Company Profile

Company: Walmart

Key Facts:
 Founded in 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas, USA by Sam Walton. Today Walmart’s
headquarters are in Bentonville, Arkansas, USA.
 Walmart’s ~11,500 stores produce ~$482 billion.
 Each week roughly 260 million customers visit a Walmart, one of Walmart’s e-
commerce sites, or one of their 72 brands.
 Walmart employs 2.2 million people all over the world.

Relevant Details:
 In 2014, Walmart said, “Our goal is to be the number one health-care provider in the
industry. And the more we broaden our assortment, the more we broaden our offering,
the more we educate the customer Walmart is a great place to create a one-stop shop.”
 Over the past decade, Walmart has made deliberate steps to enter healthcare. Here are
some of their new initiatives:
o Prescription program: Walmart has decreased the cost of medicine for many
customers by offering prescriptions for $4.
o Primary care facilities: Walmart offers its customers healthcare visits for just $40
per visit.
o Simple-service clinics: These in-store clinics allow customers to conveniently get
prescriptions for simple illnesses. Visits are priced low at $40 per visit.
o Healthcare coverage consulting: Labeed Diab, President of Walmart’s US Health
and Wellness Group said, “For years, our customers have told us that there is
too much complexity when it comes to understanding their health insurance
options.” Walmart is filling this need by providing in-store consultants.
 In each of the above strategies, Walmart has leveraged their brand and store network in
order to provide a “one-stop shop.”

The following readings were referenced to create the above bullet points. These links may be
helpful to you as you begin your final paper:
 http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2014/10/walmart_and_health_care
_partnership_with_directhealth_com.html
 http://corporate.walmart.com/our-story
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walmart
 http://time.com/money/3475187/buy-health-insurance-walmart/
 http://revenuesandprofits.com/how-walmart-is-disrupting-healthcare-2/
 http://www.forbes.com/sites/dandiamond/2014/10/06/walmart-announces-ambitious-
goal-to-be-the-number-one-healthcare-provider/#2a793f8a38a2
Company Profile

Company: Tesla & Global Electric Motorcars (GEM)

Key Facts:
Tesla
 Tesla was founded in 2003 in Silicon Valley with a mission “to accelerate the world’s
transition to sustainable transport.”
 To date, all of Tesla’s vehicles are high-end products, generally priced at over $70K. A
single charge of these vehicles typically lasts over 200 miles. A Tesla’s top speed is over
100 MPH.
 Tesla has sold over 50,000 vehicles.
Global Electric Motorcars (GEM)
 GEM was founded in 1992 by former General Motor’s engineers.
 GEM vehicles are street legal in most states in areas where the speed limit is 35 MPH or
less. To be street legal, a vehicle must have safety belts, safety glass, headlamps, and
wipers.
 A GEM vehicle has a top speed of 25 MPH and typically holds a charge for up to 98
miles.
 GEM has sold over 50,000 vehicles and they cost $16K - $32K.

Relevant Details:
 The sustainable automotive industry has faced four main challenges:
o The range of batteries
o The time required to charge batteries
o Finding locations to charge batteries and
o The cost and inconvenience to replace batteries every few years.
 Tesla’s strategy has been to initially cater to the industry’s most profitable customers at
the high-end of the market. They are now trying to work their way down market by
introducing more affordable cars.
 GEM positions itself as “more comfortable and safe than a golf cart and more
maneuverable, cost-efficient and sustainable than a van or truck.”

The following readings were referenced to create the above bullet points. These links may be
helpful to you as you begin your final paper:
 https://hbr.org/2015/09/piecing-together-the-tesla-strategy-puzzle
 http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/26/bmw-vs-tesla-is-a-real-live-innovators-dilemma-
battle/
 http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/06/01/why-bmw-will-leave-tesla-in-the-
dust.aspx
 http://www.polaris.com/en-us/gem-electric-car
 http://www.gemcarpartsdirect.com/blog/the-history-of-gem-cars/