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Wal-Mart Case Assignment
What impresses you about the company?
What accounts for Wal-Mart’s success over the past 25+ years?
Is it a great strategy, superb strategy implementation and execution, or great leadership?
What aspects of Wal-Mart do you find unimpressive?
Which of the five generic strategies is Wal-Mart employing? What are the chief elements of its strategy? The generic strategy that Wal-Mart employs is mainly a low-cost leader. This is evident by the company’s purpose: “saving people money so they can live better”. Wal-Mart believes that having a lower price matters to their customers. They continuously seek to reduce costs throughout their company, which will in turn reduce costs for …show more content…
If the corporate culture were not cost conscious and were not continuously looking for ways to improve aspects of the company such as the value chain, their low-cost strategy would be in jeopardy. Strategies must be sought after and employed by everybody in the company, and it usually starts from the top. By having a corporate culture that is continuously looking for ways to be the low-cost leader they are, Wal-Mart will continue to be successful.
Financial Analysis Analysis of Wal-Mart Financials | | | | | | | | | | | | Year (Numbers in $Mil) | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | Revenue | $191,329.0 | $217,799.0 | $229,616.0 | $256,329.0 | $285,222.0 | COGS | $150,255.0 | $171,562.0 | $178,299.0 | $198,747.0 | $219,793.0 | SG&A | $31,550.0 | $36,173.0 | $39,983.0 | $44,909.0 | $51,105.0 | Operating Income | $10,116.0 | $11,579.0 | $13,295.0 | $15,025.0 | $17,300.0 | Net Income | $6,295.0 | $6,671.0 | $7,955.0 | $9,054.0 | $10,267.0 | | | | | | | Total Assets | $78,130.0 | $83,451.0 | $94,808.0 | $104,912.0 | $120,223.0 | Total Liabilities | $46,787.0 | $48,349.0 | $55,347.0 | $61,782.0 | $70,827.0 | Total Equity | $31,343.0 | $35,102.0 | $39,461.0 | $43,623.0 | $49,396.0 | | | | | | | COGS as % of Revenue | 78.5% | 78.8% | 77.7% | 77.5% | 77.1% | SG&A as % of Revenue | 16.5% | 16.6% | 17.4% | 17.5% | 17.9% | Operating Income as a % of Revenue | 5.3% | 5.3% | 5.8% | 5.9%
Financial Analysis Analysis of Wal-Mart Financials | | | | | | | | | | | | Year (Numbers in $Mil) | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | Revenue | $191,329.0 | $217,799.0 | $229,616.0 | $256,329.0 | $285,222.0 | COGS | $150,255.0 | $171,562.0 | $178,299.0 | $198,747.0 | $219,793.0 | SG&A | $31,550.0 | $36,173.0 | $39,983.0 | $44,909.0 | $51,105.0 | Operating Income | $10,116.0 | $11,579.0 | $13,295.0 | $15,025.0 | $17,300.0 | Net Income | $6,295.0 | $6,671.0 | $7,955.0 | $9,054.0 | $10,267.0 | | | | | | | Total Assets | $78,130.0 | $83,451.0 | $94,808.0 | $104,912.0 | $120,223.0 | Total Liabilities | $46,787.0 | $48,349.0 | $55,347.0 | $61,782.0 | $70,827.0 | Total Equity | $31,343.0 | $35,102.0 | $39,461.0 | $43,623.0 | $49,396.0 | | | | | | | COGS as % of Revenue | 78.5% | 78.8% | 77.7% | 77.5% | 77.1% | SG&A as % of Revenue | 16.5% | 16.6% | 17.4% | 17.5% | 17.9% | Operating Income as a % of Revenue | 5.3% | 5.3% | 5.8% | 5.9%
