Wal-Mart is an extremely successful organization that has achieved its goals of becoming one of the top retail stores in the world. In order to reach the top, managers have to plan, organize, lead, and control each component possible in order for the company to be successful. Internal and external factors can impact the four functions of management within a company. Management's responsibility is to take the four factors into consideration to make sure the company will be successful.
The four factors can be its strengths, weaknesses and opportunities as well as its threats and trends. A comparison of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats normally is referred to as a SWOT analysis. (Bateman-Snell, 2009) SWOT is an analysis that assists management in going over facts and forecasts resulting from the external and internal analyses. After reviewing the analysis, management can organize a strategy to capitalize on opportunities, counteract threats, and alleviate internal weaknesses.
Swot analysis
Swot analysis image
SWOT-Analysis-ChineseLike a chain of command, with corporate handling major decisions, management is responsible for lower level managers to ensure that the SWOT analysis plan is put into place to work effectively for the company. Wal-mart can control what is going on through the continued monitoring of performance and by obtaining SWOT analysis every quarter to regroup when needed.
Some of the internal factors that might have been considered during the planning stages were the size of building or warehouse needed to open a store. Local availability, location, and cost to train newly hired staff as well. External factors that may have been considered might have been accessibility to consumers, transport links, marketing i.e. appeal to customers of business' location. There will always be uncontrollable external factors that will constantly affect a company both in a positive and a negative way and depending on those circumstances, the...