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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 3 page paper examines the influence that technology in the external environment has on Wal-Mart. The paper considers the impact on the supply chain and the opportunities technology is providing as well as the pressure resulting form increased use of e-commerce by the consumers. The bibliography cites 4 sources.
Page Count:
3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: TS14_TEwaltech.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
number of external influences. The problem with external influences are that they are usually influences that the company cannot control or influence, they have to react, either proactively or responsively
in order to maximise opportunities and minimize the risks that they create. Technology is a major influence on Wal-Mart. This can be seen as influencing both the upstream and
the downstream supply chain. Wal-Mart have made use of information technology in the past, If we look at the upstream, they were the first supermarket to make use of technology
in order to manage inventory and make sure that the shelves remained stocked, correlating sales with the stock in order to place orders. This was a first mover advantage at
the time and demonstrates the importance of cost advantage, as this resulted in stores remaining stocked and increasing the level of loyalty of the customers as well as significantly reducing
costs for Wal-Mart (Barney, 1995). However, this is now old technology and the inventory management process has been copied by many other companies such as K-Mart, so the competitive advantage
has been lost. This does show how important technology can be. The use of technology also impacted in the way goods are made and supplied. The internet and the
communications technology have increased the potential to find suppliers in many countries. For example, with the elimination of the multi-fibre agreement the increased technology has facilitated more purchases from textile
manufacturers in China, where technology is making clothes at a lower costs and technology facilities the communication needed to make the purchases. Technology is also being expended with use
to help increase supply chain efficiency, not only with automated ordering, but with tools such as RFID (radio frequency identification( which provide tags for pallets or cases of goods and
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