How to Operate Successfully in an International Environment: Walmart in Germany

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How to operate successfully in an international environment; A case study of Wal-Mart in Germany Introduction Many business activities usually shape up the aspirations and daily activities of people in all parts of the world. This can be attributed to the fact that, Business enterprises present a wide and rich variety of different organizational goals and objectives which cater for the needs and wants of consumers starting from a consumer who purchases a loaf of bread to a giant oil exploration carried out by a big company for the government. Nevertheless, for a long time, many organizations have managed to maintain a stable relationship with the society and the environments in which they operate in. However with the ever deepening and expanding ties between the societies and many firms within their environments, relationships between them and the society becomes complex. Despite that organizations see themselves as global players in their operations and outlook, it is usually hard for them to adapt to changing circumstances and changing environment. This can be seen in the case for Wal-Mart in Germany, (Harrison, Dalkiran,& Elsey,2000). Strategic Problem facing Wal-Mart In less than eight years, Wal-Mart has successfully been able to open up over 85 stores in the whole world, however, it was not able to successfully integrate itself in Germany as in 2006, and the U.S retail giant left the market at over $1 billion USD. The domestic success of Wal-Mart is normally based on factors like low prices, high volume sales and even distribution channels that are streamlined of which none of these factors do well and fit in German’s regulatory regime or culture. The attitude of Germans plus their culture only favors the medium, and sm... ... middle of paper ... .... (2008), International Business: Environments and Operations, Pearson Education Dunning, J. H. (1993), Multinational Enterprises and the Global Economy, Addison-Wesley Harrison, A. L., Dalkiran, E., and Elsey, E. (2000), International Business, Oxford University Press , chapter 13, pp. 272-291 Hymer, S., (1976) The International Operations of Nation Firms: A Study ofForeign Direct Investment”, Cambridge, MLT Press. Laudicina, P. A. (2005), World Out of Balance: Navigating Global Risks to Seize Competitive Advantage, McGraw-Hill Porter, M. E. (1998), The Competitive Advantage of Nations, The Free Press IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook, International Institute for Management Development The Global Competitiveness Report, World Economic Forum Rugman, A. M. and Collinson, S. (2008), International Business, Financial Times Prentice Hall

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