On a recent flight, you sat next to Mr. Mike Duke, the former CEO of Walmart, who is a Georgia Tech alumnus. Your conversation dealt with the impact of social networks on big box retailers. You mention that you studied social networks in your GEMBA program at Georgia Tech.
Walmart has been in business since 1962. Note that in the 2013 financial year Walmart's international sales were about $136 Billion out of total sales of nearly $473 Billion.
Mike Duke wants you to build a business case for investing in social networking technology at Walmart.
a) Please discuss two uses of social networking at Walmart.
b) Please list the tangible & intangible benefits and costs as you build the case for investing in social networking at Walmart.
c) Which justification technique - Discounted Cash Flow, or a Scoring Method, or Strategic Analysis, would you use to justify the investments that Walmart should make in social networking. Why?