Integration of Business Functions

Running head: INTEGRATION OF BUSINESS FUNCTIONS
INTEGRATION OF BUSINESS FUNCTIONS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
As discussed by Barros, Hernangómez and Martin-Cruz (2016), strategic planning can
be defined as a management based activity that is implemented in order to set the priorities,
strengthen the levels of operations, ensuring that the employees and the other stakeholders are
able to contribute towards effective achievement of the goals. The organizations need to
adjust the directions of their strategies with the help of the strategic plans that are developed
and implemented in various processes (Daspit et al. 2017). The direction of the organization
can be changed with respect to the variations that have taken place in the exterior
environment. The fundamental decisions and the actions that have been implemented by the
organizations have an impact on the strategic planning process.
The essay will be built on the study of the strategic direction that has been set by a
major organization like Walmart. The variations that have taken place in the organizational
operations will be discussed in the essay in detail. The external macro environment factors
that have an influence on Walmart will be examined with the help of STEEP analysis. The
industry of the operations of Walmart will be discussed by implementing Porter’s five forces
analysis tool. The essay will also provide detailed picture based on the stakeholders and the
leadership process that has been followed in the organization. The journey of Walmart and
the effect of changes in exterior environment on the company will be discussed in the essay
as well (Nickels, McHugh and McHugh 2012).
About the organization
Walmart Inc. is an international retail based company that has its operations in the
US. The company mainly operates a huge chain of discount based department stores,
hypermarkets and the grocery stores. The headquarters of the organization are located in
Bentonville, Arkansas. Walmart had been founded in the year 1962 by Sam Walton. Sam’s

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clubs retail based storerooms are owned and operated by Walmart. The organization currently
operates more than 11,000 stores in around 27 countries in the world (Walmart.com 2019).
The different countries in which Walmart currently operates include, US, Canada, the UK,
Chile, South Africa. Walmart has gained a leadership position in the retail business of the US
based on amounts of revenues that have been earned (Walmart.com 2019).
The comparable sales of Walmart have grown by around 4.5% in second quarter of
the year 2018. This can be considered to be the strongest growth of the organization that has
been depicted in the last ten years. The e-commerce based sales of Walmart has also grown
by around 40% from 33% that was experienced in the year 2017 (Nickels, McHugh and
McHugh 2012). Electronic sales of Walmart are considered to be the strongest in the
operations of the company within the last four years (Demir, Wennberg and McKelvie 2017).
The digital sales that are performed by Walmart have gained high levels of importance in the
last few years. Walmart has started developing its digital goals in order to face the rivalry that
is delivered by a major online retail organization like Amazon. The improvement of customer
satisfaction is also considered to be a key aspect that has an influence on the successful
operations of Walmart (Bogomolova et al. 2015) (Refer to Figure 1).

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Figure 1 – Growth of Walmart
Source – (Businessinsider.com 2019)
Leadership in Walmart
The founder and CEO of Walmart Sam Walton had surrounded himself with the types
of people who are able to provide big ideas and not afraid of taking the risks. The
implementation of the ideas in practical areas is also possible with the help of the vision that
has been developed by the leader. The CEO of Walmart Sam Walton had been able to
maintain the operations of his organization with the help of appropriate implementation of
transformational leadership in diverse aspects of its operations. Transformational leadership
based activities have always been at the core of the effective processes of Walmart in the
retail business (Durand, Grant and Madsen 2017).