Managing Information Technology

Week TWO – Case Study:

CVS Pharmacy

1) Did you notice the changes to the information system in this process improvement? No? That is because there are no changes to the information system reported. What does that detail along with your own experience in process improvements tell you about the relationship between IS and process improvements? What about the role of IS in process improvements?

Process improvements and Information Systems are almost always inter-related. Typically, improvements are initiated because there is a need for better efficiency or some other improvement in the process. People get together, have meetings, brainstorm and try to identify methods to address the problem. Once a plausible solution is found the group will identify the action items needed to accomplish the implementation. This is the time many projects reach the IT department. A solution has been identified and there are a set of requirements passed off to IT to work within the limits set by people who probable know little about how information systems work.

Now the specific information system technicians will have to look at the requirements and then identify possible ways to accomplish the task working within the requirements given as well as the individual system requirements. They have effectively been removed an entire layer from the problems solving. They now have a more complex problem to solve with little or no contextual information about what is really needed and why. That is where the problem with this method of interaction lays.

The role IS must take is to be part of the initial problem solving phase. Once the problem or inefficiency is identified, all stakeholders (especially IS) need to make sure that they have identified the root cause of the problem then work through possible solutions (Nickols). By getting the input on the front end, organizations can make sure that any hurdles for implementation are dealt with before the final solution is made. The IT perspective may be able to show shortcuts to improvements that could accomplish the same tasks in a much more efficient manner. This early involvement should remove the added layer of solution finding and increase the contextual data to support a solution that fully encompasses the problem. Solutions can be more quickly implemented because with the improved methodology IT can help steer the final solutions to an information systems friendly end that takes fewer man-hours to resolve (Kemp, p83).

2) Sometimes an IS defines or is the process. Consider an online purchase at Amazon. It would be difficult to separate the process of purchasing from the IS (browser and Web pages) used to make the purchase. How might your thoughts and analysis of #1 above change when you consider the situations where the IS defines the process.

Much of what information systems are used for has been to reduce the manual labor needed to accomplish a specific task. For example the word processor that I am currently using was first developed to reduce the amount of “re-typing” work that needed to be done on documents. Now almost all activities that we participate in throughout our day have some IS involved with them. So for IS process improvements the reasoning is different than with other process improvements. When IS processes need to change it may be for many reasons like improved security, more (or less) integration, adding additional automation to processes or just updates.

When these improvements need to be made I would make the case for the inverse of my first argument. Get all stakeholders involved; that is anyone who is using the process. When changes are being devised is the time to find out what is really happening at the point of use. What is working well? What ideas are out there which can improve the process or even simplify it? How can this IT serve the organization and employees better? As mentioned before, early involvement in the planning stages can dramatically improve the effectiveness of the project and get excellent buy-in to support changes.

3) It might seem trivial to distinguish between #1 above (the IS is part of the process) and #2 above (the IS defines the process). However, this distinction is often overlooked in the workplace. Consider processes in which you have been involved and share examples of both types if possible. How does your experience impact your thoughts about the relationship between IS and process improvements and the role of IS in process improvements?

In manufacturing we are in a constant state of change. We are looking to find the most efficient process for turning raw materials (or parts) into products that customers are willing to purchase. Some of the process changes involve assembly sequence of products, now this change is discussed in detail and trials are run to ensure that there are no problems with making the change. Once it is proved out, the documentation (Information system) is modified to reflect the change in process. There are small things that can change the time required to modify documents from 10 minutes to 10 hours. When the specialist is left out of the loop we typically decide on the solution that takes 10 hours. However, if the specialist were included the entire documentation can be modified within 10 minutes and accomplish the same task.

The other example is one I am involved with currently. To speed the process of obtaining the correct documentations my company has decided to implement an additional step. This one step will have to be done once and take an additional 20 seconds. However it will save all production employees 20 minutes to 2 hours each day! In this case the solution was developed before IT had gotten to weigh in. Now the solution is being reviewed by IT and we will make some modifications. Now that the modifications have been identified we have found that there is a much simpler solution. IT came up with an operation that will accomplish the same task improve quality and ensure that the correct revision of the document is being used.

As you may have seen my experience has shown me and probably anyone who has tackled any Information Systems project, that integration with all stake holders to the lowest levels is absolutely instrumental to swift success and complete buy-in.

