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Mgt/330 Week 2 Team Paper External/Internal Factors of Planning

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Mgt/330 Week 2 Team Paper External/Internal Factors of Planning
Planning, organizing, leading, and controlling—the four management functions—are seen in a variety of business environments. Different factors can have an impact on these four management functions. The factors are: globalization; technology; innovation; diversity; and ethics. These factors as they apply to Wal-Mart, one of the leading retail stores in the world, will be examined in this paper.
During the past decade, retail markets have undergone many changes in their processes, services, and formats. The last part of distribution of the market strategy, retailing serves as a bridge between the final consumer and the mass producers of products. Retailing has reached every corner of the globe, and Wal-Mart has been eying areas where the retail market is unorganized or poorly organized. It, along with other corporations, has used liberalization, privatization, and globalization to become potential players in the commercial opportunities these areas embody. “Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. operates Wal-Mart discount stores, Supercenters, Neighborhood Markets and Sam’s Club locations in the United States. The Company operates in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom.”
Technology is essential in current business culture. Wal-Mart maintains a centralized information system for its worldwide operations. The decision to centralize its systems involved a great deal of planning and thought; the location and method for the centralization had to be determined. The company’s management identified its objectives and then implemented plans of action to achieve its goal of centralization.
After the establishment of the objectives and the selection of the location, management had to devise an organizational chart to identify those people who would have charge of implementation. Management had to define job responsibilities and duties as well as commence organizational development in

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