Connecting the classroom to the "real world"
Why Can’t Kmart Be Successful While Target and Walmart Thrive?
In simplified terms, we can think of Walmart as a cost leader and Target as a differentiator. What does that make Kmart? Can companies get “stuck” in the middle and suffer as a result? I’m not sure it is that simple, but certainly companies that are not able to either identify their core competencies or that are unable to capitalize on them have a hard time competing. Kmart seems to be a company that is lost, and they have seemed that way for many years. Consider this quote from an HBR blog post (link at the bottom of this post)
We believe that all successful companies — Walmart and Target included — know precisely how they provide value for customers. They make a deliberate choice about their “way to play” in the market, guided primarily by what those companies do uniquely well: their distinctive capabilities. We define capabilities not as “people capabilities,” but as the interconnected people, knowledge, systems, tools and processes that create differentiated value.
The blog post goes on to mention the factors that are unique to Walmart and those that are Target’s strengths. Kmart seems to be unfocused in comparison and the market punishes them as a a result. Read more at the link below:
