“Today, Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke personally filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy papers for Wal-Mart Stores,

Inc. Quickly after signing the papers, Duke agreed to sell the company to Target for $1 million dollars
- under the lone condition that the Target reserve him a greeter’s position at the company’s new store
in Rogers, Arkansas”

NEW YORK, April 1 (Reuters) - Higher-income consumers are buying a wider range of products from
Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) instead of simply loading their shopping carts with low margin food or
consumable items, the retailer’s U.S. chief operating officer said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a Morgan Stanley conference, which was broadcast over the Internet, Bill Simon said that
customer traffic in its U.S. Walmart stores has increased among both higher-income and lower-income
shoppers.

But in a change from the past, he said higher-income shoppers are now showing a willingness to buy
beyond the basics as the retailer cleans up its stores and expands its offering of name brands.

For instance, Simon said Walmart has gained credibility with shoppers by selling more name brand
electronics, like Sony, Apple and Samsung.

He also said Walmart stores are taking on a cleaner, sleeker look as it pares the number of items it
stocks, allowing it to declutter its shelves, widen its aisles and brighten the look of its stores.

While Walmart may be appealing to a wider swath of the population amid the U.S. recession, demand
for cheap groceries is still driving its business.

In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, Wal-Mart said that
groceries accounted for 49 percent of its U.S. sales for the fiscal year that ended Jan. 31, up from 47
percent a year before.

Simon said the retailer has improved its supply chain, allowing it to get fresh produce into its stores
faster.

He also said the retailer is “making a very loud, bold price impression,” touting its low prices with big
signs in its stores that say “Unbeatable.”

Separately, he said Wal-Mart is “confident” that Congress will not pass proposed legislation that will
make it easier for employees to form a union.

In March, the Employee Free Choice Act was introduced in both houses of Congress. The bill would let
employees form a union if a majority of those in a workplace sign authorization cards. That would
change the present practice in which workers usually vote in elections on unionizing, although the bill
would leave elections as an option for employees to choose.

Many retailers, including Wal-Mart and Home Depot (HD.N), have voiced their opposition to the bill.
(Editing by Phil Berlowitz) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~just in case I was missed,just wanted to let
everyone know I have changed my tune.

Note of interest- Doyle W. Rogers and Tokio Kasuga are 2 interesting names that show up in
connection with Sam Walton and WalMart entering and trying to do retail business in Japan.

Kasuga was viewed as a business pioneer in Japan. His first entrepreneurial venture was a food
wholesale and distribution company. The success of that business led to the founding of the Japan
Green Stamp Co., which marked the beginning of the trading stamp industry in Japan.

It was these entrepreneurial roots that probably drew Kasuga to Sam Walton the founder of two
American retailers Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club. He was the patriarch of the Walton family, one of the
richest families in the world. . Soon after buying the Excelsior, Kasuga expressed a strong desire to
meet Walton, recalls Doyle Rogers, a Little Rock businessman who built the Excelsior and sold it to
Kasuga for $24 million.

Rogers, a close friend of the late Walton, told the Wal-Mart Stores Inc. founder of Kasuga’s wishes. At
that time Wal-Mart was in full swing with its “Buy American” campaign. Rogers says Walton had
concerns that the media might find out about a meeting between him and Kasuga and misconstrue it
as a Wal-Mart attempt to negotiate for foreign products.

Rogers assured Walton the meeting would be confidential, and Kasuga, his wife and son, Masa, visited
Walton in Bentonville. Rogers says they had photographs made with Walton that Kasuga later proudly
displayed in his Tokyo office.

Although he lived a continent away, Kasuga visited Arkansas rather frequently, especially during the
1992 presidential campaign, a year that also marked the Excelsior’s 10th anniversary. Kasuga was on
hand for election night festivities at the hotel and for the conference of former secretaries of state.
After Clinton’s victory, Kasuga took part in inaugural activities in Washington.

“After the war, Rogers worked in several businesses, even selling Masonic Bibles in a few southern
states.
Walmart Core Competency
Question 1
Introduction
Wal-Mart is which started from a humble store in Ozarks is now one of the largest corporations in the America. The
success of Wal-Mart is mainly due to its core competences. Core competences are valuable, rare, costly to imitate
and non-substitutable. Before identifying core competencies of Wal-Mart the resources and capabilities must be
identified. 

Tangible Resources

1) Financial Resources
Wal-Mart has the ability to generate internal funds. This is evident in Exhibit 3. 
In the year of 2007, net income has increase to 11.709 billion as compared to 11.555 billion in 2006.
The current ratio   of Wal-Mart is at 0.9 which means that the firm is able to meet 90% of its current financial liabilities.
Hitt etal, pg 291 Exhibit 10

2) Organizational Resources 
With 3 business segments namely, Wal-Mart Stores, Sam’s club and Wal-Mart International, it is deem no easy feat
to manage the thousands of stores. Hence, the 25 senior Wal-Mart officers (Hitt etal, pg 289) stationed around the
globe meet up via video conferences weekly to discuss, review the company’s ongoing performance, focus on issues
which needs to address and ways to boost the company’s revenue. Its hierchary of 25 officers are formed   by 14
board of directors responsible in planning, controlling and coordinating of their each individual scope and 8 senior
officers supporting.

3) Physical Resources 
Wal-Mart has 6783 stores worldwide in 3 segments Wal-Mart stores, Sam’s club and Wal-mart international. There
are three retail formats which include 2257 Supercenters, 1074 Discount stores and 112 Neighbourhood Markets
spread over 50 states in America and 2769 international stores. Wal-Mart Stores are strategically located for example
Sam’s club and supercentres are located at prime spots whereas neighbourhood markets are located within the
neighbourhood to attract different segments of consumers