Walmart Case Study

1. Given the importance of understanding the external environment, why do some firms fail to do so? Provide examples of firms that did not understand their external environment. What were the implications of the firm’s failure to understand that environment?

Some firms fail to do so because they do not aware of the changes and the implications of the external environment that can bring the impacts against them. This is because we need to know that the external environments will continuously and rapidly changing and sometimes those changes may be unpredictable in terms of timing and strengths. So, the firm’s management need to take noted in these changes. If not, some firms will face what had been happening toward Wal-Mart in 2013. Wal-Mart

Firstly, Wal-Mart wills loss the money because they had to pay the fines and penalties to those authorities because of their mistake in dumping and disposing the hazardous materials at the wrong place. Second, Wal-Mart has lost their customer expectations. This is because customers tend to have the perceptions of how the firm use the eco-friendly products and apply the ‘go-green’ concept in their work environment. Wal-Mart has lost some of their buyers’ expectations because of this problem and they are now realized how strong and powerful the influence of the customer perceptions is. They have been putting so much effort in order to control the damage that they have been received in order to gain back their customers. Last, Wal-Mart may have lost their public image because of this issue. This is because Wal-Mart had put the public and the environment at the risk and they gained an unfair economic advantage towards the other company. Wal-Mart needs to become more “green” in order to gain back their public image in the

Apple offers many products such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, watches, music players and television adaptors. They offer all the factors that give them competitive advantages which are brand strength, innovation, supply chain management and pricing strategies. They also encourage customers loyalty by offer them sharing between the different Apple products. Apple will release the augmented reality kits (ARKits) in their latest products through the apps and games so that everyone can experiencing the view of the real world. With this Apple has a chance to make the phone faster than anyone else. I believe the Internet’s capabilities will help the Apple to continue to grow. Especially because of the iTunes which offer their products online with the access from 126 countries in many different languages. Therefore it will expand their revenues and gain more profit. Apple should offer as many option online as they can because people tend to use and utilize the internet for search and purchase the goods rather than going to the store. This because people are busy and the internet allowed them to be online 24 hours per