Strategic Analysis: Organizational & Competitive
CarlsonMJ
carlsonm_m2_a2.docxRunning head: WALMART CORPORATION 1
WALMART CORPORATION 4
Walmart Corporation
Name: Michael Carlson
Course: Bus480
Institution: Argosy University Online
Date: Dec 23, 2015
Walmart Corporation
Walmart is one of the largest retail company in the world serving various markets at a global level. Its headquarters are in Arkansas in the United States and it runs a chain of stores all over the world. The web address of Walmart is given as http://corporate.walmart.com/. Just like any other company, Walmart has put into place some organizational strategies to allow it survive in the market. One of those strategies include getting rid of those brands that do not perform well from their shelves so as to reduce storage costs. Selling its products at affordable price to its customers is also one of the company’s strategy. This has made it to take a lead on price as it sell products at a relatively lower price. The ability to build a strong brand name for the products it provides to its customers has also enabled the company to stay ahead of its competitors (Ferrell & Hartline, 2012). Apart from leading on price, it invests in various areas to differentiate its products from its rivals. Furthermore, the company has widen it marketing strategies including the finances allocated for marketing operations.
Walmart Inc. is engaged in diverse business investments which include retailing and other services. Its revenues are generated from the sale of retail products and services like financial, wireless, photo lab and pharmacy which define its business model. The company provides its customers with various retail products and services which include household retail products, wireless, pharmacy, photo lab and financial services as some of its primary products and services. The retail industry has revolutionized to integrate a diverse array of strategies and new players. Despite Walmart’s dominance in the industry, it faces competition from numerous other companies like Target. However, Walmart has struggled to counteract deficiencies from its business strategies through market exploration (Meeks & Chen, 2011). The corporation has expanded and established new retail stores in various regions to increase its sphere of influence in the market.
There are numerous sources where information about this particular corporation can be found. The most basic source is the company website already highlighted above. In this online platform, the company offers background information on its main business and corporate strategies. Additionally, the company offers its mission and vision statements as well as current initiatives. Secondly, information about this corporation can be found in strategic evaluations in which the competitive structure in the industry is evaluated to establish the main players and the shares they have in the market. In such a strategic compilation, all the players in the retail industry will compared on the basis of their net worth, financial stability, organizational and business strategies as well as shares in the market among other elements (Brinkerhoff, 2006). Thirdly, the company also avails its audit and background information as a publicly traded company to offer explanations on the continuity and progress of the company to its stakeholders. For instance, the company can publish the recipe it uses for its production process or more information about a new product to help its consumers gain a better understanding of the product.
In conclusion, the choice of this company is guided by its dominance in the retail industry as well as the success it has recorded over the last two decades. Elements like technology and consumer preferences have greatly revolutionized most business industries, Walmart I one of the corporations that have strived to live up to such changes in the market. The company utilizes unique business and organizational strategies to compete favorably with its competitors and further maintain an organizational identity to support its branding. Its choice is therefore that of a corporation that exhibits a perfect mix of the integral ingredients that define corporate success in the global business environment.
References
Brinkerhoff, R. O. (2006). Increasing impact of training investments: an evaluation strategy for building organizational learning capability. Industrial and Commercial Training, 38(6), 302-307.
Ferrell, O. C., & Hartline, M. (2012). Marketing strategy, text and cases. Cengage Learning.
Meeks, M., & Chen, R. J. (2011). Can Walmart integrate values with value?: from sustainability to sustainable business. Journal of Sustainable Development, 4(5), p62.
