Wal-Mart Core Competencies Explained

With a market in 69 different banners and in 27 countries, Wal-Mart is one of the biggest corporations of our time. All of Wal-Mart’s success has been received by the core competencies that the corporation holds within them. Wal-Mart has become one of our world’s largest and cheapest retailers all over the world, which is only part of how and why Wal-Mart is one of the greatest corporations in our society and world today. Wal-Mart can contribute its success to its core competencies.

Core competencies are capabilities the firm emphasizes and performs especially well while pursuing its vision. Wal-Mart has plenty of core competencies, whether they are little or big, however the bigger ones are more noticeable.

Wal-Mart’s top five core competencies are:

  • low cost operations,
  • distribution,
  • culture,
  • logistics systems,
  • environmental awareness.

Low cost operations

When serving customers and members over 200 million times a week, Wal-Mart must have something the people want. With some of the lowest prices ever on everything from toothpaste to tires, Wal-Mart has the right idea.

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Since 1950 Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart, has been trying to lower prices in numerous ways. Walton started by offering low cost by spending less. Still to this day Wal-Mart’s executives stay the night in cheap hotels and even share rooms. This was started to help reduce the cost of Wal-Mart’s expenses, which in turn lowers the price of their products.

Walton, and even the current CEO and executives at Wal-Mart also talk with their suppliers to see how the suppliers can reduce cost which then lets Wal-Mart lower prices even more.

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With Wal-Mart reducing its own prices and the prices of their suppliers, Wal-Mart is able to keep their low everyday prices for consumers all around the world.

Distribution

With over 140 distribution centers worldwide, Wal-Mart has been able to reduce distribution cost and time needed to make a delivery. Wal-Mart noticed the cost and time it took to deliver their goods from warehouse to store, so they decided to reduce the cost. To reduce the distribution cost, Wal-Mart expanded their distribution centers, making it easier and quicker for deliveries to reach stores. With over 140 distribution centers, Wal-Mart has moved over 5.5 million cases of merchandise in one year. With the prices low on products and low distribution cost Wal-Mart can continue to uphold its ideals on low cost and low price.

Culture

From the founder, Sam Walton, all the way to the lowest employees at Wal-Mart, culture is present. The culture of Wal-Mart, created by Walton, was the thought of treating each employee, no matter pay level, as a partner within the corporation. The culture of Wal-Mart is one that is nearly impossible to reduplicate. Wal-Mart not only shows culture within each one of their employee’s, but by also being a big contributor to numerous charity organizations.

Logistics systems

Wal-Mart uses logistic systems to create “people systems.” With these systems Wal-Mart is able to understand and create different systems comprised of people, all over the world, to come together to produce cost cutting technologies, ideas, and ways of life amongst, not only themselves, but their suppliers also. With a service oriented world, Wal-Mart has been able to capitalize by creating a system with low prices, and low cost. Wal-Mart has not only stayed up to date with its technologies, but some would even say stay a step ahead of advancing technologies.

Environmental awareness

Another way Wal-Mart has been able to cut cost, and to help the world is through its environmental changes. Wal-Mart has focused on three major environmental changes, to make their corporation, and our world a safer place environmentally. Wal-Mart has the sustainability goals of; being supplied by 100% renewable energy, creating zero waste, and to sell products that sustain people, and the environment. With Wal-Mart working to become more environmental secure they are also able to secure lower prices for consumers. Wal-Mart’s core competencies have help build a corporation unlike anything our world has seen.

Low cost operations, distribution, culture, logistic systems, and environmental awareness have created a corporation that has excelled on every level. Even with all of the controversy over Wal-Mart and its competitors, Wal-Mart is definitely the business on top. I am sure Sam Walton could never comprehend what kind of business Wal-Mart would become, but after all these years Wal-Mart still holds the values of its founder and once CEO, Sam Walton, and with these core competencies it is hard to imagine anyone who could create a better and more successful corporation.

Works Cited

  1. Wal-Mart. (2012). Wal-Mart . Retrieved from Wal-Mart: http://corporate.walmart.com/ Wilbert, C. (2006, April 26). How Wal-Mart Works. Retrieved from How Stuff Works: http://money.howstuffworks.com/wal-mart.htm
Updated: Feb 23, 2021
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Wal-Mart Core Competencies Explained. (2017, Mar 30). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/wal-mart-core-competencies-explained-essay

Wal-Mart Core Competencies Explained essay
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