SWOT Analysis of Wal-Mart
Strengths·
Wal-Mart is a powerful retail brand. It has a reputation for value for money, convenience and a wide range of products all in one store. ·
Wal-Mart has grown substantially over recent years, and has experienced global expansion (for example its purchase of the United Kingdom based retailer ASDA). ·
The company has a core competence involving its use of information technology to support its international logistics system. For example, it can see how individual products are performing country-wide, store-by-store at a glance. IT also supports Wal-Mart's efficient procurement. ·
A focused strategy is in place for human resource management and development. People are key to Wal-Mart's business and it invests time and money in training people, and retaining a developing them.
Weaknesses·
Wal-Mart is the World's largest grocery retailer and control of its empire, despite its IT advantages, could leave it weak in some areas due to the huge span of control. ·
Since Wal-Mart sell products across many sectors (such as clothing, food, or stationary), it may not have the flexibility of some of its more focused competitors. ·
The company is global, but has has a presence in relatively few countries Worldwide.
Opportunities·
To take over, merge with, or form strategic alliances with other global retailers, focusing on specific markets such as Europe or the Greater China Region. ·
The stores are currently only trade in a relatively small number of countries. Therefore there are tremendous opportunities for future business in expanding consumer markets, such as China and India. ·
New locations and store types offer Wal-Mart opportunities to exploit market development. They diversified from large super centres, to local and mall-based sites.
Opportunities exist for Wal-Mart to continue with its current strategy of large, super centres.
Threats·
Being number one means that you are the target of competition, locally and globally.
· Being a global retailer means that you are exposed to political problems in the countries that you operate in. ·
The cost of producing many consumer products tends to have fallen because of lower manufacturing costs. Manufacturing cost have fallen due to outsourcing to low-cost regions of the World. This has lead to price competition, resulting in price deflation in some ranges.
The success of Wal-Mart is so great, that many people believe that Wal-Mart is becoming a monopsony . Suppliers are forced to deal with Wal-Mart because of the large percentage of sales at Wal-Mart cash registers. As such, Wal-Mart also has the ability to dictate prices of the goods it receives from the suppliers. Every day, more and more retail stores close their doors for good because Wal-Mart controls such a huge margin of the retail sector.
In 1962, Wal-Mart opened their first store in Rogers, Arkansas. In 1970, Wal-Mart's first distribution center and home office in Bentonville, Ark. open and Wal-Mart went public on the New York Stock Exchange. Just nine years from that, Wal-Mart's annual sales exceeded one billion dollars. In 1988, Wal-Mart super centers opened across the country. In a merely three years from that, Wal-Mart opened their own store in Mexico City, Mexico; making Wal-Mart an international corporation. Not even sixty years has past, and yet, Wal-Mart is over-powering our country.
According to Smithson, Walmart can expand its markets to new and emerging markets especially in the third world countries, which can significantly increase its revenues. Secondly, the company can reform is employment practices and improve the quality standard and in doing so, attract more customers and improve its brand image. On the other hand, the company faces threats such as the rising healthy lifestyle trend I that the company in most cases does not provide customers with healthy goods. At the same time, the company can capitalize on this aspect and increase its revenues. Aggressive competition from other discount retailers such as Target creates a great threat to the company (Smithson, 2015).
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. operates retail stores in various formats around the world. Wal-Mart is committed to growing by improving the standard of living for our customers throughout the world. Wal-Mart earns the trust of its customers every day by providing a broad assortment of quality merchandise and services at every day low prices while fostering a culture that rewards and embraces mutual respect, integrity, and diversity. In 2006 the net sales were $312.4 billion versus in 2005 were $285 billion.
Since 1962 and the beginning of the discount retailer market Wal-Mart has been ahead of the retail game. By 1967 there were 24 Wal-Marts that had grossed 12.6 million dollars. In just 7 years Wal-mart had spread into 9 states. By 1979 Wal-Mart was the fastest store to reach a billion dollars in sales. In 2005 Wal-Mart has 3,800 domestic stores along with 3,800 stores internationally, and had made over 312 billion dollars. As you can see the Wal-Mart empire has grown monumentally. To move into this segment of the market would be tough.
