Wall-Mart and Information System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Wall-Mart and Information System - Essay Example This paper will explain why Wal-Mart has lived to become one of the most successful retail companies in the world, and particularly tie its competitive advantage strategies with relevant theoretical models. Wal-Mart stores are, therefore, designed in such a manner that the managers of the organization are the ones who allocate duties as well as monitor the activities of employees within the organization. The managers also identify any changes that need to be implemented to the stores in order to ensure that all the production processes within the stores are in line with the goals of the entire organization (The Wall Street Journal, 2012). This paper will show how Wal-Mart has used information systems to achieve different categories of its strategic goals. New products, services, & business models Wal-Mart has been able to utilize information systems to improve its products, deliver and sell its product and services to create wealth. Ideally, the key characteristic of Wal-Mart’ s business model is its low-cost strategy, which is enabled by its efficiency and high level of productivity as a result of the use of innovative information systems. Therefore, the company has managed to attain cost leadership by reducing its cost of operation to the lowest level possible (Porter, 2008). The fact that Wal-Mart’s products cost relatively low makes it very successful when introducing new products and services because after all, many customers will want to purchase in its stores to maximize the value for their money. The management of Wal-Mart tirelessly continues to utilize information technology to improve the company’s business model in such a manner that meets the customers’ requirements and suits the organizational goals. The kind of information systems deployed by Wal-Mart is a mixed type, whereby both â€Å"bricks and motor† and â€Å"clicks and bricks† methods are used to market its products. Ideally, Wal-Mart does not advert ise in the media like many of its competitors do, however, its products and services are very popular with customers.

Loan process - Small Business Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Loan process - Small Business - Case Study Example The process therefore is as follows: - Assessment of credit factors: - credit factors are majorly the factors that are considered by the financial institutions or credit providers before they extend their loans to any business venture. It depends much on the amount required and whether you can provide security for the funds borrowed. They include factors such as credit worthiness of the small business. To an extent, this is looked at with reference to Current Assets and Current Liabilities with the business (Harper, 2006). More assets with less debts means the firm is a going concern and the difference would tell us the extent of liquidity of the business. The business should also consider if it has partners that can act as the business guarantors. Lenders are also very keen on how the funds if given out would be managed. If they detect they would be embezzled then they would rather keep them than give out as loans (Harper, 2006). The second step is the determination of why the small business needs financing: - here, assessment of the current financial situation is mandatory. The owners should be in the position of knowing whether they are comfortable in their current situation or not, they should also be able to know why they need the cash i.e. for expanding operations or for managing risks, the urgency of the needed money should also be of importance to the owners. The most critical in this part is to know the extent to which finance requirement agrees with the business plan (Green, 2011). A plan is the tool to convince any lender and a small business without this should strive to have one to be in a position to convince investors who may be willing to engage their funds in such ventures. The third step is the Checklist for Business Loans: this is based on the fact that businesses have diverse areas to obtain funds. This part only helps us decide where to get our loans after considering factors such as interest rates and loan repayment periods vs. the cash fl ows to be received from the business and the frequencies of such flows. This is dictated by the listing of the business by the business lister depending on their performance in the market (Harper, 2006). The question of whether a loan will be provided from the institution where the business applies from depends on whether a conclusive and relevant document is submitted to the lending agency. Some agencies normally accept some documents of application and do not accept others (Green, 2011). General documents entail; personal backgrounds of the business, resumes to tell about the business profile, a business plan which is the most fundamental for any financial provider, both personal and business credit reports and lastly a collateral security report and legal documents showing the legal existence of the business (Harper, 2006). The forth step is that the owners of the business need to make a very detailed submission of the business as any information ignored might be of interest to t he lender and this may jeopardize there willingness to advance such loans. With respect to your application, it is also important to state the industry that your business target as well as those which poses threats to your business (Harper, 2006). This again will help your lender to make informed decision regarding the prevailing circumstances on whether to advance the loan or not. A loan application