Strategic Management of Walmart: SWOT Analysis and Recommendations

This report analyzes the strategic management of Walmart through SWOT analysis, IFE matrix, BCG matrix, and other relevant models. It also provides recommendations for the betterment of the company.

Running head: STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
Strategic management
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Background of the company............................................................................................................4
Current mission and vision:.............................................................................................................6
Objectives........................................................................................................................................6
Internal audit....................................................................................................................................7
Strength between 4 and 6.................................................................................................................7
Weaknesses between 4 and 6...........................................................................................................8
Internal factor evaluation...............................................................................................................10
External audit.................................................................................................................................12
Opportunities between 4 and 6......................................................................................................12
Threats between 4 and 6................................................................................................................14
External factor evaluation (EFE matrix)........................................................................................15
SWOT matrix analysis...................................................................................................................17
Grand Strategy Matrix of Walmart................................................................................................25
BCG Matrix of Walmart................................................................................................................30
BCG Matrix...................................................................................................................................30
Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM)...........................................................................34
External Factor Evaluation Matrix (EFEM)..................................................................................35

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Opportunities.................................................................................................................................37
Threats...........................................................................................................................................38
Internal Factor Evaluation Matrix (IFEM)....................................................................................39
Recommendations..........................................................................................................................40
Purpose Statement.........................................................................................................................41
Challenges in Europe.....................................................................................................................43
Strategies to avoid the Challenges.................................................................................................44
3. QSPM are implemented along the strategy lines and Functional Approach.........................45
References......................................................................................................................................48

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Introduction
Strategic management is considered as the establishment of main goals of the company in
order to achieve the objective of business. Strategic management is the process of implementing
the goal and initiative of management to achieve the objective and vision of the particular
company. Strategic management underlies on the available resources of the organization. It also
can be considered as the assessment of external and internal environment of the particular
company.
Hence, the first and foremost step of strategic management is to set a valid plan for the
company which can bring success in the long run of the business. In order to achieve future goal
and objective of the company, process of strategic management should be considered by each
company. After setting plan, next step is to assess the internal and external environment of the
company using different theoretical framework and model and matrix which can help to receive
a clear picture of the rival companies and industry. Last step of strategic management approach
is to recommend few better techniques to overcome present challenges.
In this case report, Walmart has been chosen as selected case study of strategic
management. Internal and external environment has been analyzed through Internal Factor
Evaluation Matrix, external matrix, BCG matrix and other relevant models. Existing issues have
been discussed with examples. A detail recommendation has also been given for the betterment
of the company.
Background of the company
Walmart is a big multinational corporation of retail industry of United States. Walmart
Inc operates a chain of grocery store, discount department store and hypermarkets. This company

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is the largest chains of supermarket in United States. Walmart operates in twenty eight countries
all over the world. It has 11,718 stores in the world. By revenue, this company is the largest
company.
Logo of Walmart
Source: Website of the company
This company holds variety of product ranges that includes products which are sold in
departmental stores, grocery products and many more. The business organization was established
in the year of 1962 and was incorporated in the year of 1969. The management of the business
organization generates approximately 480 billion US dollars per year and that makes it the
largest business organization in the world with respect to generating revenues. It is quite
astonishing that in recent times it is one of the most successful family controlled business
organization that has been immensely successful1. In the year of 2013, the business organization
1 Johns, Jennifer, et al. "Geography and history matter: International business and economic
geography perspectives on the spatial and historical development of multinational
enterprises." The Rise of Multinationals from Emerging Economies. Palgrave Macmillan,
London, 2015. 51-80.

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won the award of largest grocery retailer in the market of America as the 62% of the sales of
Wal-Mart came from the stores of the company located in America. It is seen that in the year of
1963, the management of the organization set foot on the stock market and they started releasing
shares of the market and later in by the year of 1989 the organization earned the name of the
largest company with respect to generating revenue2. The operations of the business organization
are divided into four parts and those are WalMart US, WalMart International, Sam’s Social Club
and Global E-Commerce. The management of the business organization offers numerous retail
formats throughout these divisions of the company and those involve; hypermarkets, cash-n-
carry stores, apparels, restaurants and many more3. It is seen that Walmart US is currently the
largest division of the business organization and that generates nearing 65% of the sales of the
corporation and WalMart US has three major retail formats in the market of America and those
are Discount Stores, Neighborhood Markets and Super Centers. Since the year of 2006, the
management of the organization has initiated a pilot program for selling generic drugs at 4
dollars per prescription and that program was initially launched at the company’s stores located
in Florida, Tampa and within the next year the program expanded to all the retail stores of the
2 Johns, Jennifer, et al. "Geography and history matter: International business and economic
geography perspectives on the spatial and historical development of multinational
enterprises." The Rise of Multinationals from Emerging Economies. Palgrave Macmillan,
London, 2015. 51-80.
3 Gassmann, Oliver, Karolin Frankenberger, and Michaela Csik. "Innovation Strategy: From new
Products to Business Model Innovation." Business Innovation: Das St. Galler Modell. Springer
Gabler, Wiesbaden, 2016. 81-104.

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company. In the year of 2007 the organization also launched a movie download service though
that wing of the organization somehow failed to experience profitability and thus was
discontinued in the next year of its initiation. It is a matter of fact that in the financial of 2015,
the organization reportedly earned more than 480 billion US dollars and out of that the
international operations generated mighty 40% of the sales. Thus it is seen that global reputation
of the organization is immense. The managerial board of the organization constitutes of fifteen
board members and the management of the organization is in the hand of the family that makes it
interesting.
Current mission and vision:
The business organizations mission and vision is to become the best retailer in the minds
and hearts of the customers of the company and also for the employees of the business
organization.
Objectives
One of the major strategic objectives of the management of the business organization is
to maintain the operational costs of the company as low as it is possible. Apart from that the
management of the corporation aims to reduce the other expenditure of the organization and they
want to attain economies of scale in order to support the generic strategy of cost-leadership.

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Internal audit
Strength between 4 and 6
In this section of this report the strengths of the business organization is incorporated. It
is seen that the global organizational size of the company, highly effective and global supply
chain are the pillars of strength of the organization in contemporary times. Not only that the
management of the organization has achieved a core competence utilizing the Information
technology wing of the company in order to support the international logistic of the organization.
For an example, it can be said that the IT wing of the company allows seeing how the individual
goods of the company are performing country wide and store by store at a glance. The global
organizational size of the business organization allows the company to have a firm financial
stability to fund and back up the continuous growth and expansion of the company4. The
international supply chain of the company also allows the management to show resilience
towards some of the market specific risk factors. Apart from that the highly efficient supply
chain of the business organization allows the management of the company to utilize highly
advanced technologies to control and track the products which ar moving from the suppliers to
the stores. It can be said that a dedicated strategy regarding the human resource management of
the company gives the management a competitive advantage in the market full of competition.
Incessant training and developmental programs arranged by the HR officials of the company
allows the organization to have an employee base that is highly effective and it has potentially
4 Gassmann, Oliver, Karolin Frankenberger, and Michaela Csik. "Innovation Strategy: From new
Products to Business Model Innovation." Business Innovation: Das St. Galler Modell. Springer
Gabler, Wiesbaden, 2016. 81-104.

