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Walmart and Carrefour experiences in China: resolving the structural paradox by Ming‐Ling Chuang; James J. Donegan; Michele W. Ganon; Kan Wei is a scholarly article available to read on EtoBox.

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## Purpose The purpose of this paper is to combine secondary sources and interviews with Chinese suppliers to explore the structural paradox faced by retail multinational firms in China as they balance the competing demands of standardization and localization. The authors describe the challenges faced by two retail giants, Walmart and Carrefour, as they attempt to replicate in China their lean retailing successes elsewhere in the world. ## Design/methodology/approach This is a comparative study of Walmart's and Carrefour's ventures into the Chinese market, largely based on publicly available secondary sources, but also incorporating interviews with three Chinese nationals engaged in supplying these firms. ## Findings Walmart and Carrefour have so far failed to extend their oligopolistic dominance to the Chinese market. Walmart has stressed its well‐known standardization of operations, whereas Carrefour has better adapted to the Chinese economic culture. Issues identified are: the formation of partnership alliances and their impact on store location choice; the effect of under‐developed infrastructure on distribution and logistics; the unique Chinese business culture – guanxi (using

Author

Ming‐Ling Chuang; James J. Donegan; Michele W. Ganon; Kan Wei

Publisher

Emerald

Published

2011

Language

EN