Wal-Mart Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Wal-Mart - Essay Example Porter’s generic strategy provides a clear linkage between strategic management and strategic finance. Wal-Mart’s decisions had a clear linkage between strategic management and strategic finance. Even when entering a foreign country, a firm needs to assess which markets to enter, the timing and the scale of entry (Hill, p488).Whether the strategy is to maintain cost leadership or product differentiation, the ultimate strategy is to gain competitive advantage and enhance profitability. Wal-Mart focused on cost leadership and their low-cost model served them well within the US but the same strategy did not help them in their international operations. In the US they had achieved organic growth but when they decided to expand their ventures overseas, they did not look beyond the low-cost model. According to Mintzberg (1987), a strategy must essentially have two characteristics – it is made in advance of the action undertaken and it must be devised purposefully and co nsciously. Wal-Mart did not follow this principle of strategic management.Wal-Mart did none of these and merely tried to replicate the business model that had brought them success in the US. Another important factor when entering another country is the choice of entry mode which must be based on long-term growth and profit potential. There are four different modes of entries - exporting, contracts (licensing) joint ventures (JV) or wholly owned subsidiaries (WOS) and the choice depends upon the level of control required.

Mango Medley Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Mango Medley - Essay Example The secret to keeping your customers satisfied is through quality service and product delivery. David. H. Maister, in his book â€Å"The psychology of waiting lines†, argues that satisfaction can assessed through a simple equation (S=P-E, where S-satisfaction, P-perception, and E-expectation). It can, therefore, be that a satisfied customer is a loyal customer. When customers enter a restaurant expecting a certain level of service and perceives the service reviewed to be higher, then they are satisfied customers. The management of any restaurant should, therefore, aim at improving the perceived quality of service as it would have the largest payback (Maister, 1984). Unexplained waits always tend to seem long and boring than explained ones. A reason should, therefore, be given to explain why a given service has been delayed. Customers are also concerned about the environment in which they are seated while waiting. Some customers may not like to wait in very crowded places as it may interfere with their personal conversations. It is important to keep the customers comfortable during their wait. Customer equity is also something that the management should put into consideration. It involves valuing the customer not only in terms of current profitability, but also with respect to the net discounted contribution stream the firm will realize from the customer over time. More emphasis should be put on not only on getting customers to buy their products but maintaining them for long (Zeithaml, Lemon, & Rust, 2001). Mango Medley restaurant has got only two workers. One is in charge of the kitchen and the other taking of orders, serving the customers and clearing of the bills. This divided attention makes service delivery slow especially during weekends and holidays when the restaurant is open for longer and receives more customers. Most