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increased the overall organizational performance. Above all, it has been seen that Wal-mart hs
developed and expanded significantly over the last few decades and has seen an international
expansion that helped the management to earn a global recognition that has effectively increased
the brand value of the company; and it is a matter of fact that brand value can manipulate the
buying choices of the consumers and that has rightly helped the company to increase their
profitability substantially5.
Weaknesses between 4 and 6
There are some factors of weakness for the management of the organization too and the
management should deal with those issues with caution. In this regard, it can be said that the
organization has invested in various sectors as food, clothing and stationary products. Whereas
the competitor organizations do not dell a range of products which comes from different sectors
that allows them to focus on the flexibility in the operation of their businesses6. Thus, it can be
said that the management should focus on how to make the operations of the company more
compact and flexible to gain the competitive advantage in the market steeped with rivalry. In the
market of North America, the management of Wal-mart is currently facing some challenges from
5 Galbraith, Jay R. Designing organizations: Strategy, structure, and process at the business unit
and enterprise levels. John Wiley & Sons, 2014.
6 Johns, Jennifer, et al. "Geography and history matter: International business and economic
geography perspectives on the spatial and historical development of multinational
enterprises." The Rise of Multinationals from Emerging Economies. Palgrave Macmillan,
London, 2015. 51-80.

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the competitor companies like K-mart and target. Apart from that many small scale companies of
North America has been able to do good business and has already captured a niche customer
base. Thus, Wal-mart needs to work on those factors in order to regain their competitive
advantage in the domestic market. in recent days Wal-Mart is one of the largest retailer of
grocery goods and successfully controls the empire, but lack in effectiveness of the IT wing of
the company can effectively expose the management to face some major issues, thus the
management of the organization should engage in effective advancements in the IT wing of the
company. There are some other weaknesses of the company that are refraining the organization’s
ability to face the challenges and these weaknesses are related to the strategy of the organization
to attain success in the global and domestic market of operation. As the management of the
organization tends to use cost leadership strategy, it exposes the organization to some risk factors
and those are mentioned below. The management currently sees thin profit margins and the
model strategy of the organization can easily be copied. As the management of the organization
follows a strategy of cost leadership, it makes it easy for the other business organizations to copy
their model strategy and give them a good competition be it in the domestic or in the
international market of operation. On the other hand, the thin profit margin of the organization is
an archetypal effect of utilizing the strategy of cost leadership and it minimizes the selling prices
and minimizes the profit margins of the company7.
7 Gassmann, Oliver, Karolin Frankenberger, and Michaela Csik. "Innovation Strategy: From new
Products to Business Model Innovation." Business Innovation: Das St. Galler Modell. Springer
Gabler, Wiesbaden, 2016. 81-104.

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Internal factor evaluation
IFE (Internal factor Evaluation) matrix is a tool of strategy formulation that is utilized to
evaluate the weaknesses and strengths of the business organization. in this regard it can be said
that IFE matrix is vital to understand the factors that are included rather than the actual numbers.
Thus it can be said that intuitive judgment would be essential to develop the IFE matrix8.
The first column of the matrix jots down the weaknesses and the strengths of the company and
this matrix should incorporate at least 10 to 20 key factors relevant to the topic of discussion.
The second column of the matrix weights to each and every factor that ranges from 0.0 to 1. (0
not important and 1 is very important)9. More weights should be given ti the internal factors that
have more influence on the overall performance of the business organization. It should be
mentioned that sum of all weights should be equal to 1. The third column of the matrix rates all
the factors ranging from 1 to 4, and it should be mentioned that 1 stands for significant
weakness, 2 means minor weakness, and 3 and 4 stand for minor and major strengths of the
8 Galbraith, Jay R. Designing organizations: Strategy, structure, and process at the business unit
and enterprise levels. John Wiley & Sons, 2014.
Galbraith, Jay R. Designing organizations: Strategy, structure, and process at the business unit
and enterprise levels. John Wiley & Sons, 2014.
9 Johns, Jennifer, et al. "Geography and history matter: International business and economic
geography perspectives on the spatial and historical development of multinational
enterprises." The Rise of Multinationals from Emerging Economies. Palgrave Macmillan,
London, 2015. 51-80.

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company. The fourth column of the matrix calculates the weighted score by multiplying every
factors score by its rating. Finally the total weighted score must be found by adding the scores to
each and every variable.
Strengths Weight Rating Weighted score
Shopping under one
roof
0.15 4 0.60
Financial position 0.10 3 0.30
Image of the brand 0.12 4 0.48
Range of services
provided
0.10 4 0.40
Customer oriented 0.13 4 0.52
Weaknesses
Inadequate mission
statement
0.08 2 0.16
Speed of depart lines 0.10 2 0.20
Do not have
developmental facility
0.06 1 0.06
Top management of
wal mart is dominated
0.08 2 0.16
Undifferentiated
services and products
0.08 2 0.16

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Total Weight core 1.00 3.04
In this regard, it can be said that the total weighted score varies from 1 to 4 where 1 is low and 4
is high and 2.5 is somewhat average; regardless of the numbers of the internal factors utilized in
the matrix10. As the total score is 3.04 and it is way above 2.5, it can be said that the organization
holds a strong internal position that mean the organization is strong internally.
External audit
Opportunities between 4 and 6
Currently there are ample opportunities that can significantly help the organization to
increase the productivity and the profitability. It is seen that these opportunities are directly
related to the economic situation worldwide. Apart from that, the current situation related to
human resource management can be considered as one of the factors of opportunity for the
company. The opportunities of Walmart includes improvement in the human resource
department of the company, expansion of the company in global market and improvement in the
quality of the products sold by the management and the services provided to the customers of the
company11. It can be said that the expansion of the company globally is immensely dependent on
10 Ciravegna, Luciano, and Esteban R. Brenes. "Learning to become a high reliability
organization in the food retail business." Journal of Business Research 69.10 (2016): 4499-4506.
11 Gassmann, Oliver, Karolin Frankenberger, and Michaela Csik. "Innovation Strategy: From
new Products to Business Model Innovation." Business Innovation: Das St. Galler Modell.

