Business Level Strategy for Walmart

Running Head: WALMART 0
BUSINESS LEVEL STRATEGY

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Strategic Purpose........................................................................................................................3
Strategic Position.......................................................................................................................5
Strategic Capability....................................................................................................................8
Strategic Choice.......................................................................................................................12
Strategies for leadership and change........................................................................................15
Recommendations....................................................................................................................16
References................................................................................................................................18

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Introduction
A business always strives for a sound strategic plan having set of clear goals to guide
business operations over a long period of time. Strategy can be defined as an action
undertaken by the management to reach to predefined goals and it is significant in the
business as it helps the firm to deal with various uncertain external forces in the business
environment (Kuratko and Audretsch, 2009).
On the other hand, strategic management is the process of building capabilities enables an
organisation to build value for the customers, society and shareholders while functioning in
the competitive market (Hitt et al, 2011). There are various approaches and roots of strategic
management and they are elaborated with the help of taking real example with a company.
The name of the company is Walmart, an American multinational retail corporation.
About Walmart
Walmart is the number one enterprise listed in Fortune Global 500 with a revenue of
$500,343 and has more than 2.2 million employees worldwide (fortune.com, 2018). The
company was founded in 1962 by Sam Walton and publicly traded on the New York Stock
Exchange in 1972. It is the largest grocery retailer in USA with having its operation in more
than 27 countries.
With having 11000 plus stores all over the world, the company is offering wide-ranging
variety of products in nearly all category starts from hardware, groceries, appliances,
furniture, health products, to entertainment.
The corporate mission statement of the company is – “to save people money so they can live
better” (Powers, 2012). It imitates that the business strategy of Walmart includes price as a
selling point to appeal target consumers.

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In addition, the company vision is to be the destination for all the consumers to save money,
no matter how they want to shop. The organisation vision was modified in 2017 in
community meetings. Hence, it imitates strategic changes that the company emphasis in
return to variations in the dynamic business environment and the industry competitiveness.
Strategic Purpose
Corporate governance
Corporate governance is the classification of guidelines and principles followed by an
organisation while achieving the strategic long-term goals and satisfying needs of the
stakeholders (Huang, 2010). There are two types of corporate governance mechanism used by
Wal-Mart in relation with their effective managerial actions. The first mechanism is
concerned with auditing which involves reviewing of company financial transactions. It
checks that the business operations of Walmart are in synchronize with set guiding principle
of national accounting. Auditing helps the company and management to gather and evaluate
information in relation with the investors and shareholders. In Wal-Mart, board of directors
are known as the second corporate governance mechanism characterizing the stakeholders of
the company by protecting their interest in the business. These stakeholders within the board
of director work as per the guiding principles of New York Stock Exchange. The firm overall
performance is managed by these individuals as they fill and make the gaps amid
organisation owners and other stakeholders.
Stakeholders Expectations
Walmart stakeholders influence the strategic direction of the company and thus it is important
to consider interest of stakeholders while acknowledging the dynamic relationship between
business and stakeholders.
To gain stakeholders expectations more clearly, they are being grouped as on their shared
interests. These stakeholders groups also have different priority depend on organisation