns the
largest and most sophisticated computer system in the private sector. It uses a
MPP (massively parallel processor) computer system to track stock and
movement which keeps it abreast of fast changes in the market (Daugherty,
1993). Information related to sales and inventory is disseminated via its
advanced satellite communications system.

Wal-Mart has leveraged its volume buying power with its suppliers. It
negotiates the best prices from its vendors and expects commitments of quality
merchandise (Thompson & Strickland, 1995). The purchasing agents of Wal-
Mart are very focused people. "Their highest priority is making sure everybody
at all times in all cases knows who's in charge, and it's Wal-Mart" (Vance &
Scott, 1995, p. 32). "Even though Wal-Mart was tough in negotiating for
absolute rock-bottom prices, the company worked closely with suppliers to
develop mutual respect and to forge long-term partnerships that benefited both
parties" (Thompson & Strickland, 1995, p. 866). Wal-Mart built an automated
reordering system linking computers between Procter & Gamble ("P&G") and
its stores and distribution centers. The computer system sends a signal from a
store to P&G identifying an item low in stock. It then sends a resupply order,
via satellite, to the nearest P&G factory, which then ships the item to a Wal-
Mart distribution center or directly to the store. This interaction between Wal-
Mart and P&G is a win-win proposition because with better coordination, P&G
can lower its costs and pass some of the savings on to Wal-Mart.

Sam Walton received national attention through his "Buy America" policy.
Through this plan, Wal-Mart encourages its buyers and merchandise
managers to stock stores with American-made products. In a 1993 annual
report management stated the "program demonstrates a long-standing Wal-
Mart commitment to our customers that we will buy American-made products
whenever we can if those products deliver the same quality and affordability as
their foreign-made counterparts" (Thompson & Strickland, 1995, p. 868).

Environmental concerns are important to Wal-Mart. A prototype store was

opened in Lawrence, Kansas, which was designed to be environmentally
friendly. The store contains environmental education and recycling centers
(Slezak, 1993). Wal-Mart has also adopted the low cost theme for its facilities.
All offices, including the corporate headquarters, are built economically and
furnished simply. To conserve energy, temperature controls are connected via
computer to headquarters. Through these programs, Wal-Mart shows its
concern for the community.

Wal-Mart has been led from the top but run from the bottom, a strategy
developed by Sam Walton and carried on by a small group of senior
executives led by CEO David Glass. Although recent growth has led Wal-Mart
to add more management layers, senior executives strive to maintain its
unique culture. This culture, described as "one part Southern Baptist
evangelism, one part University of Arkansas Razorback teamwork, and one
part IBM hardware" has worked to Wal-Mart's advantage (Saporito, 1994, p.
62).

Just how Successful is Wal-Mart? -- A forecast (see Appendix A) of Wal-Mart's

income for the period 1995-2000, considering increases of 30.6% in Net Sales,
27.7% in Operating Expenses, and 52.3% in Interest Debt (a level which is
below Wal-Mart's historically compounded growth rate of 55.6%) indicates that
the company should continue to report gains each year until 2000.

According to most analysts and company projections, sales should

approximate $115 billion by 1996, representing an increase of 30.6% as
compared to 1995. If the company continues at this pace, sales should reach
$334 billion by the year 2000. The growth on sales that Wal-Mart reported
during the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s will be difficult to repeat,
especially considering the ever-changing marketplace in which it competes. In
an interview, Bill Fields, President of the Stores Division said, "Wal-Mart is now
seeing price pressure from companies that once assiduously avoided taking it
on. These include specialty retailers such as Limited, category killers like
Home Depot and Circuit City, and catalog companies like Spiegel. I think
everybody prices off of Wal-Mart. You've got Limited reaching levels we'd
thought they'd never get to. The result is that everyday low prices are getting
lower" (Saporito, 1994, p. 66).