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the high growth economic condition of the company and the improvements in the HR department
of the company can relate to the criticisms on the employment practices of the business
organization. it can be said that the opportunities if the organization are immensely effective to
improve the quality of the standards of the operation of the company.
Apart from these, it can be said that numerous improvements in the human resource
policies are the matter of opportunities for the business organization. it can be said that the
expansion of the business organization in the market of Asia is another great opportunity for the
management of the organization to attain more recognition in the international market12. Not only
that, Walmart’ partnership with various local brands in the emerging global markets are major
opportunity for the business organization to increase the overall productivity and profitability of
the company13. To analyze this new set of opportunities of the company, it can be said that HR
management is one of the most important aspect of a business organization where the brand
identity gets immensely improved and improvements in HR policies can help the organization to
achieve significant profitability and recognition in both international and domestic market of
operation. These opportunities can effectively help the business organization to improve the
Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden, 2016. 81-104.
12 Gassmann, Oliver, Karolin Frankenberger, and Michaela Csik. "Innovation Strategy: From
new Products to Business Model Innovation." Business Innovation: Das St. Galler Modell.
Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden, 2016. 81-104.
13 Galbraith, Jay R. Designing organizations: Strategy, structure, and process at the business unit
and enterprise levels. John Wiley & Sons, 2014.

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work conditions and the moral and motivation of the general employees of the corporation. Apart
from that expanding the business in the Asian market that is heavily emerging can bring in more
opportunities for the company, where the managerial body can improve their productivity along
with the profitability.
Threats between 4 and 6
The major two threats of the organization are huge competition in the domestic as well as
in the international market of operation14. Apart from that, dollar’s increasing value is affecting
the profit margin of the business organization. In this regard, it can be said that, being a widely
popular big brand, it is not always easy to deal with the competitors in the domestic market and
in international market15. Big corporations like Amazon and Costco in recent times are giving
fierce competition to the organizations like WalMart. Apart from that, stronger dollar is another
matter of threat for the organization as the way dollars price is getting increased, it is
significantly reducing the profit margin of the company. Not only these, it can be said that as
WalMart is currently no 1 retail chain business organization, it becomes harder to deal with the
rival organizations. It can also be said that being a global retailer, the management of the
14 Galbraith, Jay R. Designing organizations: Strategy, structure, and process at the business unit
and enterprise levels. John Wiley & Sons, 2014.
15 Johns, Jennifer, et al. "Geography and history matter: International business and economic
geography perspectives on the spatial and historical development of multinational
enterprises." The Rise of Multinationals from Emerging Economies. Palgrave Macmillan,
London, 2015. 51-80.

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organization at times can get serious political issues in international business due to various
treaties and agreements between countries regarding trading.
External factor evaluation (EFE matrix)
It can be said that external factor evaluation is one useful matrix to examine the external
environment of a business organization. external environment of a business organization includes
political, economical, environmental, legal, social and technological factors. It can be said that a
business organization should determine all the external factors and separate them into threats and
opportunities16. It can surely be said that the opportunities are the options that are available for
the organization to strengthen their position in the market of operation and the threats can be
looked at as negative factors that can ruin the productivity and profitability of the business
organization. To create EFE matrix of Wal-mart, the necessary steps are mentioned below:
Initially the management of the business organization should identify the key external factors
and then assign weight to each and every factor that were identified and the weight should be
ranged from 0 to 1. In this scenario 0 is regarded as not important and 1 can be looked at as very
important factor.
After that the management of the organization should assign a 1 to 4 rating to every success
factor in order to show how the strategies of the management can respond to those success
factors. In the responses 1 can be regarded as poor and 4 as very good and 2.5 is average.
Opportunities Weight rating Weighted score
16 Ciravegna, Luciano, and Esteban R. Brenes. "Learning to become a high reliability
organization in the food retail business." Journal of Business Research 69.10 (2016): 4499-4506.

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Exploiting the untapped
markets of Europe and
Asia
0.25 4 1.0
Market penetration in
USA
0.05 3 0.15
Cost competition 0.10 3 0.15
Acquisition and merger 0.10 3 0.30
Provision for online
shopping
0.10 3 0.30
Threats
Fierce competition 0.15 3 0.30
New entrants in the
market of operation
0.05 3 0.15
Increasing online sales
and competition in
online sales
0.10 3 0.30
Economic recession 0.05 1 0.05
Political issues 0.05 1 0.05
Total weighted score 1(100%) 3.20

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Thus, from the above mentioned matrix, it can be said that as the score of total weight is
3.20, the organization’s position in the external environment is quite good as 4 is looked at as
extremely good17.
SWOT matrix analysis
This section of this report emphasizes on the external and internal analysis of a big retail
chain Wal Mart. It is seen that Wal-Mart is currently the largest business organization in terms of
the yearly generation of revenue, though the organization is currently facing some challenges in
their domestic and international market of operation. To address all those problems, it would be
necessary to do a detailed SWOT analysis of the organization in order to get to know the issues
and the ways to solve those issues. The organization is an America based retail company that
operates in more than 15 different nations worldwide and is regarded as one of the most
successful businesses of the contemporary times. Though the corporation is a public listed
company, but majority of the shares are under the control of the family of the founder of the
business organization18.
17 Galbraith, Jay R. Designing organizations: Strategy, structure, and process at the business unit
and enterprise levels. John Wiley & Sons, 2014.
18 Demil, Benoît, et al. "Introduction to the SEJ special issue on business models: business
models within the domain of strategic entrepreneurship." Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal 9.1
(2015): 1-11.

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To address the strengths of the organization, it can be said that their ability to manage
the costs is a significant contributor to the profitability of the organization. the management of
the business organization has always been dependent on the cost leadership strategy that has
effectively increased their competitive advantage in their market of operation and it increases the
overall effectiveness of the organization19. It can be said that cost leadership is a strategy that
emphasizes on decreasing the overall expenditure of the business organization tat effectively
helps to gain more profitability for the management of the organization. It is a matter of fact that
this business organization has significantly enhanced their capability to sustain an effective
supply chain management utilizing the information technology wing of the corporation and it ha
allowed the management of the organization to have a competitive advantage over their rivals in
the market of operation, in both domestic and international market20. In recent years the
management of the business organization relishes the biggest share in the global retail market
due to their increased capability to deliver quality products in fair prices to their customers. Not
only that, a big brand value of the business organization also effectively influences the buying
choices of the target customers of the company. It can be said that due to having a separate IT
wing, the digital marketing of the organization in the global market has been excellent and that
has enormously contributed to the increased global recognition of the business corporation.
19 Galbraith, Jay R. Designing organizations: Strategy, structure, and process at the business unit
and enterprise levels. John Wiley & Sons, 2014.
20 Gassmann, Oliver, Karolin Frankenberger, and Michaela Csik. "Innovation Strategy: From
new Products to Business Model Innovation." Business Innovation: Das St. Galler Modell.
Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden, 2016. 81-104.

