Investigation of the factors and forces that promote internationalization of firms - A case study of Wal-Mart stores Inc.

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Investigation of the factors and forces that promote internationalization of firms - A case study of Wal-Mart stores Inc.

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Themes

Internationalization of firms, factors and forces, internationalization of organizations, process of internationalization, U-model, International Entrepreneurship Theory (IET), ownership, location and internationalization, Porter's Diamond Model, export strategy, international strategy, Wal-Mart

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Abstract

The world is more independent in recent time more than ever and changes occur constantly. Due to such changes, most of the organizations with the potential to grow tend to take their operations to foreign countries away from their home country through internalization. The level at which a firm internationalizes its operations may be different for every organization since different organizations apply different methods and strategies depending on the abilities and resource availability. The influence of organisations to internationalize their operations modern advancement in technology, liberalisation of trade, convergence of cultural believes accessibility to mass of people and good competitiveness ability. However, the reasons are not adequate for a firm to settle on its decision of internationalization as many more factors need consideration. Thus, the primary objective of this dissertation is to investigate the factors and forces that influence strategic integration of firms and the benefits of internationalization to firms. The paper will use Walmart case study through use of various theories, models and strategies to determine the factors that promote its internalization.

Introduction
1. Dissertation rationale
2. Aim of the study
3. Objective of the study
4. Research question
Literature review
1. Chapter overview
2. The concept of internationalization
3. Theories of internationalization
4. Methods of internationalization
Research methodology
1. Introduction
2. Research purpose
3. Research design
4. Research methods
5. Research strategy
6. Data collection
7. Ethical issues
8. Summary
Data collection and analysis
1. Chapter overview
2. Data collection
3. Findings and analysis
4. Analysis of findings
5. Benefits of internationalization
6. Obstacles of internationalization
Conclusion and recommendations
1. Conclusion
2. Recommendations

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[...] The other factor that has led to considerable increase in international trade and economic growth is the significant decrease in trade barriers among countries. The freedom of trade in all parts of the world originated from efforts by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the liberalization of policies for national trade and investment. In the case of Walmart, the company was helped by a number of developments in the course of its international expansion; the was a fall in cross-border investment barriers in the nineties, the company had the capacity to gain significant economies of scale given that most of its suppliers were international companies, and that in the time of Walmart's expansion, there was advanced information systems, which enabled tracking of sales and inventory. [...]

[...] Cost Reduction Due to the objectives of some organizations to ensure maximization of profits after operations, reducing the cost of operation is essential to them. It is very common for organizations to move their operations from one country to another, relocate facilities of production to other countries, and obtain some components only if it can reduce their costs of operation (Casillas and Acedo 2012). For instance, various institutions including some commercials banks in the USA tend to outsource some of their services from India and other British Companies where they have their call centres. [...]

[...] A grounded approach aims at generating theories from an individual's observation rather than getting involved in the application of the existing theories. A biographical approach has its main centre of attention as individuals and the experience they have gained overtime. In addition, it is presented in the form of an autobiography or a self-report that is consolidated by another person as a written material or an oral report. Similar to a grounded approach, a phenomenological approach is generated from experience. However, the experience in this case is from a concept or phenomenon and is generated by more than one person. [...]

[...] According to Wach and Wehrmann (2014), the differences in institutions within a country as well as the culture of the country are also important factors as they guide an organization through the ways in which it can operate in the new country. Advanced elements are what some countries term as created assets and are assets created by the country through the investment of its resources over an extended period. Such assets may be classified into two categories of tangible and intangible assets. [...]

[...] The company has been focusing on expanding its international markets as a means to diversify sources of revenue, as well as increase its sales. By 2015, Wal-Mart had more than 6,000 stores in international markets, while it only had 4,987 stores I USA. In 2015, Walmart net sales significantly increased to $ 482.23 billion; which was attributed to total sales from the company's eleven thousand stores in the world. One of the main challenges that Wal-Mart has faced in the course of its internationalization process is increased competition from local hypermarkets and supermarkets, as well as numerous other corporations. [...]

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