Wal-Mart Company



Wal-Mart Company

Introduction

Change is an essential component in life, for an individual to progress. Change is especially important within an organization for its survival in the competition, in the industry. A planned change is made with an intention of making the organization more efficient and effective. However, the organization faces a lot of resistance due to this change from the employees. The employees foresee potential threats and problems for them in the future which is why they do not want the change to be implemented. Hence, the readiness for change from all the employees of the organization is a vital component to successfully implement the change. Change is necessary within the organization because of the dynamic increase in the environment. An organization has to continuously confront with the need to execute the changes in the culture, process, structure and strategy of the organization. Different components are contributed to effectively implement the changes in the organization. This paper will identify the issues faced by Wal-Mart and the strategies needed for Wal-Mart to address the issues in order to facilitate a 'smooth, positive' change within the organization.

Organization Selected

Wal-Mart is the largest retailer in the world providing all you need under one roof in literally every sense of the word. It is well recognized both locally and internationally for its EDLP (Every Day Low Pricing) model. It is present in nine countries across the globe. The Company's mass merchandising operations serve its customers primarily through the operation of three segments (Wal-Mart, 2003b). Wal-Mart Stores operates in three business segments: Wal-Mart U.S., Sam's Club and International. Co.'s Wal-Mart U.S. retail formats include: Discount Stores, Supercenters and Neighborhood Markets. Co.'s Sam's Club segment consists of membership warehouse clubs, which operate in the U.S., and the segment's online retail format, samsclub.com. As of Jan 31 2009, Co.'s International segment comprised of its wholly-owned subsidiaries operating in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Puerto Rico and the U.K., its majority-owned subsidiaries operating in five countries in Central America, Chile and Mexico, its joint ventures in India and China and its other controlled subsidiaries in China (Wal-Mart, 2003b).

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

The company is financially very strong in that given the global financial crisis that resulted in economic turmoil, the company continued to report profit though it did take a hit on its bottom line due to the decline in turnover. The EDLP concept is very difficult to match (Gilmore et al, 2007).

It takes advantage of economies of scale and passes on the advantages of lower cost to customers.

The capital structure of Wal-Mart is mostly based on equity.

Weaknesses

The company is ever high on expansion and has been making acquisitions. Due to these the financial and liquidity ratio of the company has declined. In addition, the financial service segment is not doing very well (Gerry, 2009).

Opportunities

Improving the efficiency of the company is one of the major opportunities. The company is technologically very advance and smaller retailers cannot match the operational excellence of Wal-Mart.

The internationalization is another opportunity through which Wal-Mart will ...