Analysing organisation. Wal-Mart Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Analysing organisation. Wal-Mart - Essay Example A firm existence in the American market and exploitation of every opportunity and space during the initial establishment years has enabled Wal-Mart to enjoy a unique brand name. It was a successful strategic move for Wal-Mart to concentrate on the US market, and establish firmly on home soil. From the exploits of the home market, Wal-Mart had enough experience and sufficient resources to make investments abroad. Wal-Mart has coverage for retail business in more than fifteen countries today, with branches in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Japan, South Africa and the UK among many others (Wal-Mart, n.d.). This presentation highlights the various concepts that can be associated with Wal-Mart as a global player in the retail industry. SWOT analysis is relied upon in the design, with the initial part highlighting the strengths and opportunities that an insider at Wal-Mart would quickly give while the second section highlights threats and weaknesses that are critical to the company. General review is a biased outlook on the positives of the company as opposed to the critical review that criticises various business concepts and approaches adopted at the company. Data Collection Information on SWOT from primary and secondary sources made the bulk of research, with an explanation and discussion on the main issues making up the presentation. SWOT as the main theme of the paper identifies with the needs of understanding the operations from an internal as well as an external perspective (Broughton, n.d.). The discussion is not exhaustive on the SWOT analysis but only a selected few items picked formed the discussion on which to base the presentation. General Review (Strengths and Opportunities) Ownership Wal-Mart began and remained as a family business as Walton dedicated his entire to the service and development of the company. Such level of commitment for the management of business usually enables the manager to set organisational objectives above any other interest. Evidently, the success of the corporation as one of the main global players in the retail industry owes much to the man-management techniques that Walton applied (Walton and Huey 1993, p32). As an individual, the president of the United States recognised Walton’s contribution to business and awarded him for his achievement just before his death. This is a milestone achievement for an individual leading an important business player as Wal-Mart in the global economy. Walton retained great influence on the decision making processes at the company in many aspects, despite the fact that the listing of the company implied that he donated some of the leadership to the shareholders. His contribution to the running of the business is undisputed and perhaps, therefore, Wal-Mart’s successes owe much to his roles in the company. The demise of Sam Walton in 1992 paved way for another Walton, Robson who took over as chairperson of the Wal-Mart Board a few days later. Tradition Since its establishment in 1962, Wal-Mart has kept off temptations of changing the market approach from the initial vision of the pioneer (Frank 2006, para.6). Sam Walton envisioned a retailing busines s with a unique pricing strategy that would target the lower end markets by initiating price cuts. Targeting the specific market niche in the retail business and making it possible to stick to it was perhaps the strongest business ideas adopted by Walton. In the modern business strategy applied at Wal-Mart, pricing is a uniquely important tool implemented for the initial objective laid down by Walton several decades ago. In all the retail outlets