Internal Environment of Wal-Mart

Corporate Structure

The stores of Wal-Mart are considered as one of the large retail chains of the world. The corporation's operations comprise three business segments: Wal-Mart U.S. engulfs diverse formats through which it operates large retail chain in regions of the United States. These formats and brands come under the umbrella of Wal-Mart brand. In addition, Wal-Mart is also engaged in online retail operations which are known as Wal-Mart.com. It is an international online retail chain that regulates its retail operations in 14 different countries; moreover, the enterprise controls different retail stores and restaurants that also include discount stores in order to retain the consumer. The Sam's Club comprises warehouse clubs that offer memberships in the U.S. and caters diverse online retail operations (samsclub.com).

Corporate Culture

Culture can be analyzed by observing how the company behaves, including rituals, routines, systems, histories and structures. There are certain clues about the presumptions that are mostly taken for granted. Wal-Mart's rituals of corporate life incorporate meetings, special events which emphasize what is important to strengthen the way of doing things.

The one major factor faced by North American companies is the cultural management in Asian business environment. Most of past literature on international expansion deals with the issue of workforce diversity and managing across cultures. National culture is defined as the set of characteristics, norms, beliefs and values commonly held by a society. Any practice or procedures, which are against the national culture of the host country, will result in failure for MNC. The resulting conflicts between consumer preferences and the company can have further implications for a business (Michael, pp. 66).



Corporate Resources

Horizontal Analysis of Wal-Mart

The horizontal analysis of income statement of Wal-Mart shows that the sales of the company is increased from 2006 to 2010; besides it, gross profit of the business is also showing a positive sign for the Wal-Mart. In addition to this, the net income of the business is declining; it shows that the company has to minimize its expenses (See- Appendix)

The horizontal analysis of balance sheet of Wal-Mart shows that the total current assets of the company are increasing it means that the company can meet its immediate expenses without taking any liability. The long term liabilities are also increasing, this shows that the profit of the company will decline; however, the retained earnings of the Wal-Mart are increasing (Barringer, pp. 48).

Wal-mart Balanced Scorecard

Table 1: Balanced Scorecard for Wal-Mart See in Appendix

Marketing Operations of a Wal-Mart

As a retail company, Wal-Mart offers a wide array of products to consumers. These products include groceries, toys, and apparel for women, men and children, jewelry as well as hard goods. All other products are generally sold at reasonable and affordable prices. Every year millions of companies dream of selling their products to Wal-Mart, the largest company worldwide. Approximately 10,000 companies present their products to Wal-Mart but only 200 are successful annually. That is, 98% of the companies present their products to Wal-Mart fail. There are some firms that succeed and others do ...