Kemp, Sid (2004). Project management demystified. New York: McGraw Hill.

Mcaffe, Andrew, F (2006). Pharmacy Service Improvement at CVS (A) Harvard Business School.

Mcaffe, Andrew, F (2006). Pharmacy Service Improvement at CVS (B) Harvard Business School.

Nickols, Fred (2006). Change management: a primer. Distance Consulting. Retrieved June 24, 2008 from: http://home.att.net/~nickols/change.htm

Robey, D., Ross, J.W., & Boudreau, M. (2002). Learning to implement enterprise systems: An exploratory study of the dialectics of change. Journal of Management Information Systems, 19(1), 17-46.

Managing Information Technology

Week One – Case Study:

Information Security Mistakes

1. Managing IS requires learning the terminology and concepts used within the discipline. What significant new terms and concepts associated with IS and security did you discover in this reading, and how would you explain these items to another MBA student?

Information systems and security professionals have their own language and knowledge base. The reading this week was a mere scratch on the surface of all the related terminology and ideology. Although acronyms are a large part of the technical side of IT, this section will focus mainly on important concepts related to the management of systems and helpful insights into IS decisions. The following information was taken from Ed Adams paper, Biggest Information Security Mistakes that Organizations make.

Application Level Vulnerabilities: 70 to 92% of all security risks are associated with the software applications having a weakness that may be exploited (Adams, p3). Some of these weaknesses are known in other applications and should be preventable:

- Cookie Poisoning: A site plants a small information packet onto the user computer to track information and give better usability. Some features a Cookie provide are remembering usernames and passwords, bringing data from previous page (like a shopping cart remembers how many items as you surf from page to page until you are ready to checkout), and remembering data that is entered repeatedly (your zip code). Poisoning is when users (or someone posing as a user) take that information packet (cookie) and modify it. The modifications may change critical data that can open a hole in security which can be abused (de la Brassinne, p2).

- SQL (Structured Query Language) Injection: Most sites that rely on database information use SQL because it is efficient and has been fairly standardized since 1987 (Wikipedia.com). The problem arises when a user can legitimately enter a query but add additional questions that may not be legit. The information that can be ascertained in some instances can have personal information or other proprietary data like competitor pricing or costs. Additionally injection can be used to manipulate data from the outside by unauthorized users (de la Brassinne, p4).

- Cross Site Scripting: This is when scripts (small programs) are written into HTML to run on user machines that may be able to transmit personal data to a third party (de la Brassinne, p7). These scripts work because Browsers are continually running scripts for improved experience on web pages, thus it is just getting another script to run that will mine data from the user’s hard drive and sending it to a person who can use it maliciously.

Scanners: Firewalls are a type of scanner that look at data being transferred and compare it to a set of rules. If it passes the criteria it is allowed to continue on to its destination, if not it is stopped. The problem with scanners is that creating the rules to watch for all potential attacks is nearly impossible (Adams, p5). Rules, no matter how well structured, leave small gaps that can be manipulated or exploited for ill purpose.

Insider Crimes: Adams mentioned a study by the FBI which states that “over 80% of all computer crime was committed by insiders” (p8). Insiders may be employees, contractors, or partners so it is important to keep security high from all sides.

Cost of Poor Design: During software development it is important to have security part of the initial design constraints. It is easier to spend extra time with the requirements than have to go back after release and make a “patch” for a problem and to try to make one that will not negatively affect the other secure aspects of the product.

2. Based on your own work experience, can you identify first-hand real-world examples of the five mistakes. Discuss at least one and include a solution path for correcting the security problem.

Adams list five IS mistakes that are often made by organizations. Following each mistake is an example that I have experienced.

a. Over-relying on Network Defenses: In the company I work for we have over the last few years been pushing to all easier access to files and information to employees who must travel. The passwords for our company have been very weak (for example all passwords were “5555”…in fact the last workstation was changed only a month ago!) Our IT guy has been hassling us to change and would not set up any external access without increasing password strength. The assumption by most of the users in the company was that the firewall would give them enough protection to avoid the inconvenience of more difficult passwords.

