Acquisitions: Walmart vs Amazon

The retail industry is in the process of undergoing major change. Historically big box brick and mortar strategies have dominated, but this is changing in the age of impatience and instant gratification. As consumers want items more conveniently, online retail has taken hold with no semblance of anticipated decline. At the forefront of this transformation are two industry giants: Walmart and Amazon. Walmart finds itself on the side of brick and mortar with 11,718 physical retail locations worldwide. Amazon is dominating the online retail space with control of a staggering 44% of all US e-commerce sales in 2017. These equally powerful yet opposing forces seem to have come to a realization. Walmart has determined that a purely brick and mortar strategy will not suffice and there must be a major focus on expanding e-commerce. Amazon has come to the realization that a pure e-commerce play will not be as effective as a mixed approach and is working into the brick and mortar space. As each giant finds itself on opposite sides of the spectrum they seek to reach the ideal equilibrium between physical and online retail, and acquisitions have been the remedy of choice

Applying lean enterprise principles to optimize delivery of customer service

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-74).Many companies have realized significant value through the application of lean principles to manufacturing and supply chain operations. Dell Inc. in particular garnered international fame for its ability to manufacture and deliver computers using a lean, direct-to-customer approach that provided a tremendous competitive advantage. The Author suggests that these same lean principles can be applied to improve a firm's service and support operations, while acknowledging some important nuances of applying lean in a customer service environment. The Author calls to light a key differentiator between lean manufacturing and lean customer service. Specifically, while customers use relatively consistent value systems to assess manufacturing operations, different customer segments typically value customer service in very different ways. Thus, lean customer service must begin by thoroughly characterizing the value expectations and contributions of each customer segment. After characterizing these value systems, a firm must design a support channel architecture aligned with the value exchange system of the entire customer population. After designing a lean channel architecture, lean principles may be tactically applied to optimize performance within individual channels. This research project focused on improving customer service operations at Dell by using lean principles to: 1. Establish a data-driven, strategic architecture for Dell's consumer support division and 2. Identify operational improvement opportunities to drive the tactical execution of that strategy. The project began with a benchmarking study of customer service strategies at companies such as Best Buy, Apple, Fed-Ex, Amazon.com, GM, and Comcast.(cont.) The Author then proposes a "Lean Support Channel Architecture" using on-line and retail service channels to offload demand from the call centers, effectively eliminating waste from call centers. Finally, the Author examines how lean principles can be tactically applied to a retail service channel to enable the cost-effective delivery of retail support in line with the support channel architecture proposed.by Hannah Elizabeth McClellan.S.M.M.B.A

An analysis of current supply chain best practices in the retail industry with case studies of Wal-Mart and Amazon.com

Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2005.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 184-188).In support of the Supply Chain 2020 Project at MIT, this thesis identifies current best practices in retail industry supply chains, with a specific focus on mass merchandising and Internet retailing. Using a survey of current literature for context and industry expert interviews, this thesis assesses the current state of the retail industry and analyzes case studies of Wal-Mart and Amazon.com to illustrate retail supply chain best practices. Topics covered in each case study include supply chain strategy and business strategy linkage, operating models, supply chain design, replenishment and distribution processes, and ongoing supply chain improvement initiatives. Wal-Mart and Amazon.com are found to have very different supply chains in terms of structure and processes, based on their different operating models. However, there are many supply chain themes that are common among the two companies. Both case study companies have supply chain strategies, designs, and processes that clearly support their business strategies. Additionally, these companies tailor processes to fit specific product and demand profiles, collaborate extensively with supply chain partners, invest significantly in information technology, focus on operational efficiency, and leverage scale to facilitate competitive advantage through supply chain management. Based on the common and unique aspects of Wal- Mart and Amazon.com's supply chains, we provide recommendations for the potential transferability of Wal-Mart and Amazon.com practices within the retail industry and to other industries.by Colby Ronald Chiles and Marguarette Thi Dau.M.Eng.in Logistic

