Wal-Mart: IT Inside the World’s Biggest Company

Wal-Mart has a competitive advantage over their competition because of their unique philosophy in addition to how they utilize their information system personnel: “The first philosophy is to run a centralized information system for our operations all over the world, and we run that from Arkansas. The second is to have common systems and common platforms. The third is to be merchants first and technologists second. Also, in any development effort, our information system personnel are expected to get out and do the function before they do the system specification, design or change analysis. The key there is to do the function, not just observe it.  So we actually insert them into the business roles”

1. Is Wal-Mart’s use of their information system the reason why they are the number one retailer?

2.  Without their information system and knowledgeable IS personnel could Wal-Mart be a competitor in the retail industry?

3.  Has the manner in which Wal-Mart has implanted there IS improved their value chain?