Wal-Mart’s Mid-Life Crisis Case Study

• • Maich, S. (2004). Wal-Mart’s mid-life crisis. Maclean’s,
    117(34), 45.

  Include responses to the following questions in
  your analysis:

  • Is it “mid-life crisis” or “mid-life laziness” that this article
    communicates about Wal-Mart’s marketing? Did management “ lose its way” and
    forget the concepts and tenets that made the company successful?
  • How might Wal-Mart use holistic marketing to address its mid-life crisis?
  • Match the facts of this case (poor growth by Wal-Mart, etc.) to the
    appropriate marketing management tasks. Can you see a relationship between
    Wal-Mart’s symptoms and how well marketing management performed its tasks? Why
    or why not?

  Write your case analysis in a 3–5 page Word document. Be sure to proofread your
  work before submitting it.

• APA Format

• Cover Page

• Reference Page

• No list or bulleted items

• Include Headers

General Instructions for Case Studies

A case study is a short description of a real business situation. Analyzing case studies gives you the opportunity to apply those concepts to real business problems. Cases are generally written for several types of analysis. Usually, there is not a “right or wrong” answer. Rather, cases provide a vehicle for you to demonstrate your understanding and ability to apply course concepts. You must use appropriate sources (properly cited) to support your position. Check your analysis by assessing how well it demonstrates your subject knowledge. If your answer relies on your impressions of the topic prior to taking this course, it is likely that the analysis is not your best effort.

Simply answering the questions which are part of the case is not enough; consider the questions to be clues to the important concepts and facts. You are strongly encouraged to use the following outline so that your analysis is organized appropriately:

1.Identify both the key issues and the underlying issues. In identifying the issues, you should be able to connect them to the business principles which apply to this situation.

2.Discuss the facts which affect these issues. The case may have too much information. In your discussion, you should filter the information and discuss those facts which are pertinent to the issues identified above.

3.Discuss your tentative solution to the problem and how you would implement your solution. What actions would you propose to correct the situation, based on the knowledge you have gained in this course? Be sure to support your recommendation by citing references in the text and in the supplementary readings. You should also draw on other references such as business periodicals and relevant journals. Remember that an ANALYSIS is more than simply a SUMMARY of the Case Study.

4.Discuss follow-up and contingency plans. How will the organization know that your proposed solution is working? What should they do if it does not work?

It may be helpful for you to “role-play” this assignment. Your presentation should cover the points listed above. By “role-playing” the situation, using the questions at the end of the case as hints, and by using this guide, you should be able to develop an action-oriented analysis with a recommended course of action.

Your analysis of each case study should be a minimum of 4 pages and written in APA format.

Evaluation Criteria:

• Have you identified the critical issues/problems in the case and analyzed the key facts related to the issues/problems?

• Have you discussed a tentative solution that addresses the issues/problems and how you would implement your solution?

• Is information from the textbook and other sources integrated into your