Project Deliverable 5: Capstone Final Project and Presentation

Strategy Development

Name

University

Case: Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Strategy

Strategy refers to a course of action that needs to be followed for the interest of achieving various goals and objectives (Erica, 2011). Organizations usually have various goals that should be met. For this to be achieved, they need a strategy. The definition of strategy fits Wal-Mart and its situation because the company always has a course action in place. Wal-Mart believes that through the implementation of relevant strategies, it can achieve its goals and objectives in the most effective and efficient manner.

Main strategies

Wal-Mart believes that its success revolves around customers and employees; its main strategies are concentrated on the welfare of the customers and employees. One of the strategies is focused on ensuring the customers are satisfied by the quality of products and services that they receive. Another main strategy is related to employees and most specifically, job satisfaction. The company makes sure that employees are comfortable and satisfied so that they can do their best. Comfortable employees are self-motivated and more productive.

Industry and competitors

Wal-Mart operates in the retail industry. It is a business organization whose major purpose is to sell products to final consumers; it creates the link between manufacturers of different products and the final consumers. Amazon and Netflix are among the top competitors of Wal-Mart because they operate in the same industry and target the same market.

The competitors make use of a range of strategies to beat Wal-Mart in the market. The strategy that Amazon uses is the wide range of products. This strategy basically refers to availing as many products as possible in different categories to make sure that customers do not lack anything that they need. This leads to customer satisfaction in some way because the customers always find what they look for. The strategy that Netflix uses is speed. The company ensures that customers get goods delivered to them as soon as they make orders. This strategy is intended to enable the business in reducing the time that customers would otherwise have to wait before the products they ordered are delivered to them.

The selected strategies are effective because they are enabling the competitors to achieve their goals and objectives. A strategy is successful if it is able to meet the purpose for which it was established (Freeman, 2010). The success of the strategies is piling more pressure on Wal-Mart.

Industry analysis and current organization standing

The retail industry is among the most competitive industries given the number of businesses involved. Despite this, Wal-Mart is holding on to the lead as a result of its strategies, resources, and capabilities. The company has a team of competent managers that have ensured success despite the stiff competition.

Performance goals

When a business is established, its major purpose is to grow from one level to another. To achieve this, performance goals are usually set and they determine whether or not the business is growing on not depending on their level of achievement.

In the next one year, Wal-Mart has three specific goals that should be achieved. The first goal is an improvement in customer service. The company understands that customers are important assets that should be focused on. Improvement of service provision to them is necessary. Better customer service makes the customers feel important to business and they will remain loyal because they like the services provided to them. The second goal is employee satisfaction. In the next one year, the company intends to improve the overall conditions under which employees work. This is intended to boost job satisfaction as well as performance. Better working conditions improve the level of employee satisfaction. The last performance goal in the next one year by Wal-Mart is to ensure that there is a remarkable improvement in terms of sales. To achieve this, the business intends to boost its marketing so that it creates awareness and demand for the different products that it offers. Through this, sales will be more frequent and there will be more revenues realized (Adekola & Sergi, 2012).

One of the goals of Wal-Mart in the next 5 years is the achievement of corporate social responsibility. The business intends to expand its services to the surrounding communities by enabling them to meet their objectives. This will also be achieved through the application of environmentally friendly strategies. The second goal is to build a positive organizational culture. This is intended to boost the overall performance of the business. The last goal for Wal-Mart in the next five years is about brand recognition. The business intends to boost the recognition of its brand across the world especially in the most remote areas in which it is not yet present.

References

Adekola, A. & Sergi, B. (2012). Global Business Management: A Cross-Cultural Perspective. Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing.

Erica, O. (2011). Strategic Planning. Indianapolis: Wiley Publishing.

Freeman, E. (2010). Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.