Ques 1:What recommendations would you make to David Glass with regard to WalMart's future expansion?

How do you feel about their moves into Sam's Clubs and supermarkets?What do you think about their internationalization plans?
Monitor and poll international markets identifying discount trends and customer preference in new and unknown markets before approaching new ventures or corporate buyouts.Wal-Marts future sustaining its desired growth pattern is undoubtedly in its international markets. However, Wal-Mart has continuously entered markets where there presence was either undesired or customer preferences were not fully understood. Its seems that Wal-Marts current strategy is to gain local presence in communities is by buying up land acquiring building contracts and then address the concerns of the local community in the development stages as they arise. Wal-Mart should approach new markets with great opportunity but also with a very good understanding of the local culture and market. By placing marketing management in strategic research rolls to poll and request feedback from the local communities before entering into a particular local market they may find a better understanding of the needs of their clients. Once they provide acquire feedback and analysis the concerns of the community at hand they may find greater opportunity to assist and serve the market. This approach will not only offer them understanding of the market but also prevent an undesired backlash once the project has already begun. Wal-Mart has been the leader in its industry.Sams club was not at the top of its game as all there rest of the other store fronts. Costco the main competition to Sams clubs is overperforming Sams club with fewer stores and is the nations biggest retailer.Management at the store and distribution levels are forced by upper management to pushrestraints and massive growth restrictions on internal employees International Strategy Considering Wal-Marts current domestic position provides very little growth in its mature life cycle stage, significant growth in sales and profits seemed only possible in international markets. With an already saturated domestic market, consisting of only a small 4% of the worlds population, emerging international markets with increasing technology cultural homogenization and lowered trade barriers offered huge platform advantages for growth in discount retailing internationally. Although international expansion come with a fair amount of risks their one-size-fits-all mentality posed increasing pressure for adaptation in its internationalmarkets. Some of these risks are: customer loyalty, local adaptation, and preferences to marketdemands. Wal-Mart should adopt expansion strategy which consists of a series of corporatebuyouts, takeovers, or joint ventures (JV) in order to gain successful entry into many of its international markets. With pressure to keep the strategic position of overall cost leadership coupled with strong local adaptation to customer demands it sent Wal-Mart into a Transnational Strategy. In this stage Wal-Mart must try to reduce costs and adapt to its new local markets. By approaching international markets with sole-owned subsidiaries and buyout approach they can eliminate their competition and gain huge advantages in its targeted markets.

Ques 2: Describe and evaluate WalMart's strategy in discount retailing. What is its primary source(s) of competitive advantage? Building on Exhibit 6, do a

detailed cost comparison between WalMart and the average of its direct competitors to confirm your claims.
Wal-Marts competitive advantage in the world of retailing is greatly attributedto their strategic focus on value chain activities. Efficient and innovative use of inbound andoutbound logistics and mastery of complex management operations with large economies of scalehave made it difficult for many retailers to imitate the value Wal-Mart has supplied to the worldof discount retailing. From establishing their own logistics operations, complete with their ownfleet of trucks and a private satellite system to successful management of complex cross-dockingstrategies at over 19 wholly owned distribution centers, their efficient utilization of value chainactivities has made its mark in the world of low cost global retailing.Wal-Mart realized very early on that the typical models of value chains in discount retailinginvolving cost control, efficiency in distribution and purchasing and low overhead-facilities wasnot going to be enough to compete for a valuable market share. They needed a strategy thatwould move products from location to location quickly, efficiently and often without ever takingit into inventory first. The logistics technique of cross docking offered such an advantage and hassince been a central feature in Wal-Marts value chain activities. Instead of wasting time inwarehouse inventory, cross docking is the practice of reducing handling costs by receiving newmerchandise, selecting, repacking and distributing it across one loading dock to another asquickly as possible. Although efficient in use, cross-docking is extremely difficult to manage andoperate effectively. For this reason Wal-Marts ability to implement and manage cross-docking strategies provides a central advantage to their logistics operations reducing the cost of sales by 2to 3 percent compared to its competitors.

Ques 3:Why do competitors such as K-Mart find it hard to copy WalMart? Could someone 'do a WalMart' in Pakistan?
Kmart has failed to develop a unique or differentiated way to play, and all that goes with it.because: Walmart's success doesn't just stem from impressive logistics, aggressive vendor management and its position as a low-cost retailer. What really underlies Walmart's advantage is a coherent and differentiated approach to the market. Their well-defined way to play focuses on "always low prices" for a wide range of consumer items, from food to prescriptions to electronics. They support their low-cost way to play with an integrated system of capabilities, including: real estate acquisition; no frills store design; and superior supply chain management involving among others expert point-of-sale data analytics. Their product and service mix is kept tightly aligned with their way to play and capabilities system: avoiding big-ticket items (e.g., furniture or large appliances) where it has no cost advantage, or where new service capabilities might be required. And it innovates constantly within its chosen constraints: e.g., tailoring product assortments to local trends.

The lack of a clear concept about how to reach the market, in our view, is the single most important factor in explaining why Kmart's fortunes have fallen so far, compared to its rivals. Without a clear way to play, and capabilities to support it, a company cannot achieve the coherence it needs to truly excel at what it does, and thus outpace competitors. Yes ,Metro can 'do a WalMart' in Pakistan.