Will Wal-Mart get its tech groove back?

Wal-Mart is largely credited with pioneering the role of IT as a means for streamlining global retail industry supply chains. Not too long ago, the company was garnering headlines in all of the business and technology publications for these efforts. But in more recent years, IT has played less than a starring role in the firm's operations. The company's once vaulted international expansion plans have not yielded the expected results, and have prompted the company to close facilities in Korea and Germany (The German withdrawal resulted in a $1 billion loss). The reason: an inability to adapt to the local cultures and unseat established players. Analysts also point to poor customer service systems in the U.S., merchandising missteps and setbacks in the company's online initiative. Investments in the deployment of radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags throughout its supply chain have also failed to pan out. 

For all the details:
- read the hard-hitting article in CIO