Market Analysis: Wal-Mart
Market Analysis: Walmart
Political and Legal Landscape Since Walmart is such a large corporation, it is natural for them to face legal adversity and government regulation. The global company employs over one million workers and is continuously opening new stores. Walmart has been trying to open a store in Washington, D.C. for quite some time but has recently been faced with a local law requiring for Big Box Stores to pay employees “Living Wage”, which is at least $12.50 per hour. The company is considering not opening the store in D.C. if they will be forced to comply with the living wage law. One of Walmart’s key success factors is the ability to manage their wealth in order to continue to offer customers such low prices. If the company was faced with raising employee wages everywhere, product costs could rise and potentially further reduce their revenue. Even more recently, the National Labor Regulations Board filed a complaint that stated Walmart illegally fired or discipline over 60 employees in 14 states for participating in protests and strikes about the company’s low wages. However, Walmart released a statement saying their actions were not illegal because the employees were leaving their scheduled shifts to participate in protests. This potential lawsuit could not only affect how customers view the company, but also how many people are willing to continue to work for the company.
Economic Landscape While Walmart has companies all over the world, the majority of its business is in the United States. The United States has a mixed economy of industrializing and industrial, but leaning heavily towards a more industrial economy that largely relies on service industries. According to a 2013 report, the average income for individual in the U.S. was around $40,000. However, 15% of people are at or below the poverty level. This income distribution situates Walmart to be the ideal store for many families. The prices are low enough to cater to those
Political and Legal Landscape Since Walmart is such a large corporation, it is natural for them to face legal adversity and government regulation. The global company employs over one million workers and is continuously opening new stores. Walmart has been trying to open a store in Washington, D.C. for quite some time but has recently been faced with a local law requiring for Big Box Stores to pay employees “Living Wage”, which is at least $12.50 per hour. The company is considering not opening the store in D.C. if they will be forced to comply with the living wage law. One of Walmart’s key success factors is the ability to manage their wealth in order to continue to offer customers such low prices. If the company was faced with raising employee wages everywhere, product costs could rise and potentially further reduce their revenue. Even more recently, the National Labor Regulations Board filed a complaint that stated Walmart illegally fired or discipline over 60 employees in 14 states for participating in protests and strikes about the company’s low wages. However, Walmart released a statement saying their actions were not illegal because the employees were leaving their scheduled shifts to participate in protests. This potential lawsuit could not only affect how customers view the company, but also how many people are willing to continue to work for the company.
Economic Landscape While Walmart has companies all over the world, the majority of its business is in the United States. The United States has a mixed economy of industrializing and industrial, but leaning heavily towards a more industrial economy that largely relies on service industries. According to a 2013 report, the average income for individual in the U.S. was around $40,000. However, 15% of people are at or below the poverty level. This income distribution situates Walmart to be the ideal store for many families. The prices are low enough to cater to those
References: http://www.statisticbrain.com/wal-mart-company-statistics/ http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/07/12/D-C-Snubs-Hundreds-of-Wal-Mart-Jobs-With-Living-Wage-Law http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_24919024/government-charges-wal-mart-labor-violations http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walmart http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/politicalcalculations/2013/09/29/what-is-your-us-income-percentile-ranking-n1712430/page/full http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/17/poverty-america-census_n_3940812.html http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-household-debt-20140219,0,930144.story#axzz2tonmiAwZ https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/single-parent.aspx http://www.multifamilyexecutive.com/rent-trends/living-the-dream.aspx Analysis of Walmart (2013). Available at: http://www.strategicmanagementinsight.com/swot-analyses/walmart-swot-analysis.html