Wal-Mart was founded in 1962 by Sam Walton (1). Wal-Mart grew to two hundred and seventy-six stores in its first decade of business (1). Wal-Mart's plan was to sell low-cost products while providing exceptional customer service and relationships (1). Wal-Mart also felt that it could target more customers if it offered convenient store hours (1). Wal-Mart currently operates in fifteen countries around the world, serving different needs, preferences, and services based on local retail habits (2). By serving each geographic location in its own way and meeting the needs of a particular area, they seem to be very successful (2). Wal-Mart adjusts and adapts to the local culture and serves the community in a way that customers are accustomed to (2). Wal-Mart typically enters a foreign country by purchasing an existing chain and simply changing the name to Wal-Mart while retaining key personnel such as management who are already familiar with the culture (2). Wal-Mart spends a lot of time researching and planning before entering a new market. It sometimes takes years to open up to a new market abroad (Course notes). They first try to learn the culture, language and habits of citizens of a certain culture. Then they study the products that seem to work well in each region and try to target those products for those low-cost crops around the world (lecture notes). Over the past two decades, Wal-Mart has taken advantage of the technological advances of the Internet to change the way many companies do business around the world (3). Wal-Mart's sheer size allows the company to buy in bulk at lower prices, which allows it to benefit from the discounted retail prices given to customers (3). Wal-Mart is able to purchase all products in large quantities, and in return, its supplier reduces some of the costs due to the quantity of products sold. Wal-Mart has excellent marketing and management plans before entering a market that allows the company to be very successful in many different countries and cultures (3). Wal-Mart has also been instrumental in helping manufacturers realize the benefits of customer satisfaction through quality (3). For all of Wal-Mart's international success, they also learned valuable lessons, primarily in South Korea and probably the biggest debacle of all, Germany (Class Notes). When Wal-Mart initially decided to expand into Germany in 1997, the potential for success seemed very promising (4). The company entered the German market by purchasing "Wertzkauf" which included twenty-one sites. (4).