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There is another pillar of strength for the management of WalMart and that is financial stability
of the business organization. It is seen that in recent times, the organization has the power to take
over the small business organizations that are operating in the same market and it can effectively
reduce the market competition giving the company a competitive advantage over the rival
organization. it can be said that the aggressive expansionist nature of the management of the
business organization has allowed the company to get a fair share of the market of operation and
has effectively reduced the increasing competition in the market21. This expansionist nature of
the business organization also supports the low cost leadership strategy of the organization and it
can also be looked at as strength of the business organization. Apart from that due to high
effectiveness of the management of the organization, the company has a huge bargaining power
over the major suppliers of the company in both domestic and international market that
contributes to sustain the profitability of the business organization. aprt from all the above
mentioned strengths it can be said that a dedicated IT wing and effective marketing team has
immensely contributed to the success of the business organization.
To address the weaknesses of the business organization, it can be said that in the policies
of human resources policies of the company. It can be seen that the management has made some
HR policies that can support the low cost leadership strategy of the business organization. in
today’s world, somehow the experts in the relevant field have seen some challenges that the
management of the organization can face due to the set HR policies by the managerial board of
21 Gassmann, Oliver, Karolin Frankenberger, and Michaela Csik. "Innovation Strategy: From
new Products to Business Model Innovation." Business Innovation: Das St. Galler Modell.
Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden, 2016. 81-104.

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the company22. In some particular cases, it is seen that the management of the organization had to
deal with some labor relation issues which were not at all in the favor of the general workforce of
the company and those policies can effectively reduce the moral and level of loyalty of the
employees of the organization. in today’s world, it is seen that the employees are the nucleus of
the business organizations and a motivated and loyal workforce is the asset for the management.
Thus, in this scenario, if the management experience a significant reduction in the moral and
loyalty level of the employees, that makes the situation concerning for the owners of the
company23. In this regard, it can be said that the management is also facing some challenges in
the customer service sector of the organization and that undesired situations were arising due to
ineffectiveness of the employees who were supposed to provide after sales support to the
customers of the company24. In this regard it can be said that if the customer service of the
company is being unable to solve the issues of the customers of the company naturally the target
customers of the company will get agitated and that will lead to a decrease in the profitability of
the enterprise and not only that that may lead to a potential decrease in the reputation of the firm
22 Ciravegna, Luciano, and Esteban R. Brenes. "Learning to become a high reliability
organization in the food retail business." Journal of Business Research 69.10 (2016): 4499-4506.
23 Galbraith, Jay R. Designing organizations: Strategy, structure, and process at the business unit
and enterprise levels. John Wiley & Sons, 2014.
24 Brea‐Solís, Humberto, Ramon Casadesus‐Masanell, and Emili Grifell‐Tatjé. "Business model
evaluation: quantifying Walmart's sources of advantage." Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal 9.1
(2015): 12-33.

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in both the domestic and the international market of operation. In this regard it can be said that
the management of the organization should stress on continuous training and developmental
programs for the employees of the company for improving their professional skills. The the
management of Walmart should ensure that all the customer service executives are sympathetic
and compassionate towards the customers and they should effectively solve any kinds of issues
or challenges the customers are facing to increase the reputation of the company in order to
eradicate the challenges that the company is currently facing from fierce rivalry in the market of
operation25. In this regard it should also be mentioned that the management of the organization is
facing some challenges regarding satisfying the experiences of the customers as in a survey
conducted by ABC it was seen that the company ranks second last among the leading companies
operating in United States in terms of providing quality experiences to the customers26. The poor
customer service experience is is a major contributing factor to the loss of a share of the market
and that can lead to loss of profitability for the organization as the rivalry in the market is fierce.
It can be said that there are various opportunities for the management of Walmart to
increase their competitiveness and also to promote for the development of the business business
firm. It can be said that in today’s market getting a fair share of the market is vital to ensure the
25 Demil, Benoît, et al. "Introduction to the SEJ special issue on business models: business
models within the domain of strategic entrepreneurship." Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal 9.1
(2015): 1-11.
26 Galbraith, Jay R. Designing organizations: Strategy, structure, and process at the business unit
and enterprise levels. John Wiley & Sons, 2014.

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profitability and productivity of the company and also it and sure the sustenance of the company
in a market full of competition. As the business organization is currently operating in the market
of South Korea Brazil and China the business organization may capitalize on the recent
economic boost of these countries by establishing various additional storage to experience more
profitability. The emerging markets by the management of the organization currently operates
include Asia South America and Africa also which are yet to be exploited. It is seen that the
management of Walmart is trying to expand their product line apart from the traditional goods
that they were selling previously27. The retail Chains Of The Organization in the market of
America and in other countries have always emphasized on providing household products like
furniture and foodstuffs but however the retail stores should be in a good position in order to
provide the other services as they have access to a huge number of the clients of the company.
Not only increasing the sources of revenue this strategic move can definitely help to provide
benefits to the customers who resides in comparatively remote Areas where are the business firm
do not provide services. Apart from that the management of the firm has a huge deputation in the
International and Domestic Markets and that can effectively manipulate the wine preferences of
the target customers of the company which can ensure the profitability of the business
organization in the international market also. It can surely be said that in recent times the
management of the organizations aim is to expand the business is operations worldwide in order
27 Ciravegna, Luciano, and Esteban R. Brenes. "Learning to become a high reliability
organization in the food retail business." Journal of Business Research 69.10 (2016): 4499-4506.

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to sustain profitability and productivity and also to gain a computer advantage in the market of
operation28.
To discuss the factors of threats it can be said that currently Walmart is facing numerous
threats and one of those is economic crisis in the major market of operation of the business. In
this regard it can be said that the market of United States of America and Europe has always
been providing immense profitability for the company but the current economic recession is
exposing the organization towards various economic challenges. The initial challenge the
management of the business firm faced was regarding the European credit crisis and apart from
that the economic crisis are immensely harming the operations of the business organization as
the downturn in the economy is affecting the purchasing ability of the target customers of the
company29. In this regard it can be said that the new entrance in the market of operation of
Walmart are also becoming threats for the company as these small scale companies are stressing
on providing discounts to the customers and by that they are trying to attract more customers and
that’s where the management of Walmart is facing severe challenges as they believe in low cost
leadership strategy and for that they are becoming unable to give away such discounts for their
28 Demil, Benoît, et al. "Introduction to the SEJ special issue on business models: business
models within the domain of strategic entrepreneurship." Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal 9.1
(2015): 1-11.
29 Brea‐Solís, Humberto, Ramon Casadesus‐Masanell, and Emili Grifell‐Tatjé. "Business model
evaluation: quantifying Walmart's sources of advantage." Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal 9.1
(2015): 12-33.

