Implementation, Strategic Controls, and Contingency Plans

Implementation, Strategic Controls, and Contingency Plans
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Implementation, Strategic Controls, and Contingency Plans
Introduction
Wal-Mart Stores inc. is a leading retail distributor company in the United States with stores spread all over the country and overseas. The company, which operates more than 8,700 retail outlets, is among the top 20 leading companies in the country (according to several listings) and the largest employer the world over. Sam Walton founded it back in 1962.
Strategy Implementation Plan
The current business strategy of Wal-Mart involves having low-cost and volume-based operations and product ranges that enhance company reliability and customer satisfaction. Wal-Mart focuses on reaching mature and commonplace persons in a developed setting. This explains why the company chose to settle on its low-cost approach, among several possible strategies of reaching the market. Strategic planning involves three major phases of formulation, implementation and control (Rugman & Collinson, 2006). Wal-Mart’s strategic planning is largely guided by its value for vision, in that the management fully comprehends the direction that the firm is headed, the requirements involved as well as relevant success indicators and factors. Successful strategy implementation coupled with contingency plans goes a long way in facilitating overall company performance and or competitive advantage.
The company has devoted many resources to achieving quality assurance and reliability; this is assured by its favorable return policies. As such, it gives much emphasis to the management of its supply chain and points of sale (with appropriate inventory levels) through up-to-date technologies. It also practices ‘Organic growth’ by enhancing operations of the company using internally generated resources instead of resorting to overreliance debt finance.
According to Pearce and Robinson (2011), functional tactics are responsible for courses of actions in predetermined working areas that aid in implementing set business strategies. These functional areas are categorized in accordance to relevant departments dealing with them like finance, human resource, marketing and research and development among others. Wal-Mart operates under a business approach of Customer intimacy and satisfaction as a functional tactic. The company places much emphasis on achieving the consumers’ preference as its primary value principle or rather ‘Buying power’. Additionally, the company employs generic strategy tactic of creating barriers to new market entrants who pose as a threat by implementing a low cost strategy of marketing that facilitates the company’s success.
The company’s capability of modifying its merchandising response to specific and individual markets is important in its overall performance. In effect, this allows the management at store level to identify products that are most preferred by customers and to price them in accordance with the prevailing market conditions with ease. Other than that, Wal-Mart bears streamlined operations owing to heavy investments on information systems ahead of its competitors. This reliance on up to date technology has enabled the company to be very efficient in the functions of ‘Vendor Management’. All the same, the chief generic strategy in play in the business of Wal-Mart remains ‘Cost Leadership’, as was formed by the business model created by Walton- the founder. This strategy ensures the company maintains very low operational costs to facilitate realization of pleasing profit margins while still enabling the company to maintain its huge market share as it continues to attract more and more customers (Copeland & Labuski, 2013).
This grand strategy is also termed as EDLP (Every Day Low Price); it counters the use of coupon clipping as well as having to wait for discount promotions. This strategy aids Wal-Mart a lot- as a retailer in saving resources of time and expenditures incurred because of price markdowns. Over time, the company has reported increase in comparative sales within its target markets. It has realized movement of sheer volumes of products to the extent that its suppliers, partners and distributors remain highly cooperative. This is highly attributed to the fact that the vast size of the firm acts as advantage. Nevertheless, the company employs strategies to balance its growth and expansion with enhanced Returns on Investments (ROI) owing to customer relevance and satisfaction.
Required organizational change management strategies
Overall, Wal-Mart undoubtedly...