BEST PRACTICE

TAKING
WAL MART
GLOBAL
lessons from retailing’s giant
How did this retailer go global? By using a strategy of “directed opportunism.” And knowing how to clone its corporate DNA.

by vijay govindarajan and anil k. gupta

B ECOMING GLOBAL is never ex-

clusively the result of a grand
design, though certainly it cannot be
tional store (in Mexico City) in 1991,
now operates in all 50 states, Puerto
Rico, Canada, China, Mexico, Brazil,
combine the inventories of a discount
store with a full-line supermarket.
Wal-Mart has pursued globaliza-
the result of incremental, ad hoc, op- Germany, Britain, Argentina and tion aggressively since its first move
portunistic and random moves. The South Korea. Of a work force of more across the border in 1991. (See Ex-
wisest approach would be one of “di- than 950,000, it had more than 130,000 hibits I to III.) In 1993 just 1 percent of
rected opportunism” — an approach employees working in 729 facilities all Wal-Mart stores were located out-
that maintains opportunism and flex- outside the United States by July 1999. side the United States. By 1998, that
ibility within a broad direction set by Until its recent move into super- had grown to 18 percent. Between
a systematic framework. markets, the retailer operated three 1995 and 1998, 5 percent of the com-
One of the best examples of the types of outlets: 1) Wal-Mart stores, pany’s growth in sales and 4 percent
power of an explicit and systematic which offer clothing, linens, small ap- of its growth in profits came from in-
process to analyze the complex set of pliances, hardware, sporting goods ternational operations.
factors involved in becoming a global and similar items; 2) Sam’s Clubs,
player is Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the which offer bulk items to customers GLOBALIZATION IMPERATIVES
largest retailer in the world. The com- who purchase warehouse member- Did Wal-Mart need to go global? Clear-
pany, which opened its first interna- ships, and 3) Supercenters, which ly, it had developed a successful

...............................
Vijay Govindarajan received his M.B.A. and D.B.A. from Harvard Business School and is the Earl C. Daum 1924 Professor of Interna-
tional Business at Tuck School of Business Administration, Dartmouth College. Anil K. Gupta received his D.B.A. from Harvard Business
School and is Professor of Strategy and International Business at Robert H. Smith School of Business, the University of Maryland at Col-
lege Park. The authors are working on a book, “The Quest for Global Dominance,” to be published by Harvard Business School Press.

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Fo u r t h Q u a r t e r ’ 9 9
 BEST PRACTICE

business model for competing in the EXHIBIT I

United States. Why not just prosper as WAL-MART’S GLOBALIZATION: BREAKDOWN IN NUMBER OF STORES
an American retailer? The answer is
that the company needed to grow in
order to survive, and the internation-
al arena was the only one in which sig-
nificant growth was possible.
Why was growth so important?
First, the company needed to show in-
creases in both sales and profits to
satisfy capital market expectations.
Source: Company annual reports
Second, it needed to satisfy the ex-
EXHIBIT II
pectations of its own employees. One WAL-MART’S GLOBALIZATION: A FINANCIAL PROFILE
of the key factors in Wal-Mart’s suc-
cess was its dedicated and committed
work force. Thanks to Wal-Mart’s
stock purchase plan, the wealth of
these employees was directly tied to
the market value of the company’s
stock, creating a direct link between
growth and its effect on stock price
and company morale.
Given the necessity for growth,
Wal-Mart could not afford to confine
its operations to the United States for
three reasons. First, it had already sat-
urated most of the domestic markets. Source: “Wal-Mart Stores Inc.” Merrill Lynch, March 6, 1998, p. 55
Second, the United States accounts EXHIBIT III
for just over 4 percent of the world’s WAL-MART: GEOGRAPHICAL BREAKDOWN OF STORES, JAN. 31,1998
population. By limiting itself to this
market, Wal-Mart was missing out on
96 percent of the world’s potential
customers.1 Finally, emerging markets,
with their lower levels of disposable
income, offered huge platforms for
growth in discount retailing. Other
companies had already capitalized on
such growth thanks to the rapid ex-
pansion of information technology, in- Source: Company annual report, 1998
creasing cultural homogenization and
...............................
lowered trade barriers.2 Wal-Mart had
no choice but to pursue globalization 1
Merrill Lynch, “Wal-Mart Stores Inc.,” March 6, 1998, p. 11.

aggressively to meet this competition. 2

Merrill Lynch, “Wal-Mart Stores Inc.,” March 6, 1998, p. 12.