In addition, the baby-boomers are reaching their peak earnings years, when
financial and personal priorities change. Thus, savings, not spending, will likely
take precedence because most baby-boomers are approaching retirement.
Based on Wal-Mart's position in 1994, which was considered a year of
expansion for the company, (Wal-Mart added 103 new discount stores, 38
"Super-centers", 163 warehouse clubs, and 94,000 new associates) interest
debt increased 52.3%. The cost paid by Wal-Mart to finance property plants
and equipment forced the company to increase long term debt by 4.6 times
during the period 1991-1995. Long term debt for 1995 is $7.9 billion. If Wal-
Mart continues its expansion plans based on more debt acquisition at 1994
levels, the company may not attain forecasted gains by as early as 1998.
Operating expenses will be a key strategic issue for Wal-Mart in order to
maintain its position in the market. The challenge is how to run more stores
with less operating expenses. According to Bill Fields,". . . the goal is to
increase sales per square foot and drive operating costs down yet another
notch" (Saporito, 1994, p. 66). Trends indicate that operating expenses have
been growing at a rate of 27.7% in recent years. However, Wal-Mart should
reap the benefits of its investments in high technology, and be able to operate
more stores without increasing its expenses.

Cost of sales historically has been equal to the level of sales. If the company
continues to take advantage of its buying power, Wal-Mart can expect to lower
its cost of sales.
Wal-Mart's future will depend on how well the company manages its expansion
plans. For the coming years, the company will need to justify its expansion
plans with consistent growth in sales, in order to offset the increases in debt
interest and operating expenses.
What Problems are ahead for Wal-Mart? What Risks? -- Throughout the
1980s, Wal-Mart's strategic intent was to unseat industry leaders Sears and
Kmart, and become the largest retailer in the U.S. Wal-Mart accomplished this
goal in 1991. But Wal-Mart's current strong competitive position and its past
rapid growth performance can't guarantee that the company will remain as the
industry leader or maintain its strong business position in the future. Carol
Farmer, a retail consultant, told the Wall Street Journal that, "One little bad
thing can wipe out lots of good things" (Trimble, 1990, p. 267). Every move in
its business operation ought to be well thought-out and executed.

Wal-Mart needs to address two major areas in order to maintain or to capture

an even stronger long term business position: 1) Single-business strategy --
Wal-Mart's success is mainly based on its concentration of a single-business
strategy. This strategy has achieved enviable success over the last three
decades without relying upon diversification to sustain its growth and
competitive advantages. Given its current position in the industry, Wal-Mart
may want to continue its single-business strategy and to push hard to maintain
and increase market share. However, there is risk in this strategy, because
concentration on a single-business strategy is similar to "putting all of a firm's
eggs in one industry basket" (Thompson & Strickland, 1995, p. 187). In other
words, if the retail industry stagnates due to an economic downturn, Wal-Mart
might have difficulty achieving past profit performance.

Also, if Wal-Mart continues to follow Sam Walton's vision of expansion, Wal-

Mart will reach its peak in the very near future. When it does, its growth will
start to slow down and the company will need to turn its strategic attention to
diversification for future growth.

Social responsibility -- Retail stores can compete on several bases: service,

price, exclusivity, quality, and fashion. Wal-Mart has been extremely
successful in competing in the retail industry by combining service, price, and
quality. However, other merchants may object to Wal-Mart's entry into their
community. Because of its ability to out-price smaller competitors, Wal-Mart's
stores threaten smaller neighborhood stores which can only survive if they
offer merchandise or services unavailable anywhere else. This makes it very
hard for small businesses, such as "mom-and-pop" enterprises, to survive.
They, therefore, fight to keep Wal-Mart from entering their locales. Numerous
studies conducted in different states both support and criticize Wal-Mart
(Verdisco, 1994). Nevertheless, Wal-Mart did drive local merchants out of
business when it opened up stores in the same neighborhood. As a result,
more and more rural communities are waging war against Wal-Mart's entrance
into their market. Besides protesting and signing petitions to attempt to stop
Wal-Mart's entry into their community, the opposition's efforts can even be
found on The Internet. Gig Harbor, a small town in Washington, recently
started a World Wide Web page entitled "Us against the Wal." The town's
neighborhood association promised that they "will fight them [Wal-Mart] tooth
and nail" (PNA/Island Aerie Internet Productions, 1995/1996).

