WalMart Merger Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

WalMart Merger - Assignment Example The paper has been divided into two main parts: the first part mainly dealing with the Retail Industry, the major players, their production schemes, and their impact on the consumers and society overall. The second part deals with the advantages and disadvantages the firms might have because of the merger. PART I: INTRODUCTION Oligopoly is characterized as consisting of a small number of large sellers, being called the ‘Competitive Fringe’, with a few big firms dominating the entire industry’s production (Lipsey, 2004). These big firms, act as the trend-setters in terms of price and output, and are a major reflection of the entire Market. In this instance, the Retail market, is characterized by one big firm – Wal-Mart, with smaller firms either adhering to an acquisition or a merger, for their benefit. For example, in the United Kingdom, the Big Five Banks – Barclays, Lloyds TSB, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC and HBOS - dominate the Banking Sector. Si milarly, there are many small departmental stores, selling retail products, but a dominant few, like Sainsbury, Asda and Tesco, taking over the entire nation. The small firms, then, sometimes, find it profitable to merge, consolidate, co-operate or be purchased by the Big One. SALES, OPERATIONS AND FIRMS IN THE MERGER According to Forbes Global 2000 list, Wal-Mart is the world’s 18th largest public corporation, and the world’s largest corporation when it comes to annual revenue ($421.849 billion), with its international operations accounting for 26.1 % of its total sales, and a gross profit margin of 24.7%, running chains of discounted departmental stores and warehouse stores. With a total of 8500 stores in 15 different countries, with 55 different names, Wal-Mart extends its operations in nine different retail formats, including general merchandise, food and drugs, Super Center, small markets, cash and carry stores, membership warehouse clubs, apparel stores, discount stores and restaurants (Holdings, 2011). VERTICAL INTEGRATION: REASONS TO CONSOLIDATE A lot of consolidation has been seen among retailers and retails chains, over the past couple of decades, with 40,788 mergers & acquisitions having been announced only between 1988 and 2010. The main reasons behind the consolidation of firms in the industry may be due to: 1. Economies of Scale: This refers to a significant decrease in the fixed cost of the merging firms by the removal of duplicate or extensive operations; 2. Economies of Scope: Economies of scope exist due to the alteration of method of the distribution and the marketing of products. For instance, two homogeneous products may have been advertised in a similar way previously, but now they are not; 3. Vertical Integration: This primarily means the merging of two or more firms from the same industry results in increasing profits and a larger consumer surplus than before, implying a decrease in the deadweight loss. This is done by the firms deciding on a particular amount of output, and then sticking to that output level; 4. Investment benefits: The merged firms have higher chances of receiving greater benefits when it comes to Investment, because of the name of the big firm attached to it. Sensing financial stability, the smaller firms, once a part of the big firm, are viewed as being stable, and thus attract a larger number of investors. There

Flight( I choose the Bald eagle) Research Paper

Flight( I choose the Bald eagle) - Research Paper Example Further topics explored in this research work include the food habit and the challenges faced by Bald Eagles. In short, this research work attempts to provide overall information on one among the most important predators in the sky, i.e., Bald Eagle. Generally, human encroachment affects the ecological balance and sustenance of life. More and more endangered species are at the edge of extinction and the human race is responsible for the same. Within this scenario, the challenges faced by birds like Bald Eagles are unnoticed because human beings provide less importance to this problem. Still, the attempt to retrieve of Bald eagle (mainland of North America) population is noteworthy because the same is an important epoch within the effort to maintain bird population and to save birds from extinction. Thesis statement: The research on Bald Eagle proves that this bird has some peculiar characteristics, its habitat includes wetlands with abundant supply of fish, its food habit includes ca rnivorous (primarily fish), and it faces challenges like human encroachment on habitat, pesticides, and hunting. This section of the research work is broadly divided into: general information, habitat, food habit, and challenges. General information: In real sense, this bird is not bald or with fewer feather on its head. Instead, the name originates from the fact that the color of this bird’s head is white. ... To be specific, female birds are comparatively larger than male birds. These birds have strong legs and toes, most helpful to snatch their prey and to slice meat. This peculiarity is helpful for this bird to have dominance over its prey. Besides, these birds are seen in almost all parts of the mainland of North America. [Untitled figure of population distribution of Bald Eagles in North America]. Retrieved November 12, 2013, from: http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i3520id.html The difference between mature and immature birds of this type is visible because immature birds are with black color on their beaks. On the other side, the mature birds do not have any color variation on their beaks because the dominant color is yellow. One can see that, â€Å"Bald eagles are one of the largest raptors, or birds of prey, in North America† (Magby, 2012). These birds belong to sea eagle variety and they build large nests on tall trees. In addition, this bird’s fame is related to its status as the national bird, within the context of US. Habitat: The main habitat of this bird variety is wetlands, including coastal areas, riverbanks, large lakes, and other type of large water bodies. One can see that this bird selects these areas as main habitat because sustenance and reproduction are important. To be specific, these birds build their nests on tall trees near to water bodies, including wetlands. Besides, abundance of fish variety in wetlands attracts this bird variety to these areas. On the other side, these birds never provide any special importance to tree species. Instead, almost all tall trees are used for nesting purpose, disregarding species. Besides, these birds provide ample importance