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In undertaking global expansion, Second, a logically sequenced ap- customer relationships would be se-
Wal-Mart had the capacity to leverage proach to market entry allows a com- vere handicaps in the European arena.
two key resources originally devel- pany to apply the learning gained Wal-Mart might have overcome
oped in the United States. It could ex- from its initial market entries to its these difficulties by entering Europe
ploit its tremendous buying power subsequent entries. through an acquisition, but the high-
with such giant domestic suppliers as The choice of which market to er growth rates of Latin American and
Proctor & Gamble, Hallmark, Kellogg, enter first is not always easy. During Asian markets would have made a de-
Nestlé, Coke, Pfizer, Revlon and 3M to the first five years of its globalization layed entry into those markets ex-
procure goods cost-effectively for its (1991 to 1995), Wal-Mart concentrat- tremely costly in terms of lost oppor-
non-United States stores. It could also ed heavily on establishing a presence tunities. In contrast, the opportunity
utilize domestically developed knowl- in the Americas: Mexico, Brazil, costs of delaying acquisition-based
edge bases and competencies in such Argentina and Canada. It is important entries into European markets ap-
areas as efficient store management, to examine whether it should have fo- peared to be relatively small.
the effective use of technology vis-à- cused first on Europe or Asia instead. It is no doubt true that Asian mar-
kets had huge potential when Wal-
Mart launched its globalization effort

W al-mart decided to use

two beachheads as learning
in 1991. But the Asian market is the
most distant geographically and the
most different culturally and logisti-
cally from the United States market. It
vehicles for establishing would have taken considerable finan-
an asian presence. cial and managerial resources to es-
tablish a presence in Asia.
vis suppliers, merchandising skills, lo- The European market had certain In the end, Wal-Mart chose as its
gistics and I.T. deployment to benefit characteristics that made it less at- first global points of entry Mexico
its foreign outlets. An unforeseen but tractive to Wal-Mart as a first point of (1991), Brazil (1994) and Argentina
positive byproduct of this process entry. The European retail industry is (1995) — the countries with the three
was that Wal-Mart was also able to mature, implying that a new entrant largest populations in Latin America.
leverage sales-generating or cost-re- would have to take market share away By 1996, Wal-Mart felt ready to
duction ideas learned in its interna- from an existing player — a very take on the Asian challenge. It target-
tional outlets to benefit its 3,000 Unit- difficult task. Additionally, there were ed China, with a population of more
ed States stores. well-entrenched competitors on the than 1.2 billion in 640 cities, as the
scene (e.g., Carrefour in France and growth vehicle. This choice made
CHOICE OF MARKETS Metro A.G. in Germany) that would be sense in that the lower purchasing
In going outside the United States, likely to retaliate vigorously against power of the Chinese consumer of-
Wal-Mart had the option of entering any new player. And European retail- fered huge potential to a low-price re-
Europe, Asia or other countries in the ers have formats similar to Wal-Mart’s, tailer like Wal-Mart. Still, China’s cul-
Western hemisphere. It could not af- neutralizing the competitive advan- tural, linguistic and geographical
ford to enter them all simultaneously tage Wal-Mart might have expected distance from the United States pre-
for at least two reasons. First, in 1991 had its business model been entirely sented relatively high entry barriers,
Wal-Mart lacked the necessary new to the market. Further, as with so Wal-Mart decided to use two
competencies and resources — finan- most newcomers, Wal-Mart’s relative- beachheads as learning vehicles for
cial, organizational and managerial. ly small size and lack of strong local establishing an Asian presence.