Wal-Mart’s competitive environment is quite unique. Although Wal-Mart’s primary competition comes from general merchandise retailers, warehouse clubs and supermarket retailers also present competitive pressure. The discount retail industry is substantial in size and is constantly experiencing growth and change. The top competitors compete both nationally and internationally. There is extensive competition on pricing, location, store size, layout and environment, merchandise mix, technology and innovation, and overall image. The market is definitely characterized by economies of scale. Top retailers vertically integrate many functions, such as purchasing, manufacturing, advertising, and shipping. Large scale functions such as these give the top competitors a significant cost advantage over small-scale competition.
What is Stress actually? Hans Selye, the noted stress researcher, once said, “Stress is a scientific concept which has suffered from the mixed blessing of being too well known and too little understood. Physicians, psychologists, biologists, engineers, and students may each have a different meaning in mind when they talk about stress”. One useful definition of stress is that it is a demand made upon the adaptive capacities of the mind and body.
The completely greed-based society is just but an orgy of sin. Extreme and radical changes must be made for one to be able to avoid evil. The human mind is very powerful and is able to distinguish what is good and bad. This is associated with the freedom to choose between what right and what is wrong. One can only control external if evil if he or she can defeat the evil within him or her. Confession is the best way to do away with the internal evil.
Many people think of stress as a simple problem. In reality however, stress is complex and often misunderstood. We all know that stress is the body’s reaction to any demand on it. Perceptions of events, whether positive or negative, activate stress. It is, therefore, a highly individual affair. What is stressful to ‘X’ may not be so to another. But it is fairly easy to conclude that everyone lives under a certain amount of stress. In fact, the only people without stress are dead. At the same time it is certainly wrong to conclude that stress is always bad. Mild stress may improve the productivity. It may force people to focus more sharply on the problem and produce solutions. But if stress is severe and persist for long periods of time, it can be harmful. Stress can be disruptive to an individual as any
... and each division to have a different manger to work both for his store and for the company. They can increase there overseas branches by having a different strategic plans. They can even divide the products into different categories such as very high or low end products. Need to use new technologies with different approaches so that can ready to use new technologies with in a short span of time. The main generic strategy is to have over all cost leadership by which the Wal-Mart can control the cost. The supply and distribution system has to be more effective in present one so that they can save both time and money while doing distribution of there products from ware house to the stores.
Growing globally: We expand our global e-commerce reach to more consumers and today, customers in about 90 countries can buy our products.
The organization has had to ensure that it has retail stores in many countries globally and website options in more than 100 countries. The company further enhances access of online stores in more than 37 countries which is accessible all the time and people are able to access the services regardless of their location. Globalization further affects the organization in the sense of international market management which requires it to engage in strictly global decision making. The organization’s production networks have been geared to enhancing global competition (Lüsted, 2012) .The Company is further good when it comes to seizing the opportunities available in global market. For the organization to find efficient as well as cheap means of production, it has to bargain hard so as to allow its contractors to have low profits. This mostly is consequential to the suppliers cutting corners with the use of cheap
At the first, Wal-Mart only operates its business in home country. However, Wal-Mart became more integrated and independent by expanding internationally. In 1991, Wal-Mart start expands the business at international level which includes 26 countries outside of the United State such as Mexico, China and Canada. Now, Wal-Mart totally has more than 6100 stores in foreign country. The step taken by Wal-Mart is to improve and maintain their achievement outside of the home country. Wal-Mart’s strategy which expands their market at international level gains a lot of benefit to their business.
Wal-mart has a reputation for caring for its customers, of course their employees, and for the prospective public. So Wal-Mart can be an industrial leader for the world of shoppers with an eye for lower affordable prices, company decision makers would continue it's systematic strategies that it's founder and president established years ago. Sam Walton believed in three guiding principles in his strategy planning they were to provide the customer with good value and service, to have a good relationship with its associates, and to be involved with the community.
When stressful events occur three types of responses take place, an emotional response, a physiological response, and a behavioral response. Negative emotional responses such as anxiety, anger, and grief are common responses to stress. However, in some cases, an individual may exhibit positive emotions when coping with stressful situations. According to Folkman and Moskowiz, positive emotions promote resilience in the face of stress by promoting creativity, problem solving, flexibility, and can enhance physical and psychological health (Weiten & Lloyd, 2006, p. 84).