Wal-Mart Essay Example for Free

Wal-Mart Essay Wal-Mart’s first foray outside the United States was in Mexico in 1991. Although Wal-Market executives had no previous foreign experience, they recognized that there were substantial income and cultural differences in Mexico. Accordingly, the American retail giant established a 50/50 join venture with Cifra SA, Mexico’s largest retailer. Despite havig a partner, the company made a number of blunders. Among them were poorly translated signs and a merchandise assortment that including inappropriate items such as ice skates,, leaf blowers, and riding lawn mowers. To make matters worse, wal-mart’s vaunted information system would automatically re-stock merchandise that local managers had tried to close out. The Mexican stores sold American-stlyle packedge meat and vegetables, which many shoppers preferred to purchase from small neighborhood stores. Also, most Mexican suppliers shipped directly to stores rather than to retailer warehouses and distribution centers. Thus, wal-mart lacked the control that translates into low prices in the United States. As Sam Dunn, Director of administration for Wal Mart de Mexico, commented, â€Å"The key to this market is distribution.  The retailer who solves that will dominate. † One sign of Wal-Mart’s long –term commitment to Mexico was its decision in mid-1997 to convert its joint venture shares into Cifra common stock and purchase enough additional shares to have a controlling stake in the company; the new enterprise is called Wal-Mart de Mexico S. A de C. V. (Walmex). Meanwhile, Wal-Mart turned its sights further south. In 1995, the company teamed up with Lojas Americanas SA and opened five stores in Brazil; operating without a partner in Argentina, Wal-Mart opened four stores. By 2000, the company was operating 12 Supercenters in Argentina. The stores offer a staggering variety, with a typical mix of approximately 50. 000 different products. In 1994, wal -mart entered Canada by acquiring the 122-store Woolco chain. The market appeared very attractive, because a high percentage of the Canadian population lives within 100 miles of the border. In addition to a high familiarity with Wal-Mart, Canadians also speak English and have a monetary system that is similar to the American one. The small size of existing Woolco stores resulted in disappointing sales; Wal-Mart responded by moving to new locations or expanding units. Much early sales growth came at the expense of existing department stores. Future growth may be hampered by the relatively small Canadian population and a trend towards cross border shopping to escape high value-added taxes. Also, management at Zeller? s, Wal-Mart? s main competitor in Canada, has responded by renovating stores and expanding beyond its traditional discount formula. South America The retailing environment in South America is very competitive, in part because Carrefour had arrived first. The French company inked distribution deals with manufactures of leading local brands; this is a key advantage, because well-known consumer packaged –goods brands such as Tide detergent are not widely accepted in South America, Moreover, Carrefour player hardball, undercutting Wal-Mart? s prices on key items such as cooking oil, rice, and shampoo. Some observer’s noted that Carrefour? s French heritage undoubtedly gave it the upper hand in presenting fresh fish, meat, and produce. Local retailers were strong as well; faced with rampant inflation in the late 1980s, they had invested in sophisticated cash registers and an inventory control system to help them make frequent-even daily-price adjustments. Despite these competitive challenges, Wal-Mart quickly adapted to the unfamiliar environment. It hired local managers, who in turn helped develop the right product assortment and merchandising approaches. For example, the Wal- Mart Supercenters in Argentina initially kept fresh seafood in glass display cases. However, South Americans typically want to examine prospective food purchases up close and even touch them; Wal-Mart made the appropriate changes. Wal-Mart quickly discovered that, in South America, the entire family shops together; it turned out that Wal-Mart? s aisles were not wide enough to accommodate such groups. Shoppers also were information deprived; Wal-Mart responded with clinics and in-stone demonstrations such as weekly makeovers in the cosmetics departments. Wal-Mart also had to adjust the approach of its Sam? s Club warehouse stones. Small business operators were expected to account for a significant amount of purchases at Sam? Club. However, even these buyers were unable to afford the bulk packs that are mainstays of Wal-Mart? s wholesale club format. Sam? s managers were forced to break down bulk quantities into smaller packs and even sell individual items. Europe Market entry in europe came in 1997 whit the purchase of 21 hypermarkets from Wertkauf GmbH. The following year Wal-Mart acquired 74 additional hypermarkets from Spar Handels AG. The early going was difficult; the two acquired companies were merged under a centralized headquarters, a major remodeling program affecting most of the stores was launched, and distribution was centralized. In addition, the company? s aggressive pricing resulted in a price war among Germany? s retailers who had already been through traumatic changes related to the reunification with East Germany in 1990. Wal-Mrt? s losses in Germany for 1999 were estimated to run as high as $200 million. However, with the transition largely in place, in 2000, company officials announced plans to open 50 more stores in Germany and to double its share of the hypermarket sector to 20 percent by 2003. In 1999, wal-Mart shocked the European retailing world by offering more than $10 billion for Britain? third largest supermarket chain, Asda Group PLC. It was the largest cash offer ever made for a UK business. Industry observers noted that Asda had spent years studying such fundamental elements of the Wal-Mart approach as everyday low pricing and an â€Å"anti-management â€Å" management culture that, for example, calls for having a greeter at the front of the store and stresses the importance of calling store personnel â€Å"colleagues†. As Asda Chairman Archie Norman said, â€Å"The culture and attitude of Wal-Mart is one that we aspired to†. ASIA Wal-Mart is also targeting Asia. With China due to join the world trade organization, wal-mart executives intend to capitalize on the economic expansion that will follow, wal-mart? s earliest foray into china, a joint venture launched in 1996 with Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand group, was terminated after 18 months due to management differences. Although Beijing restricts the operations of foreign retailers, wal-mart executives have made a point of building relationships with government officials. In addition, wal-mart exports approximately 4 billion worth of goods from china each year. Joe Hatfield, wal-mart? chief in Asia, spent a great deal of time checking in local shops to better understand the type of merchandise the typical Chinese consumer wants to buy. Through trial-and-error, wal-mart has learned what type of merchandise sells and what doesn? t. by the end of 2000, wal-mart had 10 stores in china. However, it still lags behind France’s Carrefour SA, which has opened more than 20 small-scale discount stores in 14 Chinese cities. Wherever wal-mart goes, competitors are forced to adjust to the new retail climate. In china, Dutch retailer Royal Ahold NV and Hong Kong supermarket chain park ? N shop have scaled back. In the face of wal-mart? voracious appetite for acquisitions, metro AG, Germany’s number one retailer, bought the Allfauf and kriegbaum hypermarket chains. New slogans that closely resemble wal-mart? s such as â€Å"ehrliche Niedrigpreise† (honestly low prices†) greet shoppers at metro? s real hypermarkets, and the stores open earlier in the day. Still, the size and scale of wal-mart? s operation give it tremendous buying power. For example, wal-mart buys 20 percent of all the Pampers brand disposable diapers produced by Procter gamble. In Mexico, Francisco Martinez, CFO of rival commercial Mexicana SA, noted, â€Å"I buy 20,000 plastic toys, and wal-mart buys 20 million.

