Wal-mart Strategic Management: Financial Challenges

[Name of the Writer] [Name of Instructor] [Subject] [Date] Wal-Mart Strategic Management Overview of the company Walmart Inc is a leading multinational retail firm that operates a chain of grocery stores, discount department stores as well as hypermarkets. The company was founded by Sam Walton in the year 1962 and it is currently headquartered in Bentonville. The retail company also owns a Sam’s Club retail warehouses. According to the recent statistics, the company acquires 11,718 stores as well as clubs in 28 countries that are operational under 59 distinctive names. For paradigm, in Canada and United States, the company operates under the name Walmart whereas in UK it operates as Asda. In terms of revenue, Walmart is the largest company by revenue with nearly US 480 billion and at the same time it has largest number of employees with 2.3 million employees (Masanell, 195). The company is owned and traded by Walten family where Sam Walton acquires 50% of the share of company. Financial Challenges faced by Wal-Mart In the fiscal year 2016, the international operations of Walmart accounted for approximately 24.1% of sales which generated revenue of 116.1bn in the same year. However, these sales figures marked a decline in the overall sales of the company since the sales percentage recorded in the fiscal year 2015 was 28.2% and revenues were 136.1 billion. Even though Walmart owns a greater number of stores across the globe in contrast to number of stores in United States, the company still faced a decline in its sales and profitability. In the view point of business analysts, the decline in the revenues and sales of the international operations of Walmart can be attributed to the adverse current movement versus the appreciation of US dollars that has diminished the amount of money gained from international operations. Additionally, in the recent years, Walmart has struggled in some of its largest international markets specifically in Brazil, China and UK. The analysis demonstrated that there are no overarching reasons for the global challenges confronted by Walmart for the reason that each market posses individual challenges. For paradigm, in United Kingdom, the increase in number of discounters has resulted in the loss of market share of the Walmart’s subsidy Asda. The following figure demonstrates the decline in share. The CEO of Walmart also ensured that all its employees and managers are committed to its values, culture and purpose (Meeks, 62). The guiding values of Walmart include excellence, respect, service and integrity Strategies to Address the Issues In order to address the preceding challenges, the CEO of Walmart stated that they will develop new capabilities in order to serve the customers in a more efficient manner. The CEO of Walmart recognizes the shift in technology and retail that has occurred in the recent times and is enthusiastic to benefit from innovation and other opportunities. In order to boost its global sales, the CEO of Walmart International David Cheesewright directed his associates to specifically focus on the changing demands of the customers and incorporate the new dynamics and preference in their products and services (Reginald & Rajaguru, 477). The CEO in one of his interview said, the c...