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 BEST PRACTICE

During 1992-93, Wal-Mart agreed ical price. Furthermore, Wal-Mart’s Thus Wal-Mart’s ability to clone its do-
to sell low-priced products to two business model was precisely what mestically grown DNA and insert it in-
Japanese retailers, Ito-Yokado and Woolco needed to transform itself in- to its global operations would be a
Yaohan, that would market these to a viable and healthy organization. key to success, as illustrated by its en-
products in Japan, Singapore, Hong For its entry into Mexico, Wal- try into Canada.3
Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia Mart took a different route. Because Wal-Mart acquired Woolco Cana-
and the Philippines. Then, in 1994, there are significant income and cul- da at a time when a combination of
Wal-Mart entered Hong Kong through tural differences between the United high costs and low productivity had
a joint venture with the C.P. Pokphand States and Mexican markets about driven the Canadian company into
Company, a Thailand-based conglom- which the company needed to learn, the red. Wal-Mart quickly recon-
erate, to open three Value Club mem- and to which it needed to tailor its op- figured Woolco along the lines of its
bership discount stores in Hong Kong. erations, the local market require- successful United States model, a
ments would have made a startup strategy facilitated by the similarity
MODE OF ENTRY problematic. So, the company chose between the United States and Cana-
Once Wal-Mart had selected the coun- to form a 50-50 joint venture with dian markets. This transformation oc-
try or countries to enter, it needed to Cifra, Mexico’s largest retailer, count- curred in four central areas:
determine the appropriate mode of ing on Cifra to provide operational ex- 1. Work force: Once the purchase
entry. Every company making this pertise in the Mexican market. was finalized, Wal-Mart sent its
move faces an array of choices: It can For further expansion in Latin transition team to Canada to famil-
acquire an existing player, build an al- America, Wal-Mart targeted the re- iarize Woolco’s 15,000 employees
liance with an existing player or start gion’s next two largest markets: Brazil with the Wal-Mart way of doing
greenfield operations, either alone or and Argentina. The entry into Brazil business. The team was successful
in partnership with another player. was also accomplished through a in clarifying and defining Wal-Mart’s
Wal-Mart entered Canada joint venture — with Lojas Ameri- core beliefs and practices to the
through an acquisition. This was a cana, a local retailer. But Wal-Mart was new Woolco associates.
logical move for three reasons. First, now able to leverage its learning from 2. Stores: At the time of the sale, many
Canada is a mature market — an un- the Mexican experience and chose to of Woolco’s122 stores were in poor
attractive situation for greenfield op- establish a 60-40 joint venture in shape. Wal-Mart brought every out-
erations, since adding new stores (i.e., which it had the controlling stake. let up to its own standards and ren-
new capacity) will only intensify an al- The entry into Brazil gave Wal- ovated each plant within three to
ready high degree of local competi- Mart even greater experience in Latin four months. It took an additional
tion. Second, because there are America, and so it chose to enter Ar- three to four months to restock
significant income and cultural simi- gentina through a wholly owned sub- each store.
larities between the United States and sidiary. This decision was reinforced 3. Customers: Although the Woolco
Canadian markets, Wal-Mart faced rel- by the fact that there are only two mar- acquisition was Wal-Mart’s first en-
atively little need for new learning. kets in Argentina of significant size. try into Canada, the company had
Thus, entering through a strategic al- a head start in building a consumer
liance was unnecessary. Third, a poor- CLONING THE CORPORATE DNA franchise because most Canadians
ly performing player, Woolco, was Wal-Mart had developed several ma- live near the United States border
available for purchase at an econom- jor capabilities in the United States. and were already familiar with
...............................
3
The Wal-Mart Encyclopedia, Volume III, Salomon Brothers, October 1995, p. 32. “Wal-Mart Stores Inc.,” Merrill Lynch, March 6, 1998,
pp. 18-19.

