Assignment Two Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Assignment Two - Essay Example This according to simple microeconomics indicates that the people have more purchasing or bargaining power as compared to the producer, in this case, Wal-Mart, or the purchasing power is very high for the people. Two: The suppliers of Wal-Mart are very diverse and belong not only to different cultural backgrounds but also to different sections of society. They have even started a supplier diversity program since 1994 where suppliers in the form of women as well as minority groups are encouraged to produce and sell products to them and earn in the process. It also has formed a coalition with a number of large firms around the world like Oklahoma food suppliers as well as suppliers in China. In this way, suppliers have a great amount of power as the company is very approachable and literally invites suppliers to join it and be a part of it. They are made to go through training programs and made fit and ready for the job. In this manner, a lot is done to ensure their welfare and maintai n a high level of product quality at the same time. Three: The main competitors for Wal-Mart are Target Corp and Costco. As per the valuation, shares as well as total revenue earned by the company, these two companies have currently come closest to measuring against Wal-Mart as the main competitors in the global market. However, the degree of rivalry continues to be medium and does not really pose a threat to Wal-Mart as such because of its soaring high figures. Four: Wal-Mart is following the cost leadership / broad target strategy in its working. This may be justified because according to Porter, broad target or cost leadership comes in when any firm is trying to win the market share by bringing about cost effectiveness in the produce and supply of its products. This is done in order to appeal the most to the consumers and form a part of their investments. Having the lowest range of prices of the products and services makes a firm reachable and accessible to a vaster consumer mark et and the firm can then hope to take a sort of lead or advantage in the economies of scale. In this kind of a situation, a firm mostly takes to producing standardized products which are easily available at a mass scale or rate of production and Wal-Mart has been following this. Five: In the value chain model, there are some very important processes in the case of Wal-Mart. They are: 1. Inbound and Outbound Logistics – this is because Wal-Mart’s main job is to receive and store products and inventory, control it as well as have transport facilities. Outbound would include warehousing, packaging and basically making the products available to the consumers easily. 2. Operations – this is the stage of value creation or of converting the inventory to finished products for the purpose of sale to the consumers. 3. Marketing and Sales – this is very important for Wal-Mart because its main job is to try and attract the consumers through the processes of marketing and sales. This is done with the help of promotions, advertising, retail managements and pricing. It basically forms a part of the entire marketing mix that is crucial for the existence of this company. 4. Service – this helps to enhance the product’s value and creates a link between the product and the consumers with respect to the company and thus is very importan