Walmart Case Study Analysis Essay

Case study: Wal-Mart
STEEP analysis for Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart is one of the world’s wholesalers providing its products at an affordable price. With regard to its STEEP analysis, several factors affect the store and have impacts on its performance.
Sociocultural factors
i. Sociocultural factors play a crucial role in influencing customer decision. People think of Wal-Mart as the best place to go shopping because of quality and low prices. ii. Differences in cultures especially in other countries negatively affect the company’s operations and revenues. For instance, when the company entered the Germany market in 1997, it experienced a lot of defeats due to people’s perception in the country. The company’s American employee management practices

The company uses technology that is far from what its competitors use making its operations more effective. In particular, it uses modern technology to improve marketing and selling of its products. ii. The company has improved its supply chain and logistics management. Modern technology has also made communication and operation a lot easier by connecting all its stores via data, video, and voice communication. iii. The company’s use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and inventory management through advanced Texlon barcode system play a crucial role in streamlining its supply chain management and keeping of inventory records. iv. The increasing pervasiveness of broadband internet access and the unabated growth of ecommerce in many countries have allowed the company to tap into more market through online platforms. Economic factors
i. Economically factors such as inflation, high interest rate, unemployment rate, and weak housing market, changes in tax law, higher debt, and overall economic slowdown are detrimental to the store’s performance. These factors lower the purchasing power of customers and consequently the demand for the store’s

The company’s use of strategies such as localized charitable giving and sustainability efforts have the impact of portraying the company as a responsible corporate citizen. iii. The company has also attempted to improve its corporate image by beefing up pro-sustainability, pro-community, and pro-health care information on its annual reports, television adverts, and on its website.
Political-legal factors
i. Political-legal factor can negatively affect the company’s performance because the government can change its rules and regulations at any time. For instance, the store experienced lower sales in 2013 due to delays in income tax refunds. ii. Some political-legal factors are beyond the control of Wal-Mart affecting its operations directly or indirectly. They include authority to work, war against terrorism, health issues, and geopolitical uncertainties. iii. The company’s consistent involvement in lawsuits has provided its competitors with ample fodder to inflict reputation damage on the company. Some of the company’s lawsuits and accusations include environmental violations, use of illegal immigrants by sub-contractors, violation of child labor law, and poor working conditions for its staff.
SWOT analysis for Wal-Mart