Contrary to celebrity Paris Hilton’s beliefs, as a leading distributor in the retail industry, Walmart has established a firm market position and great understanding of what consumers today look for in a shopping experience. Their position would not be possible without a very important function in management. Walmart is currently using the function of management known as leading which articulates a clear vision.
This consists of energizing and enabling organizational leader that understand the part they play in attaining Walmart’s organizational goals. This type of motivation and coordination further expands Walmart’s leadership image as they express power, personality, influence persuasion, and communication skills that keep their activates in harmony.
Recent challenges, though, have veered Walmart’s success into a critical state. Multiple lawsuits have damaged the company image such as the “sexism” case that was presented before Supreme Court. One of the six women, Christine Kwapnowski, named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit says she was pulled ahead of pay and promotion in favor of male colleagues.
“For Wal-Mart, the lawsuit represents an unwelcome return to the spotlight. A drawn-out class-action lawsuit would make it the poster company for gender equity issues. For much of the past decade, Wal-Mart was seen as responsible for all sorts of societal woes….the exporting of the nation’s manufacturing capabilities to China, and the decline in companies providing health insurance” (Gross, Daniel, Women vs Walmart: Supreme Court Hears Argument in Sexual Discrimination Suit).
Walmart should be noticed for their strengths in the retail industry rather than the current challenges they face with publicity. They have grown significantly over the years and have even considered expanding globally with their recent purchase of ASDA retailers located in the United Kingdom. Their greatest strength is the focused strategy human resources management and development. Here, Walmart invests time and money in training employees and updating I.T. support on its international logistics system which helps track products domestically and internationally.
On the other hand, Walmart’s large size in inventory could leave the company weak as control becomes more complex despite its technological innovation of tracking individual products. Also, because customers are so intuitive, Walmart’s low prices have them questioning the quality of the goods. Despite these weaknesses, Walmart has had some external factors or opportunities that contribute to its success. Expansion into other countries is the largest of these opportunities as well as home delivery order for the immobile or “lazy” consumer. Lastly, in the times of recession, customers are always looking to save money which is something Walmart mainly advocates.
Lastly, there are threats that can challenge Walmart’s booming access. Local competitors such as mom-and-pop and small business stores dislike the arrival of Walmart so they might encourage banning or defacing the company in anyway possible. Also, the current economy plays a threat as the per capita increases, the less customers are concerned about saving. Tariff taxes, employee unions as well as warehouse retailers like Costco may also be threats to the company.
So what do you think are Walmart’s strengths and weaknesses? Do they have any other opportunities or threats? If so, could these attributes better or worsen the company?
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Sources
http://marketingmixx.com/marketing-basics/swot-analysis-marketing-basics/156-wal-mart-swot-analysis.html” http://marketingmixx.com/marketing-basics/swot-analysis-marketing-basics/156-wal-mart-swot-analysis.html
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/women-vs-walmart-supreme-court-hears-argument-sexual-20110329-042243-410.html
I think Walmart has many strengths, one being their extremely low prices. This is one of the main reasons Walmart has grown and has so many customers. I feel their low prices could end up back firing eventually. If Walmart continues to pressure their clients to lower their prices so they can compete with other retailers like themselves, the companies may end up backing out of their contract with Walmart because they do not want to lower their prices to Walmart’s request. I hear what you are saying when Walmart should just be noticed for their strengths and not their current challenges they face with publicity, but this is one of the cons that come with being a large company such as Walmart. You cannot avoid the press, and need to be prepared to do so whenever your company comes across a struggle, because all eyes will be on you.
Walmart has been in the spotlight for there misdoings for years; this is nothing new. Obviously Walmart’s strength is their low prices and their scale. They have the power to tell vendors the price they are willing to buy their products for. I don’t think that any amount of public scrutiny is going to hurt them. People want cheap goods and social issues come secondary for American consumers. In my opinion Walmart is the poster for corrupt American corporations, yet people continue to shop there.
