Case Walmart Africa

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Karen Robson and Stefanie Beninger wrote this case under the supervision of Professor Sudheer Gupta solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have disguised certain names and other identifying information to protect confidentiality. Copyright © 2013, Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation op yo This publication may not be transmitted, photocopied, digitized or otherwise reproduced in any form or by any means without the permission of the copyright holder. Reproduction of this material is not covered under authorization by any reproduction rights organization. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, contact Ivey Publishing, Ivey Business School, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada, N6G 0N1; (t) 519.661.3208; (e) cases@ivey.ca; www.iveycases.com. Version: 2013-11-19 As the first decade of the 21st century drew to a close, Walmart had expanded through North America, South America, Europe and Asia. Looking forward, Walmart executives set their sights on expanding into yet another continent: Africa. Africa contained six of the 10 fastest growing economies from 2001 and 2010.2 The tremendous potential of Africa was obvious; the question for Walmart was whether its strategy for entry into South Africa was sound. Do At the core of Walmart’s success was its ability to offer “everyday low prices.” Indeed, since Walmart’s beginning in 1962, its strategies, systems and structures had been aligned to support a cost-based business model. One of the most important elements of this model was operating at an unprecedented scale. The sheer size of the organization allowed Walmart to provide a wide range of product offerings. The company offered extensive grocery, entertainment, home ware, apparel and

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