The increasing opposition indicates that the road ahead for Wal-Mart may not
be as smooth as Wal-Mart's annual report would entail. This requires Wal-Mart
to rethink its expansion strategy since it would not be profitable to operate in
an unfriendly community.

How Big Will Wal-Mart be in Five Years if all continues to go well? -- Before he
died, Sam Walton expressed his belief that by the year 2000 Wal-Mart should
be able to double the number of stores to about 3,000 and to reach sales of
$125 billion annually. Walton predicted that the four biggest sources of growth
potential would be the following: 1. Expanding into states where it had no
stores; 2. continuing to saturate its current markets with new stores; 3.
Perfecting the Super-center format to expand Wal-Mart's retailing reach into
the grocery and supermarket arena -- a market with annual sales of about
$375 billion; 4. Moving into international markets (Thompson & Strickland,
1995).

Wal-Mart Super-centers represent leveraging on customer loyalty and

procurement muscle in order to create a new domestic growth vehicle for the
company. With few locations left in the U.S. to put a new Sam's Club or
traditional Wal-Mart, the Super-center division has emerged as the domestic
vehicle for taking Wal-Mart to $100 billion in sales. Before the Super-center,
Walton experimented with a massive "Hyper-mart", encompassing more than
230,000 square feet in size. The idea failed. Customers complained that the
produce was not fresh or well-presented and that it was difficult to find things in
a store so big that inventory clerks had to wear roller skates. One of Walton's
philosophies was that traveling on the road to success required failing at times.
As a result of the unsuccessful experiment, Walton launched a revised
concept: the Super-center, a combination discount and grocery store that was
smaller than the Hyper-mart. The Super-center was intended to give Wal-Mart
improved drawing power in its existing markets by providing a one-stop
shopping destination. Super-centers would have the full array of general
merchandise found in traditional Wal-Mart stores, as well as a full-scale
supermarket, delicatessen, fresh bakery, and other specialty shops like hair
salons, portrait studios, dry cleaners, and optical wear departments. Super-
centers would measure 125,000 to 150,000 square feet, and target locations
where sales per store of $30 to $50 million annually were feasible.
Walton's prediction was right on target. The Super-center division more than
doubled in size during 1993, then doubled again in 1994. Super-centers, once
thought of as risky because of slim profit margins on the food side, will most
likely make Wal-Mart the nation's largest grocery retailer within the next five to
seven years (Longo, 1994).

Expanding overseas, Wal-Mart moved into the international market in 1991

through a joint-venture partnership with CIFRA S.A. de C.V., Mexico's leading
retailer. Since then the company has entered Canada, Hong Kong, Mainland
China, Puerto Rico, Argentina, and Brazil. The Wal-Mart International Division
was officially formed in 1994 to manage the company's international growth. By
the year 2000, analysts expect Wal-Mart to be a huge international retailer,
with numerous locations in South America, Europe, and Asia.

The ever-changing market presents continuing challenges to retailers. First

and foremost, retailers must recognize the strong implications of a "buyers'
market" (Lewison, 1994). Customers are being offered a wide choice of
shopping experiences, but no one operation can capture them all. Therefore, it
is incumbent upon management to define their target market and direct their
energies toward solving that specific market's problems. Technology,
demographics, consumer attitudes, and the advent of a global economy are all
conspiring to rewrite the rules for success. Success in the next decade will
depend upon the level of understanding retailers have about the new values,
expectations, and needs of the customer. If Wal-Mart continues its customer-
driven culture, it should remain a retail industry leader well into the next
century.

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Lewison, M. D. (1991). Retailing. New York: Macmillan.

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Wal-Mart Annual Report, 1995