Wal-Mart

Strengths

The brand superiority is remarkable. Wal-Mart is having the world retail trade champion title. This brand superiority is absolutely noticeable. For example, many retail sales profession talented person are eager to work for Wal-Mart. The benefits of brand superiority brings are cannot be substituted.

Wal-Mart makes great efforts to establish good enterprise image. Especially in China, it vigorously develops the charitable public welfare activity. Therefore, it receives a warmly welcome from Chinese government and set up good relationship with the government, which will be advantageous to its development in China.

Wal-Mart has the most outstanding supplier in the world, and gains a better price through its large-scale purchase. Its selling scale is very big, and it implements the “Everyday Low Price” policy, so it has the ability to satisfy the giant commodity demand quantity of Chinese and attract the Chinese customers.

Wal-Mart has abundant capital reserve. The abundant capital reserve will be advantageous to it attempts and develops each kind of new management pattern, and strengthens its ability for undertake the risk.

The training system is perfect. Its skill trainings are carried out carefully for each staff. And the training periods are quite long. The shortest trainings for the Chinese staffs are not less than three months, so the staffs grasp the knowledge regarding the post very comprehensively.

3.2.2. Weaknesses

Wal-Mart has not been able to adjust the related policy promptly when facing the changeable overseas markets. For instance, its management technique is not nimble enough in Chinese market. Wal-Mart goes to extremely relies on the experience of American market, but does not have truly pay attention to the Chinese consumers’ intrinsic demands. It must adapt to survive in the urban environment but not in the village or the suburb environment. And it should locate itself at a higher level in China, in other words, it cannot purely depend upon the low price strategy to win.

The staff draining rate of Wal-Mart is quite high. The good staff treatment is the foundation of providing the high-quality service for consumers. It is also the essential content to attract the outstanding talented person. In China, the professional idea has not yet strikes root in the hearts of the people, Wal-Mart must through own endeavour to instil the Wal-Mart’s culture to the staff.

3.2.3. Opportunities

The prospect of developing countries’ markets is broad. For instance, China is a developing country, and it practices the socialist market economy system. The Chinese economy development situation already unfolded the Chinese market to the world the broad prospect and the huge profit space. China since the reform development, the economy has had the huge change, particularly in the last few years, the Chinese GDP rate of rise all maintains above 8%. The new ADB report also forecasts that China's GDP growth in 2008 will reach 10.8 percent. China's economy grew at a faster-than-expected 11.5percent in the first half of 2007, which is the highest rate since1994. At the same time, there was a great deal of improvement in Chinese economic structure. The Chinese economy development situation already unfolded the Chinese market to the world the broad prospect and the huge profit space. This kind of business environment is suitable for Wal-Mart to develop in China.

Chinese purchasing power has been strengthened. “Chinese urban and rural residents all see their per capita disposable income record a double-digit growth in 2006, faster than the previous year.” Xie Fuzhan said.

The Chinese government welcomes Wal-Mart to settle down in China. After China joined WTO, the domains such as finance and commercial circulation are open to the foreign corporations. The changes of the policy can strengthen the confidence of Wal-Mart to make business investments in China.

3.2.4. Threats

The relations with the goods suppliers are not close enough. Wal-Mart