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Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart leveraged this need to be wholly reinvented. Wal- nantly male market. Wal-Mart also be-
high brand recognition into cus- Mart’s entry into China provides in- gan testing smaller satellite stores
4
tomer acceptance and loyalty by in- sights into this process. that seemed to fit better with the buy-
troducing its “everyday low prices” As the most populous country in ing habits, as well as the transporta-
approach to a market accustomed the world, China is a major potential tion and shopping trends, in China.
to high/low retail pricing. market for retailers. Retail sales in In addition to varied formats,
4. Business Model: A broad merchan- China grew at an annual rate of 11 per- Wal-Mart tested merchandise items to
dise mix, excellent customer ser- cent between 1990 and 1995, pro- determine what would have the great-
vice, a high in-stock position and re- pelled by economic liberalization and est consumer appeal and fit best with
warding employees for diminished a large pent-up demand for consumer the Chinese culture. As a result,
pilferage were among the United goods. But the Chinese market also Wal-Mart began to carry a wider range
States core attributes that were poses unique challenges because reg- of products, particularly perishable
successfully transplanted into Wal- ulations and government policies are goods that appealed to the Chinese
Mart’s Canadian operation. often unpredictable and China’s in- palate.
The transfer of Wal-Mart’s corpo- frastructure is not well developed. Al- Product sourcing was another
rate DNA to Canada produced dra- so, middle-class disposable income is area requiring adaptation. Wal-Mart
matic results. Between 1994 (the time dramatically lower in China than in had three options: 1) products ob-
of acquisition) and 1997, sales per the United States, so that even dis- tained from global suppliers; 2) prod-
square foot increased from C$100 to count-minded Wal-Mart must reinvent ucts manufactured in China by global
C$292 and market share rose from 22 its business model to operate within suppliers such as Procter & Gamble,
percent to 45 percent. During the the reach of key population groups. Fi- and 3) products from local suppliers.
same period, expenses as a percent- nally, Wal-Mart had to accept that Wal-Mart elected to purchase 85
age of sales in Canada declined by 330 most Chinese tend to buy in small percent of its merchandise for the
basis points. Wal-Mart’s Canadian op- quantities, and that language differ- Chinese market in China through a
eration turned profitable in 1996 — ences required tailored marketing ap- combination of options 2 and 3. This
only two years after acquisition. By proaches for product labeling and solution sought to balance the desire
1997, it had become the leading dis- brand names. of local customers for high-status
count retailer in the country. Wal-Mart responded by conduct- United States-made consumer goods
ing a number of experiments. First, it and pressure from local governments
WINNING THE LOCAL BATTLE experimented with different store for- to purchase domestic goods.
For Wal-Mart, winning the local battle mats to see which had the greatest
involves two steps: customer appeal. One was the Shen- 2. Battles with local competitors

zhen Supercenter, a hybrid store com- Whenever a company enters a new

1. Local adaptation bining a supercenter and a warehouse country, it can expect retaliation from
A company wishing to establish lo- club where memberships were sold local competitors as well as from oth-
cal presence must understand the but non-members could also shop at er multinationals already operating in
uniqueness of the local market and “everyday low prices” plus a 5 per- that market. Successfully establishing
decide which aspects of its business cent premium. The Shenzhen opera- local presence requires anticipating
model require little change, which tion also experimented with stocking and responding to these competitive
require local adaptation and which merchandise targeted at a predomi- threats. Wal-Mart has used several
............................... continued on page 24

4
“Wal-Mart Stores Inc.,” Merrill Lynch, March 6, 1998, p. 47. “Wal-Mart International Reshapes the World Retailing Order,” Discount
Store News, January 20, 1997.

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Fo u r t h Q u a r t e r ’ 9 9
 BEST PRACTICE