Wal-mart being the largest retail distributor in the world just says it has crazy amount of strengths. Their supply chain distribution and providing low cost to its customer are the biggest strength and that is what they thrive upon. They are very competitive in this market because everyone is seeking low prices because of the current economy, which leads to mom-and-pop store to go out of business because they cannot compete in the prices. Wal-mart in some places are a blessing because it provides a lot of jobs, security, benefits, and a means to afford daily items. On the other hand, for small business it creates a disastrous reaction. Wal-mart weaknesses come from their services and how it effects locally. Many people protest against Wal-mart coming into their town due to the small businesses that creates a threat locally. Wal-mart has either great effects or very bad if they play the right situations they will stay on top of the retail business
I think that one of Wal Mart’s biggest strengths is the fact that they have a lot of power in the retail wholesale market. Wal Mart is able to undercut wholesalers and get products at prices lower than most stores can. This enables them to be able to sell items at prices cheaper than anyone else can. The biggest weakness however is that many people feel as if this hurts our economy and won’t buy items from Wal Mart. The other weakness they have is in their image. I think that many people view Wal Mart as a low class place to shop because of their low prices and low quality brands.
I agree with Wal-Mart not being able to be hurt by other companies. They dominate small business because of their supply chain, quality, and low prices. They are willing to match any price if a customer can prove the item price to the manager. They will never go out of business at the rate they are going and I feel they will take over almost all small businesses because of their low prices and great deals.
I definitely agree that low prices is one of WalMarts biggest strengths. I grew up in the suburbs where I lived right next to Walmart and did my everyday shopping there. I have grown accustomed to their low prices and great selections. Now that I live in the city, the closest thing I have to me is a Target. I have noticed that products at target are at least a dollar more which is incredibly unfair, especially to a college student. They also don’t have as large of a selection as Walmart. They have a great return policy and are always nice. I don’t keep up with news so I’m not sure if WalMart has had many lawsuits against them but I think their strengths outweigh the weaknesses.
In my opinion, Walmart is successful in the US because it is a one stop shop for parents in a hurry who don’t have a lot of time to spend shopping. They are looking for low prices and a store where they they can grab clothes, toys, and also groceries. I don’t think Walmart will be successful abroad because people are not as busy, and also willing to go to various places in order to find the best deal on something. For example, in Germany, people will go to 5 different grocery stores if that means finding the lowest prices on 5 different items. Other countries don’t understand the crazy busy lives that American’s live. Walmart is perfect for the mom-on-the-go, or the Dad with five minutes to spare from work to picking kids up from after school activities.
Walmart has been so successful because they offer such low prices on virtually all of their products. The reason they are able to do this is because they buy in great quantities, so their suppliers sell at a discount. Therefore, the quality is probably pretty decent, despite the perception that Walmart sells cheap products. Another reason they are, and will continue to be, in good standing is because Walmart basically manipulates their suppliers. If Walmart says jump, they will ask how high. As a supplier of Walmart, you literally cannot afford to lose the business, so Walmart can have total control over inventory and inventory replenishing, positioning on the shelfs, and packaging. They have dominated the big store market for the past decade or so for these reasons, and it is unlikely that anyone will come along and compete. Walmart is here to stay, and they certainly have the opportunity and potential to expand across the globe.
I personally try to avoid shopping at Walmart because their globalization practices terrify me, not that they are the only culprit in such matters. I believe they are so successful because they’ve been able to drive prices so low, that some consumers have no other choice but to shop there and other businesses cannot match their prices. Of course many people make the choice to shop there willingly. I don’t think the cost of detrimental overseas operational practices are an equal traded for low prices, and that why I don’t shop there. I also understand that this is not the mentality of most people and Walmart will continue to be successful because they can offer the lowest prices as the leader of the market.
Wal Mart has many strengths. They are a smart company and understand what their consumers want. Many people compare Target & Wal-Mart, but what most don’t see is that Target is actually expensive. Wal-Mart delivers good quality products for low prices. My dad does business with Wal-Mart and they are very strict in their demands and what they are looking for. They have specifications that each of their product requires and so far that is working for them. Especially in this economy, mom and pop businesses can’t compete with Wal-marts prices. Wal-Mart has the ability to reach out to many manufactures and factories to make sure they get the cheapest and highest quality products.