b. Believing the Hype of Technology/Tools: In our engineering department we were evaluating a software add-on to the CAD package we use. It promised to improve efficiency and secure data files to ensure only one user was modifying them at a time. In essence it is a virtual data library with “check-out/check-in” features. It was also to help with revision control. After looking at all the features we discovered that we could change one aspect of the current software in the setup area and would be able to accomplish the same objectives. The “hype” about this new product was oversold and was not worth the $6200 per seat to implement it.

c. Making too Many People Assumptions: Several years ago we had an employee using internal documents to solicit interest in himself and other employees for future job offers. This forced the company to change the security features of the sensitive documents which restricted the access of some of the internal staff. Now we are shifting toward a policy of allowing access to the minimum folders and documents needed.

d. Assuming Secure Software is Costly: Actually the president of my company has made a mistake in the opposite direction. His assumption is that “canned” software was very expensive and that the solution was to create our own software. After several bids for custom applications (none of the requirements dealt with security) we decided to go with a “canned” application that had many security features built into it. We were able to get better security for a lower cost because we were capitalizing on the learning effects of others.

e. Falling into the “Recency” Trap: My company was evaluating moving our network from Novell to Microsoft to get better compatibility. Part of the change was switching email clients from GroupWise to Outlook. About three months earlier one of our customers, who uses Outlook, had a virus attack and it brought their network (and most of their business) down for about three days. For that reason alone, we stayed with GroupWise for another two years. This weekend the IT guys are trying the second attempt at migration; earlier this week they failed to have a successful transition.

3. Investigate further one of the real-world examples provided in the reading and discuss some of the details. [Use the Internet and other sources to find out more about one of the examples. Write about what you find.]

As Engineering Manager for a small design and manufacturing company I have dealt with the project management side of things for several years and have seen the importance of doing the work on the front end to eliminate huge amounts of waste long term. One of the mistakes that companies make according to Adams is that “secure software is costly”. The front end cost may be higher than if security was not a high priority from the start, but mistakes are very costly once a product has been released. “[T]he cost of fixing a defect in development was 1/15th the cost of fixing the same defect if it’s found post-deployment” (Adams, p9). The 1:10:100 rule states that if a problem is found in the early development stage it may cost one hour and $200 to fix, but if the same mistake is found during the testing phase it will cost ten hours and $2000 to fix. However, if the same problem makes it through the release phase and is discovered, fixing it will take one hundred hours and $20,000 (Kemp, p31).

Adams, Ed. Biggest Information Security Mistakes that Organizations Make: and How to Avoid Making Them. Retrieved June 12, 2008 from: http://www.issa.org/Downloads/Whitepapers/Biggest-Information-Security-Mistakes_Security-Innovation.pdf

de la Brassinne, Pierre (2002). Web Application Security for managers. SANS Institute, retrieved June 14, 2008 from: http://www.sans.org/reading_room/whitepapers/application/27.php

Kemp, Sid (2004). Project management demystified. New York: McGraw Hill.

Wikipedia.com. SQL. Retrieved June 12, 2008 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQL

International Business

Week Five – Case Study:

Toyota: rise of a global corporation

Preface: I work in a company that has been working toward emulating the Toyota Production System for 3 years. I have been to several conferences and seminars lead by Toyota executives and have read a lot of literature. I will try to reference as much material as possible, but much of my thinking may be common knowledge.

1- Compare lean production to mass production. How is lean superior?

The typical mass production system does everything in large quantities with its main focus for cost reduction based on maximizing economies of scale. To utilize economies of scale large batches of each product are made. This reduces the down time needed to change machines over to start producing the next product. Toyota manufactures everything in small “batches” because they did not have the capital to make parts that would sit in a warehouse until they were needed. They needed the cash to buy more raw materials for the next car to be made. To make this efficient Toyota needed to reduce the time it took to change machines over to the next product. Now they make up to eight distinct vehicles on the same assembly line (BusinessWeek).

The second method that mass production uses is the specializations of assembly workers to do only one job. This is based on the increased efficiency a worker gets after they master a particular job (Hill p.522). Toyota wanted to utilize learning effects as well but also wanted to remove the problems associated with this mind set. They wanted workers to have many jobs to keep their minds engaged and reduce errors associated with autopilot workers. They also educated the workers to do more than just assembly but also quality control, equipment changing and maintenance. .

2- Compare traditional supplier relationship to Toyota. What are the benefits and drawbacks?