how wal-mart keeps

its competitive edge
w al-Mart succeeds in the
United States simply by
selling branded products at low
to a store within a day from a
distribution center. A distribution
center was strategically placed so
to competitors), increased flexi-
bility, insured 100 percent in-
stock position and increased store
cost. But that doesn’t explain it that it could eventually serve be- selling space (by reducing the
all. Following is an analysis of tween 150 and 200 Wal-Mart space required for back-room in-
Wal-Mart’s competitive strategy.1 stores within a day. Stores were ventory storage).
Purchasing first built as far away as possible Store operations
Wal-Mart enjoyed scale econo- but still within a day’s drive of As a result of better manage-
mies in purchasing as a result of the distribution center; then the ment of stores, Wal-Mart enjoyed
its more than 50 percent market area was filled in back to the dis- cost advantages and sales per
share position in discount retail- tribution center. The distribution square foot advantages versus
ing. Though Wal-Mart may be centers operated 24 hours a day competitors. These advantages
the top customer for consumer using laser-guided conveyer belts were derived from several
product manufacturers, it deliber- and cross-docking techniques sources.
ately did not become too depen- that received goods on one side Store location: In the early
dent on any one vendor (no sin- while simultaneously filling or- years, Wal-Mart’s strategy was to
gle vendor constituted more than ders on the other. The company build large discount stores in
4 percent of its overall purchase owned a fleet of more than 3,000 small rural towns. The locations
volume). Further, Wal-Mart had trucks and 12,000 trailers (most resulted in lower operating ex-
persuaded its nearly 3,000 ven- competitors outsourced trucking). penses, especially payroll and
dors to have electronic “hook- Wal-Mart had implemented a rent. Competitors, such as
ups” with stores to reduce overall satellite network system that was Kmart, which were focused on
order entry and processing costs used to share information be- large towns with populations of
for itself and its vendors. tween the company’s network of more than 50,000, ignored Wal-
In-bound logistics stores, distribution centers and Mart. This built effective entry
About 85 percent of all the mer- suppliers so orders could be con- barriers as it became highly un-
chandise that Wal-Mart sold was solidated, enabling the company economical for competitors to
shipped through its distribution to buy full truckloads without in- enter regions Wal-Mart had al-
system to the stores (competitors curring excess inventory costs. ready saturated.
averaged less than 50 percent). Wal-Mart’s distribution and logis- Human resource management:
Wal-Mart used a “saturation” tics infrastructure saved trans- Wal-Mart created a dedicated
strategy for store expansion. The portation costs (2 percent to 3 work force — with higher labor
standard was to be able to drive percent cost advantage relative productivity, lower turnover
..............................
1
Abstracted from a 1996 case study of Wal-Mart by Rob Lynch, M.B.A., Tuck School of Business Administration.

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 BEST PRACTICE

and excellent customer service — analyzed and transmitted elec- pilferage decreases in a particular
offering profit sharing, incentive tronically to see how a particular store (versus the industry standard)
bonuses and discount stock pur- region, district, store, department is shared among store employees.
chase plans; promotion from within a store or item was per- Marketing
within; promotion and pay raises forming. This eliminated stock- Wal-Mart’s marketing strategy
based on performance, not se- outs, reduced the need for mark- was to guarantee “everyday low
niority, and an open door policy. downs on slow-moving stock and prices” as a way to attract cus-
Management information and maximized inventory turnover. tomers. The traditional discount
control systems: Wal-Mart’s man- The benchmark information retailer, which relies on “sales,”
agement information and control across stores was also a valuable not only has to do more advertis-
systems helped the company tool to help “problem” stores. ing and promotions but also has
manage its more than 3,000 Shoplifting controls: Wal-Mart to rely more on catalog mailing,
stores in remote places thousands has cut its pilferage-related losses buildup of inventory before a
of miles away from headquarters. by instituting a policy in which 50 sale, markdowns on the unsold
Store-level data were collected, percent of the savings created by inventory, etc.

continued from page 22 lar in format to Wal-Mart’s, featured Carrefour, the French retailer,
approaches to neutralizing local com- high-quality personnel and locations, had been operating in Brazil since
petitors in different markets: and were larger than the average 1975. When Wal-Mart entered Brazil in
Acquiring a dominant player. German hypermarket. 1996, it decided to overtake competi-
Wal-Mart used this approach in its Acquiring a weak player. Ac- tors by aggressively pricing its prod-
5
entry into Germany. In December quiring a weak player in the local mar- ucts. This strategy backfired, as Car-
1997, it acquired the Wertkauf hyper- ket is an effective approach, provided refour and other local competitors
market chain of 21 stores, one of the the global company has the ability to cut prices as well, leading to a price
most profitable hypermarket chains transform the weak player within a war and initial losses.
in the country, from the Mann family very short time. This is what Wal-Mart Wal-Mart realized that its global
of Germany. Having determined that did in Canada in acquiring Woolco. sourcing did not provide any built-in
building new hypermarkets in Ger- Launching a frontal attack on the price advantage because the leading
many would be ill-advised due to the incumbent. Attacking dominant and sales category in Brazilian super-
mature European market and that entrenched local competitors head- centers was food items, whose sourc-
strict zoning laws precluded green- on is feasible only when the global ing tended to be local. Competitors
field operations, Wal-Mart spent more company can bring significant com- such as Carrefour had an advantage
than two years exploring potential ac- petitive advantage to the host coun- in local sourcing because of their long
quisitions, including Britain’s Tesco, try. Wal-Mart’s entry into Brazil illus- relationships with local vendors.
Germany’s Metro and the Nether- trates the potential — and the So Wal-Mart chose to focus on
6
lands’ Makro. Wertkauf’s stores, simi- limitations — of a frontal attack. areas where it could differentiate it-
...............................
5
“Target Europe,” Chain Store Age, March 1998.
6
“Wal-Mart Stores Inc.,” Merrill Lynch, March 6, 1998, p. 34. “Wal-Mart International Reshapes the World Retailing Order,” Discount
Store News, January 20, 1997.

