It is important to look at some
internal and external elements of the company to review that how this project
is going to be fit for their future strategy.
Core Competencies of Walmart
The company has various core
competencies which drives its business forward in its strategic direction. They
have maintained a good culture, which allows them to get most out of their
employees. They have developed a hardworking and efficient work culture. The
other good thing about Walmart is their low cost operations so that they can
develop products and provide them with lowest prices to customers, as it is
important to fulfill their mission and vision. The low price starry attracts
more customers, which allows them to get more business and sales. Their
distribution is another core competency which allows them to manage their supply
chain effectively as compared to its competitors. Moreover, they have developed
a global supply chain by maintaining good relations with their suppliers.
Five Forces Analysis of
Walmart’s Fighting Hunger Project
Bargaining Power of Buyers of
Walmart
The bargaining power of buyers is
weak for the Walmart as it is enjoying good business terms with its customers. The
company has large population of customers, which means that these customers are
very much dependent on Walmart because of its low pricing strategy and they
also like the brand. So, it is good for the company that buyer power is not a
threat for them, as it is weak.
Bargaining Power of Suppliers of Walmart
The company is one of the largest
retailers in the world and they need so much quantity of supplies, which means
that they are able to catch up with various range of suppliers’ available in
the market. They can make effects on their suppliers rather getting affected by
their bargaining power. The suppliers are competing with each other and it is
easy for the company to switch to any suppliers in the market, which means that
bargaining power of suppliers is weak and pose no considerable threat to the
company.
Threat of Substitutes of Walmart
The threat of substitute for
Walmart is also weak because they have so many elements to stay ahead in the
competition. The company has great variety of products and it is hard for any
retailer to match that variety. Moreover, the company also provides this
variety at lower costs whereas it is hard for competitors to remain at this low
cost level with so much variety, so company is not facing any considerable
threat in this regard. If company would not have such variety with low prices,
and there would have been less number of products, then they might have faced
this threat.
Threat of New Entrants of Walmart
It is important to understand
that new entrants can certainly invest heavy amount in this retail sector and
can come up with new retail chains to challenge Walmart. The cost of doing
business in the retail sector is bit lower than the other sectors. The capital costs
are also moderate. Moreover, suppliers are easily available in the market to
get similar kind of products. It means that threat of new entrants for the
Walmart is high and strong and they need to keep this fact in mind, while deriving
their future strategy.
Competitive Rivalry of Walmart
The competition in this industry
is strong and much similar kind of retailer stores are operating in the market.
They also have their own strategies to attract customers, and through an
extensive competition. The number of firms is large, which makes competition
tougher for Walmart. Moreover, these firms also come up with aggressive competing
strategies as well. It means that competitive rivalry in the industry is high
and strong, and Walmart has to keep doing different things to stand out in the
competition (GREENSPAN 2018)
References of Walmart’s
Fighting Hunger Project
GREENSPAN, ROBERTA. 2018. Walmart Inc. Five
Forces Analysis (Porter’s Model), Recommendations. Accessed December 11,
2018. http://panmore.com/walmart-five-forces-analysis-porters-model-case-study.