Wal Mart Fina (Walmart Underattack)

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Strategy and Policy Group Project WAL-MART STORES, INC.: UNDER ATTACK (2006) The Stage II is intended to compensate for the weaknesses inherent in SWOT matrix and add additional perspectives to the analysis. In Stage II, your analysis will be geared toward responding to several questions related to the assigned case. This will require you to go beyond the rational analysis performed in Stage I, but provide you with more flexibility and freedom in formulating your answers, where you are not strictly bound by rationality, as is the case with the SWOT matrix. This is to recognize that an organization is not an entirely rational entity but a dynamic one (e.g., actions are taken based on rational as well as other considerations), that a SWOT is not likely to capture all the nuances of an organization, and that considerations beyond what the data/facts indicate (e.g., organizational politics, wisdom of the strategic manager, factors that are not apparently visible, etc.,), all of which may play an important role in the formulation of a strategy. For example, a SWOT matrix may not touch on or provide a satisfactory answer to the type of questions, such as: How would you describe Phil Knight's leadership philosophy? Or what was the impact of the founder's philosophy on the corporate culture, and does it help or hurt the corporation? STEPS IN STAGE I STAGE I: STEP I - Brief Summary Founded in 1945 and based in Bentonville, Arkansas with 10,773 retail units under 69 banners in 27 countries, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is a department store chain of retail goods and services operating in various formats worldwide. The company’s operation is divided in three main segments: Wal-Mart U.S., Wal-Mart International, and Sam's Club. It operates retail stores, restaurants, discount stores, supermarkets, supercenters, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, apparel stores, Sam’s Clubs,
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