Animal Experimentation :: Ethical Issues, Persuasive

Animal experimentation is a controversial topic and may what to stop the use of animal in experiments. Experimenting with animals helps save human life but innocents animal pay the consequences. The "pro" and "con" positions on animal experimentation have proven suitable for stating extreme opinions, but unhelpful at exploring the broader ethical questions of animal based research (Wolff, 2009). Human and animals are very similar, for scientific is easy to use animals to find cures for humans decease. It difficult to scarified innocent animals but those animals help human to continue living. While there are multiple accusations of animal cruelty, few people actually witness the inner workings of a research lab and multiple regulations prevent animal cruelty, but animal research still continues to cause pain (Wolff, 2009). The use of animals in experiment is fundamental for human descendent. Many Humans are absolutely positive that scientific should experiment with animals to save humans life. Because there are so many similarities between human and animal physiology, experimentation has allowed scientists to discover new treatments for diseases and guarantee the safety of new drugs (Foundation for Biomedical Research, 2009). Experiment with animals is necessary because without the animals scientific are not able to find cure disease. Animal investigation has offered the source for several medical innovations, including vaccines, organ transplants, and pacemakers (Foundation for Biomedical Research, 2009). In this world are many diseases that did not have a cure but there are other diseases that have it and those cures were found with the help of the animals experimentations. â€Å"In 2006, infant mortality in the USA—a key indicator of the nation's health—was measured at fewer than seven deaths per 1,000 live births compared to 47 deaths per 1,000 live bi rths in 1940, much of this progress came from knowledge gained through animal research, many diseases that once killed millions of people every year are now either preventable, treatable or have been eradicated altogether, immunizations against polio, diphtheria, mumps, rubella and hepatitis have saved countless lives, and without animal research, these vaccines would not exist (Foundation for Biomedical Research, 2009).† Also, experiments on animals are necessary in order to safeguard and improve human health and well-being, and vaccines for diseases such as polio and malaria could not have been developed without animal testing, Cohen explains (Cohen, 2005). Animals are crucial for finding cure for those Children and adults that need an opportunity to continue living. â€Å"This true story, close to us in time and place, is widely known.

