1. In the broader context (not specific to Dollar General), what is KKR’s investment strategy? What are the challenges KKR will encounter to make its investment in Dollar General successful? How could KKR add value to Dollar General?
In today’s market, Walmart and Target are two of the top competing companies within the market system. According to Loudenback and Lee (2015) research on Walmart and Target stated, “We just released a list of the 50 most powerful companies in America, and Walmart came out on top as the most powerful company in the nation with Target a close second”. Walmart was founded 60 years after Target was founded. The two companies have found different ways and techniques to stay a top of their competitors. Within my SWOT analysis, I plan on pointing out each company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
‘Is Wal-Mart Good for America?’ On PBS Frontline, May 11, 2015 ‘Is Wal-Mart Good for America?’ is a documentary that examines the relationship between Wal-Mart’s rapid growth and its impact on the US economy ever since it blossomed in trade productivity in the mid 20th century. The documentary, published on February 2014 by PBS Frontline, conveys a deep understanding of how Wal-Mart changed the living standards of many Americans and took consumerism and retail logistics in the U.S. to another level; by cutting costs through offshore outsourcing to China and employing cheap Chinese labor. The documentary focuses on the changing relationship between big retailers and manufacturers and the transition in pricing and decision-making.
About Publix Supermarkets, Inc. Publix Supermarkets, Inc., commonly known as Publix is a popular retail store in the United States of America. It is started in 1930 and founded by George. W. Jenkins. Today, it is one of the largest privately-owned retail store throughout the southeast region. It has by far expanded their branches over 1090 store locations in 5 states.
Porcini’s Pronto Tom Aleso, who was the Marketing vice Director of the Porcini’s Inc., had a good idea of expanding the company’s business of operating the restaurants. He identified an opportunity in creating more full-service chain restaurants that would serve the highway travelers. It was a brilliant proposal since the only competitors that were serving the market then were a few people operating low-end fast food restaurants and small outlets. In fact, this augured well for Porcini’s full-service restaurants and there were signs that they would be embraced by the customers who needed full meals at the rest stations in the course of their journey. However, the biggest challenge that stood along the way was insufficient capital and lack of resources to start up the business, and there were concerns about the quality of the initial services.
The article “The Science of Shopping” written by New Yorker staff writer Malcom Gladwell, is based on retail anthropologist and urban geographer Paco Underhill. Underhill studies the shopping characteristics through frequently watched surveillance tapes to help store managers improve the setup of their goods and services. Through those footages he evaluated his observations and the statistics to help define his theories with the purpose to make sellers conform to the desires of the shoppers. Underhill, an insightful and revolutionary man, provides a view of science to displaying merchandise and creates a positive experience for both the buyer and seller. I agree that Underhill’s scientific theories; the Invariant Right, Decompression
These people embody not just America at its worst but the very irreparably flawed nature of the human race as a whole… And we can’t get enough of them! In this article, we’re going to be examining images of Walmart’s penny-pinching female shoppers at their
Retail positioning aims to provide competitive edge by differentiating the retailer from its competition. This differentiation can be achieved through retail offerings that appeal to, and are easily identifiable to by its target market. This process is done by selecting market segmentations and matching them to the retail offerings as precisely as possible. It is vital to understand the consumers needs and wants in order to make a proper match and be distinguished from other retailers. Nordstrom distinguishes itself from other retailers by positioning itself as an upscale fashion store with outstanding customer service, and its multichannel approach.
Market Segmentation: To be of value market segments must be measurable, substantial, accessible, differentiable, and actionable (Kotler & Keller, 2012). Segmentation of demographics for Costco is vast as the current product offerings include all genders, ethnicities, incomes. age groups, and social classes. When considering demographics, it is important to consider the average or typical characteristics of the target market. As mentioned earlier the target market or focus for this company is supplying the small- to medium-sized business and targets the middle- to high-end consumer with its private label brand Kirkland Signature.
Key Trends – Globalisation One of the main opportunities Costco has is more global expansion to specific targeted countries. Although operating in many countries, Costco is heavily dependent on the U.S. and Canadian markets. It still has the opportunity to expand into the Asian and Australian markets where it has a limited presence. Costco has the capability to operate about 100 stores in Taiwan, Korea and Japan combined and about 20 stores in Australia. It currently has 41 stores in Taiwan, Korea and Japan combined and 6 stores in Australia.
Walmart has succeeded in achieving the leading position in the retail industry. Walmart now stands as the biggest retailer in the world. However, the external factors constitute pressure on the company that must be address carefully. By analyzing the five forces of external factors we will define the nature and power of our rival power in the market. The five factors are competitors from rival, potential new entrants, substitute products, supplier bargaining power and customer bargaining power all of these competitive forces affecting Walmart position.
Walmart, Amazon, and EBay 1. Analyse each of these companies using the value chain and competitive forces models. The value chain model of Amazon in itself is internally and operationally the best that adds value and maintains competitive advantage. The primary activities include Inbound logistics for example quality control, receiving, raw materials, control and supply schedules; Operations for example packaging , maintenance, quality control; Outbound Logistics for example
In terms of controlling, the management of Marks and Spencer has frequent reporting of expenditures with costs to provide a form of feedback. The reactions of managers to such type of data rely on the expectations or the formal budget or planned targets. The management believes in collecting and assigning cost data that is being shifted away from control. There is a recognition related to the repetitive exercise of planning and re-planning for creating a full time job for accountants. The assessment and evaluation of cost data in the aspects of launching new product by Marks and Spencer is about gaining insights and learning ways for achieving the goals of organisation in most effective manner.
Pizza Hut was established by Dan and Frank Carney in Wichita, Kansas, USA in the year 1958. Pizza Hut Inc. is one of the prevalent pizza companies worldwide. It was a subsidiary of Pepsi Co Inc. from the year 1977 – 1997. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of YUM! Brands since 1997 to present.