The Rise and Fall of the dot com Entrepreneurs

This paper looks at the dot com phenomenon drawing mainly on examples from the USA where the boom started and was most pronounced, but also from the UK which had a number of high profile dot coms. It starts by asking the question, ‘Who were the dot coms?’. it then goes on to consider the factors which led to the emergence of the dot coms such as the emergence of the commercial Internet, the lowering of entry barriers which followed from this and the funding available for new businesses through venture capital. The article also looks at the reasons why it was believed that the dot coms represented a threat to established businesses. The article then looks at the booming IPO market for dot coms and the opportunities this provided for exit by venture capital investors. The crash of 2000 is considered, lessons are drawn for entrepreneurs and investors and finally the article will look at future prospects for the dot com sector

Knowledge Transfer In Virtual Communities

Many organizations are providing customer support and service through building virtual communities of users and practitioners. Within these communities, knowledge is exchanged and transferred on a continual basis. But what type of organizations are actually relaying on such communities? And what are the mechanics of knowledge transfer in these communities? This study sets out to identify the organizations most likely to use virtual communities in their customer support operations through a survey of the Fortune 500 organizations. It also analyzes the process of knowledge transfer mechanics within these virtual communities by focusing on four technology-intensive organizations: Microsoft, Dell, Amazon.com, and eBay.com. Study conclusions and recommendations for future research are presented

Using big data for customer centric marketing

This chapter deliberates on “big data” and provides a short overview of business intelligence and emerging analytics. It underlines the importance of data for customer-centricity in marketing. This contribution contends that businesses ought to engage in marketing automation tools and apply them to create relevant, targeted customer experiences. Today’s business increasingly rely on digital media and mobile technologies as on-demand, real-time marketing has become more personalised than ever. Therefore, companies and brands are striving to nurture fruitful and long lasting relationships with customers. In a nutshell, this chapter explains why companies should recognise the value of data analysis and mobile applications as tools that drive consumer insights and engagement. It suggests that a strategic approach to big data could drive consumer preferences and may also help to improve the organisational performance.peer-reviewe

The Effect of e-Business on Supply Chain Strategy

Internet technology has forced companies to redefine their business models so as to improve the extended enterprise performance - this is popularly called e-business. The focus has been on improving the extended enterprise transactions including Intraorganizational, Business-to-Consumer (B2C) and Business-to-Business (B2B) transactions. This shift in corporate focus allowed a number of companies to employ a hybrid approach, the Push-Pull supply chain paradigm. In this article we review and analyze the evolution of supply chain strategies from the traditional Push to Pull and finally to the hybrid Push-Pull approach. The analysis motivates the development of a framework that allows companies to identify the appropriate supply chain strategy depending on product characteristics. Finally, we introduce new opportunities that contribute and support this supply chain paradigm

Mobile Cloud Computing and Its Effectiveness in Business Organizations

E-commerce business organizations aim at achieving the goals and the mission effectively and efficiently so as to satisfy the diverse interests of the stakeholders. MCC is an ICT concept that enables the organizations to enhance the performance when serving the important stakeholders, who include customers, staff, managers, shareholders, and industry regulators. MCC involves the integration of the mobile devices to enable the sharing of the cloud infrastructure. The integration is done via a network and between the computer devices that operate remotely. The Internet is the most common network that enables the mobile devices to utilize the data and information stored in a cloud database. E-commerce businesses prefer the cloud infrastructure because it has a large data storage capacity and high processing speeds. Also, the cloud service providers invest substantial financial, human, and technological resources in ensuring the security of the effective management of the data resources. The main benefit of MCC is that it reduces the businesses expenses. For example, it enables the companies to offer products and services in the international market via the e-commerce infrastructure. Amazon.com is an example of a Multinational Corporation that is successful in offering high-quality services and products to customers in different countries using the website and the mobile app applications that are supported by the cloud infrastructure. Keywords: mobile cloud computing, cloud computing, E-commerce. DOI: 10.7176/IKM/9-1-0