The Marvelous Meaning of the Scarlet Letter

Life today has changed remarkably from life in the 1800s. During the colonial period, less than 11. 1% of births occurred within the first nine months of marriage. A reported 95% of Americans today have had premarital sex. In today’s society, premarital sex is not considered a sin to most people. In the 1800s, it was a different story. In the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne was found guilty of adultery, branded with a scarlet A, and shunned by the town–an extreme punishment by modern standards.This A that Hester was forced to embroider onto all of her clothing symbolized not only her sin, but the A also held meaning for other characters. It represented the guilt of the man with whom Hester committed adultery: Reverend Dimmesdale. Hester never revealed his identity to the town, and Dimmesdale felt as if he could not confess his sin. Dimmesdale was consumed with penitence, marking himself with an A of his own. Pearl, Hester’s daughter , was another character who found meaning in the scarlet letter, however hers was much different from either Hester’s or Dimmesdale’s.Pearl was the product of her parents’ sin. She was the scarlet letter. For Pearl, the scarlet letter symbolizes life, and she did not understand why it caused her mother so much shame. Essentially, the symbolism of the scarlet letter changed over the course of the novel from something negative, epitomizing shame and sin, to something positive, representing absolution and vitality. The scarlet letter most obviously symbolizes Hester’s sin: adultery. She was forced to wear it as punishment, a cruel reminder of her immorality.Hester had to make the letter herself, so instead of letting it define her, she made it beautiful: â€Å"On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter A. It was so artistically done, and with so much fert ility and gorgeous luxuriance of fancy, that it had all the effect of a last and fitting decoration to the apparel which she wore†¦ but greatly beyond what was allowed by the sumptuary regulations of the colony† (37). The fact that she embroidered the letter so delicately and so beautifully completely destroyed the purpose for wearing it.In this way, the scarlet letter represents Hester’s independence and free will. Despite the fact that Hester was able to defy the town in that small way, the townspeople saw a different meaning of the scarlet letter. Instead of simply symbolizing the sin of adultery, the town allowed the letter to symbolize Hester herself. When they looked at her, they saw not a human being, not Hester Prynne, but they saw â€Å"a living sermon against sin, until the ignominious letter be engraved upon her tombstone† (44). The town used Hester and the scarlet A to strike fear into their children, to warn them against the sin of adultery.The letter cloaked Hester Prynne. However, the town’s view of Hester changed, thus altering the symbolic meaning of the scarlet letter. Hester never offered â€Å"irritation or irksomeness. She never battled with the public, but submitted uncomplainingly to its worst usage† (110). She helped those in need and was always there to offer a helping hand. Most people in the town had no choice but to â€Å"refuse to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. † The A no longer exemplified adultery, but rather it represented â€Å"able.† The town acknowledged Hester’s strength, which was what managed to change the symbolism of the A. While Hester Prynne was embracing the A, Reverend Dimmesdale was struggling to escape his own scarlet letter. Dimmesdale was respected and admired by the town, which caused him extreme guilt. He watched as Hester was publicly humiliated, yet he felt as if he could not confess because of his occupation. He was afraid of the â€Å"light his vague confession would be viewed† (99) by the town. He would be refused as a minister, and seen as the â€Å"remorseful hypocrite that he was† (99).Dimmesdale became so consumed with his guilt and shame, that he became physically ill. The A represented his self-punishment, which was worse than if he had confessed publicly. In fact, Dimmesdale envied the ease with which Hester dealt with her scarlet letter so much that he confessed to her how much his secret burned within him: â€Å"Happy you, Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom! Mine burns in secret! Thou little knowest what a relief it is, after the torment of a seven years’ cheat, to look into an eye that recognizes me for what I am† (131).Dimmesdale was forced to live with the guilt of his misdeed, whereas Hester did not have to hide what she had done. The scarlet letter represented his sin as much as it represented hers, only he could not confess his. When he was with Hester, he felt relief because Hester knew the truth about what he had done. It is when Dimmesdale finally confessed to his sin and claimed Pearl as his daughter that he was able to let go of his guilt, changing what the scarlet letter meant to him. He revealed his involvement with Hester by telling the town to â€Å"look again at Hester’s scarlet letter!He tells you that, with all its mysterious horror, it is but the shadow of what he bears on his own breast, and that even this, his own red stigma, is no more than the type of what has seared his inmost heart† (174). Dimmesdale removed his shirt to reveal an A, marked onto his own chest, whether by Dimmesdale’s own hand, or by the hand of God. For him, the confession freed him of his guilt and shame, allowing him to forgive himself. The scarlet letter that once symbolized his sin, represented his courage to confess and his ability to finally forgive himself.Dimmesdale died after that, because the rel ease of his grip on the scarlet letter that tortured him, allowed him to release his grip on a life that which was haunted by his sin. A character with a unique perspective in the novel, as well as an interesting perception of scarlet letter was the product of the sin–Pearl. The scarlet letter ultimately symbolized the life and love of Pearl. She was pure and had the ability to see the true selves of others, which she understood when she said â€Å"Come away, mother! Come away, or yonder Black Man will catch you! He hath got hold of the minister already.Come away, mother, or he will catch you! But he cannot catch little Pearl† (92). She knew that Dimmesdale had sinned, although she did not know what the sin was, and she knew that she was innocent and pure, and could not be touched by sin. Although the meaning of the scarlet letter did not change much for Pearl, exactly what it meant to her shone brightly through the words on the pages. Pearl knew that â€Å"the great letter A† (122) had given life to her. Hester thought that Pearl did not know what the letter meant, because of the fact that Pearl constantly asked her mother for the meaning of the A.Perhaps Pearl’s innocence kept her from seeing the sin that both her mother and Dimmesdale had committed, but it is clear when Hester asked Pearl if she knew what the letter meant, that Pearl indeed understood it represented sin: â€Å"It is for the same reason that the minister keeps his hand over his heart† (122). Since Pearl was able to sense the wrongdoing of others, she knew that Hester’s physical scarlet letter embroidered on her bosom and Dimmesdale’s internal scarlet letter seared into his chest were both results of sin.She could not grasp that her mother’s letter meant anything atrocious because it was so familiar to her; she had lived her entire life seeing the letter upon her mother’s chest. To Pearl, the A represented her mother and their lif e together. In the end of the novel, the scarlet letter appeared to represent perhaps the most important element of The Scarlet Letter: Family. Hester and Dimmesdale struggled throughout the book to forgive each other and forgive themselves. They were not able to join together as one unit, protecting and loving their daughter, Pearl.Both characters sought to find meaning from the scarlet letter, aside from the negative one bound to it by the town. However, as Dimmesdale built the courage to confess his sin of adultery, he was able to let go of his guilt and accept Pearl. The A indeed might have represented an A for â€Å"able. † For, even though the town had â€Å"doomed Mistress Prynne†¦for the remainder of her natural life, to wear a mark of shame upon her bosom† (43), and Dimmesdale suffered from the weight of shame, they were able to overcome the stigma of the scarlet letter and bring life to the marvelous meaning of the scarlet letter: Love.

