Jeffery Whippo Talks about the Failures Kmart Witnessed During Its Battle with Wal-Mart

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Jeffery Whippo Talks about the Failures Kmart
Witnessed During Its Battle with Wal-Mart
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Jeffery Whippo Says That CEO Arrogance May Have
Made a Bigger Difference than Strategy during the
Kmart vs. Wal-Mart Battle

• Well-known business professional Jeffery Whippo
  believes that a lot of the failures that Kmart
  witnessed during its battle with Wal-Mart were
  due to the attitude of their CEO, Joseph
  Antonini.
• He describes how Antonini, having climbed through
  the Kmart ranks to his position of CEO felt that
  he had all of the answers.
• The CEO made it a point to not hire from outside
  of Kmart for management level positions because
  he did not want anyone coming into the company
  and challenging his decisions.

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Heres What Happened When the Battle between
Kmart and Wal-Mart Was in Full Force

• Jeffery Whippo elaborates that when the battle
  between Kmart and Wal-Mart was in full force,
  Antonini narrow-mindedly looked only to his
  strengths, which were marketing and
  merchandising, and focused predominantly in only
  these two areas in terms of strategy.
• In contrast, Sam Walton surrounded himself with
  people that were smarter than him and looked to
  them for suggestions.
• Jeffery suggests that while Kmart focused on
  marketing, Wal-Mart focused on operations.
• Walton invested millions of dollars in computer
  systems to link the stores to headquarters which
  allowed Wal-Mart to quickly restock shelves.

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The Different Approaches of the CEOs of Kmart
and Wal-Mart

• According to Jeff Whippo, early on in the battle
  between Kmart and Wal-Mart, the latter focused on
  controlling costs through the innovations of
  their supply chain.
• Moreover, while Kmarts CEO, Mr. Antonini, chose
  to follow the classic textbook approach to
  marketing and merchandising, Mr. Walton looked to
  focus on process and organizational practice.

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Wal-Mart Focused On What Customers Want and That
Is Low Prices

• Additionally, Jeff Whippo indicates that while
  Kmart focused on private labels, Walmart focused
  on what the customer is asking for, and that is
  low prices.
• Customers know that they will save money by
  shopping at Wal-Mart and that is a key
  differentiator when looking at competitive
  differentiators of Kmart and Wal-Mart.

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Thank YouJeffery Whippo