23
CASE 10 Home Depot: Opportunities and Challenges in China
Synopsis: Home Depot failed in its expansion to China once before, but things have changed and
so has their approach. A decade later, Home Depot is reconsidering the market in order
to regain first mover advantage.
Discussion Questions
1. Discuss the elements of adaptability and global culture as they relate to successful global
retailing. How should Home Depot adapt its business model and marketing strategy for
succes
inadequate or in
Home Depot demonstrated such inadequacy when the company moved to implement its do-it-
yourself (DIY) model in China. The company has been intrinsically and outwardly tailored to the
Students can offer a variety of examples for how Home Depot can tailor its retail strategy above
and beyond the following:
Dense populations in city regions result in smaller living spaces appliances can be
adapted through size reduction and increased versatility.
2. Perform a SWOT analysis to determine whether or not Home Depot should reenter the
Chinese market. Exhibit 5-5, Indicators of the Potential, Support, and Risk in
International Markets should be useful for pinpointing some of the issues to consider
in your SWOT.
Case Synopsis, Uses, Discussion Questions, and Answers
24
INTERNAL ELEMENTS
Strengths
ady consists of products and services that are in high
demand in China due to increased residential development following deregulation of the housing
Weaknesses
in China. The services facet geared towards DIFM is still developing, and challenges of quality
EXTERNAL ELEMENTS s
Opportunities
including elements of country support and potential. Some examples offered in the case include:
-class populations offer an
expansive and opportunistic market.
Rising per-capita income in the coastal regions offers identifiable geographically
Case Synopsis, Uses, Discussion Questions, and Answers
Threats
discussion. Some specific examples discussed in the case include the following:
Cultural barriers views on manual labor: Manual labor is associated with lower-income
classes and has a negative connotation in Chinese culture.
Social class structures role division, Confucian ideologies: Members of social classes
Back to cases