Case Grupo Bimbo - 1036 Words

Grupo Bimbo continuous expansion with an ambition to become one of the five-largest bakers in the world, while the company s performance in existing foreign markets should be improved so fore made profitable and keep company away from financial hazard due to acquiring losses and lack of substantial profit from foreign markets. Almost 70% of Grupo Bimbo s sales came from Mexico, where the company had built a 90% market share in the packaged bread segment, the business was very profitable and the company operated in growing market. However, the investments in U.S. and Latin America, where markets were highly competitive, have not been profitable. According Grupo Bimbo s global strategy - to become one of the five-largest bakers in the†¦show more content†¦It could result in the wrong understanding off Chinese market. †¢Geographic Distance - China is geographically far from Mexico, what could influence such business sides: control and strategic business development. Different infrastructure approaches, for example employees in China were riding bicycles to transport the products and manage the shelf space, for example, in the America products were transported by trucks. Speaking about the size of the market - The Grupo Bimbo overestimated the size of the market, as says in the case, the large proximate market the company could serve. The size doesn t guarantee the prognoses sales. †¢Economic Distance - diverse work organization approaches. Human resources side, the 775 employees acquired with the purchase of Beijing Panrico, their different work style. Bimbo successes in improving the manufacturing productivity - they made the operational upgrades in standards. Economic Distances: Chinese Bimbo Company served a regional area of 40 million people, its 186 routes were linked by a combination of trucks and bicycles and all that is maintained by only 775 employees. 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