Choose the two (2) segments of the general environment that would rank highest in their influence on the corporation you chose. Assess how these segments affect the corporation you chose and the industry in which it operates.
Sam Walton and his brother opened there first Wal-Mart store in Rogers, Arkansas. After operating for a while, the store was incorporated as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Wal-Mart has created competition and value which is sustainable for the business to attain a great number of profit levels at the utmost capacity ( Cramer, 2005) . Wal-Mart has established itself to be one of the largest companies in the world and not only in retail, but they also can gain and continue to be uppermost in the retail market. The strong brand image of Walmart together with the ability to convey to the other retail rivals that they lead has helped to cement Walmart’s position as the best retail company, therefore, attracting many customers. In the US alone, the firm has Sam’s Club warehouses, Neighborhood Markets, Supercenters, and discount stores.
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Moreover, Wal-Mart has expanded to international markets. The company offers their clients with wide-ranging kinds of retail products, and their main aim is low prices on food, appliances, furniture, apparel and many more ( Kalra, 2005) . Walmart is committed to maintaining the basics in value for customer service.
The two segment of the general environment that is highly ranked in Wal-Mart are economics and technology. These two segments have immensely impacted Wal-Mart Incorporation. For Wal-Mart Inc to continues its present direction of success there are two obstacles which are required to be addressed to stay competitive. Whereas Wal-Mart has grown to depict expansion over a notable portion of the international market, it has locations which are secured such as Canada, Brazil, Argentina, and Europe ( Marr, 2017) . The competitors of Wal-Mart are trying to find ways they can gain grounds in other countries and provide competition to Wal-Mart.
It is observable that instead of Wal-Mart increasing its inventory in one store, it would open another store near to the existing one ( Cramer, 2005) . This activity has caused Wal-Mart to face shortages of weekend sales ad decrease in the quality of the product they avail to their clients.
Wal-Mart has faced some issues with flexibility. Since Wal-Mart sells a broad variety of products, they are not in a position to maintain focus on what their competitors sell ( Cramer, 2005) . Their competitors can change their products easily to meet the demands of its clients
Similar to any business, Wal-Mart should examine their progress by utilising SWOT analysis which highlights the opportunities, weakness and strengths of the firm to be exposed ( Kalra, 2005) . Wal-Mart has created a huge impact on the retail industries, and through particular innovative ventures, Wal-Mart can fulfil the wants or expectation of its clients despite the alteration which is being experienced in the e-commerce world.
Considering the five (5) forces of competition, choose the two (2) that you estimate are the most significant for the corporation you chose. Evaluate how well the company has addressed these two (2) forces in the recent past.
Out of the five competition, the two most significant forces of competition that Wal-Mart faces is their bargaining power to their client and competitive rivalry. Recently, Walmart introduced “Neighborhood Markets”, but because of the increase in prices of produce, dairy and meat, sales experienced in these stores are down ( Kalra, 2005) . Walmart came with this kind of stores so that it could offer competition to stores such as Kroger, and Publix. Unfortunately, this is deemed not sufficient because Wal-Mart continues to see an upsurge in sales of its rival ( Cramer, 2005) . Usually, clients are always looking for better deals from what the present stakeholders are offering it, Amazon is leading and Wal-Mart and is presently investing into e-commerce so that it may mirror the delivery subscription of Amazon Prime which many people in the United States or the rest of the world prefer using.
With the same two (2) forces in mind, predict what the company might do to improve its ability to address these forces shortly.
It is in the best interest of Wal-Mart to go back to the basics and focus on what their clients require and desire to give. Walmart can overcome its competitors by addressing all the issues that their customers feel and offer more variety of products while maintaining their low prices below their rivals ( Marr, 2017) . The company has depicted its weakness to the client in the event of a product recall. This incident only happens if the products that were dispatched to the Wal-Mart stores are of low quality and endangers human consumptions. The product recall could be done for a particular product or the whole line of products to the selling corporation for precise explanations ( Kalra, 2005) . This eventuality could weaken the company by causing the firm noteworthy valued funding considering the legal liabilities which Wal-Mart should are in regards to the damages for withdrawing the product during the recall. Depending on the significance of external environment, they have no regulation on negative circumstances which impact on the general proceedings of Wal-Mart Inc.
Assess the external threats affecting this corporation and the opportunities available to the corporation. Give your opinions on how the corporation should deal with the most serious threat and the greatest opportunity. Justify your answer.
The largest external threat which affects Wal-Mart is a heavy competitor company by the name of Dollar General. This rival company has managed to open close to seven hundred stores in a region where big giants such as Walmart is not supported. Also, the discounted merchandise that Dollar General retail store offer is a threat to the Wal-Mart ( Marr, 2017) . The discount offered by Dollar General is more appealing compared to those offered by Wal-Mart since it is they are much low. This offer has immensely affected Wal-Mart since some of its clients have shifted their loyalty to Dollar General ( Kalra, 2005) . The present economy of America has impacted the Wal-Mart customers since they have less money to spend.
