Walmart: Supply Chain Management

This case focuses on the supply chain strategy of Walmart. Set in 2019, it provides a detailed description of the company’s supply chain network and capabilities. Data in the case allows students to compare Walmart’s source of competitiveness with those of other retailers—both online including Amazon.com and traditional brick–and-mortar retailers, such as Target—to develop insights into the management of a large, complex, global supply chain network. As competition between Walmart and its online and offline competitors heated up, a key challenge for the company’s president and chief executive officer was deciding what changes made to Walmart’s expanding supply chain would best support its strategic objectives. What supply chain capabilities would Walmart need as its business model continued to evolve?

This case can be used in an undergraduate or MBA course in supply chain management, operations management, business strategy, international business, logistics, purchasing, or marketing. It can provide an introduction to supply chain management using a company with which most students are familiar. In doing so, it allows students to learn how Walmart has built up its supply chain capabilities over the past five decades, and how the company leveraged these capabilities to become the world’s largest retailer. Combining the Walmart case with the “Amazon.com: Supply Chain Management” case (Ivey 9B18D017) in back-to-back classes provides a powerful illustration of the differences between two leading companies and demonstrates the importance of alignment of supply chain competencies with organizational strategy.After completion of this case, students will be able to:<ul><li>Assess Walmart’s supply chain and identify its key competitive advantages.</li><li>Quantify Walmart’s ability to generate value from its supply chain.</li><li>Identify potential opportunities and challenges for Walmart to improve its supply chain.</li><li>Analyze the effects of the opportunities and challenges facing Walmart on its growth and evolution.</li><ul>

• supply chain management, operations