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customers30. Not only that the management of the organization is facing significant amount of
rivalry in the market of Europe and America and that is somehow affecting the strategies of the
organisation as when the management of Walmart is implementing a strategy the Rival
companies are trying to overcome the challenge they are getting from the operation style of
Walmart by implementing another anti strategy in order to get competitive advantage against an
established business like Walmart31. These new companies operating in the market of Europe and
America have adequate financial stability to replicate the strategies of Walmart including cost
leadership and aggressive expansion is nature and thus they are being able to erode the
competitive advantage of Walmart in both domestic and international market. It is also what wild
to mention that the local small scale sellers are also in the current situation giving tough
competition to Walmart as their knowledge regarding the regional market and the consumer
preferences are way better than the marketing team of Walmart as the small scale distributors or
business owners are dealing with the local people on a daily basis32.
30 Gassmann, Oliver, Karolin Frankenberger, and Michaela Csik. "Innovation Strategy: From
new Products to Business Model Innovation." Business Innovation: Das St. Galler Modell.
Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden, 2016. 81-104.
31 Bakopoulos, Vassilis, Greg Stuart, and Rex Briggs. "Measuring the value of mobile
advertising in driving business outcomes: Empirical data from Coca-Cola, AT&T, MasterCard
and Walmart." Applied Marketing Analytics 2.2 (2016): 169-179.
32 Akter, Shahriar, et al. "How to improve firm performance using big data analytics capability
and business strategy alignment?." International Journal of Production Economics182 (2016):
113-131.

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It can be said that the management of Walmart has various strengths and opportunities in
both the domestic and international market of operations and on the other hand they have some
major weaknesses and threats as well that can potentially ruin their profitability and reputation in
the market. The matter of fact that according to a detailed SWOT analysis along with an internal
and external evaluation of the company it can be said that despite having some factors that can
become potential threat of weakness for the company but the company in present situation have a
fair share of the International and Domestic market and have various opportunities to sustain
their profitability and growth.
Grand Strategy Matrix of Walmart
The Grand Strategy Matrix helps a particular organization to plan a proper strategy for
the business. The matrix is one of the most standard items of business be it small or large,. The
following strategy has been one of the most important and effective one that has helped the
organization to establish a successful business33. The management of Walmart has arranged the
external and internal strength of the company according to the lines of its financial strength,
competitive edge in the market, external stability and the strength of the retail industry. The
mentioned business manifests financial strength marks of 3.5 out of a total of 5. The score
represents the financial capability of the Wal-Mart store as it is already above the average. The
following can be attributed to the continuous ability of the organization to expand and gain a
33 Gupta, Mahima. "Strategy Formulation for Performance Improvement of Indian Corrugated
Industry: An Application of SWOT Analysis and QSPM Matrix." Journal of Applied Packaging
Research 7.3 (2015): 3.

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stronghold in the market34. This also helps the company to expand its wings and earn
considerable revenue in the market. The company can derive the competitive advantage from
the different strong areas of the market as because the management of the business organization
has the capability to market its line of products and different brands. The following strategy of
the company represents the aggressive nature of the organization and its capability to penetrate
into the market quite easily35.
There are generally four different quadrants for a Grand Strategy Matrix. This includes;
34 David, Meredith E., Fred R. David, and Forest R. David. "The quantitative strategic planning
matrix: a new marketing tool." Journal of Strategic Marketing 25.4 (2017): 342-352.
35 Fazlollahtabar, Hamed. Supply Chain Management Models: Forward, Reverse, Uncertain, and
Intelligent Foundations with Case Studies. CRC Press, 2018.

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Figure 1- Quadrants of Grand Strategy Matrix
Source: (David Fred and Forest 342-352)
Quadrant 1- Product and development of the market, Market Penetration, Backward Integration,
Forward Integration, Concentric Diversification
Quadrant 2- Product Development, Market Development, Market Penetration,
Horizontal/Vertical Integration, Liquidation
Quadrant 3- Retrenchment, Related or unrelated diversification, Conglomerate diversification,
Liquidation Divesture
Quadrant 4- Related or unrelated diversification, Horizontal/ vertical Diversification,
Conglomerate Diversification, Joint ventures

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Walmart has a high level of competitive advantage in the market and also holds a strong
competitive position in the market. The mentioned Company falls under the 1st quadrant because
of the fact that the market has been growing quite rapidly in the recent years and is projected for
a much larger growth in the coming years too.
1. Product and Market development – The retail stores of the company develop new
products and engage in research and development process to further strengthen the
competitive position of them in the market36. The development of the new products will
lead to the opening of the new opportunities in the market and will help in the proper
running of the organization.
2. Market Penetration- The mentioned retail organization has the capability to penetrate the
market by means of the exclusive range of products and their efficient service quality.
The effective marketing and promotional strategies of the business on the other hand
helps the management of the organization to easily gain a foothold in the market37. The
management in most of the times enters into a joint venture with other retail stores of the
host countries.
36
Genoveva, Genoveva, and Stivenes Tjin Siam. "Analysis of Marketing
Strategy and Competitive Advantage." International Journal of Economic
Perspectives 11.1 (2017): 1571-1579.
37 Shoham, Aviv, and Dorothy Paun. "Small business marketing strategies: A call for
customization." Proceedings of the 1993 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual
Conference. Springer, Cham, 2015.

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3. Backward Integration- Backward Integration is a form of vertical integration that
involves the purchase or merger of the company with the different suppliers with the
supply chain. The management of Walmart has started pursuing backward integration
because of its improved operational efficiency and its tendency to save the cost. Such a
kind of implementation helps to cut the transportation costs, improve profit margins and
make the firm more competitive in nature.
4. Forward Integration- The forward integration is a business strategy implemented by the
management of the mentioned retail organization. The forward integration approach by
the management of the company helps the company to accept the fresh products
produced by the farmers and sell them at marginal prices to consumers38. The absence of
such a process may lead to the involvement of the third party vendors which in turn leads
to the increase in the amount of the different items that are sold to the consumers of the
mentioned retail stores.
5. Concentric Diversification- The companies like Walmart make use of a number of
different growth strategies. Some of them choose an organic growth strategy and increase
their market share in their existing industry by focusing on the marketing and sales part
while some other companies choose the likes of mergers and acquisitions to enter new
industries and new markets through these diversification strategies. The management of
38 Purwoko, Bambang, Ahmad Gamal, and Dedy Kunhadi. "The Leather Industry Development
in Tanggulangin in Facing Asean Economic Community (AEC) 2015 with Quantitative Strategic
Planning Matrix (QSPM)." Archives of Business Research 4.6 (2016).