American manufacturing companies have typically used the economic principal of competition to keep costs low. They have traditionally given a part out to bid and forced companies to give the lowest possible price. All bids were strictly based on who could provide the lowest price part. Toyota has established relationships with their vendors and work with them in the design to reduce costs. By developing a relationship the risk associated with new business are greatly reduced.

“As a consequence, Toyota’s suppliers have no problem with investing in equipment...that can be used only for meeting Toyota’s orders. Toyota’s reputation for fair dealing translates into lower risk costs thought the supply chain which, in turn, translates into lower production costs for suppliers and lower prices for Toyota’s parts” (McKenzie, p243).

The drawbacks to this type of relationship are that other suppliers may develop a superior technology that may give their competitors an advantage. If Ford, for example, awarded a contract to a new manufacturer to produce wheels to a company that had developed a technology that reduced the cost of wheels by 70%, Ford would then have an edge on Toyota as far as cost or profitability. Toyota works with all of its suppliers to continually reduce costs and has set up information sharing within suppliers to ensure that this scenario is not played out (Hill, p524).

3- What forced the creation of lean? What was unique about Japan as breeding ground for lean?

After WWII Toyota faced many challenges that really created a perfect environment for the creation of a lean productions system. First, Japan and very little capital to invest in anything which forced them to find low cost ways of dealing with the problems associated with producing cars. The money conscious Toyota manufacturers realized they needed to reduce any and all costs even the cost of holding and storing inventory (Liker, p28).

Second, the domestic market for Japan was small and did not allow for them to produce large quantities of one single product (Hill, p522). This made them look for ways to utilize the sunken cost of buildings and equipment. This caused them to develop the ability to change equipment over quickly and produce many different products on the same line. They continue to use this philosophy in the largest automobile market, the US where they can produce up to eight platforms on one line (BusinessWeek).

Third, Toyota was required to use labor much more efficiently because of laws placed on them by the US occupiers (Hill, p522). Now they needed to use as few employees as possible while increasing production. This forced Toyota to cross train workers to do multiple jobs like changing dies, quality inspections as well as assembly (Liker, p39).

Since Japan was already an advanced manufacturing nation before the war they wanted to continue to grow, even internationally. To make that a reality they needed to overcome these three main obstacles and lean is what came out of their efforts. They continue to make improvements and hold to many of the same philosophies that enabled them to become competitive in the restricted market conditions they faced in the 1950’s.

4- Why did Toyota enter NUMMI? How did they benefit?

Toyota was looking at ways to expand manufacturing into the largest market in the world. They had already established the market for their product, but there were some negative implications because they were based in Japan. There was pressure by the US government to limit the number of imported vehicles from Toyota and they wanted to change their global image. One of the questions Toyota executives had was if they could successfully produce a quality car in North America using US workers and suppliers (Hill, p527).

Toyota used NUMMI to understand how to work in the US and what needed to be modified to fit into American culture. Liker states in the forward to The Toyota Way “I witnessed the transformation of a workforce from one of the worst in the General Motors system to one of the best in any manufacturing facility in the United States” (Liker, xi). NUMMI truly showed the Japanese that it was possible to take their methodology to a different culture and be successful.

5- What drove Toyota to expand globally?

Toyota again faced problems with its reputation when becoming a global competitor. Nations where it was selling saw a foreign company taking away profits that should be made by local companies. Some nations required Toyota to manufacture locally to sell into the market, while in other markets they wanted to increase the impressions of the public, like the US. They have branded themselves a North American manufacturer to assure US consumers that buy buying Toyota products they can still support the US economy. In fact Toyota has a domestic content similar to the “Big Three” (cars.com)

6- How much does national culture play in lean?

With the success of it international manufacturing facilities coming close to that of its domestic plants, it can be inferred that the national culture has little to do with the success of Toyota’s Production System (TPS). However, when this issue is looked at more closely I believe it shows that the problem solving culture of Toyota has been able to succeed in spite of the cultural differences. Through problem solving Toyota has been able to make small modifications to what worked in Japan without sacrificing the ideals behind TPS. I heard a story from an executive at Toyota about the first time he went to work in the Japanese Toyota factory:

He had worked at Toyota in Kentucky for five years and was progressing into higher management. They sent him to work on the line in Japan and shortly after he was done being trained he was on his own attaching wheel well liners. His screw gun slipped and he scratched the paint…He thought about it and decided it might not ever get caught because of where it was, but his trainer had told him over and over to stop the line if there was any problem. So he stopped the line by pulling the “andon” chord. His trainer came over and marked the car to be fixed down the line then showed him how to prevent it from happening again. Then at break time all the other workers were talking about him (he could only understand his name because he didn’t speak Japanese) and then they all came over to him and shook his hand and congratulated him for stopping the line and fixing the problem.