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Fo u r t h Q u a r t e r ’ 9 9
 BEST PRACTICE

self: customer service, targeted at EXHIBIT IV

neutralizing Carrefour, and merchan- CARREFOUR’S GLOBALIZATION: A FINANCIAL PROFILE
dise mix, targeted at overwhelming
smaller local competitors.
An industry observer remarked:
“While small shops in Brazil have a
strong customer service component,
most large stores, including Carrefour,
have adopted the European ethic that
the customer is fortunate to have
them available and if they are unhap- Source: Credit Suisse First Boston, April 28, 1998, pp. 3-4.

py about something, they are wel-

EXHIBIT V
come to go next door. To entice shop- CARREFOUR’S GLOBALIZATION:
pers away from these large but BREAKDOWN IN NUMBER OF STORES
user-unfriendly stores, Wal-Mart
stressed its customer service, an as-
set enhanced by its policy for hiring
and promotion.7

SPEED OF GLOBAL EXPANSION

Did Wal-Mart globalize quickly Source: Julius Bear France, March 11, 1998, pp. 17-18.
enough? One way to evaluate its
...............................
speed is to compare the company
with other retailers such as J.C. Pen- 1995 to 1998. Thus it is clear that Wal- mance in its international operations
ney, Kmart and Sears in the United Mart established a global presence at is better than Wal-Mart’s.
States, and Carrefour and Metro out- a far more rapid rate than did its three In 1998, Metro A.G. was the sec-
side the United States. large United States competitors. ond-largest retailer in the world, be-
As of 1998, J.C. Penney’s global A business profile of Carrefour hind Wal-Mart. In 1997, some 7 per-
presence was minimal; only three of (which announced a merger with fel- cent of its total sales were generated
its 1,200 stores were located outside low French retailer Promodes Group outside Germany (compared with 4
the United States — in Chile and in in 1999) is shown in Exhibits IV and V. percent in 1995 and 5 percent in 1996).
Mexico. In 1998, Kmart was a wholly Carrefour’s first international move As of that year, its degree of global-
domestic company, deriving all of its outside France occurred in 1973, ization was on a par with Wal-Mart’s.
sales revenues from its United States when it entered Spain. It took Car- In 1998, Metro took the major step of
stores. As for Sears, its non-United refour nearly 25 years to build to 79 acquiring S.H.V. Makro of the Nether-
States outlets (all in Canada) were re- billion FFr ($15 billion) in internation- lands. Metro’s consolidated sales rev-
sponsible for 8 percent of the compa- al sales. In contrast, Wal-Mart took six enues for 1998 are estimated at DM
ny’s total 1997 sales revenues of $41 years to reach $7.5 billion in interna- 108 billion, out of which foreign sales
billion. Further, international sales as tional sales. However, a comparison would constitute 37 percent.
a percentage of Sears’ total sales re- of Exhibit II with Exhibit IV indicates
mained more or less constant from that Carrefour’s financial perfor- Reprint No. 99403
...............................
7
“Wal-Mart International Reshapes the World Retailing Order,” Discount Store News, January 20, 1997.

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