A Description of Wal-Mart, Essay Example

Wal-Mart the number one retailing company in the United States, had begun as a single store in Rogers, Arkansas, in 1962, and rose to 4900 stores in 2004. However it could not reach this milestone without applying vision, business growth strategy, a philosophically relevant retailing strategy and technology.Vision according to Soderquist, is the beginning of a great endeavor, and Wal-Mart owner Sam Walton, at the beginning of his business had a vision of to own his own store, to be the best store in the country, offering the lowest prices, and at the same time improving the lives of people in the rural areas. (Soderquist, 2005) His leadership enabled the transmission of that vision to employees, and customers who saw what was happening, were impressed and gave their support, causing the company to grow in leaps and bounds.

The role of a leader according to Soderquist, is top paint a picture of the vision, in such a way that he or she that is leading, will embrace it, and make it their own. In this way, all of the energies of the organization are focused on the same objective. (Soderquist, 2005) As a result of excellent vision and leadership, the company increased its revenue, number of stores, and amount of employees, every decade between 1970 and 2004. It had 900 employee, 32 stores and earned $30.8m, but grew to 1.5 million workers, 4900 stores, and earned $256.3b at the end of the period previously mentioned.

According to Sam Walton, the secret of every successful retailing company is to give your customers what they want, and really, if you think about it, from your point of view as a customer, you want everything: a wide assortment of goods, quality merchandise, the lowest prices, guaranteed satisfaction with what you buy, friendly knowledgeable service convenient hours, free parking, and a pleasant shopping experience. (www.walmart.com)

This statement alone highlighted the philosophy, and retailing strategy of the company, from as far back as 1962. it had lived on in the policies and strategies of all its managers, until this day, and has impacted exponentially on the business growth strategy of the company. Wal-Mart grew in every direction since it began operation, and is a household name in all fifty states.

The company announced first and foremost via Sam Walton, that it is a retailing entity, by declaring that the customer is number one, and then developed excellent supplier relationships, acquire highly efficient systems, and constantly displayed an unswerving commitment to deliver Sam Walton’s always low prices, everywhere it is located.

The founding philosophy that helped the company achieve such immense greatness, also resulted in the business serving its associates, and other stakeholders in the process. Wal-Mart has been able to today to provide all three entities with 1,000,000 products online, as well as providing music downloads, and one hour photos as well, according to www.walmart.com.

A business strategy is the direction and scope of an organization over the long term, this advances the advantages of the organization, through its configuration of resources, within a challenging environment to meet the needs of the market, and to fulfill stakeholder’s expectation. (Johnson & Scholes, 2008)

Wal-Mart by its current achievement has certainly met this definition, and exceeded even the expectations of many stakeholders.Wal-Mart.com, a division of Wal-Mart Store Inc. has facilitated the parent company to develop an excellent mix of technology and world class retailing strategies, by first strategically locating itself in the heart of the Silicon Valley, where it has access to the world’s deepest pool of internet executives and technical talents. This kind of access provides it with the latest technology that can help it to maintain the necessary competitive advantage to dominate the retail market, and fulfill its vision of providing the lowest of prices for all its customers.

Its financial resources accumulate over the years also plays a significant role in acquiring the technological resources in a timely manner, so that upgrades in the critical areas can be done, and allow the customers can be served as efficiently as possible. Wal-Mart has been able to tap into all five categories of technology, namely, the tangible, intangible, high end, intermediate, and low end; in its quest to deliver quality services at the lowest prices. In the board rooms executives are able to see through the tangible medium, blue prints of future expansions, models, operating manuals in formative stages, and prototypes of what will be on the market shortly, while lower levels managers who are seeking consultancy services to make decisions, or are developing training manuals; may be impressed with the intangible technologies being utilized to ensure customer satisfaction.

In the warehouses, or on the sales floor workers and even customers may be impressed with the high end, intermediate and low end acquisitions; so that are being utilized to ensure timely deliveries are achieved. Wal-Mart therefore as a fortune 500 company has distinguished itself as a powerful force in the market place by applying information to design, produce, and utilize goods and services, and also in the organization of human activities. It has embraced technology to its fullest, satisfy its customers, and reap the rewards in the process. The company on a whole has ensured also that its vision, retailing strategy, and business growth strategy, are also at work at the same time, through continuing excellent leadership, at all levels. Sam Walton seems to live on in the operation of the company, especially his putting customers first philosophy, because even today, they still rush in great numbers to buy the products and services being offered.

Reference

Soderquist, Don, 2005, The Wall-Mart Way, pp.3-24, Thomas Nelson Inc., Nashville Tennessee