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the aforesaid retail company chooses both the strategies and applies it wherever it seems
the most fit to do so.
BCG Matrix of Walmart
Figure 2- BCG Matrix
Source: (David Fred and Forest 342-352)
BCG Matrix
Walmart is a large scale retailer that has its stores located at different areas of the world.
Apart from USA the US Retail Giants have their stores located at different other major economic
centers of the world including the fastest growing markets of India and China. The application of

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the BCG matrix in the following business model will help to analyze the profitability and the
future prospects of the business. The BCG Matrix of the company is as follows;
1. Cash Cows- There are some business units of the organization that tends to be the main
source of earning for the mentioned organization due to the high market share that is
owned by the business organization. The high income potential markets turn them into
cash cows and though the market or the product enters the maturity stage, the products
sold by the company are able to fare well in the market. The need for in fluxing capital
into the organization for the future growth of the market is not high therefore the cash
cows are termed to be profitable for the mentioned business organization. Some outward
incidents in Europe and Asia have damaged the reputation of the business. Just some
months back some of the products sold by the retail stores of the company were found to
be stale and unhealthy for consumption39. The local management was red faced with the
incident and it took some serious steps by the company to assure the consumers about
Walmart’s dedication to customer safety and satisfaction. The management of the
company generally considers fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, fish and other such items to
have a high market share as they are hardly stored for one day. The demand for these
kind of products is very high in every stores of the mentioned retail stores. As the market
for these products is already established and is in a maturity stage, these products need
very little amount of investment to be profitable for cash generation in the long run.
39 Houé, Thierry, and Eileen Murphy. "A study of logistics networks: the value of a qualitative
approach." European Management Review 14.1 (2017): 3-18.

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2. Stars- The second quadrant in the BCG Matrix is termed as Stars. There are some special
products in the market that help the business organization to create growth opportunities
for the market40. This helps the management of the business organization to receive a
supportive environment for the business to develop their business in a more positive way.
The most important feature of stars is their capability to transform into cash cows once
the market gets stabilized and matured41. Unlike the cash cows the star products sold by
the management of Walmart needs to be backed up by quality investment to make them
successful ion the market. The best example for Walmart is the newly launched Protein
substitutes for the people who hit the gyms regularly. The company claims them to be
one of the best brands sold by them and assures the people about the healthy qualities of
the product. The product which was launched some months back has already saw a rise in
its demand as more and more people are either buying or enquiring its effectiveness.
Going by the recent market trend of the product, the product will surely be one of the best
in the market.
3. Question Marks- The term Question marks itself lays the idea about the rough patch
experienced by each and every business unit42. It is not possible for every business unit to
have a smooth operational and organizational efficiency. Walmart is no such exception in
40 Kahn, Barbara E. The Shopping Revolution: How Successful Retailers Win Customers in an
Era of Endless Disruption. Wharton Digital Press, 2018.
41 Hugos, Michael H. Essentials of supply chain management. John Wiley & Sons, 2018.
42 Yoder, Samantha, John K. Visich, and Elzotbek Rustambekov. "Lessons learned from
international expansion failures and successes." Business Horizons 59.2 (2016): 233-243.

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this regard as the company too suffers from different problems with the products and
services. There are many products sold by the mentioned retail outlet which fails to
attract any interest from the customers and thus are deemed as unprofitable. The future of
such kind of products remains a question as because these products may or may not attain
any future growth. It is also possible that the development in the market does not have
any impact on the desirability of these kinds of products. The company once launched a
real food product category which aimed to deliver the best packaged food products under
the aforesaid name. The growth rate of those products seemed unsatisfactory as because
the customers were seen reluctant to buy any such packaged products under such a name
when such kinds of products were already available at Walmart stores.
4. Dogs- Dogs is the last yet not the least in anyways in the product quadrant of BCG
Matrix. The management of Walmart has a number of products whose performance in the
market in the present times has not been satisfactory. The chances of limited returns have
limited the investment opportunities of the management on such kinds of products.
However the organizations keep on investing a meager sum of money behind these
products just to keep the operational efficiency of the organization in a proper condition.
The low chances for growth, a bleak and uncertain future makes these products a
headache for the mentioned retail business organization. Walmart in line with some of the
rivals in the industry started operating a specialized electronics segment in its stores,
which though had a decent beginning failed to capture the market. People preferred full
scale electronics stores more than a retail store like the mentioned business organization
for buying different electronic products. The electronics business is termed as a high
competitive market and has a very slow growth which cannot be compared with the other

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product categories that are dealt by the mentioned retail stores. Thus it can be said that
electronics business is the dog of Walmart.
Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM)
Quantitative Strategic Matrix is a high level strategic management way to evaluate the
possible strategies of the marketing approaches of the business organization. The mentioned
matrix helps to provide an analytical method to compare the feasible alternative actions of the
management43. The executives of the mentioned organization when thinks about the ways and
things to do it generally makes a number of different strategies that are organized according to
the list. The QSPM method aims to reduce the time of choosing the best methods and objectively
selects the best methods that are available along the lines. The strategic management process can
be best defined as the objective, logical and a proper and effective approach for making the best
and major decisions in the organization. The QSPM strategy fits into the first stage of the
strategic formulation of the business and can be termed as the best tool for deciding among the
most feasible alternative strategies of the business. The formulation of strategies is more or less
the same in terms of concept for large scale or small scale or the profit making or nonprofit
making organizations. However there is a debate within the organizations as to whether the
following matrix used by the organizations is objective or subjective in nature. The need to
evaluate the External Factor Evaluation Matrix and Internal Factor Evaluation Matrix is
important for the proper calculation of the QSPM matrix of Walmart.
43 Eckman, Molly, et al. "Consumer receptiveness to international retail expansion: a cross-
cultural study of perceptions of social and economic influence of foreign retailers." The
International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research 25.3 (2015): 260-275.

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External Factor Evaluation Matrix (EFEM)
The following matrix provided in this particular report will provide the threats and
opportunities for the organization based on the importance of each of the marketing and strategic
elements of the Company. The rating will help to determine the preparedness of Walmart to react
to different threats and opportunities44. The calculation has been done by the weight multiplied
by the rating which gives the exact weighted score whose total sum demonstrates the position of
Walmart whether it is above the average score of 2.5 or below it. The quantitative table is given
below;
Key External
Factors
Weight Rating Selected Scores
Opportunities
Trend Towards
Online Shopping
0.18 4 0.72
Potential of
European Market
0.13 3 0.39
44 Joseph, Lawrence, and Michael Kuby. "Modeling retail chain expansion and maturity through
wave analysis: Theory and application to Walmart and Target." International Journal of Applied
Geospatial Research (IJAGR) 6.4 (2015): 1-26.

