Executive Summary
Wal-Mart is the largest multinational company in the world based on the number of employees and revenues collected. 2015 data reveals that Wal-Mart has more than two million employees across the world. It was founded in 1962 by Sam Walton, and it has steadily grown to become one of the successful companies in the world. Wal-Mart annual revenues have surpassed 485 billion dollars as recorded in the year ending 2015. The success is grounded on the application of effective strategies to attain its mission and vision. The company utilizes both intensive and generic strategies in correlation with the mission and vision statement. Therefore, Wal-Mart mission statement, vision statement, intensive growth strategies and generic strategy are contributing factors to the success of the company.
Wal-Mart Vision and Mission Statement
The company success can be traced back to the founder. Wal-Mart emphasizes on these ideals, and they are reflected in the vision statement of being the finest retailers in the minds and hinds of the customers and employees. Wal-Mart aims to become the top retail industry. It has achieved these accomplishments by becoming the best retailer in the world ( Ferguson, 2015) . The vision of the company has also influenced the customers and employees regarding financial benefits. Wal-Mart is aware that customers are its strengths and increases its sales annually.
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Traditionally, the leadership of Wal-Mart tries to incorporate the values of Sam Walton (founder) into the management culture so as enhance the employee the morale of the employees. Wal-Mart management structure is highly hierarchical based on the massive size of the corporation. The three major positions include the senior vice president, regional vice president, and the district manager. 16 members constitute the board of directors, and two of them are Walton’s family such as Marissa A. Mayer President the CEO of Yahoo and Kevin Systrom the CEO and Co-founder of Instagram. The hierarchical management tree narrows down to the in-store managers who have greater responsibilities and as a result, require various interpersonal skills to attain their job responsibilities ( Ferguson, 2015) . The assistant manager is instilled to offer basic support and assistance to the co-manager and the manager. The manager has the responsibilities of executing all the highest management duties in the in-store.
For the longest time possible, Wal-Mart has utilized four principal strategies namely Everyday low price (EDLP) and Everyday Low Cost (EDLC). These strategies form the basis of its success. However, the changes observed in the business world, as well as the evolving consumers, tasted and preferences have forced Wal-Mart to come up with new and innovative strategies. The four strategic pillars namely leading on price invest in differentiating on access, assortment competition and provide a great experience.
Leading on price
Wal-Mart has managed to maintain low prices over the year because of its focus on suppliers. The company has a large supply chain across the world. In 2015, Wal-Mart spent over 365 billion dollars to purchase supplies for its stores ( Huchzermeier, 2016) . As a result, the company has huge bargaining power with the suppliers. The company uses cross-docking to reduce the costs further, whereby suppliers inbound shipment is loaded into outbound trailers and distributed to various centers.
Invest in differentiating on access
Traditional and new competitors in the market use multiple access strategies. To start with Wal-Mart has improved the accessibility of its physical stores. Traditionally, Wal-Mart has concentrated on building mega malls and mid-size stores, but it is now focused on small stores that provide prepared and fresh foods to improve the accessibility of the shoppers ( Engel, 2018) . Additionally, the company is on the forefront on using online shopping platforms that are friendly and convenient for shopping anytime. The demand for online customers has increased, and as a result, Wal-Mart has invested on the mobile and digital shopping platforms. It is also investing in high-end services such as clinical care and health insurance. Finally, Wal-Mart boasts of being the only American retailer that runs its own vision centers, care clinics, pharmacies and provides wellness and preventative products online and in-store.
Providing a great experience
Wal-Mart has over 2miliion workers who are essential in providing shoppers with a great experience. Historically, it has been criticized for unfriendly employee policies such as the minimal re-skilling, low minimum wages, unclear growth of career and training programs. Wal-Mart has made steady steps of increasing hour wages and offering better workers experience. The corporation hopes that by investing retaining and training the employee, it will provide a great shopping experience to all customers in the world.
Wal-Mart’s Strategic Goals and Objectives in the Marketplace
Market penetration
Although Wal-Mart has managed to enter into some foreign markets, market penetration remains one of its goals. It involves selling more goods and services to the current market ( Bhandari, 2017) . To accomplish this, Wal-Mart offers promotion, discounts and special packages to its current consumers.
Market development
Market development is another strategy that Wal-Mart utilizes for growth. This strategy involves penetrating into new markets to customers other than those it currently has. Wal-Mart has started focusing on small and new stores to attain market development. It opens new stores internationally to attract consumers in those markets.
Product development
The company has to offer new and innovative products and services to beat the competition ( Caraway, 2016) . The company does offer not only consumable food only but also services such as health insurance. Such innovative services attract new clients and also retain current customers
Investing in clients service
Wal-Mart understands that customer service is vital, and the workers play a critical role in achieving this goal. Therefore the company introduced a 6months training programs and raises its minimum wage to motivate the employees. Furthermore, the company launched fixing the schedules of the workers so that they can make plans for their lives. In so doing the company hope that such actions will improve retention and also attracted better workers.
Improving groceries
Consumers have become more health conscious and hence providing more organic, and fresh produce remains its number one priority. Wal-Mart has observed some major improvements in the business and will continue offering more fresh options.
Allowing consumers to shop on their terms
Integrating the physical stores and online platforms so that customers can pick up their online orders in their physical store by providing text reminders is another strategy that Wal-Mart uses.
References
Bhandari, N. C. (2017). Walmart-Bharti Joint Venture: Formation, Breakup, & Strategies: Academy of Strategic Management Journal , 16 (1).
Caraway, B. (2016). OUR Walmart: a case study of connective action. Information, Communication & Society , 19 (7), 907-920.
Engel, M. L. (2018). Crafting the Ideal Mission Statement for Your Organization: Leader to Leader , 2018 (87), 7-12.
Ferguson, E. (2015). Wal-Mart’s, Vision, Mission, Generic and Intensive Strategies.
Huchzermeier, A. (2016). How Wal-Mart built sustainability into the supply chain: The Business & Management Collection .
