Wal-Mart Case Solution And Analysis, HBR Case Study Solution & Analysis of Harvard Case Studies

Supply Chain Map

The supply chain map for Wal-Mart is provided at the end of the paper at the last page. The company selected is Wal-Mart, which is a global player in the retail industry and has a strong hold in the global retail network. The category or the product line selected is the telecommunication and the partner and the supplier of the company are mentioned in tier1 suppliers.

The reason to select Wal-Mart is due to the high influence that it has created in the past few decades and the effective management of the company in expanding globally. Besides that the company has one of the most influential and impact ful supply chain networks and is supplying globally which is why handling major issues. However, the company has surpassed issues that have occurred and have made its way through every obstacle.

Furthermore, the supply chain network of retail industry is not that complex and understanding the network is relatively easier and essential in regards to supply chain management. Furthermore, different process, products and services are managed which gives exposure to a complete set of knowledge regarding managing different products and categories.

Supply Chain Management Processes

The eight different supply chain management processes are explained below with regard to the company and will briefly illustrate and explains the issues that the company has been facing. Furthermore, this will also explain the reason to select the company and the product category more effectively.

Customer Relationship Management

The process of customer relationship management at Wal-Mart is of immense importance and is completely managed through tier 1 customer downstream. The company is committed to enhancing its customer relationship management factor and is trying to improve on this factor readily. However, the company has been the largest retail network globally and has a sound and a significant customer base. This translates the effective implementation of the customer relationship management policies of the company.

There are multiple methods that the company is using to give their customers better service and maintain healthy and sound relationships with them. The mission of the company clearly exhibits that the company is committed to giving value to the customers for every penny they are spending. Besides that the company is also willing to develop an atmosphere to the customers to enhance loyalty. However, there are certain issues that the company is facing in this regard which is not allowing the global leader to gain complete efficiency in this regard. The long lines that emerge on counters are a factor that is creating distortion in the minds of the customers and gaining negative reviews.

Furthermore, the associates that the company has are although doing a remarkable job, but lack training that may cause hindrance in establishing strong ties with the customers. Besides the less appealing environment of the store and ambiance is another factor and the factor of cleanliness is ignored at most of the stores. On the other hand, the company has a large portfolio but still some items are missing that are deeply desired by the customers. This issue is not highly significant, but apparent at some stores.

Supplier Relationship Management

Supplier relationship management is one of the key components of the success story of Wal-Mart and has played a vital role in the global success of the retailer. The company’s supply chain is quite efficient and one of the key reasons to this highly efficient supply chain is the effectively managed supplier relationships. The company manages relationships with the suppliers at the tier 1 and tier 2 levels by forming partners or contract manufacturers. In the electronics industry, it has maintained strong ties with T-mobile which is the manufacturing partners and is managing the relationship with them.Wal-Mart Case Solution

Besides that Vudu that served as a contract supplier later on acquired by the company and is completely managed by the company. The company has faced some issues in the past few years for which the company decided to make the regulations strict for its suppliers that are managed directly and monitored. The Rana Plaza issue in Bangladesh forced the company to provide stringent guidelines to the suppliers in major categories and urges them to follow the set of guidelines provided by the company. This may impact relationships with the suppliers and can cause difficulty in the company’s maintenance of global supply chain networks................

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