In the US mistakes are something we hide, that is cultural. Now Toyota has done some significant brainwashing and really solved the problems of transmitting their culture into factories all over the world.

7- How is Toyota becoming more global? What will this mean for Toyota, long term?

One of the evidences seen in this case that Toyota is becoming more global minded is that they are starting to listen to their global designers about what the local consumers are asking for. The case used the example of the Tundra and the redesigned Prius (Hill, p530). They are using the people who are located in the market to set some of the targets for future products. This is more of the transnational strategy that will allow them to be more successful as they continue to expand and give more control to the local designers and engineers. By having a better understanding of local needs there is less wasted design time or even market surveying. Toyota should have learned their lesson when they first released their minivan into the US market. It failed because the product was designed with the same requirements as the vehicles made for sale in Japan (Hill, p528). Then they went back to the drawing board and four years later they release a new version that did very well. The four years were consumed by engineers driving the minivan all over North America as well as doing surveying from buyers and potential buyers, then a complete redesign (Liker, p229).

BusinessWeek . Can anything stop Toyota? Retrieved June 14, 2008 from http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_46/b3858001_mz001.htm

Cars.com. A closer look at domestic parts content. Retrieved June 14, 2008 from: http://www.cars.com/go/advice/Story.jsp?section=top&story=amMadeParts&subject=ami

Hill, Charles (2008). International Business: competing in the global marketplace, e7. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Liker, Jeffery (2004). Toyota Way. New York: McGraw Hill Professional.

McKenzie and Lee (2006). Microeconomics for MBA's: the economic way of thinking for managers. New York: Cambridge University Press.

International Business

Week Four – Case Study:

Wal-Mart’s Global Expansion

1- How does global expansion benefit Wal-Mart?

The text mentions three benefits that Wal-Mart sees from their global expansion; an increased market of consumers that can add to the profitability of the firm, greater economies of scale and tapping many different cultures for improvement ideas (Hill p443). All three of these benefits add to the value creation of the firm.

Wal-Mart has additionally been able to work directly with suppliers in the nations where they are developing their new markets. According to their website (walmartstores.com) they have been able to develop local suppliers; some for regional supply as in Argentina and some for export and international supply where, in Brazil 1400 families are involved in Producers Club. This Wal-Mart sponsored program works with “small and medium [size] farmers to help commercialize and open new markets for their products. The initiative helps support our communities, provide our customers with more high-quality, local goods at competitive prices, and promote sustainable practices.”

This effort has reduced cost within the Wal-Mart supply chain. At the local level they are able to get fresh goods faster and increase jobs while supporting the communities that they are marketing to. They also reduced the costs associated with shipping. They may still need to truck goods from the farm to the store, but the distance is reduced to one hundred miles from potentially several thousand miles. Secondly, Wal-Mart has reduced the supply chain costs because of the suppliers they are developing in low cost countries. Developing suppliers for their international markets has reduced the cost of goods all over the world that they are able to sell in their retail outlets.

2- What risks do they face when entering international markets? How can these risks be reduced?

Wal-Mart has used joint venture partnerships when entering new global markets. Once they become comfortable in that market they turn to a fully owned subsidiary or acquisition based program and then start to build green field ventures. This seems to be a relatively conservative strategy, however the speed at which they proceed through the process is “pressing-hard” even according to Wal-Mart executives (Home Textiles). Based on this strategy there are many risks.

Although partnerships are relatively low in capital cost, Wal-Mart may not be able to have the control needed to ensure that their partner does not steal core technology used in supply chain management (Hill p.444). The second problem that may arise from joint ventures is that conflict may prevent critical information being related to corporate decision makers (Hill p.500). Because Wal-Mart is depending on gaining this information to move to the next step, there is significant risk of making bad future decisions based on faulty information.

