Wal-mart_Brazil

Wal-mart Brazil Wal-Mart Operations in Brazil Professor Masaaki Kotabe of The University of Texas at Austin Graduate School of Business and Kleber G. de Godoy and Moacir Salzstein of Fundação Getúlio Vargas, São Paulo, Brazil, prepared this case as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective management of a situation described, 1997. Copyright © 1997 by Masaaki Kotabe Introduction In September 1994, Brazil was experiencing a new thrust in its economy. After several years of hyperinflation, the "Real Plan", implemented in March, 1994, an economic stabilization program that indexed the Brazilian currency to the U.S. dollar, began to reduce inflation to reasonable levels. In February 1994, a monthly inflation rate was 40%, whereas by September it was a relatively low 3%. Lower inflation rates would help improve the purchasing power, particularly of the lower socioeconomic segment of the population. The optimistic scenario encouraged many foreign companies to make new investments in Brazil. If Brazil is the leading economy in Latin America, with a population of more than 150 million, why not invest there, now that a better business horizon lies ahead in this continental country' Wal-Mart Stores, the world leader in retailing, announced on May 9, wal-mart, stores, brazil, company, brazilian, store, us$, sales, market, billion, products, one, companies, very, sam's, customers, club, been, total, supercenters, opened, local, five, first, exhibit, strategy, prices, million, low, lojas, leading, largest, expansion, different, 1995