Wal-Mart was founded in 1962 by Sam Walton and is been in the business of selling anything and everything people need for their everyday life with an everyday low price strategy. The success of Wal-Mart is mainly due to its focus on continuously improving operations through its efficient supply chain management practices. Sam Walton was not mainly concerned about opening more stores in small towns, but also came up with several innovative practices to improve the way business was conducted in the store. From the inception, Sam Walton provided products at a reduced cost than its competitors. Wal-Mart follows the “Everyday low prices” business model. As the years passed Wal-Mart grew to a size which gave it power to bargain the cost of products with its suppliers. To provide customers with “Everyday low prices”, Wal-Mart has highly invested in IT system to effectively manage their supply chain activities. Wal-Marts company Continue reading
Management Case Studies
Management case studies are real-life examples of issues and problems found in particular workplaces or business organisations. Case study assignments give the opportunity to relate theoretical concepts to practical situations. Most case studies are written in such a way that the reader takes the place of the manager whose responsibility is to make decisions to help solve the problem. In almost all case studies, a decision must be made, although that decision might be to leave the situation as it is and do nothing.
Case Study of Apple Inc: “Think Different” Branding Campaign
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple on April 1, 1976. The two Steves, Jobs and Woz (as he is commonly referred to — see woz.org), have personalities that persist throughout Apple’s products, even today. Jobs was the consummate salesperson and visionary while Woz was the inquisitive technical genius. Woz developed his own homemade computer and Jobs saw its commercial potential. After selling 50 Apple I computer kits to Paul Terrell’s Byte Shop in Mountain View, CA, Jobs and Woz sought financing to sell their improved version, the Apple II. They found their financier in Mike Markkula, who in turn hired Michael Scott to be CEO. The company introduced the Apple II on April 17, 1977, at the same time Commodore released their PET computer. Once the Apple II came with Visicalc, the progenitor of the modern spreadsheet program, sales increased dramatically. In 1979, Apple initiated Continue reading
Case Study: The Collapse of Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers Inc operated at a wholesale level, dealing with governments, companies and other financial institutions. Its core business included buying and selling shares and fixed income assets, trading and research, investment banking, investment management and private equity. In September 2008, Lehman Brothers filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company became insolvent with finances totalling $639 billion in assets and debt worth $619 billion; it became the largest bankruptcy in history. The company employed 25,000 employees worldwide including 5,000 and was the fourth largest US financial bank at the time of the bankruptcy. It also became the biggest victim of the subprime mortgage disaster that had put the global financial sector into meltdown. History In 1844 23 year old Henry Lehman the son of a cattle merchant immigrated to the United States from Rimpar, Bavaria. He set up home in Montgomery, Alabama where he opened a dry-goods shop. In Continue reading
Case Study of FedEx: Pioneer of Internet Business in the Global Transportation and Logistics Industry
Transportation is one of the largest industries in the world, and its sector range is very wide which include taxis, truck, train, ships, barges, airplanes, pipelines, warehouse and logistics service. For the industry, the three main trends were globalization of business, information technology development and new technology to support process efficient, and the market demand for more value-added. Hence, the companies in transportation and logistics industry depend on the global network of distribution centres to gain quick payment cycle and cheaper resources. In FedEx Corporation, as a leader firm in the industry, its centralized structures have always required, and facilitated billion dollar investments in IT and established the website from 1994. It provided a successful technology for the FedEx Corporation as a pioneer in the whole industry for e-business. This strategy became an advantage that they used to undermine their competitors’ strengths and localized customer service. With a globally connected Continue reading
Case Study of Cisco: Transformation of Entire Supply Chain into an Extended Enterprise System
Cisco Systems of San Jose, California, is a company that develops networking devices such as switches, routers, network management software, and dial- up access servers. By the mid 1990s, realizing that growth depended on our ability to scale manufacturing, distribution and other supply chain processes quickly, Cisco managers decided to reinvent its business model and turn itself into a Web-enabled company. An ‘ecosystem’ which in fact transformed the entire supply chain into an extended enterprise system based on internet technology was created in order to links customers, prospects, partners, suppliers and employees in a multi-party, multi-location electronic network. E-Business can be defined as all electronically mediated information exchanges, both within an organisation and with external stakeholders supporting the range of business processes. It links internal employees with external customers, suppliers through technology like Internet, intranets, and extranets. E-commerce, conceived as a subset of e-business, can be categorized as buy-side e-commerce Continue reading
Case Study on Business Ethics: Madoff Investment Scandal
Bernard “Bernie” Lawrence Madoff is an American investment adviser and stock broker who operated Madoff Investments in an unethically acceptable manner. He used the company as a front to commit a Ponzi scheme which fleeced investors of over $65 billion. This has been regarded as the largest Ponzi scheme ever. Madoff grew up in a humble background and he established the Madoff Investments Company with support from the father in law. A few friends and family members also supported Madoff with the operations and growth of the business. Madoff used the returns from investment to support several charitable and political causes which his firm believed in. However, in 1999, there was concern that the profits made by Madoff Investments surpassed the normal profits expected from a firm in such a venture. Markopolos, an expert in investments informed the exchange commission that it was not possible to achieve the level of Continue reading