Wal-Mart Policy Issues
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. became the largest company in the world this year, surpassing Exxon Mobil Corp. to become #1 on Fortune Magazines annual "Fortune 500" list. Wal-Mart took in $220 Billion in revenue last year, and has firmly grasped the spot that it has long aspired to hold: that of the #1 retailer in the world. However, Wal-Mart does not plan to sit on its laurels. There are still several policy issues that they face. These include:
1. Wal-Mart's expansion into the foreign market
Wal-Mart has moved in the past year to further expand into the world marketplace. The retailer already has close to 400 European stores, mostly in the UK and Germany (dir.yahoo.com). Where Wal-Mart wants to grow is in the Asian market. On March 15th of this year, Wal-Mart entered into the Japanese market based on an agreement with partner Seiyu Ltd. Wal-Mart bought 6.1% of Seiyu in an attempt to gain a foothold in the Japanese market. That market has been notoriously unkind to overseas companies, with most shutting down their operations their and heading home.
According to analysts, Wal-Mart bought its stake in Seiyu to ease itself into the market slowly so shoppers can grow accustomed to the company. Seiyu, a 36-year-old retailer, will school Wal-Mart on Japanese customs to better prepare the retail giant for possible acceptance by finicky consumers (biz.yahoo.com).
Wal-Mart is not the first retailer to try to launch itself in Japan, but it is the first to try and work closely with an already established Japanese company to transition itself into the market. The current retail market in Japan is crowded, but weak. If Wal-Mart learns its lessons well from Seiyu, it will ha ...