The following article is from our September 2006 issue.
This Is non America. Why Wal-Mart left Germany. By Harald Schultz
U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart failed to stool a foothold on the German market - set-back and foremost because management didnt take into account German consumer habits.
German retailers could have been forgiven for panicking when Wal-Mart first arrived in Germany. They probably felt wish ants about to be trodden on by an angry giant. entirely nine years on, the giant turned on its frank and disappeared. TextilWirtschaft, Europes leading trade publications for textiles and clothing, described the fiasco as Wal-Marts Waterloo in a reference to Napoleons bitter defeat against Prussia and Britain in 1815.
just what on earth made the giant capitulate? When Wal-Mart firm to expand in 1996, its managers saw Germany as a promising market. Europes largest market is home to 82 million - far more(prenominal) than in England, France and Italy which each have a population of 60 million. Germany enjoys a healthy pro capita income, so consumer spending is robust. The awkward has good transport infrastructure, which is good when stocks need to be replenished. given over these excellent conditions, Wal-Mart must have thought success was guaranteed.
It wasnt to be.
Its German venture ended disastrously, with the retreat costing the company $1 billion.
Just why did Wal-Mart Germany end so badly in Germany, just like before in South Korea? The attend to is simple but banal, and can be encapsulated by a line once sung by David Bowie: This is not America.
Managements fall away was to implement a successful U.S. fear formula in Germany without paying any attention to local idiosyncrasies.
The problem was the companys business philosophy, which had always worked so well, wrote Frankfurts Börsenzeitung in what pretty much amounted to an obituary. Its people-centered - but that doesnt actually work when the people...If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: Ordercustompaper.com
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