What is Strategic Management? Strategic Management is a process and method that is adopted, incorporated, and integrated into the management strategies of any business, firm, start-up, enterprise, or organization. This strategy is incorporated to help the business operations and management accomplish the various aims, goals, visions, and missions that have been established. 

The process of any Strategic Management has five equally essential steps such as – Identification, Analysis, Formation, Execution, and Evaluation. 

To increase overall growth, performance, competitive advantage, productivity, recognition, market position, and reputation, companies and organizations adopt particular frameworks and models under Strategic Management to efficiently and effectively monitor and analyze their business strategy and management. This is done to identify if the company’s objectives and goals are being achieved in the expected ways. 

One such framework and model that will be discussed in this article in depth will be SWOT Analysis as a Strategic Management, in today’s business and corporate world. Using Walmart as an example in the United States, we will be sharing detailed insights into how SWOT Analysis can be very beneficial and how this strategic management can help the world’s largest multinational retail corporation. 

About Walmart:

First, let’s talk about Walmart. Walmart is a retail corporation that oversees its operations and management in sectors such as Hypermarkets, Department Stores, and Grocery Stores. This enterprise is highly competitive in its industry against other famously known competitors such as – Amazon, Costco, and Target. From clothing and consumables to furnishings and technology, and everything in between, Walmart is known as a multinational retail corporation in the world generating around 524.40 billion dollars in revenue every year (as of Financial Year 2020). 

The slogan for Walmart is – “Save Money. Live better.”

Headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, in the United States of America, Walmart was founded by Sam Walton in the year 1969 and has since then expanded and successfully branched to many locations in and outside the United States and is famously recognized and known as a global retail enterprise. 

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With over 11,523 stores established by Walmart all around the world in around 28 countries, the initiative for an international expansion provides real-time insights showing that there are over 260 million shoppers every week. With the current President and CEO’s inspiring journey in leadership and management – Doug McMillon has shown growth and positive restructurings in the operations since having taken office in the 2000s. 

What is SWOT Analysis and How Does it Benefit Walmart?

SWOT Analysis is a framework under Strategic Management and is used as a tool in businesses to help monitor and identify the various internal and external factors and whether they are positive or negative. SWOT Analysis can also be used to assess the effectiveness of any new strategies that the business is deciding to adopt, establish, or implement. 

SWOT is an abbreviation for the following – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. 

The strengths and weaknesses are identified as Intrinsic Factors whereas the opportunities and threats are identified as Extrinsic Factors. 

SWOT Analysis of Walmart?

SWOT analysis benefits Walmart in identifying what are its various strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats so that the retail corporation can improve in all areas to better strategize its business for accomplishing established goals and objectives and to gain a competitive advantage. A detailed SWOT Analysis will hence be shared for Walmart below so a better understanding can be had. 

Strengths – Walmart has several strength points on its side such as being globally recognized as a multinational and the world’s leading retail corporation in 28 countries. It also is known for its reputable supply chain management and the competitive advantage it has over its competitors (Amazon, Target, etcetera). Retailing a diverse range of products, Walmart strives to sell at a lower cost whilst still maintaining its high-quality value which has proven to retain its loyal customers for generations. The enterprise also has several income streams where profits are reigned in with increasing amounts every passing financial year ($524.40 billion in 2020).  

Weaknesses – Walmart has several operations established in over 28 countries. Doing so can have inevitable periods where businesses can fall or become slow and gaining control of the leash in time can be quite difficult and strainful. Walmart can hurt itself as lately there have been issues and problems arising concerning the treatment of employees and the workforce in terms of discrimination of pay and fairness, as well as the pressure placed on employees to work continuously without any work-life balance. 

Opportunities – Walmart can expand its operations to several other countries such as – the Middle East and China, as they have the power and strategic operation to quickly climb the competitive ladder. Procurement and acquiring smaller businesses that work in the same retailing industry can prove to be a very good opportunity for the organization. Increasing their e-commerce strategy too can be used to their advantage for building a stronger customer base. Ensuring that employees are provided access to healthcare facilities and programs can solve the issues that recently came to light. 

Threats – Being the world’s leading multinational retail corporation, Walmart still can be seconded or overtaken by another reputable enterprise in terms of innovation, sustainability, high quality, and or by the diverse range of products being sold. In today’s world, where there are a lot of political uproars, Walmart can face challenges in operating in some countries due to this.  

To Conclude:

SWOT Analysis as a strategic management tool can prove to be a very beneficial strategy and implementation practice in businesses such as Walmart in the retail industry or for any other kinds of businesses under various industries for that matter. Good innovative, creative, and out-of-the-box ideas are the product of a good strategic planning process. SWOT Analysis carried out at regular intervals sustainably, can be used alongside another framework called Risk Management to get the complete result of the effectiveness and efficiencies of a strategy and business implementation, as Walmart is seen to be benefitting hugely from.