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Customers of Higher
Income Group
0.12 2 0.24
Sustainability
Awareness4
0.09 2 0.18
Likings towards one
stop shopping
experience
0.12 4 0.58
Threats
Online
Shops(Change in
technology)
0.2 2 0.4
High bargaining
power of customers
0.06 2 0.12
Price competition in
retail industry
0.13 2 0.26
Instability in the
market
0.04 3 0.12
Laws and
regulations for more
investment to give
the employee
benefits
0.04 2 0.08
1.11 3.09

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The company’s response to the overall opportunities and threats is more than the average
of 2.5 and stands at a score of 3.09.
Opportunities
1. Trends towards online Shopping- Online shopping has been one of the most recent
forms of marketing where sales are generated through the internet45. The buyers do not
have to visit the stores and can order their choice of goods from their homes only. The
management of Walmart can establish their online business as because it is a source of
additional revenue for them because they are already successful in the market.
2. Potential of the European Market- Europe has a huge market for the retail business as
most of the countries have a very healthy and high amount of GDP which will
automatically help Walmart to gain success in their business.
3. Customers of Higher Income Groups- As mentioned in the earlier part some of the
countries where Walmart operates has a large amount of customers who fall under the
category of high income groups. The high income groups of the different operating zones
of the organization helps the management to gain a successful base of customers and
turns their business into profitable ventures.
45 Bai, Huifeng, Julie McColl, and Christopher Moore. "Luxury retailers’ entry and expansion
strategies in China." International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management45.11 (2017):
1181-1199.

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4. Trends towards one stop Shopping experience- The trend of shopping all the different
products from one store is helpful for the people who are too busy. This helps them to
save their time and they do not have to go to different shops to get all the different things
needed by them.
5. Sustainability Awareness- The consumers must be notified about the need for
sustainability and reducing the consumption or consuming the products in a proper
manner to save for the future46.
Threats
1. Changing Technologies- The management of the business organization must adapt itself
to new technologies as failure to do such will result in huge problem. The Company must
start an online venture to capture the online market and stay sustainable in the future.
2. Price Competition in the Market- The competition in the market makes it tough for the
industry to survive. Thus it must input a proper and efficient price strategy to attract more
customers and earn more profit in the long run.
46 Joseph, Lawrence, and Michael Kuby. "Modeling retail chain expansion and maturity through
wave analysis: Theory and application to Walmart and Target." International Journal of Applied
Geospatial Research (IJAGR) 6.4 (2015): 1-26.

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3. High level of bargaining powers- The large number of customers in the market makes
the business more vulnerable as customers gain more power and tends to have a say in
the determination of the prices of the products of the organization. This is surely a threat
for the organization.
Internal Factor Evaluation Matrix (IFEM)
The following matrix has been described in detail in the earlier part of the report. It is
based on the importance of each of the strength and weakness aspect of the business.
Key Internal Factors Weight Rating Weighted Scores
Strengths
Brand Awareness 0.18 4 0.72
Cost Leadership 0.13 3 0.39
Control over
suppliers
0.14 3 0.42
Continuous Growth 0.06 3 0.18
Profitable
organization
0.09 4 0.36
Weaknesses
Lack of Presence in
Developed Countries
0.12 3 0.36
Failure to enter
foreign markets
0.14 2 0.28
Absence of formal 0.05 3 0.15

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mission statement
Continuous Product
Recalls
0.06 2 0.12
Low Prices to be
connected to poor
quality
0.07 2 0.14
Total 1.04 3.12
The score of 3.12 is quite good for the Company and represents the good response of the
company to the internal strengths and weaknesses.
Recommendations
1. New Mission Statement of the Company
The present mission statement of the company is termed as “We Save People’s Money so
they can live better”. Though the mission statement of the company seems appropriate enough
for the modern business world, the strategic courses of the company will lead the company to
adopt a totally new mission statement to fulfill the future goals of the company. The future
mission statement has to be broad and perspective in nature so that it does not limit the company
from undertaking ambitious efforts47. The new mission statement of the company must be a
47 Joseph, Lawrence, and Michael Kuby. "Modeling retail chain expansion and maturity through
wave analysis: Theory and application to Walmart and Target." International Journal of Applied
Geospatial Research (IJAGR) 6.4 (2015): 1-26.

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foundation to the good strategy of the business for the near future. The mission statement ought
to be a statement for the purpose of the company. It is a logical point from where the
management of Walmart will be looking back at the road. The first questions that will be
appearing on the minds of the customers will be:
a. What are the aims of the retail business and what they are planning to offer the
customers in the near future?
b. What will be the ways by which the company will grow itself by applying the new
mission statement?
The new mission statement of the retail business organization mentioned in this project will
be “Sustainable business with technological advancements”. The management of the company
can adapt such a strategy as because it will help the business to both ensure the implementation
of the latest technologies as well as ensure the better sustainability of the business in the
changing market scenario.
Purpose Statement
Walmart has been the world’s largest retail organization for a long time now and the
achievement has been possible just because of its superior quality of product and the exclusive
service provided to its customers. The adoption of the company with the latest trends of future
marketing will help the management to provide the customers a superior level of experience with
its modern technologies in the coming future. The mission statement will be very much useful

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for highlighting the business the company intends to do and the type of products and services
that they would be providing to the customers. The acceptance of the recommended mission
statement will help the organization to address the sustainability issues and the other measures
that will be taken by them to stay intact in the market.
The mission of Walmart for the coming days is to provide the people with the latest services
that include online orders, packaged deliveries and computer generated product selections. These
kinds of services will provide the company with a competitive edge over the other rivals in the
industry. The mission statement also explains the adoption of sustainable measures which may
include the creation of green technologies and establishing provisions for the sale of organic
produce. The company can also transform its stores to green stores by deriving energy needs
from renewable sources of energy like solar energy, wind energy and many like such. It is
important for the company to adapt such measures and change the current mission statement of
the company. The current mission statement of the company must be aborted as because it fails
to address the contemporary challenges of the market as well as the environment and also fails to
have an impact on the modern generation48. The adoption of sustainability by the mentioned
organization also addresses the benefits that will be provided by the management to the workers
of the firm.
2. Choice of a Particular Strategy
48 Joseph, Lawrence. "A Geographic Perspective on the Walmart Neighborhood Market." Papers
in Applied Geography 1.4 (2015): 348-355.

