Examples Of Environmental Analysis Of Walmart

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ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS

Trends and Potential Events
To do a true evaluation of Wal-Mart Stores, the environment surrounding the market it is in must be observed. In doing so, the firm can neutralize threats or jump on opportunities that affect it in any way. “The goal is to identify and evaluate trends and events that will affect strategy either directly or indirectly” (Aaker, 1985).

Political Environment:
One thing affecting the Political environment of Wal-Mart is the firm’s decision to support specific political candidates. In 2006, Walmart gave California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, over $20,000 and funded $200,000 for initiatives he supported. California receives more money from Walmart for politics than any other state; the company has donated $300,000 to its GOP and local politicians. It’s been noted that the firm progressively increased its “contributions to…politicians, just as such politicians have been taking on bigger roles in deciding key issues concerning the company's operations, from the local minimum wage and required health-care benefits to zoning for big-box retailers.” Sam Walton stated that politics should be ignored by the firm because customers weren’t benefited by its involvement in political matters—but this is no longer the case for the firm. “Today, Wal-Mart has become one of the most active corporations in the U.S. At the federal level, Wal-Mart is already the No. 1 corporate political contributor, giving $943,455 in the 2006 election cycle” (Gogoi, 2006).
The firm monetarily supports politicians who don’t focus on the climate crisis. “Between 2005 and 2012, Walmart and the Waltons gave $2.1 million…to members of Congress with lifetime scores of 30 or less on the League of C...

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...er to have success, but financing it is a whole other issue
For each of the following environments, provide a description of key events or trends in each environment, the strategic implications to your firm for each trend/event, the relevant time frame or expected time frame for each trend/event (urgent, near future, distant future) and the relative importance of each trend/event to your firm (high, medium, low)

Legal Environment

Scenario Analysis
Outline two potential scenarios for your firm based on the trend analysis above. Relate each scenario to your firm’s current strategy and new options. Finally estimate the probability of each scenario actually occurring (highly unlikely, unlikely, likely, highly likely).

Key Strategic Uncertainties
Outline the key strategic uncertainties that have been revealed in this analysis and the importance of each to your firm.

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