Walmart Case Study
Question 1) Determine the Core Competences of Wal-Mart. Substantiate your answer.
In order to determine the core competences of Wal-Mart, I will first need to conduct an internal analysis of Wal-Mart before we could identify the core competences of the company. The internal analysis consist of a few components, first we will have to identify the resources available to the company, followed by the capabilities of the company. After which I will put the capabilities through a numbers of models to determine if they “fit the bill” to be considered as a core competency of Wal-Mart. I will start by first identifying the resources.
The resource available to any companies compromises of two component, the first being Tangible resources, which can be seen and quantified, and, Intangible resources, which includes assets that are rooted deeply in the firm’s history and have accumulated over time.
Tangible resources available to Wal-Mart are: • Financial Resources – Wal-Mart is financially successful by a number of measures, experiencing varying rates of growth in international markets. This consistence growth, matched with an economic of scales enables Wal-Mart to have superb credit ratings with the financial and lending institutions, allowing them access to large amount of borrowed funds should the need arises. • Organizational Resources -Wal-Mart has a concrete organisational structure in place, the top 25 senior officers of the company meet via weekly videoconferences “to review the company’s ongoing performance, focus on initiative to drive sales and customers service, and address broader issues”. This then trickles down to the regional groups, which are then divided into the respective departmental managers who handle a team of staff. • Physical Resources - Wal-Mart buildings can generally be found in the neighbourhood areas, where space is abundance. Its products for sale are shipped, and delivered to them by the suppliers through Wal-Mart’s
In order to determine the core competences of Wal-Mart, I will first need to conduct an internal analysis of Wal-Mart before we could identify the core competences of the company. The internal analysis consist of a few components, first we will have to identify the resources available to the company, followed by the capabilities of the company. After which I will put the capabilities through a numbers of models to determine if they “fit the bill” to be considered as a core competency of Wal-Mart. I will start by first identifying the resources.
The resource available to any companies compromises of two component, the first being Tangible resources, which can be seen and quantified, and, Intangible resources, which includes assets that are rooted deeply in the firm’s history and have accumulated over time.
Tangible resources available to Wal-Mart are: • Financial Resources – Wal-Mart is financially successful by a number of measures, experiencing varying rates of growth in international markets. This consistence growth, matched with an economic of scales enables Wal-Mart to have superb credit ratings with the financial and lending institutions, allowing them access to large amount of borrowed funds should the need arises. • Organizational Resources -Wal-Mart has a concrete organisational structure in place, the top 25 senior officers of the company meet via weekly videoconferences “to review the company’s ongoing performance, focus on initiative to drive sales and customers service, and address broader issues”. This then trickles down to the regional groups, which are then divided into the respective departmental managers who handle a team of staff. • Physical Resources - Wal-Mart buildings can generally be found in the neighbourhood areas, where space is abundance. Its products for sale are shipped, and delivered to them by the suppliers through Wal-Mart’s