The external environment that Wal-Mart possesses could be an arena in which all their business activities are carried out as a business entity. This can have an incredible impact on how Wal-Mart is operated as an organisation. Whereas the relationship is complicated, it can exist in the external environment, and the firm could attain the negative and positive result ( Kalra, 2005) . Wal-Mart is in a position to remain competitive by reaching out to the market which is untapped.
Wal-Mart maintains some advantages and semblance because of it low costs products and the variety of products that are offered to clients during the recession period ( Marr, 2017) . In times of uncertainties, Walmart continues to battle their competitors; this gives them an advantage. Customers tend to be loyal to the retail shop that offered them cheaper products during the period that they were experiencing financial difficulties. Some products that Wal-Mart sell to their clients are branded but the majority of the products in the particular departments are branded as per the brand, and it is not appealing to the clients ( Kalra, 2005) . Wal-Mart needs to increase its direct sales force to depict an upsurge in their sales since there are smaller retailers who are mushrooming and they focus more on the aspect of increasing their competitive power.
Give your opinion on the corporation’s greatest strengths and most significant weaknesses. Choose the strategy or tactic the corporation should select to take maximum advantage of its strengths, and the strategy or tactic the corporation should select to fix its most significant weakness. Justify your choices.
The greatest strength of Wal-Mart is logistics. Merchandise is shipped from the warehouse with the purpose of minimising costs. Moreover, they receive as well as ship online orders from their warehouse to any local store that you choose, so the clients do not have to spend on shipping ( Kalra, 2005) . Due to the present technologies, Wal-Mart now has the opportunit1y to generate new and innovative methods to enhance their organization. The web alone has allowed Wal-Mart a significant increase in warehouse merchandise sales.
On top of customer convenience, ordering online has turned to be increasingly easy to do. The downside to this operation is that Wal-Mart orders too much inventory of one particular item that ends up placed on racks at a lower price or ends up as clearance items ( Kalra, 2005) . This affects the profit margin of Wal-Mart.
Determine the company’s resources, capabilities, and core competencies.
Low-cost operations have made it possible for Wal-Mart to continue offering products at lower prices. This has made them unique in the market and has turned out to be one of their core competencies as well as competitive advantage over several of their competitors’. I do not know of any client who does not appreciate low cost together with value by selling their goods at lower charges ( Kalra, 2005) . Wal-Mart’s company is known for their organised employees who are also hard-working, and this goes in conjunction with their victory.
Connection directly to partners as well as suppliers via the technology of today helps Wal-Mart in their capability to lower the cost of managing their warehouse inventory, also assist lead them to more efficient methods of transporting those goods ( Kalra, 2005) .
Wal-Mart’s main competencies are believed to be their systematic cost processes, relationships with suppliers as well as partners and their relationships with their employees.
Analyze the company’s value chain to determine where they can create value using the resources, capabilities, and core competencies discussed above.
Wal-Mart has the potential to create value by using their core competencies, capabilities and available resources. Much to the disappointment of several people, Wal-Mart will continue to have competition provided that they remain in the business ( Kalra, 2005) . Wal-Mart ought to keep on focusing on their customers’ desires in respect to sales and service. Furthermore, they should allow that to continue being their focus.
Wal-Mart has maintained success, but as with anything, change is good. They have to implement changes to continue and maintain its success. Innovation improves the movement of Wal-Mart for their future ( Marr, 2017) . Diversity is a bonus for Wal-Mart and a wonderful means of growth.
Conclusion
As with every entity or corporation, a good solid foundation is what is imperative to achieve victory. Any company should have a system in place to assist their management team in front of any “bumps” in the road. Wal-Mart has proven globally to have an organisation which was built not only on the dream of two brothers but a solid foundation. They have made brave attempts to create and implement firm organisation notions to keep them a step ahead of all their competitions. The four basic management functions which ought to be included into addressing all situations are as follows:
Planning is the foundation upon which all factors of Management must be built as well as it entails a plan to handle all aspects of the business environment.
Organizing-this management function assists in organising all possible resources that help in the planning process. It needs collaboration from every party that is involved in implementing the plan.
The leading-this function of Management needs strong leadership skills which are a necessity in the business world of today. Wal-Mart has to hire leaders who are dedicated as well as motivated to achieve the goals set by the organisation and work hard to outstanding their competitors.
The last factor of Management is controlling. This establishes performance standards based on the Wal-Mart’s objectives, also evaluates and reports the real job performance of their staffs. Lowered standards are never recommended to resolve problems at work per Management.
Wal-Mart has the potential to influence the world of retailing substantially and can keep on driving the standards which ought to be executed and impact the lives we are living.
References
Cramer, James J. 2005 .“Wal-Mart, Fess Up to Weakness Within.” Wake-Up Wal-Mart.com , 17 August. 18 November 2005. Retrieved from < http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/news/20050817-rmcom.html >.
Kalra, Ritu. 2005. “Wal-Mart Storm Swirling.” The Hartford Courant . 2 November 2005. 3 November 2005. Retrieved from <http://www.courant.com/business/hc-walmart1102.artnov02,0,391016.story?coll=hc-headlines-business>.
Marr, B. (2017). Really Big Data at Wal-Mart: Real-time Insights from their 40þ Petabyte data cloud. Forbes, January 23.