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Becoming global is not as easy as it seems and it is never because of the grand design or
some opportunistic and random moves. The best approach to become global is the opportunistic
flexibility that provides a broad direction and is set by a systematic framework. As mentioned
earlier in this particular report Walmart stores is the largest retail enterprise of the world and has
its operations in most of the countries of the globe. It has more than 700 stores in and around the
world with employee strength of close to 150,000. The mentioned retailer has its operations in
Canada, Brazil, Mexico, USA, South Korea, China and many more as such. However there has
been a absence of the company from the main market of Europe. As discussed earlier Europe can
not only turn out to be a better opportunity for the retail business but can also make it richer in
terms of revenue. The market in Europe is well developed and the economy of the European
countries is far better than any other parts of the world. A healthy GDP of more than $20,000
makes the countries more acceptable for business opportunities. The business opportunities that
the continent provides are thus unmatchable with any other parts of the world and thus it is
highly recommended for the company to start its operations in Europe.
Challenges in Europe
Though Europe has a lot of scope for Walmart, the market can be a tough nut to crack
because of some impending obstacles. First of all the retail market of Europe is already matured
enough and Walmart to gain a foothold in the market have to acquire an old business or merge
with an existing one. Apart from this there are lots of well entrenched firms in the European
Scene that includes the likes of Carrefour in France and Metro A.G in Germany. Such types of
strong firms will thus surely retaliate with a great energy against the mentioned enterprise.

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Another main challenge for the organization will be to change the business model that it follows
across the world. This is because the existing players adopt exactly the same model like that of
Walmart to establish themselves in the market. Therefore it will be impossible for the mentioned
enterprise to gain a foothold in Europe if they adapt the same strategy as because the adaption of
the same strategy will spell doom for the business. Last but not the least in any ways the biggest
challenge that will be faced by the management of the company will be the unavailability of
local suppliers and absence of a strong local customer relationship. The failure to gain a loyal
customer base in Europe can turn out to be a severe handicap in the European circuit.
Strategies to avoid the Challenges
The management of the company needs to overcome the different challenges mentioned
above to enter the market of Europe. The company has to reorganize its strategies and select the
perfect mode for entry. The management of the company must have to think about the process of
acquisition s because acquisition is the only process by which it can gain a presence in Europe.
The business firm must make it a point to enter into an alliance with the best player of the
industry to avoid any initial failures. It can also start Greenfield operations in the country of its
choice and take a note of the market to start the commercial operations in the future. The
company can also search for opportunities by buying poor performers in the market and reviving
them with their brand of products and services49. The proper and effective follow up of the
following recommendations can help the mentioned business enterprise to make a grand entry
into the less unexplored European business circuit.
49 Mohammadian, Hamid Doost. "Principles of Strategic Planning." (2017).

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The strategies of the company on entering Europe must be carried out gradually and at a slow
pace. This is because unnecessary speed can hamper the cause of the organization. It will be
better to put the entry process in Europe under the long term category because of the enormous
amount of risk that will be involved while entering the market.
3. QSPM are implemented along the strategy lines and Functional Approach
a. Top Management functions- The earlier researchers in their study have defined society
to be a part of public administration having a set of functions and a perfect structure.
These types of functions are believed to be norms, traditions and customs that can be
compared to the parts of the human body50. The management of each and every business
organizations thus must have a proper system or set of rules that will help them to control
the functions and the operations of the business organization. The functional approach of
the management is important to achieve the set of goals of Walmart in a financial year.
b. Accounting and Finance Functions- The accounting and finance department of the
organization has a great role in the performance of the business organizations. The
management of Walmart has a dedicated Accounting and finance department that takes
care of all the different financial requirement of the organization. The annual auditing,
new investment allocation, annual calculation of the sales figures, amount of the
acquisition of new companies and many such different things are taken care by the
accounting and finance department of the organization. Apart from this the daily
functions of the company and the calculation of the sales and purchase along with the
profits earned are also done by the mentioned department.
50 Mohammadian, Hamid Doost. "Principles of Strategic Planning." (2017).

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c. Marketing and Sales Functions- Marketing and sales forms one of the most important
department in an organization like Walmart which is concerned with the retailing
business. Being the largest retailer of the world, the marketing and sales department of
the mentioned organization has to be dynamic and effective each and every time. The
marketing and sales department of the organization has a number of different functions. It
begins with the clarification of the roles of the marketing and sales team of the
organization and then evaluating the role of marketing and sales and linking it with the
strategic aims of Walmart. The management of the retail company organizes different
workshops that help the senior leadership of the marketing and sales team to assess the
specific role that promotion, marketing and sales play in the success of the business. The
marketing and sales department of the organization has also the task of engaging with the
professionals as because it is important for the organization to make the use of the
different types of the organizational models in the marketing of the organization.
d. Production and Operations Functions- Walmart being a large retailer hardly has any
such production units, rather it depends upon the retail business operations to earn profits
from the market. The operations department of the mentioned organization takes care of
all the activities related to the store and also arranges for other different activities. The
operations department takes care of the logistics needs of the mentioned retail business.
The operations of a business organization like Walmart needs Dynamic and efficient
management to attain great success.
e. Human Resources Management Functions- Human Resource Management in retail
industry is concerned with the product centric dimensions of the organization. HRM must
perform certain activities to achieve a better management system for the employees.

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Personal objectives are thought to be realized through different training and development
activities, performance management and other compensation benefits and allowance. On
the other hand, organizational objectives are achieved through HRM planning, employee
retention, recruitment, selection, compensation, selection and many such different
activities. The management of Walmart has identified and implemented seven different
types of Human Resources functions. The main functions of the department are said to
be;
1. Job Analysis and Job Design
2. Process of Job Analysis
3. Recruitment and Selection of retail business
4. Training and Development
5. Compensation and benefits
f. IT Functions- The IT department of the organization is concerned after the different
types of the technological needs of the organization. These include the management of
the online business of Walmart and the proper maintenance of the website. The functional
approach of the IT department is looked after the IT supervisor of the management.
g. Research and Development Functions- Research and development forms an important
part of the organizational development. The management of Walmart has a dedicated set
of R&D wing that innovates new ways of marketing and promotion to gain
reorganization in the market. The presence of the R&D department has helped the3
organization to be the largest and the most widely recognized retailer in the world.

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References
Genoveva, Genoveva, and Stivenes Tjin Siam. "Analysis of Marketing
Strategy and Competitive Advantage." International Journal of Economic
Perspectives 11.1 (2017): 1571-1579.

50
STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
Akter, Shahriar, et al. "How to improve firm performance using big data analytics capability and
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