Chapter 8

When Walmart decided to incorporate grocery stores into some locations and created "supercenters," was this a business-level strategy of differentiation or a corporate strategy of diversification? Why? Explain your answer.

Chapter 9

Alliances are often used to pursue business-level goals, but they may be managed at the corporate level. Explain why this portfolio approach to alliance management would make sense?

Students below are responding to the questions above. Your job is to respond to each student INDIVIDUALLY below , in 2nd person, about whether you agree or disagree with what they may be saying. Also, you can add your own input relating to what they are talking about specifically. RESPOND TO EACH PERSON SEPARATELY.

For Example:

Ryan Whitton 1 Clay Ego DMB Ryan Whitton Chapter 6: Cost leadership value chain- DollarTree Inbound logistics; include buying almost expired goods from companies that would sell them for pennies on the dollar that DollarTree would buy and sell for $1: they dont normally sell name brand other than that scenario unless it is a "special buy" meaning dollartree happened to make a deal to buy name brand for cheap, otherthan that Dollar Tree uses private label because it is ch eaper to inquire in order to remain turning a prot. Their operations include 2-5 employees.r managers. for stocking and checking out. they have a storage room smaller than the average warehouse for extra invetory when there is no shelf room. they have multiple registers and a set shipping schedule for their incoming products from multiple shipping companies [relative to their area]. Outbound logistics: Dollar tree has a grocery store feel with designated isles for designated products. they have promotion areas for holidays or dierent seasons and they include a fast checkout process with trained employees. Their marketing is simple. they settle in lowincome areas so they dont have to invest in alot of marketing, their prices speak for themselves and bring in lowincome buyers for their products. Aservice they ofTer is customer nd. which is a employee-cu stomer service that allows the customer to nd what they are looking for in a quick and easy process through the help of a trained employee. Differentation value lLil'lElll'l- White Claw Inbound logistics; include the raw materials to make their cans. the raw materials to make their drink and the shipping company and suppliers that aid to help white claw create their product. They have multiple plants and storage facilities and are continuing to grow. Their operations include a manufacturing plant in Glendale, A2. a distribution center in Hillside. NJ and a new plant in Richland County, SC. All plants and centers communicate with eachother and sales forces across the country that sell to local stores as well as national brand deals. Their outbound process involves manufacturing. shipping, scheduling, order handling and delivery. In their introductory phase of marketing they used alot of money to billboards and commercials. now in their growth stage they can rely on the networkinngOM effect to carry their sales and growth. One service they have is their customer request page online that allows customers to give them advice on labeling. new avors and dierent kinds of packs to sell. tJalue inn ovation buisness strategy- Uber Inbound logistics; they are an online based company and dont need much in capital to continue to run their buisness other than drivers, they're ofces can be based at home or in their headguaters and all they need is a computer and phone for customer service as well as the apps database located in their headquaters. Their operations involve a driver for customer ride share services. a driver. for food delivery or grocery delivery and training for the drivers to be an ofcial partner in Uber. Marketing for Uber is everywhere. billboards. car decals. commercials. WOM, social media and internet ads. Their services are to deliver people to places in a quick and enjoyable fashion or to deliver food to customers fast while updating them through the process of foodl'grocery pick up. Chapter F: Amazon has been extremly innovative in the past decade. They have been radical and incremental by starting as a book sharing library. to developing the kindle. then the restick, then the kindle plus, then switching to an online marketplace and then to a movieJtv streaming app. They have had many innovative ways to continue to gather more market share but those 5 are the staples to Amazons continued competitive advantange over other coorporations. They have maintained radical over time and incremental in their multiple market places over time. Quote Email Author Easton Brown 1 day ago Easton Brown Chapter 8 Walmart is using corporate strategy of diversification because they are trying to compete with different industries while still keeping their regular items in the stores. Walmart is trying to compete with Meijer and other stores with grocery and everyday products as well. Walmart is at the forefront of this industry because they have more products and offer cheaper prices on these products. Diversifying lowers Walmart's risk for going out of business because within their store they have multiple different sections like grocery, clothes, electronics, beauty products, sports, and more. Chapter 9 This appraoch makes sense because of the information that is involved with an alliance because they can have this closed off information that they would not have known if they did not form the alliance. They can use the information to make the best and most profitable choices for their company. Business-level goals are all about performance and profit whereas corporate is indivedals that are invested in the company. They have the information on long term strategies and available resources that could help the company make the best decision. Reply Quote Email Author0 Ryan Whitton 1 day ago DB#4 Chapter 8 The supercenters are to pull a wider variety of customers into their stores thus competing with other industries. They have groceries, sporting, technology, self-care, and home goods products. Because of Walmart implementing their superstores to reach into different industries It would be defined as a corporate level differentation strategy. Corporate strategies involve moving to different markets to boost revenues. They allow their customers to do all of their shopping at one store at fair prices with name brand items. Walmart is able to compete directly against general stores, grocery stores, sporting stores, technology stores, beauty stores and home goods stores which adds value to the customers shopping expirence. Chapter 9 Alliances can benefit buisness-level goals by sharing of intangible and tangible resources, they can allow the paired companies to share logistics chains, share industry trades and allow each other to grow at a faster rate. They are overseen at a corporate level because of the implementation of sharing resources and capabilitys start at the highest levels and trickle down. It makes sense to do this approach because because it can create a competitive advantage and growth to both or multiple corporations. The biggest restrictions they may come across is the boundries of intangible resources and legal restrictions to some of the company's products and positions. ReplyRE: Discussion 4 - Rachel Harm I agree with everything said here I would just add on to the point about alliances being able to grasp a competetive advantage and achieve further growth. Alliances allow this to happen because of the information that is gathered when an alliance forms. The company is able to take this information for their "partner" that they would have not otherwise found out and use it to make better business decisions that allow a company to find a competitive advantage that they didn't know of before and grow more. Jacob White 1 hour ago RE: Discussion 4 - Rachel Harm Rachel, Chapter 8 - I agree with your opinion on Walmart adding a grocery section by using the corporate strategy of diversification. Our explanations went in different directions but the point we were trying to make was the same. Throughout my post, I explained how adding the grocery section was to introduce new products to new customers. By adding the grocery section they had to add fridges, freezers, and even a deli market. By doing this they attempted to as you said "venture into a market" in order to gain more profit. Chapter 9 - I agreed with your take on the portfolio approach as well. I felt that alliances can be and are normally good for companies to attempt to do. It brings more customers to each brand and can be something that adds value to each. However, whenever you enter into a partnership there is a risk at many different levels, which is why it is good to use the portfolio approach as a safety valve essentially