Some ways to mitigate the risk of joint ventures is to ensure the information collected is accurate with external sources. This would increase the time needed before Wal-Mart was ready to extend to the next part of the plan, gaining larger share of partners and acquisitions. If decisions were based on correct information that has been verified, Wal-Mart could improve the success of its future ventures.

Acquisitions are very capital intensive, but Wal-Mart has used acquisitions to gain fast market share in foreign countries. Once they become comfortable with the joint ventures they rapidly start to acquire national chains which give them an immediate market presents. The risks associated with this strategy are many. There is a difference of culture that must be overcome, as well as imperfect information prior to the acquisition. The largest problems are what face all acquisitions, which are typically only 17% successful (Hill p.504). Some of the reasons for the low success rate are tensions between the acquired firm and the acquiring organization. This tension may be caused by cultural differences or pay discrepancies between companies. Poor planning is among the top reasons for the failures. Managers typically overestimate the ability of the combination to reduce cost from efficiency gains. They may also find out only too late that the company acquired has large financial problems.

Some of these acquisition pitfalls may be avoided if top managers do their homework to avoid overpayment. Careful analysis of profitability, market and hidden problems is the first step. Some of this may be accomplished if Wal-Mart is able to get good information from the partners. Next it is important to understand the culture of the firm to be acquired, finding a close fit will prevent high management turnover as well as cultural clash which can be very costly to replace. This cultural clash may be hard to avoid when the target for acquisitions are very specific. Wal-Mart typically acquires companies that already have a large market presence. This criteria really narrows the possibilities and there are surely other criteria that shrinks the candidates further.

3- Why did they enter Mexico as a joint venture? Why did they later purchase their partner?

As discussed previously, joint ventures gave Wal-Mart some distinct advantages including market knowledge, shared capital costs and having some basic infrastructure in place (Hill p.499). With Cifra, Wal-Mart was able to gain a better understanding of the Mexican market and develop a strategy to open its own brand of stores (Bnet). The costs and risks of the expansion into Mexico were shared between the partners, which increased the attractiveness of the joint venture.

In 1997 Wal-Mart purchased stock that brought their stake in Cifra to 51%, which gave them a controlling interest. This takeover followed shortly after the 1995 peso devaluation which was “’a valuable learning experience for Wal-Mart as we learn how to manage our business in such an environment,’ according to the company's 1998 annual report” (Bnet). The poor economy may have been one of the reasons they decided to take control of their partner. This would give them more control in the decisions and removed some of the conflict in strategic planning.

This decision was correct and along with other strategic decisions they have become Mexico’s’ largest retailer (CorpWatch). Actually, Wal-Mart is the world’s largest retailer. In fact when the sales of the next three largest retailers in the world are added together, Wal-Mart is still on top (BusinessWeek).

4- What type of strategy is Wal-Mart pursuing? Does that make sense? Why?

Initially Wal-Mart was pursuing a “global standardization” strategy especially in its first several placements into the Mexican market. With many problems forcing the American Wal-Mart to work in Mexico, they realized that a better strategy was the “transnational” (Hill p.443). The transnational strategy allows companies to gain from the economies of scale from international growth, but also gives the firm the flexibility to change operations to work in the global locations. This flexibility also allows profitable ideas from different parts of the world to be focused back to all other locations and provide profit growth throughout the firm.

Even though Wal-Mart still uses the main idea of a large discount retail organization, they are able to meet the market expectations. They have also been able to use the same supply chain efficiencies developed in the US to drive prices down in every retail outlet throughout the world (walmartstores.com).

Bnet. A partnership for the long-haul: Wal-Mart’s involvement in Mexico. Retrieved June 7, 2008 from: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3092/is_1999_Oct/ai_57578926

BusinessWeek. Some uncomfortable findings for Wal-Mart. Retrieved June 6, 2008 from: http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/oct2005/nf20051026_8916_db016.htm

Corp Watch. Mexico: Wal-Mart Invades. Retrieved June 7, 2008 form: http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=9369

Hill, Charles (2008). International Business: competing in the global marketplace, e7. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Home Textiles. Think long, think global, Wal-Mart tells investors. Retrieved June 7, 2008 from: http://www.hometextilestoday.com/article/CA6493701.html

Walmartstores.com, Fact Sheets. Retrieved June 6, 2008 from: http://walmartstores.com/FactsNews/FactSheets/ (Argentina & Brazil).