Executive Summary
When you think of the discount retail industry there is no bigger name than Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has built them selves into the industry leader in a very competitive market, and they continue to set the bar for every company. But as of late Wal-Mart’s sales growth rate has been slipping, which is causing a major problem for them. For the past few years Wal-Mart has grown accustom to double digit sales growth rates, but recently they have been unable to match their previous success. Now Wal-Mart is faced with the challenge of regaining the success that they once had.
In order to recapture these high growth rates it is important to understand what lead Wal-Mart to these high growth rates in the first place. When analyzing Wal-Mart externally you find that its 5 forces tend to have a positive effect on the company. The company has high barriers of entry, a moderate threat of rivalry with Target and Kmart due to its expansion of super centers, and its......
Business strategy
Business Strategy Analysis of Wal-Mart
Sam Walton, a leader with an innovative vision, started his own company and made it into the leader in discount retailing that it is today. Through his savvy, and sometimes unusual, business practices, he and his associates led the company forward for thirty years. Today, four years after his death, the company is still growing steadily. Wal-Mart executives continue to rely on many of the traditional goals and philosophies that Sam's legacy left behind, while simultaneously keeping one step ahead of the ever-changing technology and methods of today's fast-paced business environment. The organization has faced, and is still facing, a significant amount of controversy over several different issues; however, none of these have done much more than scrape the exterior of this gigantic operation. The future also looks bright for Wal-Mart, especially if it is able to strike a comfortable balance between increasing its profits and...